Gettin' Around

One of the biggest adjustments I'm having is not having a car!  I thought I would like it, but I am REALLY missing having a set of wheels!!  I miss the spontaneity and freedom of having my own ride.  It is proving tough to be reliant on public transportation at every turn.  

The public transportation here is really great, it's just taking some getting used to... bus schedules, train lines and finding a cab at peak hours and when it's raining, is really annoying.  

In all other Asian cities, John Deere provides a driver to its expats.  Singapore is the only exception, because it's super safe and the public transportation is widely available, reliable, clean and modern.  

Some expats do have cars, but there are negatives with having your own.  They drive British style, so it's confusing for Americans, traffic is bad, parking is tough and cars are super expensive!!  Singapore is traffic/pollution/emissions conscience, therefore, like most things in Singapore, they jack up prices on things that they don't like :)  Supposedly a Toyota Prius here costs $150,000 and luxury cars are 2-3 times that.  

The kids bus service did not start until yesterday, so for the past 1-1/2 weeks we've had to cab it to and from school.  The kids are expert cab "hailer-downers" already :0 and think it's the best thing ever.  I, on the other hand, am so over the cab rides and am thrilled that I can simply walk them to our front gate to meet the bus!  It's the little things!!

Been eyeing this Vespa that sits parked on our street :) Maybe I'll have to get one of these!

1st Week of School

The kids have had a great first week at school!  It's amazing how resilient kids are.  They have been thrust from their home, away from family and friends, starting a new school, in a new city/country and haven't even blinked an eye about all of it!!  So, so proud of them!

Both kids have super diverse classrooms, but both of their teachers are American and are also new to Singapore...  

Sam's teacher Ms. Kate grew up in Maine, went to Tufts undergrad and Harvard grad school.  Amazing credentials and she's an amazing young gal.  She is married and her husband moved for her teaching job here.  She is SO great with Sam!  He has 2 teacher assistants, Ms. Rita who is Indian and Ms. Fizah who is Malay.  Sam adores his teachers, giving them all huge hugs when he comes in the classroom.  He is really thriving.  He loves PE, playing with trains and practicing the violin (ha!).

Mia's teacher Ms. Fernandez is from Chicago, went to Eastern Illinois undergrad and University of Illinois law school.  Prior to moving to Singapore this summer, she was a healthcare litigation attorney.  Talk about a change!  She said she wanted to do something more fulfilling, so went back to grad school for education.  She has a teacher assistant, Ms. Ginny, who is Chinese and super nice.  Mia loves drama class, learning to play the piano and is working on her mandarin :)  

It is such a huge relief that the kids are loving school!  It has made this transition so much better than I ever imagined!!  

Singapore Zoo Fun

We hit up the Singapore Zoo last Saturday with our new friends, the Jepsen's, who just moved here from Cedar Falls (us Iowans have to stick together :).  It definitely lived up to the hype as being one of the worlds best zoos!  It is a tropical wonderland, where the animals are in natural settings (no cages), just discrete moats, that make you feel like you're on a safari.  The animals are so close and in some cases, like the monkeys, just swung from the vines above us!  The highlights were definitely the animals that are native to SE Asia like the tigers, elephants and orangutans.

We went early and had breakfast with the orangutans (native of neighboring Malaysia), who sat and ate their breakfast, right in our company....no cages, no fences, it was amazing!!!  We hit the waterpark halfway through, so still have a lot more to see the next time around.  Good thing we bought the annual pass!

Out & About

Some random photos from our first few weeks in Singapore!