Deans in Singapore: Three Years

New Year's Eve marked three years for our Asian adventure. Looking back, I'm glad we arrived in Singapore on December 31, 2008, because it meant we started a new year in an incredibly new way. This year, the Dean family spent New Year's Eve on the slopes in Japan and our travels around Asia have certainly been a highlight during our time here. Our first year in Singapore was one of adjustment, the second year was marked by exploration and the third year just felt comfortable. Expat life has left its mark on the Deans.

Our family has visited seven countries outside Singapore together. The girls have seen places they would not have known even existed at their ages if we were living in Texas. Heck, I have visited places I had never heard of before. I hope our children remember these experiences when they are older and if nothing else, that our time here opens their minds and instills in them a desire to explore. As a friend here pointed out, "We're not exactly grooming our children to live next door when they are grown."

Our children have no concept of stranger danger. They are accustomed to people taking their pictures (Emily was even held for photo ops a couple times), handing them candy and generally doting on them. It doesn't usually bother me because I recognize we are dealing with a different culture. There will need to be some serious re-learning done when we move back to the US.

After three years, Megan still doesn't like rice. I don't think it's going to happen.

The longer we are away, the harder it will be to repatriate back when Brian's work assignment ends. And not just because of our live-in helper. People say moving back home is more challenging than the move to a foreign country. I believe it.

We have had to adjust to the transient nature of expat life. New families are constantly arriving and friendships flourish in this environment. We bond quickly and send texts to each other like, "Cold Storage has graham crackers again. How many boxes do you want?" I have appreciated that spirit immensely while living here. Unfortunately families are constantly moving away as well and I've had three good friends depart within the past 18 months.

I can drive just fine on either side of the road. But the scrapes on both sides of the Toyota Picnic reveal I'm not so good at parking here.

I don't believe gun ownership should be a given right. After living somewhere with no guns for awhile, I'm quite fond of not worrying about whether someone else is armed.

I still convert costs to US dollars when we travel. I don't convert currency to USD in Singapore anymore unless I'm trying to justify a purchase. The US amount is slightly less, making it sound more reasonable.

Singapore still doesn't feel like home to me. I am 99 percent thankful and 1 percent sad that it does to my children.

Living here has made me more assertive. There's another word one might use instead but I'll keep it positive. I can't sugar coat requests here because people don't understand what I need. I may need to alter that approach when I return to the South.

Anything less than 72 degrees is now considered sweater weather.

Any movie we see, newspaper article we read or television show we view can be censored by the government. I'll never get used to that.

Megan was shocked to learn there are Americans who do not own passports.

Technology makes the world feel much smaller but there's no denying how far we are from our US home. I am reminded of that every time I do the time zone math to make a phone call, play Words with Friends, and spend nearly 20 hours in the air to return to Texas. Never were we more aware of that distance than when Brian's grandmother passed away while we were in Japan.

As with any place, there are advantages and disadvantages to living in Singapore. Thankfully the positives still greatly outnumber the negatives. And I wouldn't trade the past three years for anything.