Flurry in Singapore

My Canadian friends are waking to snow flurries and scraping cars.  But flurry in Singapore has nothing to do with snow.  The other day we were driving in a taxi to Chinatown and observed the flurry of activity here.  It's always like it, though... it's not just because of the season.

The Housing Development Board buildings (HDBs) have either shops and food courts on the first floor or open space for tenants and owners to hang out, sometimes providing tables and chairs and TVs.  Many of them have a fitness area with simple fitness machines.  And people frequently use them... especially in the evening/night.  In Singapore, every male has to serve two years of national service after high school and two weeks per year after that until they are of a certain age.  Employers must give them the time off work without pay.  Females don't have to do it, but some choose to.  We wondered if these fitness areas were strategically placed by the government not only to encourage a healthy lifestyle to all, but to make fitness accessible to these men who have to return every year and be healthy and fit for their country.  Regardless, accessible free fitness facilities are definitely a good thing for any country.

So we made our way to Chinatown where we began our Christmas shopping!  Lots of tourists in this area of the city.  In the middle of Chinatown there is an empty space and a stage covered with a tent.  And we had free entertainment!  About 50-75 men and women danced their hearts out.  They knew the steps and danced to over a dozen songs while we watched.  I guess it was sort of line dancing, but not quite... a mix between line dancing, jazz, and hip hop.  I loved watching the uncles out there... some were quite good too.  It was great, and my daughter and I were itching to join the group.

On our way home from Chinatown, there was a Hindu festival in our community square.  It was Deepa Oli... I think it's an extension of Deepavali, which was in October.  Performers sang and danced, and the audience cheered and squealed.  There are always tents and chairs being set up in community squares around the city to celebrate something.  With four major cultures and religions residing here, a celebration is always on!

There is always a flurry of activity in Singapore.  People are active.  They go outside a lot.  It's nice to see.  I have a flurry of activities this week too.... meetings and culture fest and volunteering and choir and a concert performance.  And... some work.  Yep, I put it out there and now I'm submitting a proposal for a small contract.

As much as I needed to relax for a few months because of burnout... I love flurries.

Pretzels & Jokers

When you put a lot of effort into something and get no results, it's frustrating.  It's demotivating.  It's crap.  You know it's baby steps that matter, but you can't help a bit of negativity from seeping in.

Last week I announced my change in direction in my job search.  Finding a job here in Singapore as an expat without mulitnational experience in the Asia Pacific region is near impossible, and others will attest to that.  I guess I was lucky to get a couple of interviews.  However, I am no longer dedicated to that daily job search, and now I have to make an effort just to fill my weekdays with something.

Every Thursday evening Terry and I go to pretzel class.  This is yoga.  Very traditional style.  My instructor's master is a traditional Indian yogi who can still sit on the floor for hours at a time at 93 years old and not have any joint pain.  Yoga lifts my spirits like almost nothing else.  It always has.  This class is no different in that respect.  But it is different. 

There are yoga classes here in Singapore that are just like home... you pay $150 or so per month for a membership in a fancy studio and get choice for yoga and pilates workouts.  And... there's yoga at the local community centres where the cost is $75 for 10 classes.  Our class is small, comprised of women of all ages, except Terry.  We practice in a small room with bright lights.  I wasn't sure I was going to like these classes when I first joined.  Our instructor tries new poses on us each week, and we try to improve the ones we already know.  Many of the positions I already know, some are new.  I've prided myself in my 20s and 30s to continue to be almost as flexible as I was at 17.  But my body just does not fold into some of these traditional positions.  They look so easy.  Why are the aunties able to do them and not Terry and me?  Regardless, at the end of class, Terry and I smile and glow and I feel like I have the most energy I've had all week.

This week, I needed that pretzel class more than most weeks.

Because my time is no longer being spent on that daily job search, I've also joined a joker group.  That's choir.  The one for non-singers.  The group is welcoming and fun and funny.  Jokers.  There are good singers in it, and we actually don't sound too bad.  The women are from all over the world including Singapore.  Our 'director' is the guitarist who plays by ear, so we have the words to the songs but no sheet music.  We applaud for ourselves after every song.  It's truly uplifting.  Our first concert is next Friday night at the Scottish bar.

The joker class couldn't have come at a better time.

And when you use laughter and meditation as your guides, you find your answers.  I've decided to volunteer and take a course.  Yes, spend money and not make it.  I've put feelers out there for contract work from my Canadian colleagues so maybe I will have a small income if that works out.  Ultimately, though, I live in a new country.  I uprooted my entire life and moved here so I could have new experiences and grow both professionally and personally.  I've been here over 3 months and it's incredibly difficult to create a social network without a job or being part of something. 

The last few weeks I've been wound up like a pretzel trying to find a job, find a job, find a job.  Now I'm just going to focus on filling my life.  Obviously, the universe has something else in store for me and I am finally willing to surrender to it.  What a relief!

I'll Be Home For Christmas...

My daughter is auditioning for her school production this week and needs to perform a solo song and a soliloquy.  She has no problem singing solo but is nervous about the acting.  So in attempts to help her, Terry decided to offer that I would sing two Christmas songs if she practiced her soliloquy in front of us!  I think he secretly just wanted a reason to get me to sing because he's never heard me.

She did a great job practicing.  I, on the other hand, do not have much of a note in my head.  I can play instruments and I can dance, but singing is not a talent of mine.  I was completely off key, but I sang nevertheless - because it was for the good of my daughter.  After my singing debut, we continued to sing Christmas carols while Terry played the guitar.  And the excitement for Christmas began.

We'll be home for Christmas.  We'll have lived in Singapore for four months and will visit home for two weeks.  It's far away and expensive and we hadn't planned on going home for Christmas.  But we are completely happy with our decision. 

The festivities of the holiday season have begun here in Singapore as well.  We strolled through a few shopping areas over the weekend and streets and storefronts and malls are decorated in fine style (the picture of the tree above is from Vivo City rooftop).  The lighting ceremony for Orchard Road (shopping area) was on Saturday night.  Concerts are planned for coming weeks.  The Nutcracker is next week - gotta get tickets.  Santa is going to be here for photos next week.  (By the way, there's a job for a Santa's helper... you dress up and take photos with kids.  I seriously considered applying for it.  I have experience as Easter Bunny's helper afterall.)  I think Christmas in Singapore is very much like Christmas in NL... except no mummering and no family.  And no parade.  And no snow... actually it's sunny and humid as always.

Speaking of singing, I've been invited to join a choir.  It's a choir for people that can't sing.  Seriously.  A bunch of expat non-singers go to a Scottish bar owned by a Singaporean every Thursday morning for choir practice.  And we're going to do Christmas carol concerts too.

Changing Course

Wednesday past was Hari Raya Haji.  It's the Muslim "Festival of Sacrifice" - a commemoration of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son for God.  We understood there would be a celebration of sorts in an area of town we hadn't visited before and made our way there to be 'cultured'.  It turned out there was no celebration.  The day was one of prayer spent with family.  Many shops were closed. 

So we made our way to East Coast Park to ride bikes instead.  The park was crowded but we had a ball riding our bikes with wind going through our hair (helmetless) and flip flops on our feet.  Sacrilege, I know! 

Changing direction was the answer for Wednesday.  And it's the answer for my job search woes.  The job search is practically halted.  I've been rejected, ignored, and given poor direction by companies, recruiters, and coaches.  I'm not throwing in the towel.  But you know the how the saying goes, you can't expect different results if you keep doing the same thing.

So I'm changing course and right now I have no idea where I'll land.  Exciting, no?  Well, once I figure out a few things, I'll make a plan - you know me!  I'll have a plan that can (and will) be changed:)

By the way, I've also changed my running practice.  When I'm home in Canada, I absolutely love running outside in nature, on trails, around lakes, up hills... Here, I've taken to the treadmill in the gym and the first class outdoor running track 10 minutes from our condo (in the evening).  I still need a 'boot in the arse' to get going.

Celebrate good times... come on!

Last Friday was Deepavali - the Hindu Festival of Lights where they celebrate goodness in their lives.  It was also a public holiday and we took advantage and took a trip to the east coast of Malaysia.

We began our trip with knapsacks on our backs in a queue (always a queue here, never a line-up) at the Singapore bus terminal.  About 300 people were in front of us.  We decided to get a taxi.  It was less than $5 to the immigration point... why were people lined up??  So we passed through immigration on the Singapore end quickly - yay!  But the queue outside to get the bus across to Malaysia was another 2 hour wait.  We waited.  And waited.  And when we got a bus we got seats!  Yippee!  We're on our way after a long, hot wait.  When we reached Malaysia immigration, the queue was another couple of hours.  Yes, seriously.  And we queued.

When we finally made it through immigration, we were in a crowded shopping mall.  People were going to Malaysia to shop for the day.  Why you would spend 4+ hours lining up to shop when there's so much shopping at your fingertips in Singapore escapes me, but it was what most of the people were doing.  Maybe there was a sale.

Anyway, off we went in search of our car!  Yes!  We rented a car!!  We found it after some traipsing around Johor Bahru (JB)... on foot... with knapsacks on our backs.  JB was busy and somewhat run down with a few new buildings standing out.  I've read that JB wants to be a shopping destination, so I believe it has invested in some fixing up.

By the time we started our road trip, it was 5pm - we had a 6 hour drive ahead of us.  It rained - a lot.  But the ride was still fun.  We had a car!  We all sensed a longing for the convenience of a car (and this morning when we could not get a taxi because it was raining and too busy, we wished we had one!).

Our non-backpacker accommodations were in Cherating.  This town is quiet and full of backpacker and surfer types.  It has many accommodations and a decent beach.  Its laissez faire atmosphere reminded me of home a little.  Service providers were helpful and friendly and nothing was timed.  If you wanted to surf... well, you waited to see if there were waves and if not, you come back later to see.  Later in the night, we went to a laid back restaurant where Bob Marley played.  It had the best pizza!  My daugther loved the environment - a future backpacker for sure.

Saturday was sunny.  We met Hafiz, who took us on a mangrove tour.  He was incredibly knowledgeable.  We saw four snakes, three lizards, bright blue crabs, two Kingfishers (birds), and a wack of jungle.  Hafiz also conducted firefly tours, which only happened at night if it didn't rain.  Lucky for us, it rained... it poured... but it stopped just before the tour time!  And Hafiz educated us on fireflies and brought us on a tour down the river.  I had never seen a firefly... let alone thousands of them!  They twinkled in the trees and flew over to our boat.  My daughter caught at least two and I caught one.  They were teensy.  It's amazing how bright they shine.  It was the festival of lights, alright.  Hafiz was a wonderful guide, too, and we chatted with he and his wife about how they are saving to someday go to Mecca.  He was also excited to share with me a few things he knows about meditating - they asked about my 'om' necklace and it started a conversation about yoga and meditation.

In between our two tours, we went driving.  There were no waves for surfing so we decided to see some of the country... and I drove... on the left side of the road... in some pretty busy traffic.  I have to admit that I was totally pumped to do this.  And stressed after an hour of it.  Thanks to Terry's exploratory nature, though, we found the most amazing beach with a wild wind and fierce ocean waves.  The beach was sandy and long and nobody was on it.  Probably because it's monsoon season and the water was dangerous.  Our beach in Cherating was safe, though, and I was successful is persuading Terry (not my daughter however) to swim in the rain.  I now have flybites all over my feet and bottoms of my legs - I'm thinking sand flies from that lovely swim.

It rained again on Sunday and we made our way back to Singapore - this time getting a taxi to cross the border and it took only 15 minutes!!!

Our three day trip entailed two days of driving, lots of rain, line-ups, no waves for surfing, and a really great time.  It really is what you make of it.

Today is my daughter's 17th birthday.  She is without friends.  She missed dance class this morning because the taxis were fully booked due to the rain.  Her hair didn't cooperate.  And we're celebrating another beautiful year this evening with presents and dinner (I'm cooking!!!!  Eeek!) and cake.  The dining room is already adorned with flowers and balloons - thanks to Terry.

Expats vs. expats

People come to Singapore for many reasons.  We came by choice.  We wanted an international experience (OK, OK, I admit it, it was more 'me' than Terry since he'd already had several international experiences and had moved back to NL to 'settle'... oops!).  Singapore had limited barriers - English speaking country, excellent education, international HUB and growing economy, allowed to 'live together' without marrying, and a large expat community. 

Although I'm happy to be immersed in a different culture - and where I live it's a totally different culture... we even have the older men playing checkers at the hawkers stands downstairs - meeting others with similar experiences definitely makes you feel more normal.  Last night I attended an expat job seeking event (in a great pub with beer and snacks - after months of very limited western foods, deep fried calamari and chicken strips are food for the soul!).  A couple of guys spoke about their job search experiences.  Simply put... it resonated. 

These guys were 'trailing spouses' - one spouse gets a contract (usually big bucks) and the other spouse follows and is coined the trailing spouse.  Most trailing spouses I've met are women.  It was refreshing to see male trailing spouses.  Anyway, they spoke of their trying times when they first arrived... months of endless job searching... interviews that went horribly... comments from interviewers like, "you must not be searching hard enough for a job if you're applying for this low level position"... the list goes on.  So one guy ended up back in school after 30 years experience.  The other guy took a much lower level job after working with an international company in management for many years.

Both guys talked about their days of sitting in front of the computer... not talking to other adults (except their spouse) for days... and then... voila!  They met each other.  They had weekly coffee to keep each other's spirits up.  And two years later they are both working and happy.

Some advice given was to lower your expectations so you can get a job and learn the culture.  Work is very process oriented here.  You get task lists each week and you're expected to complete the tasks.  My work friends are now raising their eyebrows wondering how on earth I'm going to survive!  It's true... it might be tough... yes, yes... it WILL be tough.  But I came here to learn new ways of doing things.  I might be fired!  My mind doesn't stop creating and finding ways of improvement (well, I think so... it doesn't mean something is actually going to improve:) and keeping my ideas to myself will be a challenge in itself.  Self restraint is a good lesson.

All in all, a good evening and very good to know I'm not the only one progressing slowly in the job search. 

So today I met with another kind of expat - a group of female trailing spouses, most of which have no intention of working while living here and some of which are retired.  Work was not the topic of conversation - at all.  We talked about running and swimming and biking and reading and traveling and yoga and things to do in Singapore... and teenagers.

One of the ladies moved here when her daughter was my daughter's age.  It was a year of hell - sobbing night after night missing friends and not making new ones. (Thank goodness my daughter is not nearly as bad as that!)  The second year was magnificent.  And now that the daugher has moved back to Canada for university, she wants to move back to Singapore!  Another lady said her son, who was around the same age as my daughter when they moved to Europe, took a long time to meet friends, but once he met them, they were very good friends.  Another lady gave me the number of another lady who has a daughter who is a social butterfly and a year younger than my daughter and said we should try to introduce them.  Phew!  I know, I know.... gotta read that a couple of times... the point is that we're only here 2 1/2 months and it's completely normal for a 16 year old to not have made close friends yet.  And there's huge hope for my daughter to develop her social side normally!!  Yippee!

I'm going to that morning coffee thing again in a couple of weeks.  Geez, I hope I don't have a job by then!