The Mystery Parcels (Part 2)

Now it's time to tell you about the next day I got the first mystery parcel.

I woke up from the my mother knocking on my bed room door early in the morning(at least for me).
Mum had a parcel in her hand and handed it to me. I jumped awake and want up to the kitchen to open it as soon as possible so see what, what kind of book was inside. 

I opened it. The parcel had 'Cinder', the first for the Lunar chronicles!

Then I checked the receipt/order details and again it was from the US. At this point I had a more clear idea who it was from. I just need to conform it some how.

I checked my post on facebook, and there was another clue that pretty much conformed who it was from.

It was from my friend Rebecca!!

I opened messenger to write a thank you email and there was a message earlier in the month (that I have clearly forgotten about until then) when she asked for my address which is common for us because we some times write to each other.

I met Rebecca at university. She was doing her year abroad at my university. I have also lived together with for a short while when I was going through some tough times. But the time I spent with her was a positive thing for me. We talked about books, movies, culture, life and many things.

Our interests cross over at places and we have very different interests in some things.
Which is really good because we tend to introduce new things to each other and then talk about them and experience a broad range of things. I might write a blog post about us but I simply I miss her.

Rebecca is really good at writing and she loves reading. She actually has a blog called:
"The Lonely Reader" about books she enjoy and reads you can click here to go to her blog!

I have learned one thing about myself from these two mystery parcels.
I really like surprises but on the other hand I have this 'instinct' or 'ability' to notice signs(not always but most of the time).
But in this case, this surprise was a success and I did not notice a thing!

I hope you liked my story about the mystery parcels.

See you soon!
Ellen
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Instagram: @ellenkoala

  

Songs and Memories

Do you have songs that trigger a specific moment and time in the past that you can pin point?

There is this Japanese boy band called Arashi that I follow since my late teenage years.

I often had music or a movie playing in the background while I work on my essays and theses at univeristy. 

Which sometimes work in my favour but at times it became a way for me to procrastinate. In fact, I am currently writing this while I watch the second disk of a Arashi concert.

Each song associated with a memory, an emotion, a location, or a stage in my life.
Most of the time it is a combination of all of them with a story that comes with it.
When I listen certain songs, it brings me back to that exact moment.
Some memories are hazy but some can be very vivid. 

I think this is because I really enjoyed listening to them while I was thinking different things. 

One song is called "Oh, Yeah!" which is a really good music to listen while you riding a bicycle down a gradual hill. I used to listen to this song on my iPod or MD(Mini Disk) player(I sound really old here) while I ride home from high school. Every time I listen to this song, it makes me feel nostalgic and take back when I was riding my bicycle home in my uniform feeling the wind on my face.

*2025 Ellen here. You can listen to the song here: Oh Yeah! Arashi

Another song that brings back good memories is called "Shake it!". This story is silly one.
It was when I was at university in the winter semester, I watched Japanese and Korean dramas with one of my American friend called Becca regularly then. We were watching this exact concert DVD I am listening now together in my dorm room. We were enjoying the concert and I remember that we had to pause the DVD because the dance was quite unique and seductive for a Japanese boy band and the lyrics made us laugh a lot as English speakers. We laughed a lot!

*2025 Ellen here again. The Concert name was called “ARAFES NATIONAL STADIUM 2012” and you can see the dance here if you are interested.

The memories and emotions I feel when I listen to a song are not always positive. They can trigger negative ones too. I do try and prepare myself but it does not always work out. There are times where I hear a song randomly in public which do bring back both positive and negative mixed emotions and memories like: nostalgia, emptiness, the feeling of missing someone.
The intensity of the emotions I do feel has a gradient of strength depending on the situation I am in. I do try and shift away from it and try and think positively. It is very hard and I think it will take time to master it.  

"Wake me up" from Avicii is a song that reminds me of one period of life at university which was difficult. I can relate to some of the lyrics which added to some of the uneasy emotions I feel when I listen to it. However, it also brings me back good memories like meeting wonderful people and dancing with them to this song. It reminds of my friends and make me miss them at the same time. Missing them makes me want to do my best to work towards meeting them again!!

I miss my friends so much now!!

Are there any songs that remind you of a specific moment(s)?
Let me know!

Ellen