Back in China - Destination Unknown

No matter who waits
For you or nobody
We all go there
Together

~ @nobyeni

After a few days in Singapore to visit some friends, about which I'll write later, I returned back to China. Every time I come back to this country, my shock and feeling weird gets a little bit smaller. It feels more and more like home. And arriving at the airport, after the checks and getting my luggage, I saw this sign.

None pick up
Pick up

None was there to pick me up. And the loneliness of living in a country where I don't know anybody, or not know anyone really, not speaking the language and feeling lost for several levels at many different times... those feelings didn't hit me this time. This sign really showed me something. That whether you get picked up or have to make your way through life on your own, you are walking the same steps, the same route. And where you end up, doesn't rely on who is taking you there, but has to do with the goals you set yourself.

Collapse

As I entered the Shanghai metro during peak hour, six o'clock in the morning, I was lucky to rush myself to get a seat, so I wasn't packed like a sardine. It's a two hour metro ride to get home from the airport, changing lines twice. I'm grateful I'm not claustrofobic, as it wasn't a fun experience. A young woman standing close to me collapsed. She simply fell on another woman, her feet no longer supporting her. She dropped her bag and it was almost as if she fell asleep. The people around her looked at each other, not sure what to do. Some started talking to her. And then all of a sudden a man came over, and lifted her, so she hung around him, and he seemed to know what he was doing. Pressed some points that made her wake up, We made room for her on the bench and she slumped into a seat, slowly waking up but disoriented. The man made some phone calls and after a few stops he helped her get up and to a doctor. Or so I presume.

It was a shocking experience. People yelling from being crushed. A young woman collapsing. It reminded me I don't know this world. I don't know much in general. And that I should learn first-aid accupuncture/pressure point/something so I can respond better next time.

Even though we might be travelling alone. There is help around if we need it. Or so I hope.

Direction

And so I will continue to go. Ahead. With a goal without too much detail, taking on the waves and opportunities as they come. Even though I don't know what my life will look like in five years, in one year, I know I'm going somewhere.

Destination unknown.
But there is a direction.

_{Photo by @nobyeni, taken at Shanghai Airport earlier this morning.}

^{Here an overview of more fiction/short stories and poetry by @nobyeni.}