One Great City/Homeward Bound

Coming back to Singapore was one of my favourite parts of this trip. Often I used to complain about all the things in Singapore that bothered me. However, upon coming back it was as if all the negative things about Singapore were invisible to me. Doing some last minute sight-seeing (after four months I had never been to see the Merlion) and visiting my friends, all the amazing things in Singapore were more apparent to me. I love that city. It sort of reminds me of a song by the Weakerthans, One Great City, which is about Winnipeg but to me the song is very much like how I feel about Singapore. The song describes citizens of Winnipeg lamenting their city's flaws, but the title to me indicates that regardless of that they still love it there.

Quick thanks to the people that made Singapore so special to me:

Karlijn and Maddy; my best friends in the country, my Swiss room mates; Adrian, Flavio and Simon, The Muddy Grass Ultimate Team at NUS, Kang; who got me hooked on wakeboarding, and Vicki; who took care of me when I was sick recently. Did I use those semi-colons properly?


Now I am in the airport in Hong Kong, one more flight then I am back in Canada and this is all over. That hasn't really sunk in yet for me. I won't be back in Singapore for some time. Strange to write that. Now, as I write this I'm starting to feel slight depression setting in, it feels like a weight in my stomach (or maybe that's H1N1).

DAILY TEMPERATURE DECLARATION

I received this message in my Inbox:

6 May 2009

Dear Residents,

DAILY TEMPERATURE DECLARATION

As a precautionary measure against the H1N1 influenza virus, all residents will be required to monitor their own temperatures on a daily basis.

Please submit your temperature reading online by 10am each day, via the following website address: [removed]

Please be informed that non-compliance may pose health risks to our residents and compromise the university’s efforts to keep out the H1N1 Influenza virus.

We seek your cooperation in this exercise and thank you for your patience and understanding.

Residential Services

Office of student Affairs

Seriously!!? I guess to those not living in Singapore this may not seem (initially spelled seam, thanks to my Mom for pointing that out) too extreme. But when a thermometer is put in your ear for nearly every building you walk into on campus, it gets a little tiring. They actually close the library early now (during exams) because they can't afford to keep paying the thermometer people. And, they have cancelled all school trips out of the country.


I feel like this could be dealt with at the airports, they know where peoples flights are from, if they are coming from a flu affected area they could test peoples temperature. Oh yeah, they are doing that too, I got thermal scanned coming back from Thailand the other day. This country can be so hysterical sometimes, but I guess it's better than China which appears to be quarantining people because they are Mexican. Singapore seems to understand its caused by a flu virus, not Mexicans.

The Beginning of the End

The exchange students at the National University of Singapore are struggling to get all their final assignments in so they can have a week, or more, of travelling before exams.  Soon after exams they will be going home to their respective countries, or (most likely) embarking on trips around South East Asia.  It is the beginning of the end of the exchange student experience.

Coming to Singapore has been an amazing experience, and I am thankful I had the opportunity to do so.  Alas, I will soon be leaving and travelling around the south-east of Asia (woe is me), which both scares and excites me.  I will return to Singapore briefly before heading back to the Great White North.  Leaving Singapore will be bitter-sweet, since I know it mean the beginning of my travels, which I have been dreaming of for some time.  But, this city (which has both amazed and frustrated me equally) has become my home, and moving is always difficult.

Just like graduating high school there is the excitement of what lays ahead but also the sadness of leaving your friends behind.  There is the chance you will bump into each other again, but it may not be for a long time.

Nearly four months have gone by in a flash, but I still have lots of experiences ahead of me before I hop on a flight to Canada.