Returning

So I’m back from a surreal, hectic, gorgeous week in London, and it seems like a dream. One minute I was going along with life in a sub-tropical climate, the next walking through drizzle in a grey city, trying not to let my umbrella turn inside out. I was vastly unprepared in the clothing department, having overestimated English springtime, why oh why did I think I could wear flip flops? A quick trip to Topshop and all was sorted. Returning to my old life was like taking a much-loved story book off a shelf… the story is familiar and the words echoed in my mind, but the person reading them had changed, and the sentences carried a new meaning. I love London, it’s my home and there are so many people I love there, yet I saw it through a brighter lens. Not much had changed since I left – a couple of weddings, babies growing bigger, friends getting new jobs, but I’ve changed more than that. My perspective on the world has been stretched beyond my imagination. I stick out in Singapore, I’m kind of special here, adventurous. I lay awake with jet lag at 4am this morning, ravenously hungry dreaming of rice porridge – unthinkable a few short months ago! My tastes have changed. The earthquake in Indonesia is nearer now, never again will I hear of a natural disaster in Asia and feel nothing. These people look like my new friends. They’ve been given 12kg of rice in ‘aid’ by the government, and I know they deserve more. Having spent time in Asia, I’ll return to the West a different person – older, thinner, richer, hopefully a little wiser and more compassionate.