After nearly three weeks into our stay at College Park, Maryland, I thought I could cook a simple dinner and invite a couple of the UMD International Initiative Office (IIO) team members as a way to show appreciation. So I told my flat mates that they are invited to join in. Then as more Fulbrighters got to know, Patricia from the next Fulbright apartment said she would bake something to bring over. Aida said she would make a fruit cocktail. Revathy and Manju said they will cook too, and Analia said she would chip in the costs since she is not cooking... basically, the simple dinner grew and grew! In the typical Singaporean term, this would be called a 'kampong' spirit! Kampong means village. It is not just a reference to a physical village or location but also refers to a community spirit. So we were the Fulbright Kampong in College Park, Maryland!
We then invited the others to bring something to share.... and our only concern was space in the apartment! The Fulbright 'boys' wanted to catch a live football match on campus that night and decided to give it a miss. Well, Hassan preferred food to football so he joined us =) Inka, Maija and Rima who stay off campus came, with daughters and even Maija's mum who just arrived from Finland!
Letitia, Rashi and husband Rishi, Yali and Gourav were the VIPs that night and we were thrilled they could come!
So after our Friday seminar session, we went back and got busy in our respective kitchens.
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| Sauteed mushroom in onions and rosemary, pan-seared steak.. the only carnivore dish that night for meat eaters |
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| Top Left: Aida's Fruit Cocktail Galore; Top Right: Bishakha's Mato's dish (Potato+Tomato), Middle: Patricia's rustic mini pizzas (she also baked a lovely cake which I didn't manage to capture) Below: Revathy and Manju's vegetarian stew with vegetable rice. |
We chat about many many things that night. We talked about our various experiences so far in a foreign land. We shared the 'trials and tribulations' of being the minority in the Varsity - bunch of older adults amidst undergraduate youngsters. We talked about our initial shock with the noise level and antics of the younger residents at the Varsity. We laughed over our observations of them. We even joked about starting a 'mature Fulbrighters' patrol' team to march down the corridors of the apartments to control noise level on a Friday night.
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| A pre-smart phone image taken by a smart phone |
We shared how we almost launch a search team to find a fellow Fulbrighter who did not return from the nearby shops at 10pm in our first week at the Varsity residence. We shared about a few of us who bought basic phones from Cricket Mobile for temporary use while in US, and the phone is so basic that no one would bother stealing them. (see picture on left). We joked about us having to 'un-smarten' ourselves and re-learn the use of non-smart phones.
Inka showed us a Viking dance that we almost wanted to stomp our feet and sing loudly to show the youngsters that we've still got fire in us despite being older and we believed we could be loud enough to bring the house down!
Below are some photos, but trust me, they cannot not fully capture the fun and hilarity of the night....
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| Arrival of our guests.. |
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| Wisdom from Letitia: Look babes, do not follow Yali's example when it comes to parking. She parks anywhere and always gets a parking ticket. |
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| Hassan beaming, thinking: Good thing I didn't go to the football games so I didn't have to eat lousy hotdogs Yali: I can eat a horse! Background - Bishakha to Letitia: You need to inspect each food item the way I would do at shops and supermarkets |
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| Inka: I want a LARGER plate! |
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| Analia with her pillow prop stolen from Patricia: I am SO FULL I am about to BURST! (Ana should have been a theatre and drama teacher!) |
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| Analia: Hmmm, this taste good! Patricia: Ana, don't spill or you'll have to mop! Aida: I don't know how to eat from paper plate.. |
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| Aida: I'm going to get everyone high on Moroccan tea! |
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| A Tea Toast to ALL! |
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| Aida must have put something into the tea... everybody got high and Yali couldn't stop dancing |
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| Inka: Let's bring the whole building down with this Viking dance!! YEAH!! |
New Minority New Meaning
This made me recall some childhood memories of the conversations my grandmother had with relatives, old neighbours and acquaintances from her home province in China.
My grandmother left China before the 1920's to escape the turbulent years when the warlords ruled factious China, before the Japanese occupation.
The conversations in one way or another involved comparisons between the old home of China to the adopted home in Singapore. Topics covered from bigger social topics in China and the pre-independent Singapore to small daily operational matters. A part of my historical knowledge of Singapore is gained from such 'oral archives'. A few decades before Singapore gained independence in 1965, each South Chinese dialect group and clans of immigrants form clan associations as a way of mutual support. So it was not surprising that Chinese immigrants of a particular dialect group would stay along the same few streets in and around Chinatown so that those living within the neighbourhood could comfortably communicate in their own tongue. There was a lot of sharing of information within the community, from where to find jobs, where to find a reliable carpenter, and where to get authentic Chinese imports at a good price. It was a kind of 'kampong' spirit and there was no need for watsapp. The housewives would gladly baby sit a fellow neighbour's child if the mother needed to run errands. It was a loose but important form of mutual support system. As new immigrants, they were minority in many ways and such support was essential.
I have learnt life in a foreign land when I studied outside Singapore sometime ago but this time is different. In the Fulbright community in Maryland, we come from 5 countries in 4 continents. Despite the need to quickly learn and adjust to one another in habits, preferences and cultural idiosyncrasies, we are bonded by a truth - we are all new settlers, a collective body of new minorities. This would be a piece of precious memory to bring home. We are learning what it is like to be a minority and I believe we will become more human and compassionate when we leave.
Cheers
This made me recall some childhood memories of the conversations my grandmother had with relatives, old neighbours and acquaintances from her home province in China.
My grandmother left China before the 1920's to escape the turbulent years when the warlords ruled factious China, before the Japanese occupation.
The conversations in one way or another involved comparisons between the old home of China to the adopted home in Singapore. Topics covered from bigger social topics in China and the pre-independent Singapore to small daily operational matters. A part of my historical knowledge of Singapore is gained from such 'oral archives'. A few decades before Singapore gained independence in 1965, each South Chinese dialect group and clans of immigrants form clan associations as a way of mutual support. So it was not surprising that Chinese immigrants of a particular dialect group would stay along the same few streets in and around Chinatown so that those living within the neighbourhood could comfortably communicate in their own tongue. There was a lot of sharing of information within the community, from where to find jobs, where to find a reliable carpenter, and where to get authentic Chinese imports at a good price. It was a kind of 'kampong' spirit and there was no need for watsapp. The housewives would gladly baby sit a fellow neighbour's child if the mother needed to run errands. It was a loose but important form of mutual support system. As new immigrants, they were minority in many ways and such support was essential.
I have learnt life in a foreign land when I studied outside Singapore sometime ago but this time is different. In the Fulbright community in Maryland, we come from 5 countries in 4 continents. Despite the need to quickly learn and adjust to one another in habits, preferences and cultural idiosyncrasies, we are bonded by a truth - we are all new settlers, a collective body of new minorities. This would be a piece of precious memory to bring home. We are learning what it is like to be a minority and I believe we will become more human and compassionate when we leave.
Cheers
I completely agree with Mun.However in a world that is rapidly shrinking ,a common profession and language binds as together as we as traveller use to advantage to adapt and setlle in a new land, away from home. We are an excellent example of unity in diversity !
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