Saturday, December 15, 2001

Where to Live?

Both Daniel and I seem to be in a slightly strange mood. I think it has to do with leaving. For once, it seems more obvious with him than with me. Well, I'm guessing it's because he's more opinionated than I am when it comes to lifestyle. I'm alright anywhere as long as I have the right people around and the right food. He needs a whole country to be right and like many Singaporeans before him, who have gone overseas, he has developed a great dislike for his countrymen. It's a very "us and them" mentality despite the fact that by birth, we are all Singaporeans.

I don't blame him. The behaviour of our countrymen overseas is astoundingly disgraceful. We were at Movieworld in the Gold Coast and there were hordes of them, who seemed to know how everyone was out to cheat them of their money and time and had grand schemes to evade them. They hatched their grand schemes within everyone's earshot, with the characteristic pompousity (I don't care if there isn't such a word) of someone who actually doesn't know very much but doesn't give two hoots. Anyway, that's just a tour group full. Imagine 2/3 of the country populated with such people and you'll see why Daniel is up set about going home.

I think I'm more able to shut them out because I haven't been as long as he has. I have also grown up within the educational system there and am therefore more impervious to the idiocies that surrounds me. It's a survival mechanism. If I got annoyed at every single person around me, in school, even in uni and at work, I would be a very miserable person. Daniel has had the advantage of being overseas and coming back to see Singapore through the lenses of a foreigner. It may not be the best way to see things but that's what it's like. I must admit that I've become slightly more "atas" (malay for snooty, as learnt from my mother this trip here) about myself as compared to my fellow countrymen. But still, I guess it's with less vehemence than Daniel does.

I suspect the re-settling would be quite a shock. I do recall being shoved into the train unknowingly by passengers behind me, eager to get a seat on the train at rush hour. That was on my first day back to SIngapore after a whole year in Melbourne. That sort of thing.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed about everything. Everyone warns me that our relationship will be tried and tested by the tensions of living with our parents once again and the heat (shrug). Well, people also warned that honours year would be a trying time as well. Others said that living together was one of the sure ways of ending a relationship and thankfully, we've survived those ominous warnings and hopefully, we'll survive this one as well. By far, I think this shall be the harshest, but I have faith and our mantra is " it's not permanent". This arrangement, that is.

Anyway, we have no utensils in the house as everything is in boxes so I'm off to buy souvlakis for dinner. They're yummy and yet another thing I'm going to miss when I go home.

Later..

Ondine tossed this thought in at 11:45

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