Day 1 of Fulbright Singapore Orientation and VivoCity

8 January 2018

Today was Day 1 of Fulbright orientation at the Academy of Singapore Teachers (AST).  Jet lag had me awake at 4:30am and I was a little anxious about being sleepy and not ready feeling "ready" to start today.  Bren got up and made me a delicious breakfast though and gave me a little pep talk and I was out the door!

Freddy, who works for AST, met us at the MRT stop (Yio Chu Kang) closest to where we are living to help us navigate our way to AST on the first day.  It was still drizzling from the heavy downpour when we got off the subway to walk to AST.  It is so tropical, a city within a garden.

We met the rest of the AST Fulbright team who were all incredibly welcoming and kind.  We spent the morning being introduced to the structure and mission of the Singapore education system.  It seems quite complex (but so is the American education system) and I'm interested to continue learning more each day.  

We went to Dian Xiao Er (in VivoCity) for lunch where Freddy ordered us a full spread of delicious Chinese dishes.  One of the dishes was crocodile meat which I had never tried before and it was very tasty!

After lunch we went to St. Marc Cafe where I shared delicious mango honey toast with Lilin.

We went a Japanese $2 store called Daiso after lunch and I bought a few things for our apartment. Freddy escorted us back to Ang Mo Kio when we left VivoCity.  The entire AST Fulbright team has been so gracious and accommodating since we arrived.  Bren and I were both so sleepy and we napped when I got home and then walked to Giants (the grocery story near us).  We got a rice cooker and food to make vegetable stir fry and make that for dinner.  We went to sleep pretty early because I think we are still recovering from jet lag.