The Japanese have a phrase similar to "lifesaver" or "manna from heaven" of a boat that arrives just in time, similar to the origin of "manna from heaven" (I didn't know about this before today), the Biblical story of God arriving miraculously to give the Israelites food as they wandered in the wilderness. It could also be a financial windfall, or any sort of gift, but usually it's a gift given when someone is in some trouble, or desperately needs some help in some way and the gift would make a huge difference in their lives.
Today, after a brief period of speculation and foreboding, my work project was extended for a couple more weeks (estimated), allowing me to have more work to do for now. In my line of work, projects come and go, so once I'm no longer needed, I move on from the project and no longer work for that client/law firm, moving on to another law firm/project that needs me for my foreign language skills. It's not as steady as a normal job, but it allows me flexibility and ability to travel to different cities to experience new environments, which I cherish before MJ and I have to finally settle down and start a family.
Often, there will be times when my project may appear to be over, where the client no longer seems to want us to work anymore or has no more work for us to do.......that's when things seem to wind down, my co-workers are anxious, and I start polishing my resume again. However, like a lot of litigation and law projects, sometimes deadlines are extended, a new issue arises, new facts emerge, and suddenly we're back in demand and working as usual. I've gotten used to this constant variation in demand for my services, but I still appreciate the manna from heaven sent by the legal/ job gods.
I also enjoyed my weekend in Big Bear, which was a sort of manna from heaven of a respite from the long work week (although I did work on Presidents' Day Monday, a holiday for most. Some of my Facebook friends have begun to call it Presidents not named Trump Day). Sometimes a weekend of just doing nothing but hanging out with one's friends is needed, and it was thoroughly enjoyed. It started in Long Beach where my friend picked me up, but not before I realized how cool a place downtown Long Beach is; excellent view of he ocean and a nice hip downtown scene. At Big Bear we did plenty of hot tubbing, hiking, some skiing (I don't ski anymore now that I've seen how painful MJ's leg injury was), watching movies, playing games, talking, eating, and generally enjoying each other's company. A very "Caucasian middle-class" kind of weekend, some might say, and not everyone can afford the luxury of a whole weekend off in of the busiest weekends of the year in Big Bear, but it gave me some respite from basically a quiet, isolated life of working and traveling back and forth from the office. We watched a Japanese movie rated 100% on Rotten Tomatoes (very rare, even higher than Parasite!) that was a zombie movie but somehow made me inspired about the power of a community: you'll see what I mean if you ever watch "One Cut of the Dead." Similar to Parasite, there's a huge twist towards the middle of the movie that I did not expect which really makes the movie what it is. Our group also played 2 mafia-like games called Resistance and Secret Nazi, and they really made me question how good of a liar I am. I'm a competitive person naturally and wanted to win the game, but since the game relied heavily on lying to others I don't think I was that good, which is probably actually a good thing.
I really hope everyone can get their manna from heaven from time to time, especially those who need it, like coronavirus victims, people suffering from oppression, natural disasters, financial trouble, or maybe are just bored from work like I was. Hope everyone can have a boat come and throw you a lifesaver!
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
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