My mother brought me and my brother to Singapore for a better education and living environment. Singapore is one of the cleanest countries in the world due to it's very strict laws and nice people. If things haven't changed from back then, I remember that littering, spiting, or chewing gums can make you pay hundreds of dollars in fines. The fines there aren't cheap, and the laws there are strict. Singapore's weather is very hot, and it's summer all year long. It makes you feel like it's a summer vacation, especially because Singapore is so small. You can go to the beach every week by taking the subways. Just so you know how small this country is, Singapore's capital city is Singapore...
When my family and I first moved to Singapore, we lived in a woman's house. She owned a pretty big house, so she accepted students from other countries and took care of them. Us three lived in a small room together and I remembered not having a lot of space. It was awkward because if us three had a fight, everyone in that house would know and hear everything we said. It wasn't the best way to live, but family was all we had and we relied on each other. For the first few weeks, I started English private lessons and went to a learning center call "Kumon". On my own time, the owner woman would make me do English exams that different schools used in the past years, and the schools pick their students for all grades. So I went to several schools and got examined to see if my level met their standards. Finally, I got into one of the schools and the one that accepted me was very well-reviewed. My mother was proud of me, and I was happy.
The school that accepted me was not very near, so I had to take a public bus every morning for about 30-45 minutes to go to school. I would say I was a brave kid for doing that everyday at the age of ten, but it also showed how safe Singapore is. It's strange how eager I seemed to try to learn English. I didn't hate going to English lessons and doing exams on my own time at all. I remembered getting to eat ice cream after I finish my homework and those exams. I guess it was too easy to make me happy.
My brother still had anger problems and it wasn't okay. He was still angry at my parents for basically abandoning him, and he would take it out on me since my parents did spoil me. He would beat me up and be not a nice brother. I was scared of him back then, and tried not to make him upset. Because of how he acted, I went from the evil spoiled child to a kid who was scared of everything and was desperate for friends and family love. I started to care if people liked me or not, and started to wonder if I'm liked by others or not. The thing is, people saw me as a victim because my brother bullied me, but I always knew he became like that because of me, and I started feeling bad and responsible. Singapore was a big step up for my life because it humanized me.
Editor: A.B.
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