short story - "Children of Migration"

This is a short story as a response to the documentary film “Children of the Migration” directed by Lala Rolls. The film reminds me of my journey to New Zealand.

An 18-year-old girl travelling alone with only a pack of clothing behind her back and a gate pass to a new world. A first experience she will never forget, thinking if she made the right decision. While travelling she remembers everything, her relatives, her culture, and her loving grandparents. She asked herself. Why am I leaving my homeland? Where am I going?

She realise that this is going to be a long journey and a new one too. A journey not to gain farther education or job opportunity but to seek the last piece her mother and sister left her for 16 years. A piece that symbolises “unity and family” as she step on to the new world she took a deep breath and said “finally” then smiled at her mother and sister. Felt relieved and blissful for the bond she longed for, she realised that everything will be different from now on. Now, she needs to learn new culture, new language, meet new people, and adapt to the new environment.

She felt homesick and the pressure of new things she needs to learn, it was difficult for her. Tears run down on her cheeks and could not stop.

Her mother was worried for her and told her if she wants to go back home. She saw the sadness on her mother’s eyes. She felt her mother is yearning for them to be together. She realised that this is her new home now and tried to stop herself from crying.

The night came to calm her down and the day came to remind her to start a new life in the new environment. As days passed by, she learned to work for the first time and earned money for the first time. As months passed by, she was accustomed to the new language, new people, and the new environment.

                         

She may have felt comfortable in the new environment, but she never forgotten about her native land and family she left back home. Being accustomed does not mean she forgotten about her own language, her friends or relatives she left behind, and her native land. Everything will remain as a part of her.

As years pass by, she became more educated and wondered if she would experience the same obstacles if she arrived earlier or later. She thought that maybe she would experience fewer obstacles if she came earlier and experience more obstacles if she came later. Then she told herself “I think I just arrived on the right time”.

As she was thinking about the big waves she had ridden in life, she wondered if anyone has the same obstacles as her. She realised that people may share the same obstacles in life; one’s journey is always special or different from others.