HIRAETH

What they don’t understand about being a newcomer and what they never tell you is that when you’re a newcomer you’re also a wanderer, an explorer, an adventurer, an outsider, a listener, a loner, a tourist, a newborn baby, an adopted child, a colorful photo in a blank canvas, a penguin with a flock of vultures, a first grader in the first day of classes, an apple in a basket full of oranges and a sunflower in a bed of roses.

And when you wake up in the morning, and you realize you don't know anyone and you don't know anything, you have a bunch of things to say but no one to share to, and you just want to talk about it with your best friend, you're longing for your family and you just want to go home, you feel isolated from the world, more lost than ever, you're overwhelmed by the changes of your life that you just want everything back to what you are used to, you worry if this place will ever feel like a home to you and you were perplexed by the thought that you will always be an outsider. But on the other hand, you don't really feel like that at all.

You feel enthusiastic and excited each day - like solving a puzzle and seeing the bigger picture as you put the little pieces together. You feel curious about the things that is unusual to you and began to find out different things you’re actually interested in. You get to have more opportunities than before - like someone who is promoted in his job. You started to learn and really understand the differences between cultures and your understanding became broader. You get to know yourself more - like you’ve unleashed a different part of yourself you never know you have. You meet new people, made lifelong friends, and get to have more experiences - And as you have more experiences, your world became larger and realized that there is more in life to discover.

Sometimes you might feel unhappy, shaken, unsure whether you should stay or go back - but sometimes you don’t feel like a newcomer at all, you feel just like them - fearful, questioning, nervous at times, afraid of being ignored and judged, wanting to just hang out and chill, ready for the next step, ready for whatever life throws at you...and that’s when I wish everyone could know what it means to be a newcomer.