Mie!

住めば都　(すめばみやこ　sumeba miyako)

A Japanese proverb meaning, where you live, that is the best place.

Was in Sabah working on a wedding in mid-June when I found out I could use the hotel's Internet access. Quickly got to hotmail, where I found an email from Tina of Singapore's Japanese Embassy waiting innocently in my inbox.... Grrrr.. couldn't you tell me you were there waiting for me? After all that waiting and waiting for you to arrive, why didn't you make a sound at all when you got plonked in my inbox??!!! Do you know how long I'd waited for you! Inconsiderate email! lol.

I am going to Mie-ken! I had never heard of the Mie Prefecture before the notification of my placement so of course you can imagine my consternation when I read the email. I was in the midst of completing the flower arrangements for the wedding decor when I read the email, and suddenly, Anna and Auntie Poh Choo saw this Eunice who retreated into herself and started sweeping the floor. Auntie Poh Choo yelled at me to stop sweeping the floor; it wasn't my home. Anna told me, you're thinking a lot. Here, help me do this other thing and stop sweeping the floor. hahahah

Anyway, there wasn't much I could do but call Isaac and my parents and tell them about the placement. Then I had to wait till after I got back to Singapore, and after the wedding dinner, and after I went to KL with Serene, that I could sit down and really think about the placement. In the lovely ParkRoyal Serviced Suite in KL, I replied Tina's email that I would accept the placement.

So where in the world is Mie and where exactly in Mie am I placed? NABARI CITY!!!

The 'A' is where Nabari-shi is located in Mie-ken. Many ALTs in Mie-ken have told me that Nabari is a good placement. Not inaka, and fairly close to Osaka City, it is the 4th largest city in Mie.

My predecessor has been nothing but nice. Have received photos of the soon-to-be mine apartment, but will not post it till I've made it mine.

The past few weeks have been a flurry of activity. I've gone to so many farewell parties, and have met my fellow Singaporean JETs at the pre-departure orientation. There are quite a number of teachers in the group, and most are ladies.

I love Singapore. Maybe I feel that way only because I am leaving it soon for a different country, but yesterday, when I was driving to meet my JC friends for dinner, the setting sun shone through the trees lining the PIE and I thought... wow, that's beautiful. And close on the heels of that thought was, I will miss that. The night before, while sitting at Simpang Bedok's Spize with my NCC Dream Team, I looked at the old shophouses and wondered if I'd see anything like those in Japan.

What's not to love about Singapore? It works (pun intended). Yes, people can be indifferent, but I know for every indifferent person, I've met a happy, caring one. Singapore is stifling? You can only stifle yourself, others can't. A great big generalization, I know, and perhaps you may think, hmmm, this girl didn't even test the system, of course she's not stifled. But I know, and my friends and family know, I am not the usual Singaporean. Yes, I have been a civil servant before, so all the more I see the gaps in the system. And while I cannot change things, I know I have not gotten into trouble for saying things the Ministry doesn't want to hear. So, what's not to love about Singapore? I've been happy here, my government, yes, though high-handed and arrogant, will learn in time to loosen its reins. It will happen, cos History dictates it will. And when it does, I will be waiting and watching, and still loving Singapore.