Round 2

For my return to Singapore for my second and final year at Yong Siew Toh Conservatory, I flew 14 hours to get to Japan. I spent my four hour layover figuring out the conversion of USD to yen, admiring Udon and a plethora of strange drinks at the cafes, and marveling at the "shower" feature they have in Japanese bathrooms(basically, if you press the button water will come up through a hose from the toilet to "clean" you). Hanging out in Japan made me feel very far away from home, and I still had 7 more hours of flying to go.

After 26 hours of travel and a 12 hour time difference I was dropped headfirst into Singapore. And I didn't feel so far away from home anymore. I can't begin to describe how strange it felt to arrive in a completely different part of the world, and yet be in a place that I knew so well. On my first day back I walked around for hours, taking the long way everywhere, just to be sure of everything. Compared which buildings were new, what shops had changed, tested my memory of what I would see at the turn of every corner (keep in mind I was sweating profusely the whole time, since I had to readjust to the climate!). During my summer in the US, Singapore was a place that I described in great detail to all the curious friends around me; but the longer I stayed in the US, the more my time in Singapore felt like a dream. The sudden tangibility upon returning- the feeling, sights, sounds and smells were overwhelming.

At the same time, I can already feel my life in the US slightly slipping away. I had such a wonderful summer and loved seeing everyone and being at home in my own country, but I have to accept that I cannot completely manage two lives at a time. There will always be one place that feels very far away. That being said, I hope to keep in touch as much as possible this year.

I have to keep this short because I'm writing this the night before I'm leaving on possibly the coolest "school field trip" ever! Tomorrow I go with a group of 8 students from my school and 2 professors to Bali to play Balinese gamelan and try my hand at traditional balinese painting and dancing too! I will be sure to write all about it when I return

I will end with one cultural note that sums up my daily life here- While at an outdoor food court with some Singaporean friends, I ordered some food (carrot cake, actually. It's not what you think it is, trust me). As I went back to my table I wondered why they didn't ask me what my table number was. When my food was delivered to me, my friends burst out laughing for a reason I didn't know. They pointed to the side of my plate, where, written in chinese characters was the word "yang ren", which translates to mean "the caucasian". So that's how the waiter knew where to bring my food :-p