I'm sitting in Paul Johnson's place here in Singapore, quite far away from Nanyang Technological University, where I'll be studying - Paul lives off Ang Mo Kio Ave in the Serangoon Garden area. Sound exotic enough for you yet? He was kind enough to pick me up from the airport at 1am this morning (my flight was delayed) and has since been helping me negotiate the process of settling in to life in Singapore.
Singapore is an interesting mixture of western and eastern cultures. Streets are small and traffic drives on the left side of the road, public transport is air-conditioned and everything flora is trimmed and manicured carefully. English is accented in an Asian/Indian manner, and eateries are everywhere.
Paul jokes that eating is the national past-time, and judging by the incredible variety and quality of the establishments I think I'm going to fit right in! Nothing like a pastime that involves gastric exploration, eh? And judging by all the shops that smell heavenly even though I can't decipher the names and signs (they're written in English, but I've 
never come across the names they give these foods), it might take me awhile to explore the options provided.
The house we're in has been in Paul's family since his parents moved to Singapore from England in the 1940s or so. It has a yard and only two floors - quite unusual for Singapore in general, but many of the houses in this neighborhood are that way. We live on the second floor, which has two rooms and is quite spacious. It's actually so large that Paul is looking for an alternative smaller space.
I'll try to keep you all posted on further developments and give thoughts on my new surroundings. You can check out this short video update below for other details and prayer requests/concerns.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiJpYpdfpLE
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