I was talking to a friend in Scotland who's studying to be a doctor. He's going home in a few days, and it made me think about my own impending departure from this place. We then talked about our lives, and he recounted this funny incident to me.
He was examining patients when this lady came in. Apparently in pain, she said "I'm jaundiced like the Chinese." Upon realising that her doctor was in fact, Chinese, she quickly apologised.
I had a good laugh, before remarking to him that I was happy to be Chinese, because the white equivalent would be "I'm stupid like the British." The last thing you want to do really, is make racist jokes at your doctor's expense.
Well, to be fair the Chinese are a different kind of racist. We aren't good at being racist to other races, but we're pretty damn good at exploiting our own race. I mean, look at those factories in China. Once in a while one of them turns out to be an illegal fireworks factory which blows up, and hundreds die in a flash of colourful explosions that bring unbridled joy to children. It is times like this that I tell people I'm Singaporean.
I have one paper left tomorrow, and after that, my obligations in this exchange are complete. I haven't chosen exactly when I will return, because now that everything's winding down, I'm not sure I'm ready to give up this life yet, to return to the other life that I used to live before coming over. Now that it's almost done, it really hits you in the face that you've been living in a suspended reality for the last few months, and like all things, it has an end.
I'm now in that place where I've seen what it's like to be an international student, as well as a local one, and I can't actually say I prefer one or the other. I know I will miss aspects of this experience, like the total independence and the opportunities that come with it (aka shopping), but I also know I miss Singaporean food, and my friends and family back in Singapore.
Now I really just want to go home. But in a few months I will probably wish I was here. The irony.