When I stepped out of the Clinton National Airport for the first time two months ago and looked up at the Arkansas skyline, my first thought was, “That is one stunning sunset.”
My second thought was, “Where are all the buildings?”
I had flown a total of almost 25 hours from Singapore to Little Rock, with a couple of stops along the way, and was exhausted and already homesick – but also incredibly excited. I’d only visited the U.S. once before, for three weeks back in the winter of 2007, and even then I’d only visited cities in California and Pennsylvania. Arkansas was unchartered territory for me.
Just to give some context, here are some random facts about Singapore:
- Singapore is a country in South East Asia that’s also considered a city-state – so if you were filling out a Singapore street address, the city, state and country would all be listed as “Singapore”. It’s such a small country that you could drive from one end to the other in less than two hours. The city is stunning, with skyscrapers mixed with lush greenery. Like any city, there’s always buzz in the air and a sense of fast-paced, high-energy living. It also happens to be one of the safest cities in the world (I’m not just saying that. It’s a real thing!).
- In the past, Singaporeans were made up of four main ethnic groups: the Chinese, the Malays, the Indians, and the Eurasians. Now, there are tons of people from all over the world who live, work and start families in Singapore and become Singapore citizens or permanent residents. “Singaporean” is not a race, just a nationality. So yes, I’m Chinese but I’ve never been to China. I’m Chinese Singaporean!
- The official languages of Singapore are English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil. For many Singaporeans (including me), English is our first language and our “mother tongue” is one of the other languages. I took Chinese as my mother tongue but a word of warning: if you speak Mandarin to me and I look totally blank, it’s because my Mandarin is abysmal. I’m sorry in advance!
My journey to OBU started with my home church, the International Baptist Church Singapore (IBC). There are 51 nations represented at IBC and people from various countries are always coming and going. Nine years ago, Pastor Alan Moore, originally from Hope, Arkansas, moved to Singapore with his family to begin serving as IBC’s music and worship pastor. I was very involved in the music ministry and got to know Pastor Alan and his family really well (shout-out to Austin, who is currently attending OBU too). When my mom told Pastor Alan I was thinking about attending a university in the U.S., a common aspiration for youth at IBC, he highly recommended his alma mater, Ouachita – and the rest is history.
Starting life at OBU has been such a cool experience, although not one without its ups and downs! Since arriving in Arkadelphia, I’ve struggled with not being able to drive – or owning a car, for that matter. My family owns a car in Singapore but public transportation there is so convenient that I never really needed to learn to drive. Various buses arrive at bus stops all over the city every couple of minutes, and trains arrive at the stations every two to six minutes. Plus, it’s all really clean, safe and efficient.
Thankfully, I’ve met some wonderful people at OBU who willingly drive me around whenever I need to go out. Shout-out to everyone here who has ever given me a ride somewhere because you’re helping to cure my “international student syndrome” and you will never know how much I appreciate that.
Something else about OBU and Arkadelphia that’s completely different from Singapore is that most people here are so friendly. As a city girl, when in public, I’m used to putting my earphones in and avoiding eye contact with anyone in close proximity. Before arriving in Arkansas, I’d never spoken to so many strangers in my life! It took some getting used to but I kind of love it. I also happen to be an introvert, so having all these random people start conversations with me really forces me out of my shell and helps me to make friends.
Yes, I miss home. I miss the amazing local food like chicken rice, hokkien mee, laksa, satay and prata – and don’t even get me started on drinks like Milo, Bandung and Teh Si. I miss hopping on a bus to Orchard Road, Singapore’s most popular shopping street, and spending hours walking from mall to mall. I miss the bustle of the city and looking out of my bedroom window at night and seeing all the beautiful lights from the skyscrapers. Most of all, I miss my family.
But I know my longing for home isn’t unique to me. So many people I’ve talked to at OBU—people from other parts of Arkansas, from Texas, from other states and other countries—have all said they miss home. Some days, it can be rough.
Most days, it’s really worth it.
I love my classes at OBU. My professors are unbelievably caring and kind. The campus is gorgeous. There are actual seasons here (Singapore has only two seasons: hot and humid, and raining and humid. Sometimes, we change things up by having smoke blow in from Indonesia and getting “haze days” at school, like “snow days” here. Ha.).
I’ve made some amazing friends. I’ve had the opportunity to visit different cities in Arkansas, and I got to stay in Dallas, Texas over fall break (hello, skyscrapers). Best of all, people here rarely put their earphones in and avoid eye contact – and that’s really, really nice.
Yes, I’m from Singapore and I’m a city girl through and through, but I love being an honorary small town girl too. Thank you for making this Singaporean feel so welcome at OBU. Y’all are really great (see what I did there?).
By Kimberly Wong
