The Answer. 

                                             

Where are you from, Why are you here, How long will you be here, What's your name, How do you like it here, Where are you from originally... It doesn't matter what country I'm in, the questions are almost always the same.

Home is where the heart is... where is it? Like a crab in its shell, your body is home to your heart. It's cradled in your chest, safeguarded by your rib cages yet you wouldn't call yourself home, would you?
When we think of home, the first thing that generally comes to mind is the place you grew up. But when you've lived in many contrasting places it gets a bit complicated to explain, and becomes a bit of a dreaded question.

First of all people, more often than not, find it hard to pronounce my name. So lets just skip that repetitive answer.

I've been in Malaysia a little under a month now, and in all honesty, It's alright. I guess that's just how I'd answer a question like that, I wouldn't call myself boring but I can be a bit bland at times. Exaggerated, overly excited reactions are pretty rare for me. I like it here, its an easy place to live. You'll find everything you need, except the real fresh milk that I've had in almost every other country I've been to. But besides that, things have gone smoothly so far.

Why am I here? Fate? God's will? Luck? Whatever you may call it, I can't give you the answers you want. This time last year I was in London preparing for my AS exams, I didn't have any thoughts indicating me being here now. That tends to be a regular occurrence in my life though.


To put it simply, it's a good school with some form of international recognition that won't necessarily limit my options to just one country. Why wouldn't I want to be here, or better yet, why wouldn't my parents want me to be here? In my lifetime (18 years) I've lived in 5 different countries, on 3 different continents but for the first 12-ish years of my life, I grew up in the same place. So I understand why I'm asked these questions frequently, people are just intrigued. I don't blame them, I'm probably guilty of doing the same thing.

When people ask where I'm 'from from' it doesn't bother me. Why should it? I've seen people in the past, albeit not many, who are offended by this question. Some may feel like an outsider, but that's just something you'll have to live with as a production of immigration. You have to see the beauty in not belonging. It's not all one sided though. I've gotten the very same question when I was in the 'motherland' too. I wasn't 'from from' there when I was where I was 'from from'.

It's complicated if you think about it too much. You just have to look at the big picture and think about how it only matters in a materialistic sense. It isn't extreme enough to say the world revolves around which passport you hold, but it certainly does open up a lot more doors IF you've got a 'good' one. It's one of the things you'll realise once you've left first/western world bubble you're use to. Living in the UAE has made that very apparent though. People are blatantly discriminated against socially and financially depending on their nationality. For me personally, I've received fair treatment in past. Although it may not be evident initially, once someone hears me speak, its pretty obvious that I'm a little different. I had a biology tutor from Reading who was of South Asian decent, and judging by what she's described about her experience, I've had it pretty good.


I may seem a little all over the place but that's just me really. I'm not always entirely in one place.