Disclaimer: This is a rambling, less-than-coherent, potentially self-indulgent, requisite pre-departure entry.
I guess one of the many things I’ve learnt on exchange is that goodbyes are never easy, even if they also herald the start of a new adventure. No matter how much you want to embark on something new. Not because I’d rather stay, but because of all I’ve invested in one place. One comfort zone.
I never thought I’d be able to call The Mansion home. For the longest time, it was always ‘the house’. I’ll always remember how stoked we were to find it, and to move in; how it quickly became a part of us. But it still never compared to Singapore, where Home was a HDB flat in the heartlands and a country in which we would always belong. This was in-between time, time spent in limbo when I’d look around at whitewashed walls and wonder who had inhabited this space before I did, how insignificant our presence was in the sands of time.
But I guess I adapted, learned to craft a space of my own, scribbled little pieces of my soul on post-it notes that quickly adorned my wall. How do you not learn to love a life here? Placid as sleepy Hsinchu was, it stole into our consciousness, nestled itself comfortably in our hearts.
I remember thinking, before I left Singapore: How do I leave a lifetime behind? Tonight I am learning that four months out of a lifetime is just as hard to move on from. At the same time, I do think it is time to go. I have learnt so much from this place; about myself. I am not that young, and not that scared.
Thank you Hsinchu, for having me. Thank you for these four months - for the love, laughter and all the memories. Next stop, Seoul!
