One of my goals earlier in the year was to locate Singaporeans near us and ensure that one way or another, we celebrate National Day this year with fellow Singaporeans. I signed up at the Overseas Singaporeans forum page and Facebook page, contacted the Overseas Singaporeans Unit (OSU), joined the Singaporeans in Americas Facebook page, and also the University of Michigan Singapore Students Association Facebook page. I also set up a Singaporeans in Michigan Facebook page, which I did nothing much with and of course, nothing much happened there.
The OSU connected me with an Assistant Professor in Sociology sometime in May, who was teaching at a university in Ann Arbor. We'll call him by his initials, LC. LC and I exchanged a couple of emails and because he was about to visit Singapore for his summer break, we decided to reconnect again in July when he returns. We did so, and before we knew it, we had made arrangements to have lunch on August 10 to celebrate National Day. YAY!
We met at Asia City in Ypsilanti for a dim sum lunch. Other than LC, his wife and lovely little daughter, we were also joined by another Singaporean family - MC, his three little girls, and his mother-in-law, who was visiting to help with the children during summer break. Unfortunately, MC's wife was unwell and couldn't join us.
For once, food wasn't the highlight although dim sum was pretty good and with so many dining together, we could finally have a good variety of dishes. The conversations, and what they revealed, were simply...divine.
It turned out that LC is the brother of a junior college friend of mine. I wasn't close to LC's sister but I attended the church where their father was pastor, and had also visited their home in the River Valley area once! LC is a year younger and we must have crossed paths several times in NUS' Department of Sociology even though he would have joined a couple of years after I, taking into consideration national service.
MC turned out to be from DSTA, where Leon used to work! He's here on a scholarship to get his aerospace engineering PhD. It wasn't surprising what their conversation topics turned to.
After lunch, we were invited to the home of another Singaporean family to celebrate their little girl's one-year birthday. It wasn't too long before we figured out that the mum, we'll call her VC, used to be Beauty Editor at Nuyou magazine in Singapore, and I had met her at media events while I was working at Hill & Knowlton.
It was a very surreal day. The accent, stories, and connections were heartwarmingly familiar, yet we were almost strangers. I guess that's probably what many people feel when meeting their fellow countrymen overseas. There's always enough commonality to make a connection.
I didn't take any photos that day. I guess I was living every second, and relishing every moment, that I didn't feel like I needed a photo.
We are so grateful everyday for the life we're leading and experiences we go through. Sometimes, it feels good to just sit, be in the present, and breathe...
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