When I was younger, I grew up in a mostly white suburban town called Frankfort, a little under an hour’s drive south from Chicago, Illinois. When you’re attending a school where you can count how many Asian students there are on one hand, puberty becomes even more awkward and uncomfortable than it already needs to be.

 

Right before the end of eighth grade, my father became an expatriate and soon, my family found itself living in fresh, tropical Singapore. Though there was less than a semester left of school, I had made friends with a group of Korean girls. They’d tease me (in good nature) for my strong American accent or the mistakes I made when writing in han-gul. But conversing with them made me realise how strongly I had internalised racism and a different kind of shame coursed through me.

 

Singapore was the first in a long chain of moves during my high school years. Uprooting your life in one place and adjusting to someplace new is never easy, but after attending two different high schools in Korea and another in Indonesia, I was a veteran ‘new kid.’ I figured out not only how to survive, but I cracked the code to making the whole experience enjoyable.

 

I found the cheapest karaoke places to hit after school in Busan and learned you’re better off calling for a motorcycle than a taxi in Jakarta. I lost sleep cramming over AP and IB exams. I discovered that siblings with close relationships are not an urban legend and that family is forever. Diversity, cultural education, and the courage to adapt to change have become defining aspects of my life and will never stop being important to me.

 

This is how Home Away from Home came to be. I envisioned a platform where international students like myself could share their story, learn about so many others, and find a bit of comfort along the way in the journey that so many of us share but don’t really talk about.

 

You’re here, in one of the most vibrant, culturally colourful cities in the world. I urge you to make the most of that experience.

 

Claire Chung

Editor-in-Chief