Friday, November 20, 2009
Home for the Holidays - 1:25 AM
Now I sit among piles of clothes, books, and trash. What would Martha Stewart think? December is upon us and it's like deja vu... Me mad packing. (Actually, mad shopping precedes the mad packing)...Except it is doubly bad this time round.I once thought the America would change who I was, and not necessarily in a bad way. I would speak like an American, eat copious amounts of pudding and pizza, and partake in their favorite pastimes and traditions like Thanksgiving and Halloween, waiting in line for the latest iPhone, and everyone's favorite...Black Friday Sale, a phenomena that you have to see for yourself.
But these are only skin deep.
In my 5 years in the U.S.A, I have traveled to parts of this glorious country, studied and work with Americans (who are also kiasu, by the way: see Black Friday Sales), participated in the occasional rendezvous with cheesecake from the Factory, allowed myself to wallow in cable TV (especially the reality sort), and of course Black Friday sales (please, DON'T bring prams)... I have enjoyed much of it. I am thankful for the opportunities that I have been given, and as a result, pursued opportunities. As much as I have embraced change, I also find myself stubbornly clinging to what made me me. I guess I have a bit more conviction in myself than I thought I did.
I will be returning to Singapore in December, and this time it will be for much longer than 10 days. I don't know how it would be like to work in the country that I was born and raised, speak with such fondness yet always seek autonomy from, but oh well, I didn't know much about Michigan, New York, Atlanta, or Las Vegas anyway. And I still lived. Besides, its all about connecting the dots. I truly believe things happen for a reason. Well, and if it ultimately proves to be a fruitless move which I doubt or else I wouldn't make this decision, at least I would have had my fill of Singaporean food.
Will there be regrets? Probably, after all I am voluntarily giving up what seems like a golden ticket for many. Especially when I'm in that darn dressing room, desperately trying to squeeze into Iora and G2000 shirts and realizing that I am and always will be, no matter how much I try, built more for this country than the one I was born into. Oh, I will probably whine about the weather too, but I've long realized that that's a battle you can never win (Vegas too hot, Singapore too humid, India is humid AND dirty, Michigan too cold, Seattle too rainy, San Francisco is great but do you want to spend $2000 on rent and pay 40% taxes? etc etc etc), so the next best option is to take strategic vacations.
Anyhow, the move to Singapore will have to wait a couple weeks though, cos I'm going to Europe this coming Tuesday. OH glorious Spain and Italy!