2012年3月8日木曜日

When I was 16 years old.

March 8, 2012. Written in Vanvien, Laos.

When I was 16 years old.

I woke up in the dorm room of my first hostel in Shanghai. This day, I was going to change hostels because a friend of mine had recommended another place to go. I looked at the time. It was way over check out time. 13:30!! And that while I thought it was still early in the morning. There was another guy in the dorm that was still sleeping too, but it seemed that my packing woke him up.
"What time is it?" he asked me with a sleepy face. It was a young looking Western guy.
"It's 13:30" I answered.
"Really? I didn't intend to sleep that long at all"
"Neither did I" I answered and laughed back at him.
The guy got out of his bed and started to change clothes.
"Oh, by the way, yesterday I heard you speak Japanese. That was really awesome man. I know how Japanese is supposed to sound and it sounded just like that"
"No, it's no big deal. It's just that I've been living there since I was a kid. Well, as long as you call 16 a kid, that is" I answered.
"Well, I guess you can call me a kid too, then" he sad with a sarcastic smile on his face.
"What!? Don't tell me you are only 16 and are already sleeping in dorms alone in China!"
He was a high-school student from Germany on exchange to China, living in a host-family and going to a local high-school somewhere in the north of the country. Just like I did in Japan when I was 16! The boy looked full of energy and dreams. I felt like I had seen my old self for a moment.
8 years from now, maybe he will find someone to remember his old self somewhere too. That someone, is no more than 8 years old right now.

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