It would be too odd to reflect on something that happened almost four years ago, and even more bizarre to do diary-reflection on it, but I have to be honest and tell you that I remember it so well like it was yesterday...
It was the 10th of October in 2007 when I arrived at KLIA Airport on that hot, humid, and quite honestly... disgustingly damp rainy day. I'll be honest, I wasn't too impressed, and you couldn't blame me, having lived most of my life in white-capped snowy Montreal, being Mount Royal, up in Canada, coming down here was quite a turn.
Nonetheless, I did take a taxi and went to my cousin's place who was eagerly waiting for me to arrive so we could start a new business here. You'll be surprised that I simply had NO intention, whatsoever, to continue my studies and all that followed was purely either accidental or you could say.. well destiny.
Still, it took me a couple of days to wear off this jet lag that you always get when you travel far and I was anything but an exception. However, my cousin, on father side that is, was quite welcoming and comfortingly kind, to be fair, and did almost anything he could imagine to convince me Malaysia is the place to stay, and guess what? he did succeed... and I did stay, four years on. Anyways, it was quite interesting that in a matter of a couple of weeks, the knocked off me was back on his feet, not only being admitted for the PhD Program at UM but also we were cruising to launch our very own business here in Kuala Lumpur.
It was, I could say quite boldly and bravely, the most fruitful days of my life, and although I eventually left the business and my cousin carried on, I was able to do so much more and achieve so far, I could not have imagined a couple of months earlier when I was back home in Iran struggling with a million, and I mean a million issues that I would never.. ever... never want to talk about. It was a hand of heaven that got me in the final hours of my despair and it was a new beginning for me, a very bizarre, yet hopeful beginning.
Now that I look back, I realize I owe my cousin big time for being there when I needed him the most and although back home in Iran, we never got the chance to know each other well, being on the father side, I feel proud knowing I have had and still have a cousin, a friend who gave me a second chance at life, and in a far, far away country like Malaysia, I was able to find friendship.
Now, you can tell me about your first few days in Kuala Lumpur and how terrible or how exciting those days were for you??? You can post your reflections in the comment box below. Cheers!
