Monday, February 6, 2012

Out With The Girls

I mean the grown-up girlfriends, not the kids.

Fun day out with two friends today. Both I've known since we were little ourselves. You guys know them! The first is Eunice, she-who-used-to-love-cows-and-now-shares-her-heart-with-also-hedgehogs-and-owls. I make her crazy birthday gifts like these and this and this. We went shopping at Daiso -where I bought stuff like a pill cutter (it removes the pilly fuzzy bits from fabric surfaces; it doesn't cut medicine tablets in half) and had dim sum at a fabulous Cantonese restaurant. The noodles! The porridge! Oh, how I've missed real Chinese food. And the good company. So much fun to catch up.

Then we said goodbye (till next year) and I zoomed off on the train to meet Jen. Sans kids! We're older now, but we're still meeting in malls like we did back when we were - what - 11? 13? Except now we both had to fly/drive in from our new respective countries to do it. We went sewing shopping, naturally. Not to browse - we both had specific things to buy, and specific stores at which to get them. We went to Spotlight and I gawked at how velcro costs S$10 (about US$7) a yard when it's 99c in JoAnn. Then we went to the haberdashery wholesale stores in Textile Centre, where velcro costs S$2 a yard and comes in every color of the rainbow, and then some, including raspberry and peacock. Stocked up on sewing machine needles, invisible zippers, polka-dot bias tape, tailor's chalk and trims, but no fabric. Hurrah! Very good self-control, no? And Jen and I got to talk about interfacing and interlining and industrial machines and commercial patterns and children and life and it wasn't enough but it would have to do till we meet again.

And then it was home to the family and the kids were pleased to have me back. "Mummy likes me!" said Kate, and kissed my arm. And all three children fought to hold both my hands. Silly, precious girls. 

I have no photos because I didn't bring the camera with me. But I wanted to write this post anyway also to say how odd it is being back in my home country when it isn't my home country anymore. Those of you with feet in two (or more) cultures separated by geographical boundaries will probably relate. It is effortless to slip back into my Singaporean identity and spew words in the colloquial tongue, plus various Chinese dialects, and it is also effortless to slip back into my minivan back in the US, and begin to roll my "r"s in the American way, and cook meatloaf. I am both Singaporean and American now. But it is also simultaneously bizarre to stand on the train on the way to meet friends, as I did this morning, and have this thought suddenly hit you: "I personally know thousands of people in this country - family, ex-students, friends, colleagues - and my toiletries are in a ziploc bag, while in the land where my shower foam sits permanently on the shelf of my bathroom, I know fewer than 50." Not a sad thought at all, just weird. 

And here's another one: I can recall two kinds of phone numbers - yes, just from memory - the 8-digit Singapore ones and the 10-digit US ones, prefixed with the 952 or 612 area code. Both are completely natural to me, because my brain is compartmentalized into two distinct modes with parallel familiar experiences and that same brain is on hyperdrive, comparing and contrasting every single thing through the filters of culture. My two worlds have very little in common- especially if one looks beyond the common language- with the exception of sewing. I sew in both cultures, and apart from the voltage needed to run the respective sewing machines, all my equipment and tools are the same, down to the brand and shape of the bobbins. I've often suspected there was more to sewing for me than it being a creative outlet. Clearly I don't do it for sanity, the way some of you do. I am never sane when I sew - you all know that! But it reminds me of home here when I sew in Minnesota, and it reminds me of home in the US when I go shopping for haberdashery here in Singapore. I think it's weirdly wonderful, but isn't it also just absolutely schizophrenic? 



16 comments:

  1. It is so neat to hear of your travels. It is also very comforting indeed to hear that you are not sane while sewing. I also, don't sew for sanity... mainly because I'm not that great at it, and finding time to craft and sew with a very mischievous two year old and a 5 year old who is in to tattle tailing his brother is insane in and of itself. But you're right. It reminds me of my mum, and my nonna and several wonderful and crafty women I've known in my life- brings me closer to them when distance cannot. Happy travels LiEr.

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  2. This was very interesting because my daughter is probably going to live out her life in Korea. It's nice to know she won't forget being American. Thanks for sharing.

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  3. Also, I followed your links to see Eunice's gifts- I'd love a pattern or tutorial on your adorable lunch bucket. It is mega cute.

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  4. What?! You roll your r's??? What part of MN are you from?! ;)

    Glad you're having fun!

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    1. More to the point, have you introduced Hot Dish to Singapore?

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  5. I vote for weirdly wonderful. Isn't it great when you suddenly see what connects your separate worlds? It's been there all along but it has only just worked its way up into your consciousness. Thanks for putting it so well and for sharing.
    Anna - a fellow global nomad.

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  6. I feel the exact same way when I go 'home'.. only that after a month I want to be back home.. if you know what I mean :) Sad but true!

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  7. I love that sewing ties your worlds together!

    And how I understand the standing in different countries... Was standing in the pickup line at Emma's kindergarten, noticing just how differently I speak than true Bostonites. Not sure I'll ever get that one right!

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  8. And even that comment shows ignorance - should have said "Bostonians"!

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  9. Not at all. Or maybe I'm equally culturally-schizophrenic. I'm US-born and raised with Betty Crocker-the Girl Scout troop leader for a mother, and home to me is crafty and delicious. I've been living in Salamanca, Spain for the last four years, and as much as I integrate here, it's never the same. I finally found a place that sells vegetable shortening, and it's 21€ (US$27) a tin. And as for sewing? Velveteen? What's that? Need buttons and grommets too? Go to three different shops. And yet I keep it up because it's familiar and it keeps me busy, but also because every time I go home my parents are surprised at the things I've made and they share the experience with me. I do understand.

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    1. Isn't it funny (I mean "odd", not "ha ha") how cross-cultural adaptation feels so similar, no matter which countries we come from, and which countries we've transplanted ourselves into? I'm glad for you that the search for familiar treasures is a fun experience. It has to be, with so much to laugh and roll one's eyes at, I'm sure! Thanks for sharing your story, Leslie!

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  10. Welcome home .... im a super big fan, fr Hougang, Singapore!
    U are just fabulous!
    Muackz,
    huili

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  11. I share your feelings...but they are reversed. I lived outside the country were I was raised for 10 years and now I moved back to another city. I am struggling to find my place and I think I never will. I have a reverse culture shock and feel in-between. Let me tell you it´s normal!

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    1. Sewing Princess, they have a word for people like us: Strong. Or maybe Manic. We have to be, when our brains and emotions are constantly swinging between different realities. It's nuts, but we are the richer for it. Brava for you!

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  12. OMG. I didn't know you're a Singaporean. I was loving your site and got so inspired to start making my own bags and all. Your site has been on my browser for a week and now I'm free enough to actually browse through your site. And voila! You were from SG. I'm a Singaporean too!! :))

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