November 10
The Beginning of the End
Today is 10 November 2014 in Singapore. Exactly one month
until I travel back to the United States. I miss home so much but I realize
that this time and experience is so temporary. It causes me much distress to
learn that once I leave Southeast Asia, I may never see some of the note-worthy
people again. I may never eat the same foods again. I may never set foot in
Asia again. That thought is scary yet very motivational. It makes me want to
cross everything that I want to do from my bucket list. It makes me savor the
moments and really soak in the experiences that I am having right now. As I
prepare for my presentations this week, I am really realizing how much I have
grown. This experience makes me grateful for so many things. I am grateful to
have opportunities to travel, to be educated, to have my family and support
system, and also to be an American and to realize the privilege in that.
On Being “American”
I had never thought of myself as American before I left
America. In America, I had always been African American; to people from other
countries, I am simply American. There are certain things that people assume
about you when they learn that you are American, some things that I cannot
readily identify with. Some people are surprised to learn that I not rich or
even close. People also assumed that I would only speak one language (I also
speak French and am currently learning Mandarin), only eat American food, and would
be rather distant or even obnoxious in Asian countries. Someone assumed that I
would be hungry all of the time since American portion sizes are bigger. That
was probably the funniest thing I had heard since I have been here. I am not
and I do not find that the portions in Singapore are much smaller than what I
eat at home, I just find that they are smaller than when you go to a
restaurant. Singapore’s portion sizes are larger than those in other Southeast
Asian countries. I also noticed that wearing the American flag on clothing is
surprisingly a fashion statement here; I initially mistook many people as
Americans until I heard that they did not have American accents. I also
realized that many people here have wishes to visit or live in America. When I
met the family of one of my Singaporean friends, the mother asked her children
where (not if) they wanted to visit in America. Being American abroad has its
ups and downs.
