In/Extrospective

SH06 Reunion Show Mailer

Date: 3rd Aug - 27th Aug 2007
Time: 10am - 9pm daily

Venue:
The Photo Gallery, The Arts House
1 Old Parliament Lane

Memories Strung Into Words

[And random thoughts...]

27 days of traveling...meeting new people, seeing new things and eating new food. I remember the light being exceptional (when it wasn't raining).

There were Amazing Race moments when we were running in train stations, rushing for the connection, which was leaving in a minute. And the little episode in a small Hungarian train station at night where an announcement was made that our train had changed platform (naturally it sounded absolutely foreign to me). Had it not been a local couple there, we would have waited dumbly and left stranded.

I never felt the kindness of strangers before this trip. There were so many times when perfect strangers opened up and helped us. If it wasn't for them, the trip would have been less eventful. The Polish family that brought us along on their hiking trip was really nice (gonna send them a cd of pictures). The countless people who pointed us in the right direction (having a stupefied and lost face bridges all languages).

The sights were beautiful but I think the experience of being somewhere else beats the former. Though the trip was too short for any form of immersion, we manage to find our more about other people leaving on our planet. Today, on the train ride home, I looked at my fellow passengers and pondered, would they ever trade what they have now for a life halfway round the globe?

I have also began placing our little nation into perspective; our culture, our identity and what it means to be a Singaporean. Many were clueless about our geographical location (we're not in China, and my little printout helped a lot), yet in they often mentioned about us being a beautiful country. They are surprised to find out that we speak English as the first language, have no seasons and no mountains/lakes/hills. I guess when you live in beauty, you naturally assume that the entire world is similar. What then makes us Singaporean? Kiasuism? Singlish? How did we, as a nation of immigrants, build such an dareisayit artificial landscape, upon the ideals of social democracy, equality and wealth? What then runs beneath it all? The vital artery that bonds us together as a nation?

I don't know how long these thoughts will persist before my generation's famed apathy takes over...but it's some good food for thought.

Home

Back from traversing foreign lands in the West, encompassing Czech, Slovak, Austria, Hungary and Romania. True be told, nothing beats having clean sheets at home and having no worries about finding food and accomodation. Nevertheless, it was an adventure worth a lifetime; sitting at strange train stations, staying in an old communist aparment (with an eccentric owner), hiking on the High Tatras with a Polish family and drinking lots of beer.

Phew. Too much to write about and not enough pictures to show. Maybe next time!