New Year, Home

And so we begin yet another trip around the sun, the year 2006CE. Who knows how long have this little planet we call home orbited this big small star we call the sun. And who knows for how much longer? We can only imagine how small and insignificant we are, not just as individuals, but also as a species living on Earth, in the vast infinity of the universe. We can also only imagine how short and insignificant our small existence stands against the endless stretch of time.

So this is how I begin this new year. What is a new year anyway, but just that? Some time in the past some wise men decided that we begin counting the days and months and years from an arbitrary point in time.

Final sunset over Marsh Plaza

The end of 2005 also marked the end of my time in Boston and the United States (for now, hopefully). It just happened that they arranged my flight out of the country on December 31. I was half-hoping that there would be a special treat of some kind flying on New Year’s Eve, but it was all quiet as we crossed into 2006 over the sky of Los Angeles. Before departing I managed to see just about everyone; Prof Anwar even gave me quite a talk. A nice makcik at the United Airlines check-in counter at Logan Airport was extremely nice to have helped me save more than $600 from overweight luggage; it turned out that since September the weight limit for checked-in luggage was reduced from 70lbs to just 50lbs. Kam made a point to shake her hand.

Now I am back in Malaysia, back home in my cramped old bedroom and my cramped old bed, back at work at IIUM. The good news is that we are well into the semester so I do not have a teaching assignment. For the few coming months it would be just like before I left. I haven’t been able to get my cell phone unlocked, and so using it as an excuse for not contacting any of my friends yet. I kinda like not having a cell phone, staying out of reach, in peace; easier on the budget too. But my mother is already bugging me to get one soon, “Kalau ada apa-apa nanti” she says. Ah, so now she cannot complain that I waste money on some cool gadget, er, phone. MUAHAHA! In the meantime she makes me take her cell phone to work. Earlier today there were three calls from someone named Julianah. I don't recognize the name, most likely some school teacher, so I just watched the phone rang and buzzed till it went off.

I also cannot say that I miss Boston terribly. Maybe not yet, though I doubt it. It would be really suck to miss a place you don’t call home. I really enjoyed my stay there, would love to go back sometime, but very much happier to be back home.