“Two Americans, two Singaporeans and one Italian walk into a bar.” It sounds like the beginning of a joke, but it is just a day in the life with our five-person advancement team at Singapore American School. In 2015, I chose to move to Singapore for chiefly this reason: to go beyond my own boundaries of life in the Midwest United States. From these diverse colleagues, I have learned new things about food, religion, and cultural norms and traditions. For example, I now know that I should call my team member Sarizan Ahmad “Mr. Sarizan” and not “Mr. Ahmad” when referring to him with SAS students. Many stereotypes and preconceived notions have been blown to bits, while just a few others have been reinforced—namely, Italians, well at least this Italian, always orders cappuccino.

I also moved to Singapore so that I could give my distinctly (and narrowly) American children an international perspective. At SAS, they are surrounded by classmates and friends from all corners of the earth. My daughter’s best friend (or BFF as they like to say in fourth grade) is from China. They have no idea as to the political ideology that separates their countries, nor do they consider their differing native languages or skin color as important distinguishers. They just know that they both love unicorns and giggling together nonstop. (If you have seen Libby and Tongfei, you know that I literally mean nonstop.) Thanks to their time at SAS, my kids don’t think different is bad. They know what matters is on the inside. 

Of course, our donor community is also incredibly diverse. SAS Foundation donors come from 41 different countries, something I did not experience in my career until arriving here. You invited me to your home to celebrate Deepavali, taught me about the meaning of mandarin oranges at Lunar New Year, offered a taste of homemade kueh lapis, and much more. I have learned so much about this big world from all of you. Thank you for opening yourselves up to me and teaching me what I didn't know. While there are still plenty of things I have to learn, your generosity and grace have taught me not to be scared or shy about not knowing.

We will be leaving Singapore in June with full hearts and open minds. Please know that you have a friend in Chicago, and if you find yourself there, I hope that you will call us up so that we can return the favor and share our favorites and traditions with you on “our” side of the world.