On August 3, while I was in Shanghai, I sent an inquiry email to Arcigay Milano in Italy regarding asylum. They replied on August 27, welcoming me to Italy to seek asylum. By that time, I was already in Paris.
While in Paris, Mr. Lin, a Taiwanese man who had lived there for over 20 years and lived nearby, messaged me on Grindr asking if I wanted to have breakfast at his place. Since my Airbnb didn't provide breakfast, I agreed. I bought croissants and eggs and went to his small sixth-floor apartment, and that's how we met.
During breakfast, he mentioned that he would be traveling to Italy for a week, so he offered to temporarily rent his apartment to me for a week at a price of 200 euros. Since Mr. Lin was returning to Paris on Saturday and Diego , a volunteer from Arcigay Milano had said they could assist me with my asylum application, I flew from Paris to Milan on September 7.
This was my third time in Milan, and everything felt so familiar when I arrived at Milan Central Station, as if I had a sense of belonging. After leaving the train station, I asked the kiosk owner where to catch tram line 9, and he pointed me to the nearby starting point for the tram.
Dragging my suitcase along the ancient stone-paved streets of Milan, I made my way to the tram station. The weather in Milan was much hotter than in Paris, and I started sweating by the time I boarded the tram. Milan's public transportation now allows direct credit card payments, which I wasn't used to, so I ended up using two different credit cards for two transactions. A young couple who boarded with me enthusiastically taught me how to buy tickets. The young man had the typical Italian look, with curly brown hair, beautiful round eyes, and a prominent nose, reminding me of Michelangelo's statue of David.
In less than half an hour, I arrived at the stop near my hostel. I navigated through the maze of tram tracks, dragging my suitcase. To save money, I had booked a hostel, and when I arrived, I found young travelers partying in the bar on the first floor since it was Saturday night. I felt a bit shy walking through a crowd of people in their twenties and even younger, making me feel quite old.
Exhausted from my journey, I was too tired to carry my suitcase up to the fourth floor, which had no elevator, so I left it at the stairs and went out to find something to eat. Not far from the hostel, there was a busy pizzeria, and I figured the food there would be good and not too expensive.
Upon entering, the waitress greeted me warmly, embodying that typical Italian warmth that made me feel at home. I ordered a mushroom and ham pizza along with a bottle of mineral water. It did not disappoint; the pizza was incredibly delicious and wiped away my travel fatigue.
Diego emailed me saying their office was open every "Thuesday" for asylum assistance consultations. My first thought was "Tuesday," so I waited until Tuesday afternoon and arrived at the Arcigay Milano office near my hostel 10 minutes early.
The person who received me was likely a transgender individual. She warmly welcomed me and explained that Diego must have spelled it wrong in the email; they actually accept consultations on Thursday afternoons.
On Thursday afternoon, I arrived early again, and Diego was already in the office. After a brief conversation, he mentioned that they had not previously assisted any gay asylum seekers from China and lacked experience in this area, but they would follow the process to help me apply for asylum in Italy. He also called over two other volunteers who would accompany me to the police station to apply for asylum.
I felt very grateful to Diego and the Italian Arcigay organization for providing free services to the LGBT+ community. That afternoon, many people came in, likely including others seeking asylum in Italy, mostly from Africa and South America, and I seemed to be the only Asian person there.
Diego introduced me to Jonathan, an American living in Switzerland who was in Italy to learn Italian. Jonathan was particularly outgoing, and that afternoon he chatted with almost everyone who came into the office. The atmosphere in the office was lively that day.