2 years

Over the past 2 years,
my life has been quiet & eventless

Nothing extraordinary happened to my life

I've been just an observer,
just an onlooker,
just an audience
who basically did nothing

But I still remember the moment I saw the emergency news
reporting the invasion started

I still remember
what I was doing,
where I was then,
the weather, the temperature & the air my skin was feeling

And sleepless nights for a few weeks afterward

---

Back then

Through Instagram & DMs,
I was constantly informed what was happening in real-time from the people on site

I made a website to provide information,
regarding how to move to Japan 

I met up some people in Tokyo who I was helping to come to Japan

I consumed a bunch of news
I went to events about the country/history
I met many Ukrainian people in Japan & Poland in 2022
And I wrote a lot here about all these things

In this sense,
perhaps I was not totally away from the entire event that is still going on

---

I visited Ukraine twice, in 2018 & 2020

It wasn't enough

I wanted to stay there for a longer period

Before 24/Feb/2022, I had a plan to move & stay there in summer 2022

But this plan was discarded after 24/Feb

I still want to visit & stay in Ukraine for at least few months

---

Last time I was there was exactly this period, the end of Feb/2020

It was just before Covid

People already overheard & knew something was going on in Far East Asia

One day I took a metro in Kyiv

I still remember one young Ukrainian woman with a mask walked away from me right after she saw my face

Highly likely, it was because I look Asian (well, I actually am)

---

A couple of days later,
I was walking in Pochaina station in Kyiv

At some point I noticed I didn't have groves
I thought I've dropped
And walked back to find it

Then, a young Ukrainian guy run up to me
& gave me the grove

"Oh, thank you", I said

He smiled and left

---

..........2 days ago in Tokyo,
I lost one of the grooves

Right hand grove

Today I visited a couple shops where I might have dropped it

Shop staff at the places all told me
"No, we don't have it"

Now I only have one for the left hand

I'm wondering where he is now and what he is doing