Tracing our roots

After seeing the theme “tracing our roots” this week, a question came into my mind. Roots? Where was your roots? Where was my roots? China? Beijing? NUS? As far as I am concerned, it is a complex problem, rather than a question, because it is hard for me to feel a solid sense of belonging; sometimes I am even confused about what I should pursue in the future here. After thingking about this for a long time, I found three main problems, which our SM3 students may have, related to this severe problem.

First of all, one of the most inevitable problems is homesickness. Singapore is a multi-racial and multi-culture country and we can find various kinds of food and products here, but I think that we are still likely to miss the food cooked by our parents in China; we miss our friends’ “happy face,” so we might easily get homesick. Secondly, generally speaking, most Singaporeans are kind to us. I deeply enjoyed the activities held by MOE and my host family; they are precious experiences for me. Maybe we can adapt to the lifestyle here because of these interesting activities, but we are still foreigners; it is difficult for us to find our identities and get a sense of belonging. Finally, another difficult issue might arise among us international students. After finishing our bond in Singapore, we will be around thirty years old. A friend once asked me, “Do you think thirty years old is too old for you to live with your family?” Now I can confidently answer—As for me; no. From my parents' perspective, however, the answer is absolutely YES. I do not think it is realistic to bring our parents here when we are only thirty years old, and I miss my parents very much, so it is a big problem for me.

In summary, maybe it is too serious to think of these questions now, but I think that we Chinese students will face these issues in the future. The next time my friends ask me “what will you choose after graduation?”, I think maybe I will give them my answer—I extremely love Singapore, but I also love Beijing and China; I miss my parents and brothers there. In addition, I will always cherish my maxim—where there is a will, there is a way. Though there might be many obstacles in the future, I believe we can smoothly deal with them and enjoy our life in Singapore after five years’ study in NUS.