Roots
22 Jul
At 6pm on Tuesday, I rushed from CDR‘s downtown condo, where we had all been gathered for an Ikea-furniture-assembly party, to the poshest part of the City to meet friends from The Business School for dinner. As I exited the metro, I slipped off my ballerina flats for a pair of simple black pumps, and immediately, I was dressed for a semi-formal meal.
I arrived to find TM and BPB waiting for me at the bar. TM handed me a colourful striped box.
“What’s in it?” I asked him.
“Read the tag,” he said with a smile.
I flipped over the tag on the box. You drink, right? It read.
“Is this what I think it is? Is it a bottle of Gewurtzraminer?” TM had found out my favourite white was Gewurtzraminer during our Europe trip. I was pleased he remembered.
“I know you love it.”
“I do! Thank you!” I gave him a hug.
I hadn’t seen BPB in a long time, since he had been on exchange in Hong Kong all semester. I turned to him and gave him a hug too.
Moments later, the rest of the party streamed in, including Jasmine and Vin Diesel, carrying a huge bouquet of flowers. I had never received flowers from a non-boyfriend before. And the bouquet had white calla lilies, which looked so beautiful and elegant. Of my Europe trip-mates, Jack Sparrow was the only one who couldn’t make it, but he sent me a text: “You are one of my favourite Asians.” Coming from him, that meant a lot.
Dinner was quite pleasant, and although the Italian food was not as good as what we’d had in Italy, it certainly reminded me of it, and that was enough. After dinner, we went to a penthouse lounge nearby for some champagne and astonishing views of the City.
The entire night, I made sure to spend some time talking to each person, and the more I chatted, the more it dawned on me how strong my roots in the City really were. When I’d chatted with PHB a few weeks ago, he had told me to see Singapore as not only a new chapter in my life, but also an opportunity for a fresh start. When I heard that, I was reminded of how excited I used to be when I was a little girl every time I switched schools (which was quite often). Every time I went to a new school, I had the opportunity to re-invent myself. If I wasn’t very popular in my last school, no problem, this time I would make the right friends and start anew.
But it’s different now. I’m not looking for a fresh start. I like who I am here, and I like my friends here. I don’t feel frustrated or suffocated such that I need to get away, that wasn’t the reason I took this job. I took this job because it was a rare opportunity to challenge myself, but that doesn’t mean I won’t miss what I have here, who I am in this City. For the first time in my life, I had established roots.
And here I am picking up my life and moving.
I moved twice when I was a kid, and every time I moved, I also felt that same way – it was a time to re-invent myself. Though, I never did figure out how to make myself popular, until university. :P
In university, I moved around a lot for different internships, and have even lived in Singapore for a 4 months for exchange (it’s a beautiful city, and I think you’ll love it!). It was fun and exciting to make new friends and explore new places.
Then, when I my chance after university came – to leave My City and move to a new city for work – I didn’t want to. I felt that I just wanted to stay in one place for a few years, and be close to my friends and family for a bit. I just felt a little tired of moving, for a while.
Having said that, I am considering moving to another city for a year or two, when (and if) I do my Master’s studies. Just the thought of it is getting me excited, again :)
Wow, that is a lot of moving! Does it ever make you feel like an outsider? Like the friends you meet all have better friends that they’ve known since childhood, and you’re just there for X number of months?
I didn’t think that moving to Singapore would be hard because I’m not currently in a relationship and my parents would understand (after all, they moved from China to Canada without knowing anyone). But I underestimated my roots here in terms of friends.
I loved the challenge of living in a new place for awhile, granted, it didn’t work out for me but I would do it again in a heartbeat.