Am I racist?

"Am I racist? Yes!" My friend Joanne was adamant about this.  She really is a very nice lady.  We got along very well.  In our little multi-racial department, we all worked very well as a team.

So, why would she say something like that?  Her first day in Perth, Australia, as a newly arrived 18 year old about to start university, she was hit on the head by an empty beer can.  The can was thrown by a group of white youth, shouting, "Go home, Ching Chong!"  That incident caused her to keep that "racist" attitude for years afterwards.

She survived and graduated, but she was left with a very bad impression of that group of white Australians.  End of any desire to move to another country for an extended period of time.

Liz Stuart found Singaporeans very friendly, which made her fears disappear and her stay a very enjoyable one.  Thank you, Singaporeans, for being so welcoming, even though the newspapers seem to say otherwise - that we resent the increasing numbers of foreign workers in our midst. 

It takes two to clap.  Adapting to a new place requires me to reach out to the locals and get myself involved in local life.  But it also requires the locals to extend their hand of friendship to welcome me into their homes and lives.  I have tried to do both.

In my years living in another country, I've tried to make local friends - and many of them are still my good friends today.  I love them so much!  Now that I live in Singapore, I try to be "family away from home" for the few foreign students who have come here to study.  Friends make adapting to a new culture so much easier, and creates lasting memories for us.

Reach out to someone today!  Be a friend!