home, home, where i wanted to roam

after what must have been the most horrible 30 something hours of my life, from the very moment i step into Chicago Midway International Airport till the moment i arrive at Changi International Airport, i am finally back home. through the airport closure at midway the night before i flew, to the circling of wisconsin while we waited for air force one to land at minneapolis, to the mechanical faults that kept me on the ground not once but twice, and the sheer torture of spending almost 27 hours sitting on a plane seat, i am back. and somehow all the trouble feels so worthwhile, because slipping right back into my country is exactly what i need.

when i got onto the cab to come home from changi, it felt right straight away. i did not have to tip the taxi driver (though at 27.75 it was already a pretty pricey trip), there wasn't a glass panel seperating me from the hokkien songs he was playing on the car radio, and most importantly, he drove on the correct side of the road. and as i passed the city on the ECP, much like how everyone notices that singapore is just so lit up and beautiful when you come in for a landing, i could see the faint glow of the remainding city lights that were still on at 2.30am, somehow just signalling that our city is still awake, and waiting.

it is unbearably warm from someone who has endured the chilly winds of chicago, and who thinks that 2 degrees celsius is nice and balmy. and walking around the city yesterday, in the humid conditions that always threatened rain, and going up to the sheares bridge to see the famous skyline (that my friend swears is on the box art of Civilization IV but i fail to see where), i felt at home and perhaps somewhat surprisingly at ease.

i have two homes now. in one, there is everything i had ever wanted but didn't really imagine. the great amount of learning and people who never fail to surprise me in good ways or bad. where good weather is a dusting of snow and temperatures that didn't go below negative 10. harry potter-esque dining halls, buildings named after dead people and new sandstone pathways that better complement the look.

and in the other, so many things i remember and enjoy. people who i know so well and yet want to know more. where the weather is good almost anyday. tall buildings that didn't intimidate you, unending construction work and a place that you know works. people i love dearly. this is the home with everything i have, and everything i want to hold on to.

so what is all this overly-sentimental dribble about everything? i don't know. but as i walked through the city yesterday, and realised that i am content, because life has come to a point where i can say to myself that what i have done right outweighs what i have done wrong. and look at everything and realise that i like what i see in my future, despite everything that has ever been said, because i know the roads i will be walking down and the people i want to be walking with me, and they are all beautiful.