Singapore 101

How long have you been in Singapore, lah*?
(*"lah" at the end of a phrase is used by Singaporeans to soften or lighten the tone of a phrase. #endearing)

Here is a first entry (of many) into an ongoing glossary/reference of sorts as an intro to Singapore. If you come visit (which I hope you will) you will be ahead of the curve if you know these first things it has taken me a month to acquire:

"Have you had your lunch yet" means, "Are you doing alright?/How's it going?" Until this was explained to me a few days ago, when people would ask me this at work circa 4:30pm, I would think "I see what's going on, you are looking for someone to eat lunch with" and I would tell them I would go with them if they were looking for someone to eat with only to be met with a confusing look and a polite decline :) Now, I'm #intheloop.

"Ministry of Manpower" commonly referred to as "MOM" (Ministry of Magic anyone?) This is the Sing version of an American DMV...but bigger and with more "queues," and you must go through them for all your employment needs.

Community cats. No such thing as "stray" cats in Singapore...instead we (and the government) call them "community cats" #euphemism 

Doors. You MUST push the release button beside any door on NUS campus and also use the actual doorknob to exit and to avoid locked-in panic (advice from experience). It's easy to forget! Oh, and beware, sometimes there is also a light switch lurking (see below the red box) so you must choose carefully.

Elevator doors. The elevator doors wait for no one. I didn't understand in the first few weeks why no one ever holds elevator doors but then the first time I pressed "door close" when someone was clearly coming towards the elevator a little distance away, I realized, it's just too hot to wait in an elevator. It's an understood rule, if you aren't stepping in, it leaves without you.

Take away (translation) "I want this [insert food/drink] to go"

"Cannot." Literal translation: "not a chance" You may never be sure of the reasoning but the throwdown of a "cannot" means end of story, no ifs ands or buts about it. Sarah, use it in a sentence you may ask...sure, example: "Will you fan me while I'm waiting for the train in Sing's mid-day sun?" "Cannot." at which point you may wonder, a) can you but you don't want to? b) is it that you don't have a fan? or c) are you late to a meeting and you just don't have time? You may never know but bottom line: aint happening.

Alight: "This is your stop" (e.g. alight at 42nd Street in Times Square)

Durians. Explosives, drinks, and durians...all things not allowed on the MRT (subway) system in Sing. Although I have not given them a go yet, this fruit smells like...something dead, which it why it is not allowed on MRT. The smell is considered "offensive" 

Editing of TV shows/movies. Many shows/movies seen in Sing are edited for...well...we're not really sure the rules. When you're least expecting, you may realize, how did that guy get that gun? And then you get the sneaking suspicion you may have missed something...well you have just experienced a little TV/movie selective removal, Sing style. 

• Singing: "Carry On" -Kansas

The Tale of the Crow Cullers

This day started off like most others, I was walking to the bus stop to hop on the 33 to get to work when all of a sudden, I heard the loudest gun shot ever to grace my ears. I'm talking like Saving Private Ryan war movie loud. I instinctively ducked and covered only to look back and see a huge black crow drop dead to the ground from a tree over the bus stop about 20 feet away from me and a man in camo pants and black tee shirt with a gun. Umm...what? 

After a phone-a-friend to Kathryn, I discovered that I had just witnessed my first crow culling. What is a crow culling you might ask? Let me tell you...Due to strict gun regulations, few Singaporeans own firearms (which is why I thought Singapore was at war upon hearing a gunshot), so the Singapore Gun Club members were the only private citizens in the country that authorities could turn to for help with Singapore's "crow problem". Crows are said to be a plain nuisance in Sing but have also been the culprit of "dive bombings" on Singapore's own. In 2006, at the invitation of the government, volunteers from the Singapore Gun Club culled approximately 1,025 crows. Don't believe me?

This is the site of the culling...in the middle of our neighborhood in a tree right over that bus stop. But the good news is, I can now sleep at night knowing that I will have 1 less chance of being dive-bombed on the way to the bus stop. Now, about the man in camo pants with a gun...

• Singing" "Pumped Up Kicks" -Foster the People

Home is a story...your story.

I have been teaching the guys on my CARE team at least one American saying per week, and I realized how many sayings we have about "home." Home is where the heart is, There's no place like home, I'll be home for Christmas [fingers crossed] and so on...not to even mention the songs written about home. And for the proverbial icing on the cake, for one of our CARE projects, we are working with an nonprofit organization called HOME (Humanitarian Organization for Migrant Economies).

The identity we take in relationship to our "home" is certainly more complex than Phil Phillips' one hit wonder, "Home" (Anne & David Comer, that pop culture reference is for you two #Idolgroupies). When we say "Home is where the heart is," does that imply that we have only one place we call home, a single place for our heart to be tied to? Every city or house or season is just that, a plain old city, house, or season until you paint life into it by investing a piece of your heart in it, and in turn allow the place to become part of who you are. But doesn't it seem like a crossroad sometimes when we face knocking on the door of a new home? I am reminded that home is not really confined to earthly measures, and really, we are all migrants and nomads, some in different seasons of life or in different places geographically but we are all the products of loving and being loved by different cities, communities, family members, etc. 

 We are broken and weary travelers, and it is not a house or a town or a city alone that heals us, it is the promise of an eternal home where our spirits belong, with a loving Father in heaven. It is the promise of community for our temporary homes here on earth. We probably all know that deep inside, but when we think of home, we sometimes long for the places we used to know-familiarity feels like home to us. But what I have learned after my first few weeks in Sing is that it is not familiarity necessarily that defines home, home is where we get to be a part of a place, a people, a community that invited you into its story, and in turn, it becomes such a significant part of yours. 

Here is a snapshot of what my home in Singapore looks like so far: 

Top left: Marina Bay downtown Singapore. Middle&Bottom left: The
 "Sarah Comer" pose enacted by my sweet LifeGroup members. Top
right: My CARE family goofing off on the first day in our new office! Middle
right: Botanical Gardens in the middle of the city...so beautiful (more pictures
to come!) Bottom right: My cousin Kathryn (and Ed-who took the picture)
are such a HUGE part of how much I love this city! They have been the most WONDERFUL "relocation specialists!" I am so lucky! 

My encouraging, funny, and loving Life Group in Sing
 #LivingthePhilippinedream

Din Tau Fung (http://www.dintaifung.com.sg/)
My favorite thing I have eaten in Singapore!

The view from "The Deck" where I
eat lunch every day around the corner
from my office at NUS

                                                                                  A beautiful view of Marina Bay 

                                                                                                              from the pool!

Thank you for being part of my ongoing story of home! I have already shared so many stories of North Augusta, Clemson, Athens, Australia, and Houston with my friends in Singapore and will always consider those places and the people in them permanent residents of what I consider "home!"

                                          
                                                                       

• Singing:"Home" -The Wealthy West

WHEN I STEP OUTSIDE IN SINGAPORE

What I had hoped my hair would do: 


What I actually look like in the 80% (or more) humidity:

Singapore's climate: 1
Sarah: 0

Sing sits just 1 degree from the equator and is every bit of a tropical climate. Although it creates a beautiful landscape in the city, I am still trying to find a way to reign in the frizz. It's a long road ahead of me...

• Singing: "Rains in Asia" Jump Little Children

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies and Soursop

There are several unrelated important moments of understanding that happened today so please excuse a no-themer...there's really nothing that ties these things together except that they happened to happen on this Wednesday!

1.We had our CARE team meeting today, and we have a new home! We are officially (almost) ready to move into our new lab space. (Couch to be added!) Check out my blog entry for our CARE website for some details about our time together today: CARE Blog-Listening

Kang and JT modeling with our new furniture!

My CARE family is AWESOME and I learned so much from them today...including that Daniel makes the most deee-lish oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. They reminded me so much of home...so naturally I ate 3 (or 4 but who's counting?)

2.I found out that what I thought were alarms going off almost all the time on campus over the last week are actually Cicadas (bugs). I thought I was in constant need to evacuate my office on the regular because I kept hearing "alarms" from my office. #fooledmeonce #fooledmetwice #canfinallyrelax

3. I visited a church last Sunday: EN Central and loved it! Everyone was so friendly and what I loved the most is how many different nations were represented in the congregation. I connected with a LifeGroup last Sunday and went to their first get together tonight. I felt so loved by them and have been receiving encouragement texts many mornings of the last week from them! Most of the members are from the Philippines, and they prayed for me and sent me home with hugs and even a personal escort on the MRT :) They are so funny and adventurous and I have already learned so many things from their lively spirits!

4.I finally learned what a soursop fruit is:

Besides knowing that it is 1 of the 2 ingredients in my favorite fruit slush served downstairs from my office, I had no idea. But here it is, an exposé -it looks like a spiny apple/avocado but tastes like  your favorite popsicle flavor . 

One.Great.Wednesday.