South Korea: Golden City, Golden Time!

The 66th UN DPI/NGO Conference 2016 was held in Gyeongju, South Korea, May 30-June 1st.

Few of  us, who worked for the Youth Sub-Committee Planning Team, found sponsors to travel to South Korea. Since March of 2016, we worked day and night, planning, writing, and executing youth events in New York City and beyond. Our team members live all around the world, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Senegal and India are just few names of the various countries involved.

We worked in engaging young people globally to talk about, advocate and work on the Sustainable Developmental Goals (SDGs), also called the Global Goals.

Working to organize youth events for the conference has broaden my horizon, helped sharpen my leadership skills and prepared me to become a Global Citizen.

My colleague Ivana and I, decided to see the beautiful city of Seoul, along with attending the conference.

So we started the trip from Seoul, stayed in Seoul for 5 days before going to the Conference in Gyeongju May 30-June1st, 2016. The Conference mainly focused around Goal 4, Quality Education and the name of the conference was, Education for Global Citizenship.

The first few days in Seoul, we walked around the city, ate a lot and went shopping. The best way to see a city in my opinion is by walking, whenever you feel like, you can just sit down in a bench. Of course, developed cities such as Seoul, have numerous amount of benches around. 

As soon as we landed in Incheon Airport in Seoul, we found friendly people and detailed cartooned  directions of  Air Train, Taxi, Passport Control, Bathroom and so on.

We took a bus to go to the city in Namdaemun area. It was pretty easy. The view of the country side was so pretty filled with hills and greenery, reminded me of Bangladesh. 

As soon as we arrived at our destination, we found narrow roads and many small shops surrounding us. Everywhere South Korea Flags were visible. We thought there must be some type of celebration happening. We walked with our heavy suitcases in those narrow roads, since Ivana suggested we take all our nice clothes to travel. Once we found our hotel, we were so happy after 14-15 hours of traveling. It was  a small but pretty cozy hotel.

Most mornings in Seoul, we would go and eat at Paris Baguette, since a lot of their food are usually spicy and we NewYorkers prefer sweets and coffee in the morning.

Namdaemun Market

The neighborhood around Namdaemun Market looked a lot like Dhaka to me or other South Asian Cities. The crowd, street food and fun people made the aroma even more exotic. Once a street food vendor, even asked me in broken English, " Are you going to Marry me and take me to America ?". I was only waiting on line, surprisingly enough, that came to me, when a friendly lady asked where I was from. 

So the adventure began there at Namdeamun Market. The street food I liked the most was Japchae Hoddeok, it's a fried spicy vegetarian pancake. So I was safe to eat it. Most of the dishes in Seoul usually have pork in it, so it's hard for me to eat a lot of the food. 

However, I loved eating spicy fish soups as well as chicken or duck. Duck are usually cooked so well in Korea and they're amazingly delicious.

Most stores in Seoul stays open late at night, so getting home after all day sightseeing wasn't scary at all. Korean people are very friendly, they go out of their ways to help you, and always with a smile.

Everyone usually wants to speak English in Seoul, so the language barrier wasn't a problem at all. I also learned some Korean to connect with the locals; such as 'Kamsahamnida' meaning 'Thank you'.
The day after arriving Seoul, I practiced saying thank you all day, everywhere I go. People were super happy.
The first day at Seoul, we walked from Namdeamun to Gyeongbokgun, also called, 'Palace of Shinning happiness'. I really wanted to go there after reading about it many times, the palace is a great example of Buddhist decorations overlooking the mountains.

Gyeongbokgung Palace, Ivana and I with girls in Korean Traditional clothes

Gyeongbokgung Palace was build in 1394 by King Taejo, the king of the Joseon dynasty. The king selected beautiful Seoul inaugural capital in 1392 and this amazing city has been in prime importance ever since.The beautiful wooden gates and hallways of the palace are true example of Confucian style architecture, the colors are subtle and matches with nature perfectly, with pine covered mountains from the north.  

Street view

We walked all around, the streets are pretty clean and safe at Seoul Downtown.  I noticed most people are very health conscious in Korea, they eat a lot of vegetables and workout. They love their face products. My friend Ivana loved shopping for face mask, make up or lotions there. She said, Korean girls have ten steps to follow when it comes to taking care of their skin. That sounds like a lot of work to me, since in America we talk about three steps to face care, which I haven't really followed all my life. 

We noticed South Korean fashion is really nice, the colors of their clothing are very subtle, mainly light blue, white, stripes and other light colors. Their color choice is not much glittery or bold at all, like the way we find it in other parts of the world. Ivana and I, were happy since we could bargain at those never ending street shops, and walking was pleasant as well with flowering pots, and plant decors. Every now and then, we would notice beautiful decorated wooden gates. Once we found one UNICEF Heritage site named Changdeokgung Palace. We went there pretty late and couldn't enter the palace, unfortunately. Since we were always busy talking and taking thousands of pictures of every pretty details of the city. One day, it was around dusk in Seoul and we walked far from our hotel. However, we kept walking and walking, until we found a small Korea Barbecue restaurant. We sat there and ordered so much food. We kept eating and talking. We were so much into planning our next adventures that we forgot to take our phone charger, which was charging our phones all this time, sigh. Yeah, that's our story of Seoul, talking, walking, eating and more talking. 

Soon our adventures in Seoul was coming to an end, when we started our journey toward meeting so many amazing people at the UN DPI/NGO Conference in Geyongju. We had the privilege to ride this high speed train KTX, from Seoul to Geyongju, Korea. The train runs 300 km/hr, which is pretty amazing. Hence, our journey began to the Old Capital of Korea, Golden City, Geyongju. 

Gyongju Train Station, UN DPI/NGO Conference banner

As soon as we arrived at the Geyongju train station, we found welcome messages for the conference participants. That made us pretty happy as if we came back home. The roads and signs all said, 66th UN DPI/NGO Conference, both in English and Korean. 

The station also had  public transportation to HICO area, where the conference was held. 

So, we took a Taxi to our hotel, which wasn't far at all. The driver, an older gentleman originally form Geyongju, explained the glory of his city in the old days. We were listening with so much fascination and excitement.

The moment we arrived at the Hyundai Hotel at Geyongju, our eyes stayed open for a long time, 

Hotel Hyundai, view from our balcony.

couldn't believe how beautiful this five star hotel was.

We couldn't stop taking pictures, as usual. Well, 

it's a good idea of taking picture of your room before you unpack and settle. That's my travel tip and works well all the time.

Soon arriving at Gyeongju, we went to meet our team members, all nine youth sub-comitte members arrived as well. It was so fascinating and amazing to see some of them for the first time, mainly our friend Mohammed from Saudi Arabia. We also had youth representatives coming from different countries in Africa. After meet and greet, we started working right away, we must , since it was the day before the conference. 

Months of planning and writing was about to come into reality, the first day of the Conference, May 30th, 2016.

Our Youth Program started at 8 am where the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon himself came to cheer with us. He loved our Energy and Enthusiasm. Starting from Day 1, we had the opportunity to meet Youth Representatives from South Korea, Dubai, Nigeria, Senegal and other parts of the world. We organized events, talks and interviews at the Youth Hub, where conference participants could drop by anytime of the day to enjoy our events. We also had singers at our Youth Hub Show Time. The networking events in the evening was the best, we would have interesting topics to discuss about, such as 'what global citizenship means to you'.

Amazing Youth Representatives from all around the world!

The days of the conference passed by very quickly and the nights were filled with meeting interesting young people and making friends for a lifetime. I have met some friends, who shared so much with me, I was surprised by how this gathering and the beauty of this city, has opened us to others toward working for a great cause. The quest to ensure Quality Education in every corner of the world is a great one and this cause alone has broaden our minds. 

Soon came the day we had to leave South Korea. The night before our last day, we spend at a beautiful rooftop, hosted by our new Korean friend. We all shared our ideas, experiences and thoughts for the future. Traveling to South Korea was the most amazing experiences in 2016 for me, and I will cherish every moment of it, in the years to come.

Last day in Seoul, will see you again

ZipLine Adventure!

I have been thinking of flying like a bird, for quit a while! Recently, met a wonderful friend at work, who happened to be adventurous, just like me!
Suddenly we thought, why not try Zip Lining above the White Mountains in New Hampshire. New Hampshire seems to be my favorite State for the Summer and Fall because of it's beautiful mountains, lakes, water falls and adventure friendly culture.

So, we decided to drive to NH on Labor Day weekend and join a group of people who are also dying to fly just like us! First, we thought of going over the tree tops, but soon realized and decided to try Sky Ride, the extreme zip line, flying up above the mountains, flying with the clouds.

It happened to be a rainy day, the roads were slippery and dangerous, we took an old American Army Jeep to drive up in the mountains.

On our way up the Mountain

The roads were muddy, we were jumping up and down all the way. It was so fun and thrilling, on our way to the mountain, a great adventure itself. 
Once we reached the top of the mountains, the view was breathtaking. We started crossing the Treewalk village 60 feet above ground. I thought, we would have to literally climb the trees, but the ladders to the trees made it easier.
The deep woods, mountain view and rainy day made it more adventures. The tiny bridges made of ropes were pretty slippery, you could fall anytime. For a moment, I thought I must be in the Amazon Jungle, the darkly lighted path into the woods made it real scary and cool.

The first zip line, was about the same height as the trees, so it got me out of fear a little. The 2nd one was the best to come. We walked and walked inside the woods, it felt as if a bear would jump out at you, in a really quite walk in the woods. The zip lining gears were really heavy, made it tougher to walk long distances.  After walking for a while, we reached the 2nd zip line that would take you above the mountains. Fortunately, no bear appeared and we went to the next zip line, in one piece.

I closed my eyes, as I jumped, suddenly opened the eyes and it was Heaven! I said to myself,       'I'm a bird, I'm flying', such a wonderful experience to fly through the clouds! Amazingly rewarding indeed.

We went deep in the woods and tried few other flights, walked on narrow suspension bridges, best for adrenaline junkies like me! Then walked and walked, climbed a real high tree, 200 feet above ground, to take the flight of a lifetime, so thrilling and fun, the last zip line for the day, a 80 feet drop with zip seep at 50mph, wohoooo!

Just before Jumping,

That's me, Flying

Truly, it was one of best experiences in my life!! After it was all over, for 3 hours walking in the woods, flying, crossing over humongous heights, a friend had asked, 'Would you do it again?'
my answer.........Definitely !

#100HappyDays Challenge

After surviving a long winter in New England, when it just started warming up, felt like I just need a boost of Adrenaline.
On March 20th, 2014, I started the 100HappyDays Challenge. The challenge is to find something to be happy about daily and share a picture of it, @ http://100happydays.com/.

The most wonderful part, happiness seeks you! I started the challenge at the time when I was emotionally broken, things happened in my life and family that wasn't pleasant, I was motivated by seeing others doing it. I said, why not, engaging my thoughts to creative and productive activities would be much more better than keep dwelling on unnecessary worries.

I started thinking about, what are the activities that previously made me happy? I remembered my friends in college, friends back home and here in Boston. I thought about the first time I learned to ride a bike, I learned to ski, learned to play the piano and all those great moments.  

First Day, on March 20th, the official International Happiness Day, I went out to eat sushi with friends, food is a great way to enjoy great moments with lovely company.  

Sushi was so amazing and Boston Chinatown was fun to walk around. The day ended so well that I found the motivation to keep going.

Since then, every day I carried around my little camera phone just to capture the best moment of the day. Daily, I found many things to be happy about, but I was only suppose to chose one picture from them. Yes, It was a pretty difficult task.

You either happy or not, it's like an all-or-none response just like our neuronal action potentials!! It's either there or not, you can't judge the happy feeling, it's happiness, simply happiness. 

With my new happiness practice, I started noticing more in everything. I started being mindful of my surroundings, saw pretty birds chatting with friends, ducklings swimming around, started noticing the beautiful colors of the sky even more. I thought, this is called  mindful photography, just being aware at the present moment and capturing the feeling of peace and joy. 

Realized, my new learned skill, mindful photography is a great way to enjoy a walk alone in nature.

After a month, I figured happiness is associated with movement, I'm happy when I exercise, when I walk or jog, when I sing or dance and even when I'm taking a coffee break from work, I'm happy. 

So went on hiking, close to the Fells by my home, nature walks after work and long walks in the city!  To challenge my little walks, for the first time I hiked/climbed the intense,

Mount Monadnock, reaching the summit at 3165 feet High! This experience was challenging, but oh so rewarding!

Mount Monadnock, NH

I took weekend trips to New York City, because this city is my home and I want to make great memories at my home. Just the beautiful view of central park can make anyone happy.

Central Park, NYC

Since I love food so much, how can I left out on trying new and spicy cuisines for my happiness? So, I cooked this mouthwatering famous Bengali dish, Biriyani Rice, for the first time and it turned out, amazingly delicious!
 

Cooking Biryani Rice

Some of my happy days, I spend hours at the gym working out. Rock climbing with friends is always so rewarding. It gives you a great sense of accomplishment, to go rock climbing you need to reach a goal, the end point. Reaching a goal always satisfy you and brings joy.

Rock Climbing

Happiness comes from doing worthwhile activities you enjoy doing and by helping others.  So, I volunteered at several places to add to my happy days, helped out at the BU blood drive, joined human rights rallies and engaged street children in a painting project in Bangladesh. 

Volunteering at a blood drive for BU Global days of service, #BUGDS

Rally for Venezuela at Symphony Hall, Boston, MA

Kids art project at Dinajpur, Bangladesh

Music soothes your mind and brings you unlimited happiness. I went to many different classical music concerts over the past three months. The most rewarding experience, was listening to the greatest Tabla player, Zakir Hussain, at Symphony Hall. I grew up listening to his music in Bangladesh, and finally heard him play!

Zakir Hussain & Masters of Percussion

Ever since, I started the happy days challenge, I became more productive at work, many other happy events started to follow, such as surprise hand written notes from a friend, gifts, and cards from overseas. Life became more and more worthwhile, just because i was paying attention to my happiness.

Finally, at  June 28, 2014 completed the 100 HappyDays Challenge!! It was such an amazing experience indeed.
I learned Happiness is always there, you just have to find it. I went hiking, biking, boating, photo walking at NYC & Boston, and Mountain climbing at New Hampshire. Eating out, laughing loud and spending time with great friends was the key to continuous happiness!! 

A lot of the time I forced myself to do something fun even though i didn't feel like and it turned out to be perfect.
After all, It's all in the Mind, if you want happiness, no one can get into your mind and change that. Happiness is all yours, you just need to find it !!

Bangladesh: Delicious Food, High Energy, Fun in Chaos & the Land of Festivals !

As soon as you arrive in Bangladesh, you will notice that the air there is filled with excitements. You will hear all sorts of noises, car honking, people talking, buses filled with people, streets jammed with traffic, everyone seemed so intense. It's a great energy everywhere. I used to feel the same way whenever i would return to New York City from Philadelphia or Boston, the energy to move faster and faster.

Dhaka, the Capitol of Bangladesh, has so much to offer. So much to see, every street has its uniqueness, so much happening everywhere and a lot of newness.  For example, Lal Bagh Kella, an ancient fort built by the Mughal in the 17th Century blew my mind away. It is huge, located at the heart of all the chaos in Old Dhaka, where you can feel relaxed and quite your mind.

Lal Bagh Kella, Dhaka

Dhaka street is fun to walk around, eat, and shop for hand made cool stuff. The street food I love the most is Fuchka, It's made with chick peas, potato and other spices!

Fuchka, So Delicious!

The culture at Dhaka University is really welcoming and fun place to be. Drinking tea at TSC, wearing Churi (bracelets) at Charukola (Art Institute) and experiencing the Bangaleshi Liberation war of 1971, through sculptures such as Aporajeyo Bangla, was really exciting.

Oparajeyo Bangla Statue

Hot Tea at TSC, Dhaka University

Wearing Churi at Charukola!

The Population in Bangladesh is about 160 million in 2013, that means, it is really really really crowded, poverty can be noticed everywhere. However, most of the population is very young and waiting to be inspired. I decided to volunteer to teach kids at the slums of Dhaka. It was a profoundly rewarding experience. I wanted to connect with the people there, help them and teach what I have learned in America. Working with those kids made me realize that happiness does not depend on what you have or how privileged you are. Just by teaching the kids for few days, I was able to realize that so many things we take for granted in America are not present in their lives, but what they have is appreciation and happiness. The staff at Jaago foundation were very friendly and helpful, they made the volunteering process pretty easy for me! Here's their website: www.jaago.com.bd

Volunteering to teach, Jaago foundation kids, www.jaago.com.bd

Bangladesh is the land of festivals; people live there from different ethnic groups, religions and races. I was lucky to travel there in the month of October, fortunately two festivals started at the same time,  Puja and Eid!
I traveled to Dinajpur, Bangladesh, to celebrate with fun, food, and friends!
Durga Puja is a huge celebration among the Hindu's in Bangladesh, it goes on for about a week. This festival celebrates the victory of Goddesss Durga over Mahishasura, a demon. During this time, you get to eat a lot, visit Puja pandals and hear band music. 

Durja Puja festival at Dinajpur Rajbari (King's Palace)

 We also celebrated Kurbani Eid/ Eid al-Adha in Oct, 16, 2013. Its a Muslim holiday and a time to sacrifice your beloved ox for the sake of Allah. I really loved the ox my grandfather raised to sacrifice for this Eid. According to Islam, you must sacrifice your beloved domestic animal during this Eid. The moral is to let go of something you love so much since you love God the most.

Our beloved ox, ready to be sacrificed :(

 At my spare time in Dinajpur, I visited beautiful landmarks, the ancient King's home, the beautiful water ways, green rice fields and so on. Taking the Rickshaw everywhere in Dinajpur was real fun, you get loads of fresh air, just like riding the bike but even better, since you get to sit down and relax!

The Remains of Dinajpur Rajbari (King's Palace)

 

Shukh Shagor, The Happiness Lake in Dinajpur Bangladesh

Traveling to Bangladesh to volunteer, visit family, attended Puja, and celebrate Eid was the best travel decision I made in fall 2013. I enjoyed every second of my time there: delicious food, amazingly friendly people and awesome experiences!

Istanbul: A Symbol of Tolerence and Generosity !



Istanbul was Constantinople before and Byzantium or Nova Roma, even earlier.
Istanbul falls into two continents Europe and Asia and it definitely do Justice of its geographical identity. A part of Istanbul is just like America : the sky scrapers, highways , gas stations ; but it has an authentic flavor cannot be found in the west. Istanbul is a melting plot, it units east and the west. It is so much Eastern but welcomes the West so dearly!!


Topkapi Palace

 

My senses were bombarded with amazingly awesome experiences at Istanbul!!

Wondering around the Topkapi Palace, I went back on Ottoman Empire's glory days,  thinking how would it be to see the world through the Ottoman's eyes...


The magnificent architecture of Hagia Sophia, the building that had crowned Istanbul skyline for thousand years, is so amazing!!!



Hagia Sophia Ceiling

The Blue Mosque, is located across the street from Hagia Sopia, the beautiful mosque adds color to the city. The locals call the Blue Mosque as Sultan Ahmet Mosque, since the Ottomans build the mosque. The Ottomon Empire were called as Sultan ________ Mehmet, so they all had the same last and first name, only the middle name were different. The women Ottomon were called Sultan _____ Meherma!!

 


I went to Jumma Prayer ( Friday Prayer), at the Blue Mosque, the call for prayer was so so so pretty, the beautiful sound of prayer and the decoration of the mosque kept me speechless for days:

The view of the Marmara sea from SultanAhmet, Bebek, and Istanbul's sky scrapers kept me wondering, can things get any cooler than this !!
Bebek is a place where the artist lives, it's a pretty rich neighborhood, located by the Marmara Sea. It has shops, restaurants and nice apartments with a view.



Bosphorus

A tour with the Bosphorus cruise was just what I needed to calm my senses on a beautiful Friday !!

I loved walking at the streets of  Persian-Style boulevard, Istiklal Caddesi,

Tram at Taksim



The Narrow and Hilly streets of Istiklal Caddesi
 

 

 I noticed the streets are so narrow, Dogs hanging out here and there barking, well fed cats sleeping in the corner :) Cars coming from everywhere, traffic lights are hard to be seen, u gotta be careful crossing the streets!! It's so much fun though, like going to a roller-coaster ride : D

Food is so delicious at Istanbul!! Turkish delight tea is so good, Turkish people drinks tea: morning, after noon and after dinner. They eat a lot of different cheese and olive, the breads are also really delicious!

KUMPİR : Potato, Beef sausage !!

Turkish Delight Tea :)

Spice Bazzar,, Tickles your olfactory glands

Delicious food, aroma of spices, the people with a welcoming heart, made the trip even more unforgettable!!

People are really nice at Istanbul, I found helpful people everywhere I went.

The economy is getting better at Turkey, people are getting richer but their heart still remained very kind and loving.

Istanbul preserves its rich history but welcomes modernism so humbly!! I love Istanbul, a symbol of tolerance and generosity !

 

Living in Emergency

How is life, when you have to constantly think about being alive? When all you care about is the essentials? It's like you are running all the time, you are running for your life, you can't stop but run constantly, just so that you can stay alive for one more day, one more hour, one more minute, or even for one more second! I always wonder, how is life in emergency? I think living in emergency brings the best out of people. When you survive a war, you change completely. War teaches you: what is being human, it's about caring for others, it's about kindness, it's about saving others' lives. Fighting a war and living through a war is living with a great mission of saving lives and fighting for a great cause.

My heart goes out for the people in Syria, so many of them are dying everyday. Talking to the Syrian people here in the US have been a great experience over the past few months. They are always concerned about their families and friends back home, they are trying to do everything they can to help out. I m fortunate to meet and join some young Syrians in Boston, who are using all their efforts in organizing and participating in activities to establish human rights for all!!

 

Flash Mob for Syria at Harvard Square in May 23, 2012

Candle Vigil for Syrian Children, June 28 2012

Candle Vigil for Syrian Children, June 28 2012

Candle Vigil for US Ambassador Chris Stevens from the Muslim Community in Boson, September 13 2012

Candle Vigil for US Ambassador Chris Stevens at Harvard Square, September 13, 2012

The Sun is Generous!!

Herring Cove Beach, probably the only place in the east coast  where you can see the SUN SET over the water!!

I witnessed the sun immersing itself into the Atlantic happily !!!
Such a peaceful and serene place indeed!

 The beach is so peaceful and warm. When you're at the beach all you hear is the sound of the waves and the wind. You won't hear or see anything else except the ocean.

I went in a cold November windy day around 4pm in 2011. The sun started going toward the ocean by 4:15pm. Watching the path of the sun toward the ocean was amazing, especially, when it came really really close to the ocean around 4:30pm. It was so windy that I could hardly stand there.

  

This photo was taken when the sun was fully immersed by the ocean, the vast expanse of water already engulfed the sun. It's as though, the sun is showing gratitude, telling the wise ocean thank you! Saying,   'Thank you dear ocean for being so huge but humble and for providing me a home to rest.'

 

When the sun left the sky and went to rest for the day, the sky looked profoundly calm and serene. The ocean was also calmer than before. Many seagulls started flying happily; cheering to go home and rest for the day. They were all saying Thank you, to the ocean and the sun. Although, the sun and the ocean are so opposite, fire and water,  together they work harmoniously to keep our mother nature going! They work together and thank each other!! How wonderful it would be if we, human beings, worked together to make this world world a better place to live by forgetting all our dissimilarities about race and religion!  The world would definitely be much calmer, just like the sunset sky at the beach :)