It’s always the sudden onset of emptiness when you come home from an overseas trip. Within a blink of an eye, you are hit with the reality of what your life really is. The same typical mundane routine all over again. I was on my flight back and I thought, “Awesomeness. I am ready for NS”.
I suppose the trip was an opportunity given to me to restart myself. A week of isolation in Beijing. Only me, my family and my tour group. As I mature, I begin to see new perspective of things. Overseas trip are not merely the sightseeing, theme parks and shopping of the past. There are beauty, sentimental value attached to each object, each event and each person that you encounter. This trip has indeed broadened my perspective.
I have little idea of who will be reading this post. I do not want to be seen as one who acts so philosophical and thinks oh so too much. I am just one who tries to pause and appreciate the value of things.
The myriad of events unwound themselves so spontaneously. Despite the hectic 5 days schedule of actual sightseeing and tour, I was still able to experience each event throughoutly, as if it was played in a slow-fashioned manner. Great wall, Olympic village, forrbidden city, tong ren tang, Ming tombs and many others were all explored in a matter of days. Surely, it was magnificent being able to witness these artefacts in person, but actually, there are much more to it.
These places have centuries of historical significance. Sadly, they are all infested with the tourism bug. It is understandable that likeminded tourists like me would visit these places and swarm every feet of walking space available. Walking vendors themselves swarm themselves around tourists, like ants to honey. It gets annoying when they start to become pushy. I learnt that there are more than what we see from the surface. There was a murder at one of the historical tower during the first day of the 2008 Olympics, in which a Chinese man stabbed a foreign tourist, in his bid to protest against some political cause. This was covered up by the Chinese government to the international media. The air in Beijing is toxic, people light up their cigarettes everywhere and smog engulfs the city, coming mainly from vehicles burning on low quality unfiltered petrol. The toilet at the majestic bird nest stadium is horrible. The locals still spit casually on the pavements, despite the country advertising that it has revamped the civilities of its people. There are much more than what meet the eyes.
In the midst of the my little social isolation, I wondered, what brings me happiness. Is it being able to live in the aftermath of an event that has left me stronger? Is it though busking in the light of an event that has left me with blissful memories? Does happiness stem from people that I have encountered, who have left or are continuing to leave beautiful imprints in my life? Is it from some achievements that I have achieved?
Happiness comes within oneself. The truth is that happiness comes within oneself. It is easily to be mistaken and conceive that happiness requires a stimulus, like a happy event. But these are only the surface side of things. Happiness is the ability to turn both ordinary and extraordinary events into self contentment. It boils down to the mentality of the individual.
As with any other overseas trip, the events I experienced, the many friendships forged with the tour group, only whistles down to memories after the trip. And memories fade over time. Inevitably. As much as I want to cherish the memories, it will only become a thing of the past.
After all, we all know that all good things come to an end.
