I Left My Heart in San Francisco…(and DC)

An all-expense-paid business trip to San Francisco afforded me the cherished opportunity to hang out with my fun loving Bay Area friends once again. This is my third trip to my second hometown in three months; I haven’t been back this often since I lived, in my opinion, in the greatest city in the U.S. many years ago. At the peak of the Internet boom circa late 90’s, my first job out of college sent me straight to the Golden Gate City where money was thrown at us like rice at a wedding and where I met lifelong friends. We partied like it was 1999…and in fact it was. A big group of us spent most of our days together – cooking dinner and eating out, watching movies, playing the stock market, shopping religiously, snowboarding at Tahoe, clubbing every weekend (sometimes even on a Monday night) and most definitely, getting piss drunk every chance we got. I experienced what every recent college grad with fast money and new friends should, and I got to do it in a laid-back city that’s got a lot of culture, first-rate cuisine, and exceptional nightlife. Even when I left San Francisco, through no choice of my own, I visited once or twice a year to see friends I’d left behind. And now that I’m moving to Australia, I said goodbye to my friends who’ve endured our quarter-life crisis together and so much more.


I then made a pit stop in the hometown I grew up in, where my family still resides and where I keep all my belongings. This past week has been extremely hectic – attempting to pack for an entire year and tying up loose ends while juggling lunch and dinner dates with family and friends to bid adieu. I haven’t had a moment to just sit and relax. Even though I’m usually gone ten months out of the year, I never get homesick because I always visit every other month. And quite frankly, I really enjoy being the guest of honor every time I come home (especially since it means a lot of free meals). This time, however, since we can’t afford any return trips from Australia, I am heartbroken to leave my family for such an extended period of time, especially my mommy. I am missing her even before I leave. I won’t get to hear her snoring away in the next room. I won’t get to eat her home cooked meals or be her guinea pig as she experiments with food. I won’t get to help her shop for an outfit for her next party. I won’t get to listen to her practice goo jung (Chinese harp) before her debut recital. I won’t get to pick her up from the Metro station after she gets off work. I won’t get to mediate when my parents bicker over the stupidest things. I won’t get to laugh every time she tells me about some public sex scandal but would never say the word “sex” and instead uses phrases like “they were doing that thing” or “play together.” I won’t get to hear her gossip about the family, HK celebs, and her coworkers (“Oh my god! Their daughter got knocked up and is having the bastard child??!!” “His naked pictures of celebrity girlfriends are all over the Internet??!!”) But I like this new emotion I’m feeling – missing my mom and being homesick – because now I won’t take her for granted…as much. And now we’re ready to leave everything we know behind for a year-long experiment living in a strange land with strange animals where they speak a strange language and all the seasons are reversed as is the flow of water when you flush the toilet. G’day Mate! She’s apples! Say what?