Explain a challenge you faced...

Topic:
Explain a challenge you faced when you studied abroad (for example: understanding a new city, buying groceries in a foreign language, being on your own for the first time, etc.). How did you overcome the challenge? What advice would you give to others facing similar challenges?

One of the really nice things about Singapore is how accommodating it is to people coming from a Western background. Singapore has four national languages (including Chinese, Tamil, and Malay), but the most widespread of these is actually English! Because of Singapore’s origin as a British colony, many western customs can be seen in society.

However, it is no doubt that Singapore is different than anything I have previously experienced in America. For one thing, Singapore has a very strong international presence. While the majority of Singaporeans have Chinese, Malaysian, or Indian descent, there are many other prevalent ethnicities represented in the population. As a result, there were still some customs (mainly religious) that took some getting used to.

One experience that stands out to me is when I was putting my dishes back from a steamed chicken dish I had just eaten, I was swiftly reprimanded by the lady working at the cleaning station in Chinese. I was then instructed to put it in the adjacent cleaning rack by someone standing next to me, and then someone kindly took me to the food stall I had gotten the food from to point out my error.

In Singapore, many of the citizens are Muslim, and one of the important practices in Islam is to ensure that the food one eats is good, or halal. As I understand it, what halal means is that the food is prepared in a way such that the utensils, cooking equipment, and the food itself has not come in contact with bad, or haram, food such as pork. For this reason, when you get food from a halal stand, the dishes must be put in a separate cleaning station so that the utensils and dishes don’t mix.

At the time, this experience had me rather flustered because I was confused, but all it took was a little bit of research on my own to understand my fault and the issue hasn’t arisen. To others that may experience challenges like this, I would recommend that they remember that when we go to other countries, we are guests to the customs of the inhabitants of our destination. What this means is that we have a responsibility to learn the cultural differences so that we can respect others.