Att komma till andra sidan.
To come to the other side.
"Last summer my family and I flew back to my mom's hometown, Guang Zhou, to visit relatives.
One of the most exciting souvenir my dad brought home to Sweden afterwards
were two jackfruit seeds that he kept after eating the fruit.
We don't know if it was because of the unusual summer heatwave or
if the seeds were extra fertile, but two seeds that were supposed to only survive in a tropical climate
decided to set their roots and make a home in northern Europe.
Summer is always short, without being able to process it was already time for me
to leave my parents home and move to Gothenburg for my university studies.
My dad gave me one of the grown Jackfruit plants as a moving out present.
Although I quickly adapted and fell in love with the new city I moved to,
the jackfruit plant didn't seem to enjoy the new home as much as I did.
I saw the plant slowly losing its spark of life.
Soon enough, I was already on the train home to my parents to celebrate Christmas.
I left my sad jackfruit that didn't have leaves anymore in my lonely and cold apartment.
However, to my huge surprise after I came back to my apartment,
the jackfruit plant which has been neglected for several weeks
grew its own new leaf while I have been gone.
A plant that in nature absolutely didn't belong to the endless winter nights
survived without any sunshine, special care and water still held up and kept itself alive.
While that is possible,
I can't help but think that I can also make any place on earth my new home."
How to cure homesickness:
1. Go to your bathroom.
2. Fill up the bathtub with as hot water as possible.
3. Dip your toe into the bathwater. If the water is too hot, do following:
4. Go to the kitchen.
5. Open the freezer.
6. Take out all the ice.
7. Take a straw.
8. Go back to the bathroom.
9. Pour all the ice into the bathtub.
10. Undress.
11. Get into the bathtub.
12. Sit down.
13. Drink up all the bathwater with the straw.
A Cantonese song by Meng Ting Wei (孟庭苇)
冬季到台北来看雨
冬季到台北来看雨 别在异乡哭泣
冬季到台北来看雨 梦是唯一行李
轻轻回来不吵醒往事 就当我从来不曾远离
如果相逢把话藏心底 没有人比我更懂你
天还是天喔雨还是雨 我的伞下不再有你
我还是我喔你还是你 只是多了一个冬季
冬季到台北来看雨 别在异乡哭泣
冬季到台北来看雨 也许会遇见你
街道冷清心事却拥挤 每一个角落都有回忆
如果相逢也不必逃避 我终将擦肩而去
天还是天喔雨还是雨 这城市我不再熟悉
我还是我喔你还是你 只是多了一个冬季
冬季到台北来看雨 梦是唯一行李
轻轻回来不吵醒往事 就当我从来不曾远离
如果相逢把话藏心底 没有人比我更懂你
天还是天喔雨还是雨 我的伞下不再有你
我还是我喔你还是你 只是多了一个冬季
冬季到台北来看雨 别在异乡哭泣
冬季到台北来看雨 也许会遇见你
街道冷清心事却拥挤 每一个角落都有回忆
如果相逢也不必逃避 我终将擦肩而去
天还是天喔雨还是雨 这城市我不再熟悉
我还是我喔你还是你 只是多了一个冬季
Come back to Taipei to see the winter rain
don't cry in a foreign land
Come back to Taipei to see the winter rain
dream is the only luggage you need
Come back quietly and don't wake up the past
as if I have never left
If we encounter keep your secrets in your heart
nobody understands you as much as I do
The sky is the same sky, rain the same rain
but you are no longer under my umbrella
I am the same me, you the same you
but winter is the distance between us
The streets are empty but my thoughts are crowded
every corner contains memories
If we meet again do not hide
I will just walk past you
The sky is the same sky, the rain the same rain
but I can no longer recognize this city
I am the same me, you the same you
but winter is the distance between us
Bo Luo Mi, the Chinese name for jackfruit, originated from Buddhism and
means "to come to the other side".
It says that the name comes from people tasting this exotic
and unordinary fruit and can't resist to fantasies about
the mysterious and foreign land where the fruit comes from.
