23 July 2020.
I was looking for a certain photograph the other day and rummaged through a lot of cupboards until I came upon my CD collection. Very neatly labelled and categorised, I sat down with my CDs and laptop, eager to find the photograph otherwise so crystal clear in my mind. My husband watched me curiously, wondering how I was planning to do so. You see, I had missed out on one major detail all this while : There was no CD-rom slot to my laptop at all!
And upon further investigation, I didn’t seem to have the particular CD in my collection either. In my mind, those 1000+ photos saved in that CD are as clear as though they were clicked yesterday. But there are some moments that slip from your memory from time to time…and that’s when photos come to your rescue, don’t they? So then what happens when you lose (or let’s just say misplace for now) those very digital memories?
So I figured, I’d capture these moments in words…and relive them once again, in as graphic a detail as I can. And since I am writing this today, here’s what “clicked” : Today is a special day for me. And THAT is exactly what the CD I was looking for, held safe. So why not start with that?
23rd July 2007 is a very very important date in my life. It is a date, an emotion and an experience I will never forget. It is also an experience that not many people have been lucky to have in their lives. And so I cherish it even more.
It was the day I first flew to a foreign land, as a cultural exchange student. The first time I wrote about my exchange family, I had a lot of people ask me what that experience was like. There were a good number of people who also said they’d never heard of such a thing. In my life, however, I have been rather lucky to have a family who very lovingly have opened their doors and hearts to cultural exchange students right from my childhood. It changes you, this experience…even when you are in your own house, but sharing it with someone from an entirely different culture. Imagine what a tremendous change it might be then, to carry your culture with you in your clothes, language, food preferences and personality….and ease into someone else’s. You blend, and yet you stand apart.
This learning experience came rather early in my life (or so I now feel) and that changed me as a person in some aspects. And what I am today, a part of it is because that cultural exchange trip happened at a turning point in my life. Not only did it teach me confidence to look after myself and adjusting to a foreign culture, but it also got me a family and a home for a lifetime where I’d always be welcome.
But it wasn’t quite so easy for me as a person to get started on this journey. And this journey began much prior to 23rd July. So here’s a thought : I thought I’d pick this as a theme and commit myself to capturing the little moments from that trip that made everything so memorable, over the next month. That would also mean I write more often, which I chide myself about pretty regularly. I often give myself this excuse that I don’t have anything to write about, but when you think of it….every moment is a story waiting to be written.
So why not capture a few stories while we’re at it? I would love to write; would you like to read about them?
I have recently joined Instagram and have been marvelling over how effortlessly my friends can manage that social engagement thing this platform offers. I struggle, but this is an attempt to try getting onto that bandwagon (or flight, in this case!)
I would love to know if there’re any questions you might have about this experience – I’d be glad to turn it into a blog.
Looking forward to hearing from you 🙂