I know some of you have seen the post I put up earlier this week of my China trip. I plan on touching it up and making it more readable, so I have taken it back down. I just needed to get it off my phone because I was afraid to lose the whole thing. So I'll send a message when its updated.
Having spent most of my summer traveling, I've had time to reflect a bit on this concept called home. I spent five weeks in China. That's a long time for a trip, perhaps the longest I may ever take. It was long enough to know that I was going to be in one place for a while, in this case Wuhan University. That means getting settled and saying things like "let's make this place feel more homey". But was the foreign language student dorms at WHU really my home for 5 weeks? I would say no. It was a place I unpacked. It was also a place could retreat to, a place I could sleep in, which in my case definitely means its a place where I felt more comfortable, safer, at ease. But was it much different from staying in a hotel room for a long time? Sure I did laundry but I still kept some clothes in a suitcase. Getting settled isn't or feeling safe isn't enough to be a home.
Naturally, I say I'm going home when I return to my parents house and also when I return to my apartment. I remember my siblings giving me a hard time every once in a while when I was back in California because I was saying I'm heading home when I left the folks place to go back to my apartment and they're like, you are home. I would stop and think, you're right, because I just told my roommates that I was heading home to see my family. OK so I have two homes now? Is that still the case as I live in Columbus now?
The obvious answer is that California is my home. I spent the last two weeks there between China and returning to school.Yet, when I walked into my house, the place my parents have changed every single time I returned (the first time they painted the house and changed the locks... just saying), there was a level of familiarity enmeshed with a sense of newness. However, walking into my room, I was informed that I was now staying in my sister's old room, the new guest room. This means I have now presided for prolonged periods in all three of the bedrooms in my house. I don't know how many times I found myself wandering into my mom's new office and stopping, wondering where my bed went, before remembering I now stayed next door. Is it home if I get lost in it?
What about Columbus? Within an hour of landing, I was playing games with Powder Climber, Cardmaster Cider, and Hopeful Introspective. By the next day, I was catching up with Cali Foodie over sushi, and saw Dandy Woo and several other cohort members at a birthday party that evening. I was so excited to catch up with these people, just like I'd been seeing all my friends in CA. I mean in two weeks I managed to visit with Mama Goldfish, Kareem, Alejandro, Brock, Clark, Bridges, Nemesis, RC Tequila, Dungeon Daddy, Heavy Spy, Tenshi, Red Button, Pokeboss, Captain Peanut, Naysayer P Squirrel, Banana Slug, VG Anteater, Whedon Watchedit, Chai Ducky, and even Spam Boa! In addition to several family gatherings, hangouts with Cheeky Monkey and Drew Jules York, maybe home was where the people are.
So what is a home? It's a place of comfort? Yes. A place of familiarity? Yes. A place of people you care about? Yes. A place where you stare at the sunset over the ocean, followed by the moon reflecting off the waves as a bonfire burns behind you, emitting a sense of peace and nostalgic happiness. Yes. Most definitely yes. I think that nostalgia bit is important, at least for now. A true home is where memories are made. Where memories are recalled with fondness. Where new memories are welcome. I think the place that has all of the above is the place that I call home. The overly cliched home is where the heart is, while accurate, is not descriptive enough. Home is where I have been so blessed. China had memories and comfort and even people, but it wasn't a home yet. Columbus has people and I'm making memories, but the nostalgia hasn't started yet. Only California has that. Someday, I may look back on Ohio and say it was my home for a while, but its not at the point yet where it feels like home.
That's why when I visit all those people back there I'm excited, because they are helping me make this place a home. Naysayer P Squirrel said to completely immerse myself here or I would be unhappy. I'd call that good advice. But for now, home is still in California, still the place I'm heading back to someday, hopefully sooner than later. Still the place Cali Foodie and I talk about fondly, the place I can't help but mention in passing conversation, still a part of my identity here in Ohio. I have many homes in the making, but for now, its a big one, Southern California, where my parents live, my friends reside, the University, the beach, the sun, the smell of salt on the breeze as it blows the smog over the traffic, the place where I know people at church. I'm blessed to have a home. I'm glad for more.
Updates on China very soon! Enjoy the return of the blog!
-JTY
Listening to- Soul to Squeeze, Red Hot Chili Peppers, who also remind me of home and are kinda my anthem these days. Apparently Drew Jules York agrees.
Reading: Dresden Files- a film noir crime book staring a wizard. what can't be good about that
Playing: League of Legends, time to get back into gaming
Having spent most of my summer traveling, I've had time to reflect a bit on this concept called home. I spent five weeks in China. That's a long time for a trip, perhaps the longest I may ever take. It was long enough to know that I was going to be in one place for a while, in this case Wuhan University. That means getting settled and saying things like "let's make this place feel more homey". But was the foreign language student dorms at WHU really my home for 5 weeks? I would say no. It was a place I unpacked. It was also a place could retreat to, a place I could sleep in, which in my case definitely means its a place where I felt more comfortable, safer, at ease. But was it much different from staying in a hotel room for a long time? Sure I did laundry but I still kept some clothes in a suitcase. Getting settled isn't or feeling safe isn't enough to be a home.
Naturally, I say I'm going home when I return to my parents house and also when I return to my apartment. I remember my siblings giving me a hard time every once in a while when I was back in California because I was saying I'm heading home when I left the folks place to go back to my apartment and they're like, you are home. I would stop and think, you're right, because I just told my roommates that I was heading home to see my family. OK so I have two homes now? Is that still the case as I live in Columbus now?
The obvious answer is that California is my home. I spent the last two weeks there between China and returning to school.Yet, when I walked into my house, the place my parents have changed every single time I returned (the first time they painted the house and changed the locks... just saying), there was a level of familiarity enmeshed with a sense of newness. However, walking into my room, I was informed that I was now staying in my sister's old room, the new guest room. This means I have now presided for prolonged periods in all three of the bedrooms in my house. I don't know how many times I found myself wandering into my mom's new office and stopping, wondering where my bed went, before remembering I now stayed next door. Is it home if I get lost in it?
What about Columbus? Within an hour of landing, I was playing games with Powder Climber, Cardmaster Cider, and Hopeful Introspective. By the next day, I was catching up with Cali Foodie over sushi, and saw Dandy Woo and several other cohort members at a birthday party that evening. I was so excited to catch up with these people, just like I'd been seeing all my friends in CA. I mean in two weeks I managed to visit with Mama Goldfish, Kareem, Alejandro, Brock, Clark, Bridges, Nemesis, RC Tequila, Dungeon Daddy, Heavy Spy, Tenshi, Red Button, Pokeboss, Captain Peanut, Naysayer P Squirrel, Banana Slug, VG Anteater, Whedon Watchedit, Chai Ducky, and even Spam Boa! In addition to several family gatherings, hangouts with Cheeky Monkey and Drew Jules York, maybe home was where the people are.
So what is a home? It's a place of comfort? Yes. A place of familiarity? Yes. A place of people you care about? Yes. A place where you stare at the sunset over the ocean, followed by the moon reflecting off the waves as a bonfire burns behind you, emitting a sense of peace and nostalgic happiness. Yes. Most definitely yes. I think that nostalgia bit is important, at least for now. A true home is where memories are made. Where memories are recalled with fondness. Where new memories are welcome. I think the place that has all of the above is the place that I call home. The overly cliched home is where the heart is, while accurate, is not descriptive enough. Home is where I have been so blessed. China had memories and comfort and even people, but it wasn't a home yet. Columbus has people and I'm making memories, but the nostalgia hasn't started yet. Only California has that. Someday, I may look back on Ohio and say it was my home for a while, but its not at the point yet where it feels like home.
That's why when I visit all those people back there I'm excited, because they are helping me make this place a home. Naysayer P Squirrel said to completely immerse myself here or I would be unhappy. I'd call that good advice. But for now, home is still in California, still the place I'm heading back to someday, hopefully sooner than later. Still the place Cali Foodie and I talk about fondly, the place I can't help but mention in passing conversation, still a part of my identity here in Ohio. I have many homes in the making, but for now, its a big one, Southern California, where my parents live, my friends reside, the University, the beach, the sun, the smell of salt on the breeze as it blows the smog over the traffic, the place where I know people at church. I'm blessed to have a home. I'm glad for more.
Updates on China very soon! Enjoy the return of the blog!
-JTY
Listening to- Soul to Squeeze, Red Hot Chili Peppers, who also remind me of home and are kinda my anthem these days. Apparently Drew Jules York agrees.
Reading: Dresden Files- a film noir crime book staring a wizard. what can't be good about that
Playing: League of Legends, time to get back into gaming
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