Distance Make The Heart Grow Fonder

I’m a Malaysian studying overseas. Don’t worry, aku tak guna duit rakyat nak belajar, so don’t berate me. Haha

What I want to share is that being overseas, banyak benda yang aku rasa. Not gonna go into details about life here. Just nak share what a person feels when diorang dah lama live away from their hometown. Bila dah study overseas ni, masa awal-awal memang rasa macam nak go away from the place we call home. Everything is viewed through rose-tinted glasses. Semua betul je, yang kat rumah rasa salah. But then, lama-lama you realize, there’s a lot of things that you like back home. Do note yang not everyone will have the same feelings, this is just an anecdote of a man, not a representation of a society.

The first thing that you’ll miss is your family. Before kau fly, kau rasa macam heaven. Finally, dapat be away from the peering eyes of your guardians. But then lama-lama, you’ll miss their embrace. Their love, their warmth, their wisdom. Sure you can survive alone, and you can contact them using social media and all that, but nothing will ever replace the feeling of a physical connection with them . Family is what you crave. Diorang je yang understand kau. Diorang je yang kenal the real you. Not the one you parade in front of everyone else. The moment you see them again after landing back home is the moment you’ll cherish forever because you finally realize yang everything else is irrelevant. Family comes first no matter what.

Then there’s the food. Oh the food. Mana ada mamak kat overseas. Mana ada lepak malam-malam dengan member, reminiscing the old days when you guys were at school. Mana ada nasi lemak on demand. Mana ada teh tarik on demand. Mana ada kuih muih on demand. Everything kat sini lama-lama gets boring because you have limited choices (unless kau tak kisah about doing something yang maybe orang kita akan rasa jelik lah). The feeling bila puasa kau pergi bazaar. That feeling buka puasa dengan family, dengan member. Bila balik Malaysia, food is one of the most craved aspects of your return. Food is love. Food is life.

Then there are your friends. The ones who supported you on your endeavors. The ones you share your stories with. The ones you share you experiences with. Sure dekat overseas ada member, but sometimes, you do miss the ones you left behind back home. Bila balik, mesti nak catch up, nak get to know apa yang diorang buat all this while. Lepak main futsal, tengok movie, pergi holiday. These are the people that represent a part of your life and you want to continue to develop it and maintain it. A noble cause.

And for some, Your significant other. Maybe kau dah lama tak jumpa, tak borak, tak facetime ke apa sebab busy. The time you get back home, dia lah yang greet. Dia lah yang drive kau balik rumah. Dia lah yang minat nak dengar everything about your stay overseas. Yang tak kahwin lagi, maybe kau berharap nak bawak dia ikut kau (LOL). Kalau kau rasa dah cukup minat, cukup kudrat, bawak lah. Terubat satu rindu. Tapi bawak satu problem gak overseas. Haha

There’s a lot more to be explained but I guess these are the main points yang at least ramai boleh relate to. The thing is, there may be a lot of problems back in Malaysia, you might even want to move away from it. You might want to pursue your life and career in other places. No problems, but you know, Home is where the heart is and distance makes your heart grow fonder. The experiences you had will always be a big part of who you are as a person and it will always be home to you.

– Lan

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