6 Months

Well, somehow it's been 6 months since we arrived in Singapore. In some ways it feels like ages ago, and yet when I realize it's been 6 months, I can hardly believe it. It's been a challenging 6 months, but also full of fun too.
A few observations from our time here so far:

*I feel like I speak "British" English now: pram, cot, fab, arvo, etc. Probably because most of my friends are British rather than American.

*Plastic, plastic, everywhere. I have never seen so much packaging in my life. Snacks pretty much only come individually wrapped inside larger packages, drinks are given to you in plastic bags, even if you come with reusable bags, they give you plastic ones anyway. For how "forward" Singapore is, they are very behind in this, I feel.

*Chili garlic sauce is Singapore's equivalent of ketchup, even at McDonald's.

*They love, love kids. "Oh so cute!" is a common phrase heard, Emmeline has come to expect candy from the cashier at the grocery store, and everyone wants to touch or take their pictures. While sometimes this is annoying, they really mean well.

*Everyone assumes you have a helper.

*Schooling culture is probably the biggest challenge I've had in terms of culture shock. It is very much the opposite of US culture, where kids seem to earn a prize for participation in everything. Recently, Emmeline went to a neighborhood kids festival, and prizes (small trinkets) were only given out if you truly earned it in the game. (Somewhere in the middle is probably the right solution.)

In addition, most kids attend school 5 days a week, full days from about 2 years old (this applies for local kids and expats). Compared to the US, this seems like a lot of school to me, but as I meet more and more people from all over the world, I realize actually the US is in the minority in terms of how late we start some sort of schooling. Luckily, we have a found Emmeline a school where she doesn't have to go every day, and all the learning is done through play (the local schools are not play based). It's not easy to find play mates on the days she's not at school because of their schooling culture, and most classes/playgroups during the day are geared toward kids under 2.

 

While a challenging six months at times, it's been good to experience different things and challenge some of our ideals and notions. I love that there are so many cultures present here in Singapore, and that Emmeline has friends from all over the world. She's learned that not everyone is the same as her, or celebrates the same holidays, speaks the same language, and that's okay. If only everyone in the world could have the same tolerance as kids do. I'm hoping instilling this at a young age will help it become a lifelong value!