Looking for my oyster

These days I've been busying myself with not only running the last lap of my FYP but also worrying about my future. After all the career fairs and recruitment talks, I've come to a realization that there are really very few jobs that suit me. In case you think I'm being too picky, let me tell you that I only have 3 criteria when it comes to applying for a job:

1) It is not a desk-bound job

2) I get to live and work in different countries

3) It must be a job that I can find meaning in doing

Are these criteria hard to fulfill? I think so. Perhaps I'm looking at the wrong places, or I simply do not know where to start looking. And so when I finally find something that fits all the 3 criteria, I get my hopes up, only to be dashed because it seems that these jobs somehow equate to stringent selection process. For example, becoming an international social worker can easily fulfill these 3 criteria, but I think the selection process is harder than getting a higher-paying job such as becoming an accountant. Perhaps it's simply because in the absolute sense there is just more demand for accountant and engineers in our practical society than social workers and diplomats and photojournalists. The jobs I plan to apply usually have no hiring quota though, just that they are trying to hire "the right person".

Or perhaps I'm really just being too picky, like what my mum constantly tells me. But I think I have a right to be, because I am looking to start a career, not just get a job. I am lucky in that I am not at the point of starvation that I need just any job to keep me going, so what's wrong with being picky? I am not someone who applies to every available job just to increase my chances of landing one. Same as after my A Levels when my peers and I were looking for scholarships to apply. I only applied to one, simply because it was the only one that I truly wanted even though I badly wanted to study overseas.

My friends see it as my desperation to get out of Singapore. To clarify matters, I do not hate Singapore. If I were given a chance to choose where I get to grow up in, I will still choose Singapore for sure. I am just tired of staying here for so long that's all. Quite normal for any young heart I think, the need to go explore. It simply makes me even more frustrated with the overcrowding problem here, to the point that I often pray in earnest that I can just have a seat to myself on the train from Eunos to Pioneer everyday and don't have to stand in line for an half an hour just to grab a Subway sandwich in NTU. I know that some parts of the world may not even have trains for me to commute in, or may exactly be even worse (think Renmin Square station in Shanghai), but at least most countries are much bigger than Singapore and where drastically different environments are just a few hours' drive away without the hassle of going through any customs. The very size of Singapore makes me feel extremely claustrophobic, and if you know me well I don't do too well with feeling trapped, both mentally and physically.

Someday I think when I can afford to I'll live in a small house with wide open fields on one side and the sea on the other. Grow some vegetables and keep some chickens and sit down and write anything I want. Take slow and long walks in the nearby woods. No neighbours, or perhaps one or two that live a mile away for me to walk to for an occasional chat. No computer, television and cellphone also nevermind, just an electrical wire for the lights is enough. So there you go, my perfect idea of "settling down". But before that, I must see the world, so that I have a lifetime of memories, experiences and thoughts to keep me company in my small house. Even if I die alone I'll die happy then.

So yes, if there are any jobs that fulfill those 3 criteria, hell I'll even do it for free if I don't have to pay anything out of my own pockets to survive. As long as I find my oyster.