Just some bits and pieces from my vacation to the land of warm smiles and friendly greetings from strangers. Where Christian radio stations actually exist in abundance, kids are raised having no chance to enter the ranks of the 草莓族, and people are honest with themselves.
1) It's a romantic place
After six years, I finally got the chance to return to the place where I spent three years of my childhood. The main drive behind this decision was originally to visit my dad and make it easier for him to get through this tough 7 month assignment to the US. Initially, I didn't have that many expectations for the trip, but thanks to dad's meticulous planning, it turned out to be much more than I bargained for.
Seeing Corvallis again after so long brought back many memories. The swimming center where I spent so much time at didn't change much, while cheldelin middle school and basically the town itself seemed much smaller than before. No wonder David and Lisa said there wasn't much to do there. Even getting chapped lips, enduring the chilling weather, and slipping on sleet were things I unknowingly missed. The laid back and slow pace of living is something that would probably be impossible in Singapore. Even thinking about the things I liked about the town - the roller coaster hill, ashbrook, and friends' houses - are making me start to miss the place.
Shopping proved to be a different experience from plain old Singapore too. Singaporean service cannot compare. Here, the sales assistants not only enthusiastically approach you, but also engage in small talk with you, and even generously recommend other shops to you when they feel that your taste could be more in line with another shop's goods. I was genuinely surprised when I was drawn a map of how to get to a competitor store. and by the way, I have no idea why people would want to do shopping in singapore when everything is so overpriced... And when customer service of both shops and restaurants make you feel distant.
There were also many times that I felt the urge to take out my camera to snap a few shots. There is so much to see no matter where I go. Be it the big cities, suburbmodern mountains. Such urges are less frequently felt in Singapore, probably since there is no space nor heritage to build a landscape that is anything but "modern" and "metropolitan".
2) Gaining a new perspective of "old" people
Since I left America just after entering adolescence, I don't remember too much about the social aspects of life. But this time when I returned, friends have grown up and I felt really lucky to not go around visiting and doing things alone like a hobo tourist. Haha. Seeing them almost completing university, and even people who were younger than me going into uni second year, i felt a mix of envy and regret. Maybe if I had stayed in the US, I'll be getting my honors in an ivy league college in a year's time. Maybe this is why I feel that I might have made the wrong choice to have returned to singapore, and a little clumsy with my 2320 SAT that could have actually gotten me somewhere. But, on the bright side, I got to experience national service, and also the disgustingly competitive singaporean culture, probably arising from the lack of freedom in Singapore. Of course, we are free to do almost anything that we wanted, but there is so little support, infrastructure, and government encouragement to do anything that does not contribute to the economy directly. Maybe that's why we need to implement things like "eat with your family day", and finally start up schools for music and sports. But again, these things are only viable options for the top in each category. And there's the cca system that attempts to get children to try more things. As someone who was in this system, I think it's able to entangle one into something you dislike for 4 whole years, which takes up so much time that he has no energy to do what he actually want to do.
Skiing on weekends, going to dances, and listening to hardly anything on the top 40s. The definition of fun also seems more authentic. Man, how do they find so much time to do such things? Friend who decided to pursue college education overseas, you have my envy. Oh well, at least I'm doing my best taking art in different things, experiencing different things, and trying to experience more of uni life before third year kicks in. (gonna be staying in hall from next sem onwards!)
I think American raised kids have the potential to become quite wise and capable.. This conclusion was formed thanks to Lisa and Becky, only 19 and 14 and able to do so much around the house as well as in extracurricular activities. A girl who can run 400m in 60 seconds? Come on, most guys can't even do that! I'm ready to start missing the friends I hung out with a when I end reach home on Xmas eve. Gonna be missing the way I'm asked to pronounce "adult" and "stage", and Lisa driving me around town to meet old friends and even her ex, which was totally random. Never felt so spontaneous in a long while.
I'll definitely make an effort to come back here again, for the people I know when I was younger, and also for the view from the top of the mountain. On another note, I'm really thankful to god for allowing me the chance to have spent my childhood there, so that I'm able to turn into the person I am today. I'm glad I can talk to people easily, and that I'm not afraid to try new things.
3) Just skiing
Originally, I was looking forward to spending 3 days on the slopes carving snow with a pair of skis, but thanks to friends calling me a pussy, I decided instead to try snowboarding for the first time. I think it's one of the best decisions I made on this trip. As Lisa told me: on a scale of 1 to 10, if skiing had a difficulty of 2, snowboarding would be 8. That was so true... A lot more balance and courage is required for snowboarding, apart from a very hard ass.. I've fallen down at lease 50 times over 2 days (couldn't continue on the 3rd day cause my butt got destroyed, even now i have trouble sitting). Though the trails I could do was limited down to just green ones, I have no idea why I suggested that we take the lift to the top of the mountain. Maybe cause it was the last run of the day, or maybe I was influenced by the super "on" attitude of Americans. Though i spent an hour getting lost, rolling down black diamond trails, and getting bitched at, the experience and the view from the top of the mountain was worth it. It was the first time that I saw one of those postcard paranomas, where you could literally see into the endless horizon, and all the other mountains are all below you, with the entire Earth basked in vermilion sunset.
4) Returning home
I'm aware that I might have sounded envious of the American life and might have expressed innuendos of desires to move there. However, a vacation will remain only a vacation. Since I decided to return to Singapore after middle school graduation, a door has closed for me. Now, the best that I can do is to continue down the oath of becoming a good doctor, and explore another route in life. Experiences might not be as fun, but fun does not singlehandly define how good a life we can have. Who knows? I might end up here again some time in the future for good!
Well, it's time to return to the life I have chosen.
Feeling a little nostalgic now, about my childhood and many things that might have been. Can someone tell me if this feeling is normal, and will it get more and more persistent as we grow older?
