T / departures (other people’s)

July 17, 2017 by caitandtiff Leave a comment

Artwork Credit: J. Emslie

Yay we’re back! Life is pathetic fallacy right now. Because in addition to the monsoon come the summer time goodbyes in this city and all the related feels. The last of which happened to me last week. Which is probably why I got zapped of all inspiration for a little bit. So I had to write this small meditation to get it over with. Obviously.

This life is goodbyes. Or as I would prefer to refer to them, “see you soons.” Over the past few weeks, I’ve said these words to not just one but three sets of friends. Important friends. The kind of friends that are like the super comfortable favourite pillows on your bed. Sorry, was that a creepy way of describing friendship?

At the same time, I’m still on the heels of coming back from California, where I saw more than a few sets of friends that I allegedly said goodbye to over the past few years. And guess what? It was like we were picking up from where we left off. Except maybe we had some more money this time around (yeeeah 30s). I should also mention that I’m not the best at keeping in touch. Years of poor connectivity and dropped Skype calls have more or less killed my enthusiasm for overseas phone calls. However, I am amenable to a long form email. And I hear that the Internet of things works a heck of ton better now.

The other fun thing about this nomadic community we’re a part of is the awkward friendship starter. I love Kate’s words on the topic. Because isn’t that what summer is all about? All these new people landing? And everyone else you sort of know, have seen around, would like to get to know better? Looking back on some of my closest friendships I’ve made since leaving Canada, they’ve always been in the most inopportune of places. Being drenched in a monsoon in an outdoor group work out. In a deep dark club because we’re both Asian and should be friends. The infamous roll of Hello Kitty duct tape and the ensuing noodles! And sweating together. Always sweating together. There’s nothing more bonding than that.

And the goodbyes won’t stop. Ever. I’m already preparing the the spate of them that will happen in 2018. And I’ll depart this gorgeous piece of land at some point too. So I was trying to find something to capture that. But let’s face it, everything would be drag. So let’s watch these pretty pictures instead. Because it’s not goodbye. It just means the next time I see you, it’ll be a different way of coffee (which will probably cost way more than $2.50), bread instead of noodles, and taxis instead of tuk tuks. Let’s celebrate that.