Dear Fabian: Down Memory Lane

Dear Fabian,

I know I haven’t written to you in a week or so. It’s my fault, I didn’t put you higher up on my priority list. You’re not going to like my reason for putting this letter off either but I’ve begun watching a K-Drama series and just couldn’t stop! You can say that I’m hooked.

It’s called ‘Ghost’ (cool name, huh?) and ,contrary to it’s title, it’s not a horror series. Here’s what the site says about it:

‘Ghost’ tells the story of a cyber investigation squad as it fights against cyber crimes.

Kim Woo Hyun (So Ji Sub) is the only son of a high ranking police officer. He entered the police academy and graduated from the academy ranked first. As a detective, he then joins the cyber investigation department together with Yoo Gang Mi (Lee Yeon Hee). Woo Hyun then works to reveal the secrets of those that hide within the cyber world.

Okay, this description does not give it full credit but the one on another site gave away a spoiler. So I’m sticking with this choice. ‘Ghost’ (alternative name is ‘Phantom’. Hehehe, what a coincidence, eh? 😜) has mystery, hackers, cyber & detective related stuff, plus some action and a little drama. It’s everything I ever looked for in a show/movie! There were twists, revelations and tense moments in every episode. And add to that a beautiful female and male lead, I was sold! Ofcourse, I watched it with subtitles on the Viki app. I don’t know Korean. But man, So Ji Sub/Woo Hyun is so dashing! And I’m not even Korean! 😂 I also like how they had small, separate stories/crime investigations running alongside the main plotline. They dealt with some interesting topics, definitely got me thinking.

Aside from the ‘glorious’ find I’ve been obsessing over, I caught up with an old classmate today. Way back from 11 years ago when I was in primary school. Oh, the nostalgia! I’m not very active on Facebook(ok, fine. I’m practically non-existent there) but I am very grateful to Mark Zuckerberg for one thing; providing a way for friends and old classmates to connect and find each other.
I attended a small primary school for expats in Beijing. There weren’t many facilities but it certainly was sufficient for children. Back then, I was quite content with studying, playing and making friends in a school of not more than a hundred. Life was simple and I had no prejudices(unlike now 😒). No one even bothered with last names! A fact that I regret to this day.
Fast forward six years later, on a hot and humid evening in Dubai, I wondered about my old school buddies, where they were, what they were doing, such things. So I logged onto Facebook and just as I was about to type my former BFF, I paused. What was her last name? I found myself unable to recollect however hard I tried. What was anyone’s last name? I was stumped. I kicked myself for not even getting to know their surnames! Life can’t get any simpler than in my childhood days. After many fruitless tries, I decided that if I couldn’t find them, then maybe they could find me. So I went ahead and created a group page. Job done, right? Wrong. While it did attract people that attended the school, none of them were ones that I knew. I had to keep searching periodically as the years passed by. Although, I did manage to find one classmate, Anushka(name withheld). The excitement that accompanied such a finding gave such an adrenaline rush. My reaction may be pathetic to some, but I’m a person who values friendship quite a lot.
Now, after having found Anushka(we talked but didn’t really reminisce much) my search efforts didn’t produce any more results for a couple of years. It wasn’t until a few months ago that things started picking up. My group member count surged, people started posting lots of old photos and some known faces joined(I knew them but not vice versa), which in turn made me re-look for my old pals. And with a stroke of luck, I found my former best friend!! I was ecstatic beyond any doubt! I never imagined that the time would come. We chatted about our old days, what we were doing now, where we were and all that. And just this evening I caught up with another oldie. Both of them said that they had tried looking for their old friends but couldn’t(partly due to not knowing surnames). I find it strange that I couldn’t find them before. It’s kind of like a seemingly difficult maths problem where you only see a solution once you’ve taken a break from it.
Anyways, reconnecting with past comrades sure is a rewarding experience! I’m greatly relieved that all my efforts have not gone to waste(or made me look like a socially-deprived human). Lesson in point, learn the full names of your best buds because you never know if you might need it someday.
I still have more people to find but until then, I’ll be watching K-Dramas and telling you all the unnecessary things in my life that nobody else wants to know.

So Ji Sub, here I come!

Yours sincerely,
Vivian Westerly

“A day can make all the difference between winning or losing.”