A For Alex

Yesterday night was the school-organised party for new foreign students… It started out pretty boring with a number of speeches.. followed by a Malay couple dance (with the girl dressed inexplicably in a sari!), an African mass dance and then general drinking and dancing. It was fun to see so many foreign students all in one place, and you’d have to laugh when you see the Asians standing around watching the Africans shake their booty. That’s cultural differences for you.

Lugged my big camera around and took photos. The best thing about carrying a DSLR around is that other people who are into photography just come up to you and identify themselves as fellow photographers. Met a Rwandian and a Chinese guy who are both into photography.. Maybe we’ll go on a photo outing together, with the school photography club.

Johannes came fashionably late to the party in a kilt!! Which is pretty hilarious. Haha. Matches his hair perfectly. Drinking beer yesterday made me sleepy, the alternative to giggly, one out of the very varied outcomes of when I drink.

Click on the collage above to see who I’ve been hanging out with!

I’ve never been overseas during the fall season, and it’s exciting to see the first red leaves appear on the trees. Photos soon!

Of all the street food I’ve had in China, my favourite is 肉夹莫, which is a bit like kongba, with a toasted circular bread, sliced in half with chopped up pork and cucumbers inside. It’s light, filling, tasty… yum! I’ve never eaten street food with such abandon before, always was a bit scared… but now, I’m eating, haven’t yet been sick and I’m happy!

Been applying for jobs online… By far the meanest one has been Standard Chartered’s which has about 10 essay questions of max 300 words each. A bit reminiscent of American Uni applications.

Thanks to my being able to speak both Chinese and English, I’m in a good position to offer help to many people around… and that has been called upon a fair bit in the last two weeks when I went to the bank 3 times with S and went to hospital with J… and besides that, lent Johannes money and cooked soup for him cos he was sick. I thank God that He has enabled me to help with a largely willing spirit but sometimes, I end up feeling a little used? But today’s verse for QT reminded me to help everyone who asks for it… because I can help, I should help. and Wen reminded me my help demonstrating God’s love at the same time.

I’m toying with the idea of not starting work immediately after graduation, but taking a year out to do something, anything! I’m lucky to be in a position where I don’t have to work immediately to stop being a financial burden on anyone.. and more importantly, so many people look at others who take roads less travelled, who have the guts to do what they want to… People say "if I had the money, I’d do that", but more often than not, people who do have the money don’t. Haha enough confusing sentence structure (I think my English is suffering here!! seriously) I’m just toying with the idea… further studies, one year Chinese, travel (but with who?), Trans-Siberian rail journey from England to Singapore, photography? My only two concerns are the impression that a year out will give Singaporean employers and what God has planned for me, whether this would be what He wants for me too.

My friend from church today came over to my place to cook lunch… and while cleaning up, she helped me to take a broom and sweep away all the cobwebs and kill the spiders in my apartment. We killed at least 20 spiders, probably a lot more because I was too scared to stand closer and watch the action. And I was super happy that at last, I have a spider free apartment. I go for dinner, come back and there are at least 7 or more new spiders that have come back in the exact places that their previous occupants were.

On a happier note, I invited my Chinese friend to church today and she came along. We went for breakfast then for service… She didn’t say much about the service, other than it was a bit squeezy. I gave her the Chinese version of Purpose Driven Life that my cell had given me, hope it means something to her.

My Dutch friend, Sebastian is in the process of bachelor padding his 2 people apartment and it looks really nice! They have a mattress as a sofa to kick back and relax, a karaoke system, huge rooms with nicer furniture than mine… I’m jealous!!

I cooked dinner today - small white veggies (xiao bai cai heh), chicken in Lee Kum Kee Chicken sauce and "scallop and other quality ingredients" soup. Doesn’t sound like a gastronomic treat or a culinary feat but I think that was the happiest meal I’ve had in a while… Perhaps the sense of achievement played a part in improving the taste. Haha.

Yesterday, went with a few people to this KTV/pool open air place by the East Lake, near school. Drank one ah-pek, coffee-shop bottle of beer… and was uninhibited enough to sing "yue liang dai biao wo de xin" which was quite fun, at the time. There weren’t any english songs available, so we’re definitely going to find one that does. The toilet at the KTV place was the most primitive I’ve experienced so far in China: a rectangular hole that hung above the East Lake, so while squatting there you can see the water lapping against the poles that are holding your toilet up.

Been having a weird (?) time with Nigerian friend… Went out with him once the previous time that I wrote about and once more to Carrefour. And since then he’s been calling me once or twice a day, just to ask how I am. He’s definitely not interested in me in a romantic way, so I’m just not used to this aggressive keeping-in-touch. Was reading the other day about how in these mobile phone times, a phone call is so immediate and in-your-face that it’s only used for emergencies, and I agree! I’m so much more used to getting an sms from a friend to arrange something. So anyway, I just got a bit irritated when he called me yesterday and asked, "Why have you abandoned me?" I mean, yeah, we had an enjoyable time going out once, when it was your first day in school, but in what way am I responsible for you?? Why is there even this concept of abandonment?? I’m thinking that this may just be an African thing because there was another Ghana guy who asked me the same thing. I don’t get it, or like it either. (edit: talked to Nasiru about it and it’s definitely a culture thing… He says that when he says "abandon", he is expressing how he misses the good time we had spent together, an idea of nostalfia. )

Anyway, I’m happy to say that QT has been good… revisiting "Drawing Near" and been touched and overwhelmed again by God’s love and relentless pursuit of us.

One major takeaway from my exchange is the importance of languages! You always here people nag at you about how important Chinese is, how China is on the rise and Singaporeans have an advantage in being bilingual… but somehow, these words go in one ear and mildly register en route to the exit at the other. But when you see people from all over the world, as far flung as Finland and Ghana, make the effort to take one year of their life and dedicate it to Chinese, you know that it’s gone beyond being important to being essential. I think Chinese is not just important because of its economic necessity, but also because I am Chinese, and I should be able to speak this language because it’s part of my background and of who I am.

Besides Chinese, I think that other languages are important as well… especially because of the international nature of Singapore. Our economy is so open and trade dependent that there really should be a greater emphasis, both personally and on a government level, on learning more languages. Sweden, for example, has 9 million people and they realise that they have practically no domestic market, so the government makes it compulsory for students to learn 3 languages, and most people learn 4. I believe that Singapore should head in a similar direction as well, and not just limit the opportunity for further studies in language to a select few. We prioritise English and mathematics, but it seems with courses like Chinese Language B, that we’re taking a step back, instead of pushing our standards of Chinese to a higher level. Yeah, Chinese is difficult, it’s painful, it can be, but if it really is all that important, at the end of the day, it just has to be done. If anything, there shouldn’t be a relaxation of the standards so much as a revision in the way the course is taught. Less time spent on memorisation for example and instead spent on being functional in the language. I have an issue with the fact that 3rd Languages are only available to people who score well in exams, because a PSLE score is not indicative of your flair for languages, and that opportunity should be extended to everyone who has an interest in it.