It's been more like 4 years 3 months but I'm rounding up to 5 for added effect. In that time I've had extended stays in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Delhi, but my greatest "a-ha" moments haven't necessarily come as a result of experiencing the unique features of those cities, rather they've come from situation of being away from home and on my own. Sure, there are different cultures to experience, unique foods to eat and languages to learn, but my most profound moments have actually come from relatively unspectacular pauses between those events - from sitting on the plane, in laying in thought on my bed or sitting on the couch, from my visits home to the states. I'm creating this blog to recollect some of these thoughts - to keep them for me and to share them with you. There will be no order to these. Just random capturing of moments from memory. And here we go..
Irene has a baby boy now, almost a year old. He has hope in his eyes. And I remember my grandma joining me to watch the home videos. She was 86 at the time, still aware of things but not as sharp as she'd once been. She took little steps and moved pretty slowly by then, but she sat with me and watched home videos and she remembered. And I remember she turned to me and smiled. And I couldn't help but give an accepting smile back. We were thinking the same thing: we've come a long way. We have more now, but we were just as happy then.
And a random thought:
Losing touch
Looking back on when I first came to Asia, I'd say that there was a pretty wide set of people who I'd considered good friends: the type of people with whom I'd have no hesitation to randomly text for dinner together or to catch up with just over the phone. Now that I'm nearing the end of my stay here, I'm actually not sure who amongst those friends to reach out to and let know that I'm coming back. In truth, the extent to which I've been able to keep up with most of them include checking their updates on facebook. I more or less know their "statistics" including new jobs, relationships, kids, vacations. But for many friends, I haven't really caught up with them on the "how've you been" and "what's on your mind" basis. I feel a bit disconnected. I'll start reaching out one by one and hope that it's not awkward!
..wow, I just read back on this and realized this whole post sounds rather somber, but I didn't intend it to be. They are all good memories brought as a result of my travels.
And yes, you read it right. I'm coming home.
More next time!
1
One of the experiences I treasure most is the sum of many nights in Delhi (actually 30km southwest of Delhi in a town called Gurgaon) when after work I would sit in the living room - watching each movie in the Step Up series over and over again on HBO Asia (because they kept replaying them for some reason), sitting on the couch half-undressed from work either in an undershirt and slacks or a dress shirt and boxers, having the same chicken masala, curry over rice dinner - day after day after day. At first it was sad, then it became routine. I'd remind myself that "it's all part of the journey" and convince myself it was a humbling experience. After all, I'd lost touch more with friends in that time than in any other leg of being in Asia because I'd had little human interaction outside of work for over 3 months time. But the solitude was exactly what I needed. It was good in a way to not have friends and family around if just to prove - Hey I'm OK on my own. I may not want to do it again, but it was an experience I'll always appreciate.
2
When I visited Saratoga for the first time after being away for almost two years, I was just passing the time in the room I grew up in, tasked by my mom with transferring some old home videos from VHS to DVD. I was watching as the recording was going and there was my sister and I as little kids just running around the backyard while our parents were doing yard work. We didn't worry about paychecks or mortgages then - it was just GI Joe, Ninja Turtles and Hot Wheels for me; Barbie, Care Bears and My Little Pony for her. We had no smart phones, tablets or work laptops. We rode tricycles instead of cars and colored inside (and outside) the lines instead of typing email. We didn't care about what other people thought, and knew nothing of expectations, disappointment and failure. It was just scraped knees, bowl haircuts and running around in the rain for the sake of running around in the rain.Irene has a baby boy now, almost a year old. He has hope in his eyes. And I remember my grandma joining me to watch the home videos. She was 86 at the time, still aware of things but not as sharp as she'd once been. She took little steps and moved pretty slowly by then, but she sat with me and watched home videos and she remembered. And I remember she turned to me and smiled. And I couldn't help but give an accepting smile back. We were thinking the same thing: we've come a long way. We have more now, but we were just as happy then.
And a random thought:
Losing touch
Looking back on when I first came to Asia, I'd say that there was a pretty wide set of people who I'd considered good friends: the type of people with whom I'd have no hesitation to randomly text for dinner together or to catch up with just over the phone. Now that I'm nearing the end of my stay here, I'm actually not sure who amongst those friends to reach out to and let know that I'm coming back. In truth, the extent to which I've been able to keep up with most of them include checking their updates on facebook. I more or less know their "statistics" including new jobs, relationships, kids, vacations. But for many friends, I haven't really caught up with them on the "how've you been" and "what's on your mind" basis. I feel a bit disconnected. I'll start reaching out one by one and hope that it's not awkward!
..wow, I just read back on this and realized this whole post sounds rather somber, but I didn't intend it to be. They are all good memories brought as a result of my travels.
And yes, you read it right. I'm coming home.
More next time!
