Home

Today is a momentous day here in Hong Kong. Today is the day The Sea Shipment arrived at Bamboo Grove. I'm oh-so-grateful for my recent 2 weeks away which provided me with a much needed break from the frustrations of living in an empty apartment for 6 weeks, but Now, we can sit in comfort, eat our meals at a table, listen to CDs, watch DVDs, cook with the proper implements and we don't have to wash up immediately after each meal, as we now have a cupboard full of plates! It took 8 weeks for our shipment to arrive. That wasn't quite part of the agreement, but hey...life does not always go to plan. Sometimes the challenges just keep on coming.

It's been an interesting time, living without all the usual "stuff" that surrounds us. Some days I have barely given it a thought and have been quite content with the space that has been my Home. Other days, not so much and on those days I have tried to work out what it is that I am actually missing..what it is I really NEED. Some days it was simply comfort, either physical or emotional. Other days I longed for a particular "thing"; a book to read, or CD to listen to. On the days my body was crying out for a restorative yoga pose, I desperately missed my yoga props but some days I was just plain angry. It just did not seem fair. Those were the bad days and said more about how I was coping with the transition than the situation itself but I'm pleased to report there were not many of those. I thought there would be more.

It often got me to thinking about Home. About what makes home a Home. Surely it's not just about your "stuff"...material possessions, about bricks and mortar; it's much more than that. Is it friends and family? Is it where you "feel" at home? What is it that makes you feel at home somewhere? I confess I've had these thoughts before, when we moved to Ottawa. It was harder first time around. More confusing. More things were new and unexpected. Of course everything was new and different in ways you didn't expect them to be and you missed all the familiar stuff and that included people; family, friends, colleagues.

Second time around it feels different. Yes, it is a different country but that is not why it feels different. I feel less "at home" in this country than I did in the previous country and yet it's easier this time. I miss familiarity less. The separation from friends is less intense, and this probably has a lot to do with today's technology. The wonders of Facebook and Skype, of MSN and similar applications. I also have more time to connect and communicate this time around. Being here on a tourist visa has its perks!

So now that we have our sofa, our books, our kitchen stuff and other personal items surrounding us, yes, of course it feels much more like home. We have comfort and more choice about how we spend our time while we are within these four walls. We can re-engage with things we had to put on hold. It feels good. However, I believe Home extends beyond the four walls of our physical abode. It's also about people and our surroundings. About what surroundings you feel comfortable in. Even the climate plays a part, I believe. I often think that I was born to live in a cold or at least cool climate as I generally don't do well in the heat. How our body responds to temperatures can really affect our mood and how we deal with situations...at least that is true for me. Then there's people. We all need people to interact with and those people, and they can be complete strangers, can make a difference to how you experience life. Are they friendly and welcoming, are they approachable and easy to talk to, or do they appear completely disinterested in anyone else around them as they go about their daily business? I'm taking it all in....every country seems just a little different and it can affect the way I behave or respond and I find that really interesting.

I don't believe I have quite finished with this particular subject yet so I will continue to watch my reactions but I do believe I am getting better at finding Home regardless of the country I'm in.