Civic Hall
This place is a meaningful and very private place to me. Only one person can be in this place at one time. Other people can be in this place, but it can only be a truly meaningful place to me. This place moves when I want it to move and has been with me to many places. This place is the driver's seat of my old car.
Upon entering college my sister gave me her old car because she longer needed it. My cobalt blue four door Honda Civic sedan was a bit old with a few dents and bruises around the car. My sister punched in a few scratches on the front and rear bumpers. One day while trying to park the vehicle in a tight parking spot, she scratched the whole left side of the car. She decorated the side of the car by etching in a bright yellow streak from front to back. The interior was bland with not much color. The interior was all grey tone, and no other colors can be seen except for the colored lights on the dash board. The seats were grey linen seats with just enough cushioning just enough to prevent bruises while speeding through a speed bump. The seats were worn out and gave off a vague scent. I call this scent "time" because it was a mix of a lot of smells that have been soaked into the seats over a long period of time. The scent welcomes me when I ever enter the vehicle.
The driver's seat was always clean with no bread crumbs or garbage lying around. The seat was perfectly set for a comfortable cruise. I set the seat just right so that it felt like the seat was hugging me from the back when I sit down. When I sit in the seat, the audio interface is within arm's length reach. The driving experience and the audio is what made this cozy place of mine meaningful. It may only have a volume knob and track skip buttons, but to me it was like the audio interface professionals use at recording studios or at concerts. The moment I sit down in my seat I get ready for another meaningful drive and another sold out concert.
Every day I would take my car to school and I would always have my phone ready to play music through the audio system. I always made a playlist with songs I knew the lyrics to. Every day driving to school or to wherever I would head to, I had a mini-concert of my own in my car. No one can hear me, just me and my loyal imaginary fans. Listening and singing by myself in the car relieves all my stress and fatigue. I can be whoever I want to be. I could exit the parking lot by being Freddy Mercury and then arrive at school as the Backstreet Boys. I listened to all genres of music. I am horrible singer outside of the car, but while driving I sing like a 10 time Grammy Award winning singer. At traffic stops I would use empty water bottles as my microphone and play the air guitar rocking my head side to side. Sometimes when I am excited I become a world famous DJ. The audio buttons and the volume knob is the turn table. I crank the volume up and down to the beat of music imagining I am remixing at a famous club.
Sometimes when I've had a bad day, or just feeling down from the rainy Vancouver weather I would go for drive. Listening to music along with the sound of raindrops hitting the windshield helps me make me smile. When I am angry and mad it helps me to be patient and understanding. When I am in situation of making decisions, sitting in the driver's seat helps me make wiser choices. It is place where I can express myself and also control my emotions.
It wasn't only music that I listened to. I often listen to hockey games through the radio. I still remember the AM dial. It was AM 1040 Team AM. They would broadcast every home game. Tickets were hard to get, so I could not go to many games, but sitting in the driver seat with the broadcast on, feels just like I was in the arena. When I open the windows and let the cold winter air flow in, it feels like just like the hockey arena. When a player is on a breakaway I would sway my body side to side just a hockey player would skate. My body would move to wherever the broadcaster said the puck would be. I would sing along to the rants and cheers and yell when our team gets scored on. Sitting the driver seat with cold winter air and live commentary, I was there at the game.
Unfortunately I had to sell the car as I left Canada for Korea, and my self-made concert hall is no longer with me, but luckily my father lets me use his car sometimes. It was my first car and the most memorable one. I will never forget all the emotions I let out in that little seat. I still have the playlists from those days and still listen to them once in a while. I hope the new owner of the vehicle can experience all the joy I had experience from that seat.
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