The Journey So Far

Book 4 : A Time of Miracles

Book 4 : A Time of Miracles

The Return of the Son of OCD

There I was, on the threshold of the big 3-0, cash in the bank, ready to set off to that dream of university. Or whatever else I wanted to do. Great, right? Fucking fantastic, amazing, incredible? Maybe.

There was a lot of house-hunting and property buying and a whole song and dance and drama about it. What is it with Chinese people and property? It is some kind of disease or what? I'm cutting it here for brevity's sake, but the end result of it was that we finally (after a lot of drama) purchased a new place. I was still holding Mum's hand throughout most of the process (though thankfully not as much as before) and when it was all done I heaved a sigh of relief.

Things seemed to be looking up. I quite liked the new place we were living in. It was close to some nice restaurants, a big shopping mall, and it was generally pleasant and convenient. Nothing to complain about. You're right. There was no downside. Amazing huh? I couldn't quite believe it myself.

My mom and I even started talking again. We had lived in the same house for most of my life but never had much by way of conversation. Which considering she was off in PhD Land made perfect sense. I did try to share some things but at that point the gulf was just too big and too much time had passed, and so I let things be - something that in the past would have been impossible. But talking was a start. Some things were still off-limits (psychology, the divorce, parents, fathers) but it was better than the Cold War of before.

After so many years and so much healing I actually began to enjoy doing housework sometimes. When no one is screaming at you to do something you generally enjoy it a lot more. Imagine telling a young kid "EAT YOUR FUCKING ICE CREAM OR YOU'LL GET IT!" - don't think he's gonna like ice cream when he grows up. I started cooking again (sometimes) and dishwashing became a Zen activity rather than a painful one. Same goes for grocery shopping. I remembered the times in the US when I would go get groceries after school with my Dad, and go and rent games after that. I chatted with the cashiers and the service staff and generally things were peaceful.

My sister went to Australia to study. She actually had gone two years before Sanc Ville was sold. It was a big step for her but a smaller step for me. Of course my envy got activated again, (now my sister gets to go to university instead of me!) but this time it was stopped cold in its tracks by Meimei telling me that she could only go because I was there for her. Which was very true, though I had difficulty accepting it fully at that time.

Everyone told me that she was blossoming and "coming into her own" and all that, but to be honest I didn't think Meimei had changed that much. From my (admittedly biased) perspective, I thought that the Trial Separation years had REALLY matured her. Not to mention The Handover.

But it was really interesting and enlightening to hear her stories about university and to see how she and her friends interacted. Now I could see it first-hand (or rather, second-hand) the fabled Universitas that I had alternately so longed for and hated.

What Benjamin Qwek had told me years before really hit home - university is what you make of it. Some students decided to get the Asian Students Package and only hang out with Asians, watch anime and K-dramas and eat at the only Chinese restaurant in town. Some went full tilt into their studies, maybe because of loans to pay or scholarship demands. Others became total party animals and got drunk every day. It was interesting to watch from the sidelines, and very educational as well.

I did take a short trip there with my Dad to visit her and met her friends. It was great and some things got resolved. She told me about her professors and what they taught her and...but there's no space for that. That's Meimei's story to tell.