A4: Home in the North, Home in the South

    I have two homes; one is in Pingtung and the other one is in Taipei. I have spent my life living in the former since I was an elementary school student, little and naive. I have stayed in the latter since the first day of my university life.

    The dimensions of my rooms in different homes are extremely contrary. I rent a room in Shilin, Taipei since I study in Soochow University. The room is decent but small. The double-bed doesn’t just belong to me. I can’t stretch my limbs to my heart’s content. I need to share the bed with my roommate. We have got two desks, two closets, one table with one sofa, a TV with a cabinet and the most important one, a bathroom. That is all we have in our room. The measure of our room is nearly equal to four beds. It is not difficult to imagine the room is filled with the furniture and only left with narrow aisles. To better describe our room, it is a container with jam. On the other hand, my room in Pingtung is super comfortable. I have my own room and the measure is also as big as the one of Taipei’s room. It contains a double-bed, a double-closet, two desks and many shelves except a bathroom. It is bliss to have such room only belonging to me but it is true that sometimes ease will make me become a couch potato and I would leave a great deal of homework unfinished until the expiration date.

    When I stay in different homes, two opposite emotions come to my heart respectively. I stay in Pingtung’s home and I usually think that I want to get out of here. While I stay in Taipei’s home, I miss my home in the south. As I stay with my family, I need to handle my parents’ endless arguments, force my little sister to do her assignments and do chores every day. I keep thinking once I leave here, not so many things would bother me then. Yet, when I stay in Taipei, it appears that my life is only about studies and school activities. Someone has taken my family out of my life and I begin to miss them. That’s why I call my mom all the time and ask about how everything is going at home.

    I stay in Taipei’s home and I concrete on studies in order to fight for my future, a decent job. When I go back to the south, it is time to chat with my family. I feel I were a married woman and went back to my parents’ home once a year. During the time living in Taipei, I deal with various things on my own and it is worth learning not to count on my family once I face any hardships.