Monday, March 17, 2014

It has been almost 12 years since I moved away from Belgium. In these years I have met a number of very interesting people, from very different backgrounds and walks of life. Often i wonder whether I would have come across all these life stories if I had stayed in Belgium. I met people from all continents - Kenya, Brasil, Seychelles, Nepal, Australia, China, Japan, Russia, Norway, Japan, Dubai, Indonesia, Argentina, Tunisia, India, Israel, Philippines and may, many more countries. I've crossed path with people whose parents are from completely different countries. I've met someone whose father is Arab and Muslim, and whose mother is Russian and Jewish. I've met a Chinese guy whose mother is from Jamaica and whose father is from the UK. I've met British people who were born in Hong Kong, an Irish guy who was born in Israel and Filipinos born in the USA. I've met a Vietnamese guy who came to Hong Kong as a boat refugee when he was four and spent time in a refugee centre with his family. I've met people who left Hong Kong with their family when they were very young and moved to Australia or Canada because they were unsure of what was going to happen after the handover of Hong Kong to China. I've met a Canadian who lived in rural Japan for a few years. So many people, so many stories. And the best stories come from the people who moved around. Getting out of the country where you were born for a few years does broaden your horizon a lot.