LIVING IN AN UNKNOWN PLACE
It was not really an unknown place. It is a country known for its oil industry, for its friendly economy, for its high society. But for a first timer, traveling and living in a different country 5,028 miles away from home country seemed the place is uncharted, unknown.So, how
to live in a place you barely knew? How to adapt with its culture? How do you
live without pork serve in your meal to which pork is practically your daily
dose of energy? How to deal with its people? How do you know this woman is not
that woman because all women are wearing the traditional hijab with black long
dress called abaya and niqab covering all the face except the eyes? How to
adjust with the traditions and beliefs?
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And how
do you do it?
Simple.
Be like
them.
Dress
like them.
Think
like them.
And you
will survive.
Easy to
say. Yes. But it is kind of hard to execute. Well, that is if your heart is
weak and do not accept and welcome any change in your life.
So,
living in a different country was never easy. Your family is miles away from
you. Sometimes, when you feel very down, you just wanted a console or a hug
from your parents. There is video chat, yes, but the impact is different when
they are physically with you at your most vulnerable time rather than just
chatting over the phone.
Another
thing, the people. There might be people of the same nationality as you, but
sometimes, they were the ones who will bring you down instead of supporting
you. This was when you finally learn the meaning of crab mentality among your
nation. People of the same country exposing dirt about each other to know who
gain more sympathy. Some of them will treat you as their real family, some will
be your best friends for a lifetime, but most of them will pretend they care
but they only care about issues to spread and not your well-being.
Next,
people of different nationality. Who said everyone will like you? That is a
lie. Well, that is at least to those like you who came from other nations
who also just resides in the country and working their shit off for a living
and saves money. They will smile in front of you then 1 sec after, they began
blabbering about your attitude to everyone even if you are not really doing
anything to them. They just don’t like you, that’s it, and they began spreading
rumors to other like a wild fire. Some gets your attention, show you some
kindness but after accepting their so-called generosity, they will began
playing you under the table and becomes the meal. Others, you thought they have care but behind the thought of being genuine comes a silent
monster who don’t really know how to respect others. It was
an act of being an elder to an innocent child but then suddenly uttering
hideous words to a kid with no experience at all.
Then
there was a challenge among the capitol. You wake up every morning, go to work
and you have to pretend you do not know anything. You observe things but you do
not know whether what is real and what is not. There were hearsays but no
confirmation except for those good-poised people roaming around from the
highest floors down to the basement. Still, nothing was confirmed, everything
were just hunches.
Another,
being in country opens you to a whole new world. Works are in whole new
different level than what you used to do. But the thing was, you went to this
unknown place and you should know the consequences. There will be ups and
downs. Experienced that three folds. There were things that would bring you to
hell and that death will suddenly whisper in your ears. Experienced that too
three folds. But be brave. Accept those downfalls and you will find a way to go
uphill once again. If you’re a Christian or Catholic, pray to God. If you’re a
Muslim, pray to Allah. If you’re an atheist, then convince yourself you can
survive on your own. There are more than a million ways to conquer the fear and
stop the downfalls. You just got to be brave. Dying maybe a fast solution but
it will never bring yourself back, nor even your dreams, your future.
Living
in an unknown place is scary. Fear will totally cover you. You do not know what
kind of things you may experience. You do not know what kind of future you will
have in that place. Your experience might bring you disaster, or it may bring
you fortune. This place might deliver you to your lowest self, or it may
deliver you to your highest. There is no surety how you will survive, if you
will survive. But there is one thing you can be sure of. Living in an unknown
place will teach you a lot more than books can teach you. It will shape you as
to who you what to be. It will help you find the path you long to find or the
path you lost and wanted to walk at it again.
