Awkward: A Lost Dragon On American Soil

3 decades ago I was hatched  born in West Virginia, USA. I did not stay long. My parents were students back then, so I was still red and tender when they shipped me back to my grands in Malaysia. Ever since then I was raised a Malaysian. I lived a Malaysian life. I favor spicy food. I speak Manglish. I am as Malaysian as any Malaysian can be, even if the system never allowed me to forget that I was born an alien. People get curious on why my birth certificate was big and green, or why my national ID code is “-71-“.

Hence going to the US had been a lifelong dream. They say opportunities don’t knock twice, but in my case opportunities have a knack of knocking at my door and then ran away laughing when I opened them… until last month. It was a three-month assignment to the East-coast of the USA, and the site I was sent to was within driving distance to West Virginia. I jumped at the opportunity, and preparations were made in a rush due to the short notice.

Travelling took about 30 hours, and by the time I arrived at the airport, I had to drive myself to the hotel which was supposed to be about 30 minutes away. I took 2 hours. Driving left-hand side was not so bad though.

Weather is fine at this point of year. Summer is just around the corner, and flowers are blooming everywhere. There’s sun, and cool dry wind, temperature is just below 20 degrees Celcius. A mall is just within walking distance and I work around getting Halal-food. I spent most of these two days of the weekend holed up in my room, be online and chat with my wife just like old times (lol).

I look forward to the weekend where I plan to drive all the way to New York, and the weekend where my wife, parents and eldest son will be coming over and we’ll be on a trip to West Virginia. I imagine that being me, I will not be going around much without company.

I’m alone, lonely, and the euphoria of travelling to this foreign land is dying down. Tomorrow I will start work. I have yet to look for a mosque around here for Friday sermons. I’m feeling a lot of things at the same time, but one thing is certain; I bloody miss my family. So damn much that if I let my mind wander around in the quiet of the night, if I can have it any other way I would be on the next plane home just to give them a bloody hug.

A dragon who is hard outside, soft and squishy inside? I might as well be a cockroach.