This is going to be a difficult extraction. Johan and I didn’t anticipate how hard it would be to leave Singapore. Yes, it was difficult to leave Chicago, to uproot my family and move here for six months. We left our schools, our friends and family, and our familiar routines. It felt like an upheaval, like pulling a plant out with the roots. Now, our roots have taken hold here – especially for our girls, who have bonded with some friends here. I knew that they would make friends because they seem to do that effortlessly, but I didn’t know that they would become so attached. They also love their school: “Mom, we get to have swimming class and Chinese class, and UOI.” I don’t know what schools can compete with those characteristics. It breaks my heart that I am uprooting them again to go back home and they let me know that they’re not happy about it, too. When I shared with Johan that I felt guilty for exposing them to so much sadness due to upheaval and change, he responded (ever the scientist), “Martha, this experience has been a net positive.” He’s right. It sucks that we are all feeling so sad about having to leave, but, overall, we’ve all gained so much from this. Luckily for us, we have friends and family (and schools we love) to come back to and to reconnect with.

Some pictures of a few outings we’ve had in the last few days:

I have thoroughly enjoyed my Fulbright experience here in Singapore. Besides our kids having a great time, I’ve had the professional experience of a lifetime. I’ve learned so much and I look forward to continuing to build on what I’ve learned through this experience, so my work is not done.  I’m also not done with my project or my summative report, but I’m in a good place with both of them. I’ll continue to work on both of them as we pack up, have last-chance outings, and meet up with folks who we’ve met here. We are heading to Manila on Saturday to visit family. We are looking forward to it. And, I know that the girls will be missing school and their friends, so we will welcome distraction in a new city with Lola and Lolo, Tita Kris, Tito Julian, Tita Del and others.

At CIS this week both the Grade 1 and Grade 3 had Year End Assemblies. They consisted mostly of songs that the classes had learned in music and I loved every minute of them. Lulu’s class had some particularly poignant songs: “I’m Glad You Came,” “Try Everyhing,” and “When Will (We) See You Again.” If those three songs don’t speak to our whole experience here, I don’t know what would. I had been hearing and seeing snippets of the songs/dances for a few weeks, so it was great to see the real performance. Lulu also had the privilege of introducing one of the songs, too. She took her role very seriously, of course. Hazel class sang “Viva La Vida” and “A Thousand Years” – two winners in her book as she has become obsessed with singing them around the apartment, too.

I had a great chat over lunch today with a professor from Singapore Management University. We met when we were chaperones on the Open Minds trip a few weeks ago. We talked about schooling in Singapore, particularly the way that streaming impacts teaching and learning.

Tomorrow I get to go to high tea with my professor from my graduate class and a principal from one of my school visits. I’ve never done high tea before. I hope I know how to act. I suppose it’s just part of our “try everything” on the soundtrack to our Singapore experience.