It's not that different

Predictably, I've been getting a lot of questions about what Singapore is like, how I'm enjoying it, what adventures have I had, etc.  Well, I hate to disappoint, but it's not really that different.  I mean, sure, the climate is different, they drive on the left, the spell things the British way ("storey," "harbour", etc.), the cars are a little smaller and the streets a little narrower, but I have yet to really experience culture shock in any intense way.  Maybe it's because, like I said in an earlier post, I'm used to Asian culture/food/personality, or maybe it's because I've been here on vacation before, but it's just kind of exactly what I expected.  To be fair, I haven't done much yet except go to work, eat food (a food episode will definitely becoming soon, along with the sign episode), walk around a little and go running, although we did go biking last weekend on Pulau Ubin, which was pretty fun.  And there were monkeys and mudskippers, as well as this awesome sign:

Anyway, my point is, Singapore is a really easy country to move to.  They speak English, they're well organized, stores are open at hours I would expect, and holy crap public transport/the bus system goes everywhere!

Of course there are subtle differences, like the "twitter-worthy" events that I wrote about before.  And the working environment is a bit different too--we're in a physically much smaller space, and I interact much more with professors than I probably would at MIT.  We are also treated much more like we are on the same level.  For example we share kitchens, conference rooms, printers, and other overhead-type things with all the professors, whereas at MIT, all of that is very separate.  (Side note, there is free tea/coffee/snackies in the kitchen, woohoo!)  Of course, this all might be an artifact of the whole place being brand new and not having quite enough space for everyone, who knows.  Anyway, right, I can't quite string together a single cohesive statement that I'm trying to make here, I'm just kind of rambling.  I guess that's what blogs are for though.  Oh, also, pictures!

http://picasaweb.google.com/Alisha.Schor/SingaporeTheFirstWeek