Our cultural training yesterday was pretty interesting. We learned a bit about the history of Singapore and why things are a certain way. We learned some tips to help us fit in and some behaviors to avoid so as to not offend. I'm sure I'm going to offend somebody at some point, but I do want to try avoid being the obnoxious American.
Singapore is a Confucian Society. Everybody here fits in to some sort of hierarchy. The view that we are all equal and that we are all in this together is very American and it is not how the society is organized in Singapore. It's interesting to me to think about all the ways that impacts our daily lives. People here know where their place is and for the most part are proud of it and accept it. For example, tipping is considered rude. If you tip a taxi driver, it's like saying "I know you don't make enough money, so here's a little extra." It's offensive. That's just one example. I'm ready to get out and observe people in action. I want to watch for the little ways that life is different.
This is just my little random collection of groceries. This is about all I can get in one trip.
After our training was over, we took a stroll down Arab street and its neighbor, Haji Lane. Both streets are very fun. We ate dinner at a restaurant called Fika. It's a Swedish Cafe on Arab Street. The food was fabulous and very Swedish.
This is a picture from Haji Lane. It's a tiny little street only wide enough for 1 car. It's like something from a story book.
The sidewalk on Haji Lane is up close to the buildings and under the second story.
This is a part of the pedestrian walk way that we walk through every day. The kids love the checker board sidewalk. I just had to get a picture of it.
Today was very busy and productive. We got to the bank this morning right when it opened. Scott opened a local account a few days ago, but we needed to add me to the account. I had to go with my dependent pass letter and my passport to request to be added to Scott's account. It didn't take too long and now I've got a debit card with our local bank.
After the bank, we had a little time to eat and then we had to head to the Employment Agency to apply for our passes. Scott needs an Employment pass (in liu of a work visa) and the kids and I need dependent passes. We had letters of intent to issue the passes from the government before we left the States. Now it's time to actually get the passes. We had an appointment at noon and we were out of there by 12:30. Not too bad! Our passes will be ready to pick up on Wednesday.
Next we headed off to Ikea. Yes. They have Ikea here. Whoo hoo! I'm thrilled. Our condo comes partially furnished. That means, we have a couch, tv, shelves, dining table, major appliances and closets. We don't have beds or any kitchen items that go inside the cupboards. Ikea to the rescue.
Our new home is 3 bedroom, 2 bath plus a maids room and bathroom. It's about 1500 sq ft. It's beautiful! There's a little balcony off of the dining area and great big beautiful windows in every room. It looks out over a grassy field and a wooded area. We're on the 2nd floor. In Singapore, they have air conditioning units separate for each room. The kitchen is not air-conditioned. They figure that a lot of the heat is generated in that room and you should just shut the door and sweat it out. The maids room is actually a bomb shelter with no windows and it is off of the kitchen (not air conditioned). Her bathroom doesn't have hot water. It's very surprising to me, but very normal here.
I had picked out some furniture online, but we needed to go and try out the mattresses to see that they would be comfortable enough. Also, we've decided to get the kids the jr. beds that Ikea has and we wanted to make sure it would be long enough for Lily to use for 2 years. The best part (I had forgotten this) is that Ikea has a play area for kids! As soon as we walked in, the kids saw it and wanted to go play. We signed them in, dropped them off and took a deep breath. Ikea just became even more awesome. We found the beds we wanted and priced out a few other things. We didn't really buy anything today. Ikea will deliver for a small fee, but only within 3 days of purchase. So, we'll go back right before we move in and have all of our things delivered.
It's really convenient to get to/from Ikea from our hotel. It's just one bus, no changes or anything. We got to drive through China Town and it looked very cool. I can't wait to get a chance to go wander those streets.
Tomorrow is our settling in service day. I don't know what that means. We have a driver and a guide for the day. I think they will take us to do whatever we want. Maybe I'll get my mobile phone! BTW, did you know that ONLY Americans call it a cell phone?! The rest of the world call it either a Mobile Phone or a Hand Phone. I didn't know...
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