Don't have to live like a refugee
Flashback: Friday, September 29th, 2006Friday was our first full day in exile in Kunming. We had stayed at our hotel before back in... well, I guess that was in the beginning of September. So anyway, having just stayed there a few weeks ago, we knew that there were street vendors around the corner so we could have a cheap and tasty breakfast. We didn't find a Kunming counterpart to our beloved pancake lady, but there was a vendor selling the pork filled pastries. There was also this guy who sold egg, onion and shredded potato scrambled together and sealed in a crepe like wrapping. Delicious! Yau Neih tried it that first morning and the rest of us joined in after that. After breakfast we returned to the hotel and started school. On a normal day, Siu Wan and I are lucky to get started before lunchtime. Here, without the usual distractions, we were able to finish everything in the morning.
It was during that time, as Siu Wan was doing some writing and I was twiddling my thumbs, that I started thinking "refugee thoughts." I looked out the window and saw the apartments across the street, some with laundry hanging out to dry. I thought about my own laundry sitting in the hamper back home, and that became kind of a metaphor for all the unfinished tasks we had left behind. We had the schooling to keep us occupied, but otherwise we had a potentially long stretch of time of sitting and waiting for some news. Not a pleasant way to spend some time. It reminded me of news stories that I had read about refugee camps and such. We certainly weren't suffering physical deprivation, what with sleeping in a hotel and dining at restaurants and all. But I could feel a connection with the anxiety and depression that folks fleeing from real disasters must feel. Their life, their homes are all out of reach. Day drags into day as someone else somewhere decides what their future will be.
posted by John @ 7:46 PM
<< Home