My Journey Back To Asia - The Transition
It was a strange feeling seating in the airplane after so many years. Sitting beside the man who had captured my heart and convinced me that I needed to sort my life out, I couldn't help but smile lovingly into his face as thoughts ran through my mind if he only knew how scared I was deep down inside me. Chris, he's my knight in shinning armour who came to rescue a damsel in distress at such impeccable timing!
The last time I sat in a plane was more than 10 years ago when I left Malaysia for the US. For reasons I rather not go into and to put everything into a nutshell, let's just say I was too trusting and just too gullible then, and that all this led to one thing after another which ultimately resulted in my overstaying my visa. Nine years later with two beautiful angels, I decided that enough was enough and now that I have finally found my rock and with his continuous support, I managed to find a way out of the mess I had brought onto myself. With his help, I managed to sum up courage and the will to get things done the proper way as he had suggested. So in just two huge suitcases, I packed away my 10 years of living in Chicago inside it and off I went.
I made it back to Malaysia without a glitch, nervous and anxious, a whole bag of mixed emotions and after straightening out all my long expired papers, I once again found myself "legit" as I have been an illegal immigrant in the US for a good long while. So it was strange but nonetheless refreshing as I can now walk about without having to look over my shoulders every time to make sure that I wouldn't arouse any suspicion to warrant a check. Even though I was back on home soil, it felt like I was an illegal. Even though I am a Malaysian and because my documents have expired, it didn't sit well with me. Thank goodness the documents were all done within an hour!...Bless the service back home, very efficient and fast!
Living in Bangkok was an eye opener for me. However, after 9 years with a Thai American, I understood a lot of things when living in Bangkok. It took time to adjust to their way of life certainly, their society, their way of thinking, their kind of food (extremely spicy but not much variety, in my opinion) and the way their laws work. Unfortunately corruption is very much a part of their way of life. Pollution in Bangkok came in all forms, water, air, noise you name it and I suffered tremendously from it. It was a far cry from the nice clean air you breathe in Chicago undoubtedly! You think the pollution was bad, road congestion was no better! Twice we had a motor bike accident. Once we were almost sardined between a semi truck and the road divider and the second time round I fell from the motorbike and onto the road and fractured my coccyx....ouch! That was intense! Frankly, had there been a third time, I would have ended up six feet under!
Anyways, Bangkok was just another stop. The business investment that Chris invested in went bust which resulted us having to fly home to France. I cannot help but admit I was more than ready to leave this "infamous" place as I have never totally adjusted to living here. So when it was time to pack up and leave, I was more than overjoyed. In fact, relieved! Chris on the other hand, well, he didn't quite share the exact sentiments but he knew that he did not have much of a choice especially having lost huge amount of money here.
In a nutshell, my trip back to Asia was a pretty cool transition. Hard at start but it worked itself out gradually. Tough being away from the children and at a cost yet it had to be done and I am glad I did it. The down side of leaving the US is that I will be barred from entering for a good long while, regardless on whether I left willingly or not and it was either now or never and I chose now. I was tired of always having to look over my shoulders and living in constant fear that I was going to get caught.
This decision came with a heavy cost but it was something that had to be done. In the end, the transition went smooth sailing...
The last time I sat in a plane was more than 10 years ago when I left Malaysia for the US. For reasons I rather not go into and to put everything into a nutshell, let's just say I was too trusting and just too gullible then, and that all this led to one thing after another which ultimately resulted in my overstaying my visa. Nine years later with two beautiful angels, I decided that enough was enough and now that I have finally found my rock and with his continuous support, I managed to find a way out of the mess I had brought onto myself. With his help, I managed to sum up courage and the will to get things done the proper way as he had suggested. So in just two huge suitcases, I packed away my 10 years of living in Chicago inside it and off I went.
I made it back to Malaysia without a glitch, nervous and anxious, a whole bag of mixed emotions and after straightening out all my long expired papers, I once again found myself "legit" as I have been an illegal immigrant in the US for a good long while. So it was strange but nonetheless refreshing as I can now walk about without having to look over my shoulders every time to make sure that I wouldn't arouse any suspicion to warrant a check. Even though I was back on home soil, it felt like I was an illegal. Even though I am a Malaysian and because my documents have expired, it didn't sit well with me. Thank goodness the documents were all done within an hour!...Bless the service back home, very efficient and fast!
Living in Bangkok was an eye opener for me. However, after 9 years with a Thai American, I understood a lot of things when living in Bangkok. It took time to adjust to their way of life certainly, their society, their way of thinking, their kind of food (extremely spicy but not much variety, in my opinion) and the way their laws work. Unfortunately corruption is very much a part of their way of life. Pollution in Bangkok came in all forms, water, air, noise you name it and I suffered tremendously from it. It was a far cry from the nice clean air you breathe in Chicago undoubtedly! You think the pollution was bad, road congestion was no better! Twice we had a motor bike accident. Once we were almost sardined between a semi truck and the road divider and the second time round I fell from the motorbike and onto the road and fractured my coccyx....ouch! That was intense! Frankly, had there been a third time, I would have ended up six feet under!
Anyways, Bangkok was just another stop. The business investment that Chris invested in went bust which resulted us having to fly home to France. I cannot help but admit I was more than ready to leave this "infamous" place as I have never totally adjusted to living here. So when it was time to pack up and leave, I was more than overjoyed. In fact, relieved! Chris on the other hand, well, he didn't quite share the exact sentiments but he knew that he did not have much of a choice especially having lost huge amount of money here.
In a nutshell, my trip back to Asia was a pretty cool transition. Hard at start but it worked itself out gradually. Tough being away from the children and at a cost yet it had to be done and I am glad I did it. The down side of leaving the US is that I will be barred from entering for a good long while, regardless on whether I left willingly or not and it was either now or never and I chose now. I was tired of always having to look over my shoulders and living in constant fear that I was going to get caught.
This decision came with a heavy cost but it was something that had to be done. In the end, the transition went smooth sailing...
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