The Exchange Experience: I

Living in the United States, to a degree probably unknown in any other country, we are insulated from the rest of the world. Two years ago I barely knew Singapore existed, while my contemporaries here were discussing the finer parts of US policy, influence, and culture. This relationship flips direction in the realm of influence. Everyone here knows about the US, because it matters to them. Politics, economy, and military - these are the three engines by which the US influence, knowledge, and connections are spread throughout the world (they are also the symbolic targets of the 9/11 attack). But influence spreads through more than Singapore Ministers talking to US Secretaries or Exxon Mobile tankers docking at the port of Singapore. There's a micro level as well: 7/11s are ubiquitous in Singapore - more so than in the States (they're nicer, too); posters at bus stops advertise Matt Damon and Rush Hour 3; Coca-Cola, Milano cookies, Colgate, Dove, Bath and Body works: the cultural and economic exports of the US make ignorance at a certain level impossible. Not to mention - everyone here speaks English. Not surprisingly, culture shock for me is minimal. I was insulated from the rest of the world in the US, but here it hardly matters. While I was thinking of the rest of the world in vague continental terms, the rest of the world was thinking American.

Picture for the day:

A typical breakfast: green tea bread and bean curd humbao (steamed biscuit with bean curd filling). Cost: $1.10.