The biggest thing that happened, without doubt, is the trip home.
Life back home is always moving at 200 miles per hour….. too fast to even catch my breath… sometimes I wonder if I am more suited for the slower pace western world…. Hmm… without all the local food…? I think I will pass that on….
On 31st August, 2006, I finally returned home… it has been one of the most anticipated trip… not one bit overrated… simply exciting… going home just feels that part of me that seems missing for a while… the feeling of … being at home…
The first moments when I was at home, alone I might add, I spent time just looking out, appreciating the familiar surroundings. Doing my routine of going to the kitchen and looking for food…. Even using the bathroom… everything little thing was euphoric… everything little thing was meaningful…
Before I went back, we were talking so much about what we are going to eat… and when I was back… it was more about… who am I going to meet… the urge to fill the stomach was overpowered by the urge to fill the heart… I was so glad to have spent a substantial part of my time home with my parents… I love them…
The ONE thing that makes me want to return home is to be with my parents… is to make them know that their son, me, is with them… is to assure them that their son, me, is going to take care of them…. That their son, me, is not lost to the ang moh world, which appears so much more interesting and appealing (TOTALLY OVERRATED!).
I met up with many friends, and was really glad that those who came made it… some were easy to connect back, some seemed to have lost that telepathy with me, some seem to forget that I am still me,never serious… nevertheless, I appreciate each one who made the effort to spend their precious time with me. Like I repeated a thousand times, I could totally understand if someone was not able to make it, I was in that “mad rush” in life before… in which there were just too many things happening all together…
One of the most fun events was the trip back to the office. I didn’t feel too comfortable going back since I wasn’t sure what I should say to the ex-colleagues who somewhat know me, yet wasn’t somewhat close…. Still, I did it…. Right after my lunch with my ex-mentor group… something which I have always enjoyed… something that I really miss since I left the firm.
I am really glad that I left the firm on a positive note, didn’t piss too many people off too much. Such that people perceive me to be a decent fellow, and some SEEMED really happy to see me and catch up with me. I was really happy to catch up with everyone that I met that day. I have always been that kind of a person who will want to the “routine walk in a place that I was in years before” even years after I left… I dunno how you describe someone like this. I was happy to be back in this place… taking the lift up… walking the narrow walkway… a place that I committed two years of my time… a place that has groomed me, nurtured me, a place where I feel I belong, loved, a place that I had toiled, and enjoyed… I was really happy to be back.
Time flies (overused cliché) as usual, but did I have a good flight…? I must say it’s an emphatic YES! The ONE THING that made this such a wonderful journey is being able to spend time with my parents again. I really miss and love them. The food was great too… like I told many people, and what my dear consciously pointed out time and again, my stomach was constantly full for the whole day for the first 4 days. I did enjoy the food… but really… it’s the people that makes a place… I am ready to be back… in just about 365days…. back home…
