One Year On
Today marks a year since we moved to this city. It has been quite a journey—marked by significant distance and considerable growth. (I would have wished to use "exceptional" instead of "considerable", but I need to learn to content with my own pace.) I came with excitement, hopes and expectations on what my life would be like here. The reality that I had to contend with was far different—this place is not all that I thought it would be, and I am not all that I hoped I could be. I am still trying to figure out life, and figure out "me".
As I had tried and failed to write my reflections on the year that has passed, I will now attempt to list some of the new things I have experienced. If anything, they are an indication of how difficult it was for me at the start to adjust to things here, and how over time I have become accustomed to them, even for the things that I do dislike.
- Everyone is so big and tall; I feel dwarfed. It is not often that I see someone who looks like me.
- Many things are bigger here. The cars, trucks and more are all huge.
- There are lots of bicycles on the paths and roads. I need to look both ways before crossing.
- I also need to look out for trams. Crossing the roads was nerve-wrecking at the start.
- They keep right on the escalators. I used to look the wrong way when waiting for the bus/tram/train.
- There are no buttons for closing the lift doors. One simply waits for them to close.
- I have to open the bus/tram/train doors on my own. I press a button or for older trains, yank a door handle.
- I don't have to tap a card when I get on the various modes of public transportation. I just have to show my annual ticket when the ticket inspector shows up, often times, quite by surprise.
- The people here can often seem quite cross. There are times when we have been completely ignored by those who should have been providing us a service.
- People smoke everywhere. I hold my breath and speed past at the usual spots.
- It is not unusual to sometimes pass someone who is drunk or high. I have witnessed before what I believed to be a man rolling weed on the train.
- The streets can be rather dirty. I need to keep a lookout for dog poop or pee on the ground.
- They really like dogs here. I've seen so many different dog breeds. Dogs can go on public transportation and even enter malls.
- The Asian food here is different—it's hard to find anything that tastes as good as what we have back home. The food here is, in general, not great. For the life of me, I don't understand hard bread.
- I don't know how parents get through winter season on a yearly basis. At one point, I counted 12 items of clothing that had to go on my 3-year-old to get ready for kindergarten.
- I experienced the seasons - spring, summer, fall, winter, and now spring again. Flowers and trees in bloom, falling autumn leaves, bare winter trees and snow! And I made a snowman!
- Young children here seem to have no/limited screen time. Only rarely do I see a young child with a phone.
- Parents here seem really relaxed. They don't hover to protect their children from dirt or falls. They don't seem to take many photos of their children when out and about with them. I have been to a birthday party where the birthday child's parents did not take even a single photograph!
- Adults are treated like... adults. There's no spoon-feeding. We went for a ski trip with the kindergarten and no verbal instructions were given to the group during the whole time. All relevant information had been conveyed via email in advance. It was refreshing!
- Things are too high in my apartment. I can't reach the top shelf of my fridge. I had a great bit of discomfort using the stove, sink and counter at the start.
- I have changed my mind about dishwashers. They are not just for the "rich" people.
- I cook almost every day. I'm not great at it and the kitchen is often in chaos, but I can cook now.
- I go grocery shopping at least once a week. It can still be hard and overwhelming, but I am able to do it.
I am thankful for many firsts at this age, that have made me grow, little by little.