Welcome Home

I've always moved places. On average, I've stayed in a place for just around 3 years. That's why when people ask me where I am from- it's hard to say where. And the funny thing is while I feel at home in the places I've lived in - Manila, Cebu, Davao, Hong Kong, Washington DC, Oxford and London- I never quite had sentimental feelings for one place. Probably because I just got so used to moving around, that I learned to detach myself from these places.

But, I must say that recently I started having feelings of belonging in some of the places I've been to. One is in Hong Kong. It was so hard to leave Hong Kong- almost like leaving someone you love. I guess in HK I just felt so at home, like I actually belonged there. But when I left HK for London, it was like my heart was torn- here I am leaving a place that I LOVE to go to a place where I've always dreamed of being. I mean never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be back in London again. It almost felt like I was breaking up with someone I loved so dearly (HK) to go and be with someone I've always dreamed of.

But when I arrived in London, I felt very very homesick for HK. Only recently did I start feeling a sense of belonging in London. When a colleague of mine wrote to me when I was on a vacation in the Philippines, "Have a safe trip home". Home. London is my home for now and probably will be in the next few years. I am a Londoner. But, come to think of it, I already had that sense of belonging when I was in the UK 3 years ago. Talk about deja vu.