Scenes from Singapore
By: Irene Park, CAS ’25
Overlooking Singapore.
GRIP: Business Development in Singapore
Sonder (noun): the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own
It’s 8:32 am and I’m just getting off the MRT to make the ever-busy transfer at Newton station. It marks a small, yet significant moment sandwiched in my 35-minute daily office commute. An opportunity to engage in something that has put things in perspective for me: people-watching.
Somehow, in this short exchange, I can sense the vibrancy that Singapore harnesses from the buzz and movement of its people. Nearing my second week here, I find that this not only captures how colorful and diverse Singaporean culture is, but also reflects my excitement in forging new friendships and unexpected connections—ones that have really helped me orient myself towards this new environment and also unearth parts of “home” here.
While I expected work relationships to be purely professional and perhaps static or one-dimensional, I’m grateful to say that my coworkers have truly made my work experience so much fun. On my first day, I felt so welcomed when they drove me out for lunch to get a taste of Perankan cuisine (We also brought back pandan cake for dessert for everyone in the office to try). I can sense their kindness and genuinity when they take me to their favorite boba spots to get my sweet fix. They teach me about the luxury of owning any type of car here, the high standards necessary for applying to purchase a home, and the history behind the large Korean population of the area in which we work. They share with me their life goals, travel plans, and ask away their curiosities about mine.
My coworkers’ eyes light up when I talk about my life at Penn, which they claim to only have seen and heard of in American teenage movies. They are eager to learn more about my own Korean culture, and will take me to their favorite Korean restaurants for such “direct” validation.
One of my favorite moments so far was the time when a few fellow Penn GRIP participants and I explored Little India one evening. Craving some good Indian food, we walked into a very ambient restaurant, hungry and eager to try chicken tikka masala and biryani. What we didn’t expect was to have such a fun conversation with the server, growing our knowledge of the cuisine as well as its positioning towards Singaporean taste preferences. We discussed and reviewed each dish we ordered, and he even served us glasses of warm chai to try after our meal. It was such a wholesome interaction that I’ve been sitting with and a moment I won’t forget from this trip.
Something I’ve taken away from these interactions abroad is that no matter the place, it is important to ground our experiences in gratitude as it can produce great learning experiences. I’ve realized that it can be really easy to resort to the same ways of thinking if you remain comfortable inside your comfort zone. But if you can get comfortable with being uncomfortable and lean into new encounters and people, your social attention naturally broadens and you can diversify your ways of thinking and experiencing. I hold excitement and curiosity about the interactions I will encounter and come to appreciate in my next few weeks here.
The Global Research and Internship Program (GRIP) provides outstanding undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to intern or conduct research abroad for 8 to 12 weeks over the summer. Participants gain career-enhancing experience and global exposure that is essential in a global workforce.