Southbound Night Bus

It has been a while since I posted here.

As you may have guessed, I’ve been on the road. Unlike any other weeks, I spent my last weekend away from home. This time, I was in the depth of Alberta, Canada. I had a show in Grande Prairie, a small town that I’ve never been before, and definitely never a place where I’d expect a reminder of home.

It happened after the show, when this young lady walked up.

I was standing in the back of the room, doing the regular routine: thanking the folks who came to the show, selling merchandise, and making small talk with those wanted to know more. This is when she walked up next to the table, and habitually, I assumed she wanted to purchase a T-shirt.

“You are Taiwanese!” she spoke excitedly, in Mandarin.

In the ensuing minutes, we chatted about home. Like myself, she is also from Taipei, and had traveled to Grande Prairie months ago in order to complete a work-study. I told her about my family, and she asked about what life is like as an immigrant. She complimented me on my fluency in Mandarin and my knowledge of Taiwan, and as the conversation came to a close, she said:

“Thank you for telling our story on stage. Please keep going.”

In that moment, as I waved good-bye to her, I remembered this one song I heard by a Taiwanese band, Fire Ex. It’s a song about leaving home to far away lands in order to pursue one’s dream for a possible promise. The song is titled Southbound Night Bus. Because like a bus leaving the station at night, we, the ones who left everything behind, hope one day that the final stop is going to be home. One day.

For those out there, please keep going.

-Ed.