Meeting the brothers and sisters that morning and getting to know one another should have made me happy. A friend treated us to lunch and packed some extra food for dinner; I should have felt content. That evening I picked up a package from another friend’s home and rode back in his car; I should have been grateful… So why?

After raising concerns about our living conditions, the possibility of getting any improvement now seems virtually nonexistent. What on earth did they say to make “Both my superior and I agree that you shouldn’t be staying in a shared rental, it should at least be a serviced apartment, or you could even stay at my place for a few days” turn into “I’m really not the one in charge of your accommodation matters, you can give feedback directly to them”?

…Firewood whose first spark has been lit and then smothered may not have much left with which to keep burning.

When I encounter a dead-end road blocked by construction during my walks, I try to walk a few more steps along the wall, hoping there might be an opening to let me through; even when walking into pitch darkness, I can still make a joke of it by looking up at the stars. But who could have known that the ground one steps onto by following the light would turn out to be a cemetery?

Still, this was just a tiny episode during my walk, nothing more. Don’t read too much into it.