If you asked me how many times I’ve been moving to another city/country, I could answered it precisely. It’s 8 times so far. There were many friends I’ve left, many special places, many favorite foods (oh yes! don’t forget about food ;)). Only memories I have, good one and bad one, and some forgotten one.
Early years of my life, there was no internet. When I moved to another city, we used to send letter to communicate and keep in touch with friends. I used to collect cute letter papers and envelopes. I used to collect all the mail I got from my friends in one box. It was sad to leave my friend so this collecting stuff made me happy. And of course, there were new friends at my new city. I met a bunch of new friends (a good ones too) before I needed to move again to another city.
People thinks that it was easy when you only move between cities. Still the same language. Still the same country. Still the same culture. Yes kind of, but it also need adapt ability. The new kids I met have different dialect. They have different way to joke. They made fun of me because I spoke differently. I ignored all that and just be myself. We became good friends (well.. some of them did).
The biggest challenge (and excitement) was when I moved from Indonesia to Netherlands. It was the first time I lived there. I had to quit my job and follow my husband. It wasn’t easy but manageable. Cultural shock is real! Language barrier was not that bad actually, but my English was not good at that point so it was a little hard for me. And don’t forget about the weather! 4 seasons a year! Exciting~ I got a chance to experience first snow, playing at the snowy field, biking and walking on slippery road (which is dangerous..). Also struggling on finding job there, I had to compete with Dutch people who can speak more than 2 languages. Now you understand why this movement is the most challenging and exciting so far (and by how long I wrote this paragraph!).
And now I’m in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. I like this city as well, though it means I left my friends and family again. Dealing with local people and their language.
If I look back on things I’ve left behind, most of them are good stuff (good memories, good friends, good food ;)). I always believe that if I have connection with a friend, meaning we’re close, then it doesn’t take long to connect our lives even though we’ve been living separately. I felt guilty when I quit my job, but I felt happy on the other side as well. I’m happy because I don’t need to deal with unreasonable requests from staffs, complaints, and office dramas 😀 I’m missing those moments when I was working as well though. We used to go to the mall to release stress and had a chat, good laugh with good companion. One time we also went to another city just to eat! Lol. Really miss those old good times.
By the end of the day, I’m still happy because even though I moved here I still have some loyal friends, good friends who can be contacted when I need to talk with someone (long live internet!!). But of course I also need to realize that life goes on, for me and for them, which means they will have their own little story where I’m not part of it, and so do I. I have new life here, and this time I’m dealing with dogs 😀
Someday when I leave Vietnam, this would be a really good memory! Working with so many dogs. It’s like a dream. I’m thankful for this chance to create memory with dogs and some new friends here.
Ciao!
In response to Discover Challenge The Things We Leave Behind.
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