A Year in Siam

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This early July marks my first year anniversary in Thailand. My, isn’t it fast? Before I knew it, I’ve already hit the one year mark here.

Life

Probably due to my familiarity with the country and people, adapting to life here has been quite a breeze. There were occasional bouts of homesickness in the initial months, but the frequency and intensity of such feelings have dwindled to almost nil. The first time that I broke down, mr;p commented, “Silly girl. You Singaporeans live such pampered lives and seldom need to learn how to fend life on your own. Eventually, you will get used to being apart from your family. ” It’s true, I agree with him, and I really enjoyed the subsequent months. This past year has made me more appreciative of Singapore and Thailand at the same time. I miss the convenience, compactness and salaries offered back home, but I heart the messiness, creativity and the opportunities a developing country affords. At the prime of my life now, I relish the feeling of being an adult without much responsibilities yet (err, although payment for that future cosy pad is kicking in this month) – earning my own money, living independently without parents breathing down my neck (actually I do enjoy a lot of freedom back home), spending time with a loved one, flabby but healthy with a zest for exploration. Well, so I better enjoy life here till it’s time to head back home???

Work

Ah, this is an area with mixed feelings. Like any other job, I enjoy some aspects of it while disliking several others. However, I don’t have that much freedom to quit my job anytime I want given the current economic recession and my status as a work permit holder in a foreign country. So, don’t play play. My work appraisal was just over, and well, at least my performance is deemed satisfactory for them to extend my contract for another year. My bosses consider me a native English speaker (that’s quite a joke to me because although I may write better in English, I am at heart a cheena kid who grew up speaking Mandarin!) and I can communicate with them all rather effortlessly. Yet at the same time, I identity more with my fellow Asian colleagues and hobnob with the locals instead of the other expats. At times, I am irritated by the notions of cultural superiority shown by the expatriate bosses. Why am I still complaining when I’m already aware that the company is managed by expats for expats? Asians work differently from the Westerners, but without understanding the cultural differences, Westerners often take the locals’ ’subservience’ as a lack of thinking and confidence. This is even more bewildering and frustrating because some of these guys marry local wives and yet they think they (and their family) are a class above the rest. I am very sensitive to this because I am somewhat sandwiched in between. As a foreigner who received an English-based education, I can comprehend how locals are viewed but at the same time, I am on good terms with the locals. I was reminded that I was on the expat (oh, how I dislike this word) track – a level above the locals and will be given priority for managerial positions in future. My good relationships with the locals might jeopardise my career prospects (who knows?) with this company but I’m not going to pretend to be anyone else but myself.

Food

Food in Thailand definitely deserves a mention. It takes up a predominant part of my life here, as my sporadic Twitter updates can attest to – more than half the updates are spurred by a meal. It’s great that I have no problem with street food, I can imbibe almost everything now. Some of my Thai colleagues are surprised that my palate is pretty much similar to a local’s, if not more accommodating than some picky Thai eaters. Som tom plaa raa, khanom ciin, kaeng som, cim cum, I dig them all to different degrees. Mum likes to say my tolerance for heavy flavours has vastly increased since my love affair with Thailand, for we both like to tuck into simple home-cooked meals with generous dashing of cinchalok and the likes. Once, I used to think that Thai food couldn’t go wrong, but I’m starting to discover a few misses amongst the hits which led mr;p and I to conclude that some vendors simply don’t put their heart into making their food with pride. Anyway, I’m really glad I’m with a guy who’s even less fussy with his food than me and whose eyes light up whenever there’s a mere mention of heading to a particular favourite restaurant or sampling a mouth-watering dish. Heehee. I no longer harbour any hopes of slimming down or trimming my appetite to match a Thai girl’s.

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