No matter how big the enthusiasm within
is and no matter how many times one has gone through this process,
leaving the place where you settled down for a fair amount of time,
is never easy. The comfort of a place called home, the friendships
that one has sowed at work, in the neighbourhood, in life in general,
the habits and customs; every single one of those little every day
life things, they are all hard to leave behind. It's this subtle mix
of emotions between the huge excitement of the adventure to come and
the sadness that comes with a new detachment from the people and
things that were part of one's life.
The night before the day I took off I
was incredibly nervous and it was almost impossible to sleep. Caught
between the practical decisions that needed to be taken, like packing
in the most efficient way and the myriad of emotions involved in
being at the verge of taking such a big step in life almost the whole
night passed by in no time. It was at 5.30am that I was finally able
to lie down. It wasn't really sleeping but more likely a very light
rest. It didn't take long for the alarm to ring at 8am. It was time
to take a shower and shave for the last time in who knows how many
days, have some coffee and take a few minutes of silence to look
around home and contemplate to give the heart a last look at that
small world I had built in the last few years of my life in China.
The time to leave had come once again, to leave not in the sense of
abandonment and forget but to leave carrying with oneself all those
things that one has gone through in life, the friends, the
experiences, the affection that one has harvested with time and love
throughout time. Leaving ain't about leaving behind but to keep going
with so much more inside, so much more. Some of the best friends that
have accompanied me almost from the very first days I was in town
were waiting for me downstairs. They gave me warm smiles for the road
and encouraging words for the trip I was about to embark on.
