CONNECTIONS

I went exploring today. I met another group of American Women for another coffee date downtown. I arrived late, but I had agreed to meet a new friend for lunch and a trip to one of Singapore’s many museums, so I went. I met a few ladies while there and saw two familiar faces from last Friday’s coffee group, Kerry and Lucinda, two girls a little closer to my age.

Kerry is a Massachusetts native who moved to Singapore with her husband from the Bay Area. We had a relaxing, cocktail lunch in a café yesterday while I was out running errands. I really enjoy having a cocktail or two in the middle of the afternoon while enjoying great food and conversation. We talked a lot about work, husbands and where we have travelled. She also gave me a few pointers about local sites.

Lucinda I thought was more of the quiet type when I originally met her, but today she opened up quite a bit. We started our adventure at a café called Toast Box. Once we approached the counter to order, we realized that we were in for a very light lunch – they really served nothing but toast…and one noodle dish and one laksa. We each had a ham and cheese toasted sandwich that had grilled bread, one slice of ham, one slice of cold cheese and an unexpected, thick, yellow, sweet, sticky sauce. No sides. It was more like a snack than a complete meal, but it was enough to make us satisfied for the moment.

From Toast 1, we headed to the Singapore Art Museum. Along the way, the rain came pouring down, so we both grabbed our umbrellas and increased our pace as we somewhat ran for the museum. I laughed at our moves and reminisced about playing in the rain as a kid. I actually quite liked the experience. When I lived in New Jersey a group of 20-something-year-olds ran in the rain when our outdoor party was interrupted by a sudden downpour. It was all fun and games until Melody fell and hurt her leg. At that point, we had to move the party inside.

The Art Museum was great. The architecture is amazing – pictures are included. The building was originally a Catholic boys’ school constructed in the 1800s. A courtyard is situated in the center of the complex, so we walked from gallery to gallery around a three-level square, which made our wandering in and out of rooms somewhat like a labyrinth. We saw interactive displays, rooms where children were encouraged to make the art and audio visual instillations that allowed us to be the art.

I sat in a room watching a short film featuring some young Vietnamese men racing rickshaws underwater. I was captivated in the beginning as I attempted to figure out what they were doing, and then I was mesmerized as I tried to understand the point and what was at stake. Teams of two submerged the rickshaws off of some beach somewhere and then they all started for an unknown finish line. One partner pedaled through the sand and the reef while the other either pushed or pulled the apparatus along the bottom of the ocean. I ended up leaving so I am not sure of the end goal, but I did find the game intriguing.

We headed deeper into the Orchard area for something little to fill our stomachs and ended up at a café called Marmalade Toast, which I then referred to as Toast 2. This Toast was much better than the first.

I acted like a tourist the entire day, taking pictures along the streets and wandering around seeing places I had passed but never before explored. I submitted my first job application today so I have a true desire to make the most of my work-free days while I still have them. This new aspiration, coupled with some recent understanding of just how short a person’s life is, makes me want to do more instead of sit at home and think about what I might get around to doing eventually.

MY MATES

Well, today I officially became an expat wife (if I haven't said that before). I attended a coffee event for the American Women’s Association. From what I can tell, there is absolutely no benefit to joining the organization other than meeting a few ladies for coffee twice a month. When I asked about the organization and what it had to offer, I heard about ladies playing Mahjong and soliciting each other for random requests via a daily blast e-mail. One woman admitted that the club was not very useful for working women as most of the activities occur during the day – except, of course, during the summer when everything except the coffee dates halt since everyone leaves the country in the summer months. Good thing I like coffee, right?

There were a lot of new expats, so many of us spent some time talking about where we were from and why we were in Singapore. Everyone moved due to their husband’s job. I have to admit, I was a little surprised. It was interesting to hear the array of jobs that these men hold and how often they travel as a result. One woman’s husband works for a non-profit organization called Save the Children and has been stationed all over Africa and Asia. Another woman’s husband works in finance….and that’s all she knows. She was quite funny trying to explain exactly what he did and admitted that she recently learned that calling him a banker was not as accurate as she originally thought. Her description made me laugh and think about how Paul used to fumble over my job responsibilities and how he would often give up and say he just didn’t know.

After the 12 of us finished our coffee, half of the group decided to grab a quick bite at a local café and, let me just say, bring on the reality TV! My former colleagues and I often joked about having cameras at work to capture the crazy moments and unbelievable drama that we faced on a daily basis. We had hilarious moments when we would just turn, look to the side and exclaim, “This is where the camera should be positioned right now!” and burst into laughter. Well, all I can say now is, “Welcome to the Real Housewives of Singapore.”

When we sat down, one woman was speaking about her mother’s state of mind and made a hilarious Golden Girls reference. I loved it. After a while, the conversation switched to travel destinations. I quickly learned that I was the only person at the table of six who had a single stamp on my passport. All of the other ladies had circled the planet more times than I could count. After travel destinations, the main topic of the conversation was the Casey Anthony trial. I learned more about that trial at lunch than I ever could have imagined.

But crazier than the Casey Anthony trial was the way we ended our lunch. When we asked for our bill, one of the waiters brought a single bill instead of individual ones. Knowing that my meal was S$16 and change, I tossed over S$20 and then sat back and watched the car wreck in slow motion. One girl took the responsibility of reviewing the items and the prices, adding in the tax and service charge, taking into account how much each person would owe. She looked at each person and estimated in dollars and cents how much each owed, including the two women who split a sandwich and then proceeded to dig out their change. When one woman advised that she did not have cash, I immediately thought that she could pay with her card and take everyone else’s cash. We did that sort of thing all the time in the States. That would be simple. No…no. The consensus was that her portion of S$18 and change would be charged to her card while the remainder would be paid in cash. Fine.

The girl handling the money received everyone’s payment and then started doing the math again. She announced after a minute that if she added up the cash, then included the amount that should have been billed to the card, we would still be 60 cents short. OH MY GOSH!!!! I think my jaw dropped a little and I know I gave a “you have got to be kidding me” look. I was ready to open my wallet and throw in another S$2. Actually, at one point, I considered paying the entire bill to make the madness stop. But wait, we’re not done. A few minutes after he collected our payment, the waiter returned to the table slightly perplexed. We confirmed that the cash should be taken toward the bill and that the remaining S$18 be placed on the card. Then the waiter advised us that bills must be a minimum of S$20 in order to run a credit card, so everyone went into issue management mode again. I grabbed my wallet and was ready to just pay for the extra meal already. Instead, a couple of the women instructed the waiter to take S$2 from the cash pile and give it to the woman with the card, then leaving S$20 for her to charge to her card. O.M.F.G. I wanted to scream.

After lunch, I walked with a friend to the Thai embassy across the street where we heard music and saw tents set up on the lawn. We walked through each of the tents and looked at all of the items on the tables for sale: tons of jewelry – some handmade, some high end – fabrics, dresses, pillows, knick knacks. One girl was hand painting little parasols while attendees stood and watched her carefully brush every color and every detail onto this unique canvas. The images were breathtaking. The weather was great and the new friends really brightened my week. Though I may not realize all of the benefits just yet, I think I may join the AWA and see where it takes me. The connections and the friends can’t be bad and, hey, it’s only a fraction of my sorority dues. 

MY LITTLE WORLD

Living day to day, I do not really see myself in a completely new environment, but I do face some challenges, mainly in a world where I once felt the most comfortable: communication. Since most of the locals speak English, most would not label me as someone who is immersed in a new country with a new language to learn. However, most of the locals are not raised in homes where English is the first or most frequently spoken language. I feel completely dismayed when I find myself in situations where I cannot understand what a cab driver, a worker or a friend is asking or telling me.

After three months, I think I am beginning to understand Singlish, the unofficial language of Singapore, but I still have a bit to learn. To understand Singlish, one must understand that there are three main influences among the population: Chinese, Indian and English. There are, of course, other ethnicities represented in the masses such as Filipino, Malay and Indonesian; however, the aforementioned three are, in my opinion, the biggest influences on the Singlish language. Singapore was first a part of Britain and then was briefly part of Malaysia before becoming its own republic in the 1960s. Some of the terminology we hear daily comes from Singapore’s British roots.

We are learning to call grocery carts and flatbed carts “trolleys,” elevators “lifts” and French fries “chips.” I utterly missed a friend’s craving for “chips” one afternoon, suggesting a Subway restaurant where I had eaten earlier. She dismissed my idea twice and corrected me by saying “hot chips,” which I interpreted as thin, fried potato slices that are sometimes found in bars. When she requested Burger King, I was confused and then, after a few minutes, realized that she was referring to fries. So I headed over to the BK to stand in line and order some fries. Here in Singapore, people do not stand in lines, they stand in “queues.” The word “queue” is also used as a verb by indicating people are “queuing,” meaning standing in line. Thank God “grande mocha frappuccino” and “iced skinny vanilla late” mean the same thing in Singapore as they do in the U.S. I don’t know what I would do if I had to learn a new Starbucks language!

Singapore’s more familiar Asian languages like Chinese affect the pronunciation of words, which can make it difficult for someone like me to understand. One of the most common mispronounced sounds (in the opinion of an American) is the sound of the “th.” When “th” appears at the beginning of a word, it is pronounced as a “t” sound. The word “three” becomes “tree” and the word “through” sounds like “true.” When “th” ends a word, one uses the sound of an “f” or “ft.” For instance, “death” is pronounced either “def” or “deft.” “Earth” is pronounced either “earf” or “earft” (I have not yet learned how to distinguish the use of the extra “t” sound). And, just like the common Spanglish, Singlish often has a mix of English and Chinese phrases within the same sentence, causing more confusion to people like Paul and me. At least we are learning, right?

Along with learning the local terms like “lift” and “trolley,” we are learning the transportation terminology. The MRT, Mass Rapid Transit, is the train; two companies, SBS and SMRT, run the bus services. Instead of numbering highways like 71, 75 and 270, there are expressway acronyms. Paul’s commute to the airport on the north side of the island involves a drive from the ECP to the PIE and then the TPE before entering the part of the island where even the locals never go. For anyone not familiar with these letters, Paul requests that taxi drivers take him along the East Coast Parkway, which connects to the Pan Island Expressway and then meets up with the Tampines Expressway. Tampines, by the way, does not sound like a feminine hygiene product. It is pronounced “tam-pin-eez” and sounds more like another local language. There are 10 expressways, so it is imperative that one knows the direction in which one is going – especially since the cab drivers ask you which way to proceed.

And, since today/yesterday marked the first day of summer for our friends back in the States, I should mention how we are adapting to the single season. Paul and I are getting used to seeing the hot and mostly humid, some gloom, some sun and a chance of rain on a daily basis. There have been a few mild days the last week, which has made the heat way more bearable. Lower humidity makes even 88 feel like low 70s. Today was a pretty low-humidity day so I took advantage of the endurable weather. After finishing an appointment downtown, I decided to take a walk and wound up stopping for a coffee at a sidewalk café. I sat outside for nearly an hour as I slowly sipped my coffee, studied my surroundings and thought of close friends. That café was exactly the place where I would meet a girlfriend for coffee, talk while slowly enjoying our drinks, order some lunch and then spend the afternoon drinking a bottle of wine and continuing to talk while observing the world around us. I could have easily spent three or four hours in that chair.

To those at home, wherever in the States home may be, know that we think of you often and that we miss you a lot. We have a room available, and we are taking reservations (early September is booked, so pick another time). For those of you who are my teammates at work, Happy Cake Day!

UNTIL THEN

I often think about when I will visit the States and how my trip will flow. I have friends and family in Florida, Tennessee, Virginia, Ohio and Massachusetts and additional vacation spots in Connecticut and Maine. Trying to fit everyone and every destination in to the same trip – especially since I now must pay for my air fare – seems a bit challenging. My 10-year high school reunion is next month and, though a part of me really wants to go, the timing is off and I do not see myself attending. I do, however, look forward to seeing a small group of my friends when I return home for the winter holidays. There are a few people I would really like to see.

This week, thanks to the amazing powers of Google Voice, I had the opportunity to speak with four of my former colleagues. I don’t think I realized how good it feels to hear people’s voices until tonight. Just hearing my friends scream, “HEEEEEYY!” when I announce myself brings a gigantic smile to my face, and I love catching up on the daily drama, whether roommate related, family related or work related. Let’s be honest, there is always a bit of drama. It is great to hear that people suffering from family issues and health issues are doing much better today than they were a couple months ago. It is great to hear that home renovations and career moves are all happening for the positive.

Hearing my former colleagues talk a little about work makes me miss working with them. I had a great job with the best team and I had the opportunity to work with a great company. Being retired is great, but there are a lot of things I miss about working, mainly interacting with a team.  I miss happy hours and coffee breaks. I miss working on projects and feeling like I am contributing to a successful business. Today I spent hours developing a résumé from scratch and perusing a job site. I am excited to apply for a few positions and look forward to new opportunities.  

In a way, it seems as though I am starting over. For the first time since college, I have no job and no local experience. Unlike my inaugural job search, I have a ton of experience under my belt and feel confident that I can apply for almost any job in my genre. I may even have the guts to apply for a position that I feel may be slightly above my expertise just to see what happens. I have the option to apply for jobs in my previous industries of aviation and real estate, or I could try something completely new – I am a quick learner. Until I am presented with an offer, the island is my little world of opportunity and I look forward to exploring everything available.

MILLIONS

When Paul and I landed in Singapore, the sky was dark. We looked out the airplane window as we approached Changi Airport and saw lights all over. There were lights coming from fishing boats docked in the water and lights from the city’s skyscrapers and street lamps. By the time we deplaned, retrieved our bags and passed through the necessary checkpoints, the sun had risen. We piled into a taxi and observed our new home as we headed to our temporary residence downtown. We originally compared Singapore to Florida since the weather is hot, sunny and humid with a chance of rain every day. There are trees everywhere and exotic flowers and grasses along every street.

Manhattan often comes to mind as a comparable city due to the Central Business District, the public transportation systems, the financial center, the landmarks and, of course, the shopping. Singapore is apparently known for extravagant shopping, especially in the Orchard Road area. In addition, Singapore is known for its epicurean plates and is home to numerous high-end eateries. Singapore is host to fashion shows, gourmet food exhibitions, festivals and art shows of all kinds. Sound familiar?

We also compared Singapore to one of New York’s other famous spots – The Hamptons. In researching Singapore and all that it had to offer, Paul and I read that Singapore is one of Asia’s vacation hot spots. Millionaires and billionaires from other Asian countries often come to Singapore for weekend adventures and holidays. Singapore’s West Coast boasts yacht shows like no other.

I suppose we could compare Singapore to a number of familiar places, but it seems that Singapore often makes a name for itself. Businessweek recently published a story on Singapore and its position as the choice of residence for the world’s richest. According to the article, one in six households has more than $1 million in assets. Singapore’s expanding economy and impressive GDP growth has done a lot to increase business growth, population growth and economic growth over the last several years. The city-state has been at the top of the residence list for quite some time but last year’s increase of millionaire households jumped nearly 40 percent.

Housing is in high demand in Singapore. As Paul and I constantly witness, the entire island appears to be under construction and residential buildings are popping up all over the place. Real estate prices have increased to an all-time high in the first quarter of 2011, including a 2.5 percent increase from the previous quarter in our neighborhood. The rental prices are another thing that reminds us of Manhattan, though, as it turns out, Singapore has a higher cost of living. One of our realtors expects rental prices to depreciate in two years when many of the under-construction properties are open and available. Until then, we wait.

CRAZY

Crazy, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. And this beholder thinks the last week and a half has been on the crazy end of the crazy meter. First, our condo is falling apart. Our oven, which was fixed last month, is broken again. The ants in the kitchen are back, even though we paid S$150 or more to have an exterminator spray all over so that we would never see them again. Water is the new buzz word here in the McKee home because it is coming out of all of the non-standard places.

Last Friday, water was dripping from the kitchen ceiling where one of our three water heaters is located (don’t ask). A team of three tiny Asian men came to the rescue and determined that one of the pipes was disconnected and immediately fixed the issue. This morning when I went into the kitchen for breakfast, I slipped in a puddle and nearly fell. When I looked down, I saw a river stretching from one part of the kitchen to another, and I have no idea where or why it started. This afternoon, I fixed myself a late lunch and, just as I sat down to eat, I heard something that sounded like a waterfall. This time, water was pouring out of one of our Aircon units, which is mounted on one of our walls near the ceiling, leaving drips on the wall and a puddle on the dining room floor. And, while our entire condo seems to be crumbling around me, I am sick with some sort of sinus/flu thing while Paul is island hopping.

When I went to bed last night, I set my alarm for 2:30 a.m. so that I could wake up and watch the lunar eclipse. At 3 a.m., I was standing outside, camera in hand, ready to take some gorgeous shots of the red moon floating over the East Coast skyline. I felt like crap but I read that it is rare for Singaporeans to view a lunar eclipse and, since I do not believe I have ever seen an eclipse of any kind, I thought this was my chance. The weather in Singapore is hot and humid during the day so I was looking forward to experiencing the cooler, less humid air in the middle of the night. I now know that I completely misjudged mother nature. I stood outside in our driveway and baked in the 86 degree darkness where the humidity was so thick, not even my Rachael Ray knives could cut through. Up in the sky, the clouds covered everything except the moon, which was only half exposed at that point. I watched as the moon quickly got darker and darker and then, at 3:20, it disappeared.

With the exception of a few passing cars, I was the only person outside. I felt quite peaceful, yet still nervous. I know that Singapore is one of the safest places to live and that the crime rates are unbelievably low because the punishments are so harsh. With Paul gone, I, as an almost-30-year-old, am afraid of the dark – or, at least the things that possibly linger in the dark – so I stayed inside the gate instead of walking to the park like I had originally planned.

Once I realized that the dark moon was hidden by the clouds and that I would rather be in bed than standing outside waiting to see a red moon that I might not be able to see at all, I went back upstairs. A few minutes later, I watched through the windows as the trees outside blew in every direction. The wind was blowing so hard, my two doors were shaking. I was wondering when a branch would be flying through one of my balcony doors. The rains poured down as I slithered into bed. My eyes closed, I could see a lightning bolt and knew that I was in for quite a storm.

June, as the hottest month of the year, is supposed to be in the middle of the dry season. In the last two weeks we have experienced a number of gloomy, rainy days. Just over a week ago, Paul and I awoke to the sound of thunder and watched as the rains approached our condo. We continued to watch as the rains poured harder and then lightened up a bit before bellowing down again. The rains did not stop completely until after 4 p.m. Before relocating, we read that it rains somewhere in Singapore every day, but this rain was quite impressive. Downtown, parking garages flooded after five hours of continuous rain poured down, seeping into the lower levels and ruining some of the island’s most expensive cars. One area received 2.5 inches of rain within 30 minutes and the day’s rainfall accounted for 77 percent of the average monthly rainfall, according to the local paper.

When the sun is out, it is mighty hot. Honestly, when the sun is sleeping, it is mighty hot. At 11 a.m. it is 90 degrees and at 11 p.m. it is 86 degrees. I miss being able to put on a hoodie and walk outside after the sun has gone down. I miss having the ability to get ready at home, feel confident in how I look before I leave the house and get to my destination with the same confidence. Paul and I think it is crazy that we can sweat so much by doing something as menial as walking outside to catch the bus. Yesterday I went to the local mall for some authentic Asian soup. On the ride home, I noticed that my neck was sweating. I was not aware my neck had the ability to sweat.

Paul and I are constantly discussing Singapore’s hotness and there has been one solution to this endless conversation topic: New England. Paul and I have vacationed in New England since we were at the point in our dating relationship when traveling together was acceptable. We like the history and the architecture and the coolness of the summer and the piles of snow in the winter. Paul even proposed to me while kneeling in the snow. We have been talking about moving to New England for years and now that we do not have jobs grounding us to a specific state, we know that we have a real option to settle down in Massachusetts and Maine (yes, we need a house in each) whenever we do make it back to the States. Of course, we will be in Singapore for a number of years but we call this planning ahead. I need to get a book deal and make our millions before we can afford the homes on the New England coastline, let’s be honest.

SO INTERESTING

Paul received his official ID card today, so we went against our better judgment and left the house on a Saturday. Singapore is filled with people any day of the week but on Saturdays and Sundays malls and streets are flooded with people as far as the eye can see – literally. We headed downtown to obtain Paul’s card and watched the skies turn shades of smoke and yellow as the storm rolled in. At one point, the sky was almost brown and cast a dark shadow over the city. We made it inside just before the downpour erupted. Once finished at the first location, we took a cab to Suntec City to put that ID card to good use by purchasing cell phones at the Convention Center’s PC Show. The rains poured so hard, I could not see more than a couple meters in front of the cab.

During our commute, Paul compared this rainy taxi adventure to one he recently had in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He told me that he was on his way to the airport from his hotel and he picked the Worst. Cab. Ever. The rain was steadily falling as Paul headed to the taxi stand. Once his bags were loaded and he was in the car and on his way to the airport, he noticed some rain falling inside the cab. The windows to his left and to his right were not properly sealed, so the rain seeped through. To make matters worse, one of the windshield wipers had broken off and the cabby felt no need to purchase a replacement, leaving one working wiper, which he refused to activate. At least this cab had seatbelts; they are quite uncommon in parts of Indonesia.

A few minutes into the ride, the rain outside began to pour much harder. With the rains falling at maximum speed and the driver’s view impaired, the cabby decided to turn on his one working wiper, which happened to be on the opposite side of the windshield. The left wiper splashed more water onto the right side of the windshield, directly in front of the cab driver, obviously not helping the situation. When he realized his predicament, the cab driver switched to Plan B. He continued to drive from the right side of the car (standard here in Singapore) as he leaned over to the left side of the car so that he could see out of the windshield as the sole wiper pushed the beating rain aside. Why, you ask, would he lean over to the opposite side of the car while driving in a monsoon? Because people in this area are crazy drivers. Sorry Van, I know you like to brag about the stupidity of D.C. drivers, but please, continue to read before you try to claim the title.

Riding in cars in Singapore is like driving in New Jersey on a whole other level. Cars weave in and out of lanes, some using turn signals and some not. Traffic is crowded and drivers push their way in wherever they want to be. If they are tired of waiting, drivers just flash their lights or honk their horns to warn oncoming cars that they are going anyway. Motorcyclists do not have to drive in a single lane; they are able to drive between the lanes, straight down the dotted line. If pedestrians are in the road, whether or not they are in a crosswalk, cars will most certainly run them over. I once witnessed a speeding car lay on the horn as two children were crossing in a crosswalk. The person driving did not slow down for a second; the car seemed to go faster as one parent ran to throw the children out of the way. Honking horns are just another form of communication.

In Medan, Indonesia, another one of Paul’s frequent travel destinations, the driving situation is even more absurd as compared to our experiences. While riding in a taxi, Paul saw more cars on the road than ever before. He watched in amazement as the four-lane road with two lanes in each direction quickly turned into a four-lane, one-way street. You see, in Medan, if there is no traffic coming at you, you can just move your car into the opposite lanes and continue on until you see oncoming traffic. At that point, you merge back into the originally-designated traffic lanes. Crazy, we say.

IN MY EXPERIENCE

Adjusting to a new culture can be difficult, especially when one is not familiar with the new culture’s ins and outs. My husband and I learned one or two things about Asian culture before we moved here; others we continue to learn as we go along. We happened to watch a show depicting Asian business culture while still in the States and learned that business cards are a big deal in Asia – as big as a first impression on many levels. Business cards are handed to a person with two hands and presented in a proud manner. When accepting a business card, the receiver should take the card in both hands and spend a moment examining the card as the card is a reflection of the person. I have noticed that I am given store receipts with both hands, so I started receiving them with both hands when I am able. I learned today that this practice should also be applied when receiving any type of gift. For a person to accept anything with one hand in lieu of two, the receiver appears rude and arrogant.

Before relocating, I had seen movies and TV shows where people have taken off their shoes when entering homes or certain Asian restaurants. In Singapore, it is customary to take off one’s shoes before entering someone’s home, but some conditions apply. I still do not understand all of the conditions but I do my best. Shortly after our arrival, I entered a new friend’s home for the first time and noticed that she was wearing flip flops, so I kept mine on. Later in the evening I noticed that I was the only person at the dinner party wearing any form of footwear. Faux pas? The new friends were Americans and I was not asked to leave or to remove my shoes, so I suppose either no one noticed or I was forgiven. Being the nice person that I am, I stopped at a bakery before the dinner and bought a small cake as a way of saying thank you to our new friends. I read today that it is customary to bring a gift such as cake, chocolates or fruits when visiting a home for the first time, so it appears that I did something right.

Singapore celebrates 10 national holidays – 11 this year with the addition of Polling Day, Singapore’s election day held once every five years. I find it interesting that Christmas and Good Friday made the cut but Easter did not. Easter this year was a bit odd for me. We went to church and experienced what I referred to as a non-typical Easter service, which was a nice break from tradition. The service was a typical Sunday service with a couple Easter references but there was no drama team and no annual story about how Jesus died and arose on the third day. When we left church, it was like any other day of the week – stores were open, banks were open, malls were crowded. No one was panicking about forgetting to buy something at the grocery store because all of the markets remained open. I also find it interesting that Singaporeans celebrate New Year’s Day on January 1 (or 1 January as they write it here), as well as Chinese New Year a few weeks later.

The dates have us all screwed up. To us, 2/10/11 is confusing. Our American brains look at that date and think February 10, 2011, but our new Singapore mind set makes us question if the date is in fact the 2^nd of October, 2011. Paul has had enough of the confusion so he has started his own way of writing the date. Today, as an example, he will write 7/Jun/2011 so there is no confusion.

Singapore, to me, has a very warm culture – not just because it is 95 and sunny every day. The people are quiet and keep to themselves but there is nothing cold about them. No one seems rude, no one barks at one another and no one gives crazy, disapproving looks to anyone else. What is interesting to me is that these people hardly show any affection toward one another either. Only twice have I witnessed couples kissing in public. Hand holding is rarely seen. The only real affection I see is between toddlers and their parents.

Censorship is big in Singapore, which is something my husband and I are getting used to. Paul and I go crazy when watching a TV show that awkwardly cuts to a new scene. We laugh when words shown on the screen have been removed. I don’t think we have made it all the way through an episode of How I Met Your Mother without any kind of interruption. I think they allow some swearing but girls kissing, any mention of “private parts” and the word “orgasm” is banned. While I see the good intentions, I am fascinated by the repercussions. On the sex topic, Singapore’s birth rate has steadily declined for the last 10 years. In reviewing data, I observed a drop of more than 25 percent between 2003 and 2004. Even more interesting, I found that the Media Development Authority, the government association responsible for ratings and censoring materials, was formed in January of 2003.

By sheltering the younger generations, it is my opinion that they are lacking knowledge necessary to continue the circle of life. While I certainly do not condone the overwhelming popularity of teenage moms becoming television stars and the continuous birthing of babies when one cannot take care of herself, it seems that Singaporeans are completely out of the know when it comes to sex and they are too embarrassed to ask. An expat teacher briefly discussing sexual education was baffled by her experience with the class. The kids were so clueless and so embarrassed to ask questions that the teacher resorted to having the students text her mobile phone so that anonymous questions could be answered.

While we have not yet experienced any major form of culture shock (and I do not believe we ever will), we continue to learn and to embrace the many little cultural differences that make life in Singapore so interesting.

CONSIDER THIS OPTION

In November 2008, I traveled to Washington, D.C. to celebrate a friend’s birthday. I met Katie in college shortly after I dropped out of pharmacy school and suddenly became a public relations major. Katie and I met at a bar in Columbus, Ohio, at a regional Public Relations Student Society of America networking event. I had heard a lot about Katie as she was the ideal young professional. She was well dressed, well educated, knowledgeable about everything, the life of the party, loved by all and she was a member of the PRSSA National Committee, adding some prestige to her already shining reputation.

Katie and I instantly became friends and I looked to Katie as a mentor and a prime example of the college student and young professional I wanted to be. Though being a young professional in college was great and probably the right thing to do, Katie and I were not the typical college kids. I stayed in on Friday nights doing homework and studying while my roommates were at frat parties. Instead of going on Spring Break like everyone else, Katie and I had internships and attended conferences. During my junior year, one of my sorority sisters yelled at me for missing Greek Week activities due to a conflicting PR event. We did a lot of good for ourselves and for our careers, but we sometimes wonder if we missed out on some other things in the process.

While in D.C. for Katie’s birthday, I told her about a grand idea that I thought might bring us closer while creating some great memories – I wanted to compile a list of 30 things to do before we turned 30 and I asked if she would want to do them with me. She thought it was a great idea, so we began planning. At 26, we had four years to accomplish these 30 things and, realizing that Katie was in D.C. and I was in Jersey meant that we might not accomplish all 30 things together. So we decided to create our own lists, which was great because we have different goals.

I saved my list on my BlackBerry so that I could refer to the list at any time and add to the 15 or so that I first recorded. I left my job in March in pursuit of this Asian adventure and, subsequently, turned in my BlackBerry. I later realized that I may not have retrieved that list of 30 things, though I seem to believe that it is around here somewhere. So, when Katie and I spoke earlier this week, she came up with a great idea. “Let’s come up with new lists,” she exclaimed. And then she gave us a deadline to complete the lists and e-mail them to each other, which I just realized was yesterday. I am without an e-mail from Katie, so it looks as if we both missed the deadline.

Redoing my list of 30 things to accomplish before I turn 30 was a great exercise. I am not able to remember the 20ish things I previously recorded but I did manage to remember at least half. And, since a life-changing event like a cross-planet move occurred, I realize that I have some opportunities for items on my list to change. My life has changed a lot over the last two years and some of my interests have changed as well. I find new opportunities and new things to explore, whether they be a part of the world or a new part of myself.

So far, I have managed to get out of the U.S., complete a 5k and see a moose, among other things. Things that await me include experiencing New Year’s Eve in New York City, taking a cooking course in Italy and applying to grad schools. Katie is looking to accomplish her goal of traveling to six of the seven continents and she is well on her way. I can’t wait for her to come to Asia in the fall where we will indeed check a few additional items off of our lists.

My boss joked with me a while ago about my continuing set of goals. He asked if I would have a list of 40 things to do before I turn 40 and 80 things to do before I turn 80. “Do they get easier as you get older? Get out of bed. Check. Go to the bathroom by myself. Check.”  While I cannot say for certain whether or not the lists will continue, I can say that this list of 30 is a great list and I can’t wait to write about all of my experiences when I get done.