Blog Post #47: Yuja Wang, Kimbap, and the Mystery of Love

1. Yuja Wang

I always thought I’d meet Yuja Wang much later in life. There’s an order of operations (or so I thought). Graduate with my bachelor’s degree. Go on to get my master’s, then my PhD. Teach for a while, maybe settle down. And only then would I seek out the concert tickets to see YUJA WANG (insert movie theater sign lights). And perhaps, if I was so lucky, I’d get a photo with her. Maybe an autograph. 

For those who don’t know, Yuja Wang is a concert pianist. Classic FM calls her “one of the most exciting pianists of the 21st century”. She’s known for her virtuosity, her un-traditional concert attire (So when I spotted her on the sidewalk on my spontaneous day trip to New York City, my first thought was “wow, she looks just like Yuja Wang”. She had the unmistakeable Yuja Wang look- short hair, a short dress, and heels. Her dress was light blue and some sort of satin material. 

“Is that Yuja Wang?” I said out loud. My friends didn’t think twice. As I stood paralyzed on the sidewalk, they pushed me and yelled “go Laura, go!” 

It took me a while to catch up with her. For a woman probably less than 5’4” in heels on the city sidewalk, she was on the MOVE. Behind her followed four or five other women who looked like friends, were probably staff. Finally reaching the staff member furthest back in the group, I asked “Is that Yuja Wang?”

I was told yes, but that she was working and in a hurry to be somewhere. I asked if I could take a photo. One of the staff members tapped Wang on the shoulder and she turned around. By this point, my head was starting to swim with excitement and awe. 

“Can I take a photo with you?” I asked, to which she replied, “We can take a quick one. Are you a pianist?” I told her yes. We posed for a quick photo. By this point, I was already losing any capabilities to form logical sentences. Thanking her, we parted ways. 

As we walked in opposite directions, I couldn’t help it. I sobbed. Pushing through the people on the sidewalk. We didn’t have to walk much further to pass Carnegie Hall- I hadn’t even realized we were in the area. 

To dramatize the encounter, I think it was God’s way of reminding me to come as I am. To stop waiting to become fully developed to start living my life. 

2. Spicy Tuna Kimbap for a Heart Carrying Pain

There’s a rather famous video of the late Anthony Bourdain, saying the best cure for a hangover is to take an aspirin, drink a cold Coca-Cola, smoke a joint, and eat some spicy Sichuan food. There must be a connection between spicy food and making yourself feel better. I think of Michelle Zauner in Crying in Hmart learning how to make kimchi-jjiggae- a spicy Korean kimchi stew. I remember trying kimchi-jjigae for the first time, (funnily enough I think it was inside a restaurant in an Hmart) still bubbling in its ceramic pot. The first spoonful was hot, spicy, and sour, almost burning my mouth. A few mouthfuls in you’ll be sweating and needing more rice. I haven’t had kimchi-jiggae in a long time. But I did visit a local Korean restaurant two days ago for a roll of spicy tuna kimbap. I don’t know if it was the nostalgic flavor profile or the fact that I’ve seen too many k-drama scenes with people crying and eating kimbap, but on the last bite the floods ran down my face. And I was glad. If the floods come, better to open the floodgates and let the water pass through. 

3. Mystery of Love 

Aside from eating spicy tuna kimbap this past weekend, I re-watched Call Me By Your Name. I love that film- the way it captures the lush, green, hazy atmosphere of summer, and especially how it captures summer rain. The kind of rain that makes everything feel deep green, that makes the couch, some music, and a book seem most inviting.

I love that they include Ravel’s “Une barque sur l'océan” (A Boat on the Ocean) from Miroirs in the soundtrack. The recording used in the film is by Canadian pianist André Laplante. Laplante taught at a summer music program called Orford Musique in 2025, which I know because I studied there for a week. Although I was studying with another teacher, I was able to sneak into a lesson or two to see Laplante teach. 

I also watched him play ping pong . It was an inspiring sight indeed: a 70-something year old internationally acclaimed pianist bouncing around the ping pong table in a garage with a dingy yellow light and mosquitoes buzzing, with the agility of someone much younger. 

Each year, Orford holds an annual ping pong tournament. Each year (apparently), he wins.

I bring up Call Me By Your Name because the soundtrack includes one of my most-listened to songs: Mystery of Love by Sufjan Stevens. I love the song because I find the mood it creates to be totally ambivalent. It’s a song that captures the wonder of first falling in love, to the pain of having to let someone go. I feel that in a song, it captures what I take to be the overarching question of the film: 

“Is it better to speak or die?”