Michael Chugani 褚簡寧 - Home is where the heart is.｜又中又英

Home is where the heart is. This is a well-known English proverb. It means no matter where you are， your home will always be the place where you have the deepest affection. This proverb can apply to your home， city， or country. It」s been eight months since I left Hong Kong to return to the US. Hong Kong friends often ask me when I will go back. They say ；；home is where the heart is ；；and ask if my home and heart are in Hong Kong or the US. It is a difficult question to answer. I was born in Hong Kong but emigrated to the US in the late 1980s.
I have many happy memories of the large apartment in Hong Kong where my elder sister， elder brother， younger brothers and I grew up. That apartment building was demolished when we were still teenagers. We had to move to a modern building where the rooms were much smaller. My elder sister and my younger brothers emigrated to the US a long time ago. I joined them in the late 1980s. We all still remember the first apartment in Hong Kong where we lived when we were very young. When I think of the proverb 「home is where the heart is」 I think of that apartment even though it no longer exists.

It is hard for me to say if my home and heart are in Hong Kong or the US because I also have happy memories of the two-level house with a large backyard in Washington DC my ex-wife and I bought when we arrived in the US. We sold that house when I returned to take up a job offer in Hong Kong. I tell my friends my home and heart are in both the US and Hong Kong. I will always return to Hong Kong for visits. I want to return for a visit but that is impossible now. Air fares are ；；sky-high （very expensive） and hotel quarantine will make me go crazy.

Home is where the heart is. 這是一句知名的英文諺語，意即「家是心之所向」，不論你身在何方，你的家總會是你感情最深厚的地方。這句諺語適用於你的家、你的城市又或你的國家。自我離港赴美至今，已有八個月。香港的朋友們不時問我何時回去。他們說，家是心之所歸（home is where the heart is），問我我的家和心是在香港，還是在美國？這是一道很難答的問題。我在香港出生，但於一九八○年代末已移民美國。

我和姊姊、哥哥和弟弟們在香港一個寬大的單位裏成長，那裏滿是快樂的回憶。我們還是少年的時候，那棟大廈已經拆卸，我們得搬去較新式的大廈，那邊的房間細小得多。我的姊姊和弟弟們在很久以前已經移民美國，我就在上世紀八○年代末會合他們。我們全都記得我們還年幼的時候，在香港住的那第一個單位。當我想到諺語「家是心之所歸」（「home is where the heart is」），我便會想起那個單位，即使它已不復存在。

我實在很難說到底我的家和心是在香港抑或在美國，因為在美國我也有快樂的回憶，就是我和前妻抵達美國之時，於華盛頓特區買了一幢兩層房屋，有一個偌大的後院。當我獲錄取而要回香港工作之時，我們便賣了那間房屋。我告訴我的朋友們，我的家在美國，也在香港。我將來還會常回港探訪親友。我現在也想回港一轉，但着實不大可能。那些機票異常昂貴，像天一般高（sky-high），而在酒店檢疫隔離也會把我逼瘋。
Michael Chugani 褚簡寧