Amy Do Nguyet Anh

 Another year, another apartment. haha! Sometimes I ask myself why I enjoy moving around so much. Maybe it's not that I enjoy moving, but that I don't enjoy staying too long where I feel stuck. It's been almost 7 months of settling into Toronto, which really didn't feel like settling. Same language, same legal system, same crushing expectations I put on myself (hehe). The winter this year was surprisingly mild, and I didn't feel like I needed any extra clothes. We'll save them for next year. My dorm room is now small and I don't have an entire apartment to myself like I used to. I have to cram my belongings into a much smaller space, and luckily I didn't have a ton of stuff to start with. But each space has to do a lot of function. My "closet" is also bookshelf, food pantry (mostly protein powder), toiletry and shower storage, shoes and hobbies (violin, work out, ice skates...) and coat room. I even squeezed in space for displaying my embroider...

  Recently I heard a youtuber (here be barr) describe New York as a "transient" place. Not many people, especially young people, who move to New York decide to, or can, stay for a long time. They live in the big city for some years, then after experiencing the hype, parties, concerts, or whatever they wish, they move away to buy a house, get married, have children... That made me think about how transient all my life has been. Each city I move to, each apartment I move into, each job I'm offered, is a transient place. My goal has never been to hold onto any of those things, but rather to jump to the next. Which is why I never feel like I belong anywhere, but also I don't have homesickness because the definition of 'home' is so fleeting.  There are feelings that resemble being home. Like on the days I have no upcoming deadline or appointment, I just do nothing and stay indoors. Or like when I am so self-confident that I leave work until the last minute knowing ...