Lotus flower from Bali
On 29th March 2004, we were landing in Shanghai to start a new life. Relocating abroad, or more specifically to Asia, had been our dream for a long time and we were absolutely excited about the dream coming true. We did not know where it would take us, or for how long, but we were ready to embrace the challenges and fully live the adventure.
The dream did not disappoint. We have spent nearly 10 years in Asia, and enjoyed very much all our experiences in the three countries we have lived in and the many cultures we have discovered along the way. In these 10 years, there have been ups and downs, but we have never regretted for one second our move.
So, now is time to try and answer the question we have heard the most often in the past few years: out of China, Japan and Singapore, which of these places did we like the most?
And it’s a really difficult question, wholly deserving of a dedicated blog post.
The easy answer is: all three of them, albeit for vastly different reasons.
Lotus in Hangzhou
China, in a way, was the easy one. While moving to China might be a great cultural shock to many Westerners, we were lucky to be already quite familiar with the culture (what with Laurent’s family roots) and to know what to expect, to some extent. We had surprises, some lovely and some much less lovely, but adaptation was rather quick and smooth. Our Chinese neighbours were lovely – welcoming and friendly, always laughing (at us, for the most part), extremely curious (and they knew everything about our daily life!) and generally nice. We did not like daily life in Shanghai that much (too noisy, too polluted, not green enough – imagine what it would be these days!) but we had a nice townhouse, some convenient bikes, plenty of good friends and enough time and money to enjoy the Shanghai nightlife. Most importantly, we LOVED travelling around the country, with just a return ticket, a pair of smartly packed backpacks, the latest edition of the Lonely Planet, an open mind and a good deal of flexibility.
Harbourland Kobe Port and Tower
Japan, on the other hand, was the complete opposite. Life in Kobe was quiet, very quiet. There was not much of a nightlife and anyway we hardly went out – having a new born does that to you. Despite a decent salary, life was rather expensive, especially travelling, so we could not explore much beyond Kobe’s close surroundings. But it was okay, because there was no lack of scenery around us. We had a wonderful flat with views on both the sea and the mountain, we could get away from the city very easily with just a short train ride, the sky was often blue and there was no pollution. The cultural shock was definitely there this time. Adjusting to rule-abiding Japan when arriving from everything-is-possible China was probably the hardest of all! Working relationships were complicated and office culture really special… So it sounds like our Japan experience was much harder than life in China, and in some ways it was, but at the same time, it was all we had been looking for when moving abroad: challenging, thought-provoking, fascinating.
Black and White in Singapore by Laurent CCS
After that, Singapore seemed like the easy way out. It had (still has) the reputation of being all westernized, lacking charm and local culture, too clean and too polite to have a soul. I must admit we were a little reluctant to move there, but at the time, we did not have a choice. In the end, it was the longest of all three stays, and we really enjoyed it. While it is true that you don’t really get a cultural shock, and that it is easy to get settled (if only because you can do everything in English), when you take the time to look a little more closely, the local culture – or should I say, cultures – is rich and fascinating. We loved many things about Singapore: the fantastic greenery, the kids-friendly places, the low pollution, the swimming-pool all year round, the food, the incredible mix of cultures, the general open-mindedness of the people… Not everything is great – there is no perfect place to live in the world. But we also appreciated that we did not stand out as “aliens” – because so many people are indeed foreigners – and we made really good friends, mostly outside of the French community (which was more difficult in China and Japan).
So, really, we loved all three countries. It probably helped that we were in the right place at the right time – or so we feel. Perhaps we would not have liked Singapore in 2004, as much as we did after two more challenging experiences. It is quite likely that we would not have really enjoyed our life in Shanghai if we had moved there after the girls were born. And we may not have appreciated the calm and quiet of Kobe if we had not spent a few years in crazy Shanghai before that; or we might have found Japan really too hard to adjust to if we had been to Singapore first. Although… who knows?
Today, we have taken a completely new turn on the road, back in France. It is not “back home”, because home always was where we lived. It is also not “back to square one” because it really is a whole new adventure. But that is a story for another time…