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A little over two months ago I left my home and my midwestern life to explore and learn in Singapore. Now when I left, I had no idea what the future held remotely. Everything was scary and new, it was the unfamiliar and human nature has always taught me to believe that to be unsettling. I remember laying in my bed with my then girlfriend the night before I left and thinking, “what are you doing?” Realizing there was no answer to that question, I thought to believe this was part of the experience that I was embarking on and that answers would come later.
Well now I am in the present. Now the vanity of Singapore has worn off. The city is no longer an unknown phenomenon that my friends and I eagerly explore. We now spend whatever weekends we have drinking duty free alcohol and talking about the trips we have taken and the ones we intend to do. I think after this short period of time, my mind has begun to associate Singapore with home. Singapore is a great city in many different ways. It provides me with mental and physical security which after a long trip in Asia, I can retreat back to my little dorm room and feel safe and comfortable again. The reason I say this though is that by making this association of Singapore as home I believe I’m downplaying the home I have back in the states. What I mean by that is many of my friends and peers that are here on exchange with me seem to be getting homesick. They miss the life they had back home and want to experience those feelings again with the people who matter. Now for me personally I see it a little differently. I see it as the life I left behind was amazing. This past year and specifically this past summer provided me with some amazing memories which I am so happy to have created. The thing that is hard to come to terms with is that I can not get those memories back. I can not recreate those specific instances and when I do return back to the states there will be differences in who I am as a person. Often we find us exchange students talking about things we miss. Most of the time it’s food and cheap beer but it always digresses to the people that matter. My time in Singapore is wearing down. I have roughly three more weeks of class and have already began planning my four trips to Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia along with a short stop in Italy to visit a friend on my way back to the states. I haven’t even left Singapore but I’m beginning to realize the affect it has had on my life thus far. I am excited to see what the next 7 weeks have in store and the experiences that will come along with my travels. I apologize for not writing in a long time, life unfortunately got in the way and I will try my best to update this regularly.

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