A very Singaporean farewell

[click for full album]

1. My wonderful co-workers!!!!, 2. Surprise!!, 3. Hand made Singapore flag banners!, 4. American "classics" I had never eaten before

No one has cooler co-workers than I did. NO ONE. Because if you did, you'd have had a Singapore-themed farewell party thrown for you. Did your co-workers throw you said party? No? See, that's why my co-workers are the best!

It was a party befitting a research center-- no one there knew anything about Singapore, and so what did they do? Research! In the end, everyone's place card was of a famous Singaporean-- Dick Lee, Kumar, Lee Kuan Yew, Phua Chu Kang, etc.-- and there was a string banner of handmade Singaporean flags (which I don't think I've actually ever seen in Ann Arbor), complete with painstakingly hand cut stars. My co-workers had shut me in my room and I had no idea what they were doing. So imagine my utter surprise and delight when I walked in to see what they had done- it was so so so wonderful :)

The menu was as diametrically opposed to that as possible, though- the food theme was "American Classics Serene Has Not Yet Eaten" ;) And so on the menu was an old school tuna casserole (complete with canned corn, Campbell cream of mushroom soup, and shredded cheese), Sunny-D orange drink (I hesitate to use the term "juice" because I'm not sure how much juice there actually is in Sunny-D), mac & cheese from a box, jello salad, all manner of Hostess cakes, banana pudding, and other processed American delights :) Everything pretty much looked like it was the same color-- Basic Beige-- and I didn't even want to know what the calorie, sugar, and sodium content of some of the foods were; but it all tasted delicious because it was put together with so much fun and good cheer.

It really was the best farewell party anyone could have asked for and I'm so going to miss working with these folks. This was my first real job after graduation and I looked forward to going to work everyday because I loved what I did and I loved the people I worked with. And there really isn't much more a person can ask for in a job.

"Research" rocks!