-In Singapore you could speak English and almost always be understood. Here you speak English and everyone speaks back to you in rapid fire Chinese. No one understands--or occasionally you find a young college student willing to try out his English!
-There are no hawkers. We were told that the city was "cleaned up" for the Olympics. This removed many of the street vendors. Oh what I wouldn't do for a plate of chicken rice or bowl of fish ball noodles!
-In Singapore we were surrounded by water and rarely saw it. Here we're seeing, walking by, and smelling the ocean every day.
-In Singapore I got hot/sweaty almost every day. It's a rare thing here and a nice change! I can mop the floors without needing to take a shower!
-In Singapore the bus stops are relatively close together. Get off early here and you'll be walking a block or two to the next bust stop! There is a subway being built-I'm looking forward to that!
-So I knew China was the land of the firework/firecracker, but I had no idea how frequently they use them! We've seen a couple of fourth of July shows already and firecrackers were used hourly during the hungry ghost festival. Yesterday was the first day of autumn (on the lunar calendar) and there were lion dances/firecrackers galore. Singapore had all these things in moderation :)
-Because of where we live, the nights are much quieter. We have no traffic noise, no Hindu temple, and no drunks breaking beer bottles underneath us!
-We stand out here much more than in Singapore. Singapore has so much diversity. Plus with three kids of different races, we are considered a "wonder."
-Singapore was often much more convenient. I remember whining about walking to the store. What I wouldn't give for my mall next door! Here it is a 16 minute walk to the closest grocery.
-Singapore had 12 hours of day and night the whole year. Here in the summer the sun rose at 4:30 am. Now it is rising around 6 and getting later everyday. This has helped my kids sleep later!
-Here our school is almost 80% Korean. In Singapore it was around 25%.
-In Singapore (on staff) the school had three stay at home moms. Here there are around 20! It makes for a really nice family oriented environment.
To sum it up there are things (and PEOPLE) that we desperately miss from Singapore, BUT we are enjoying some of the wonderful, new things here!
-There are no hawkers. We were told that the city was "cleaned up" for the Olympics. This removed many of the street vendors. Oh what I wouldn't do for a plate of chicken rice or bowl of fish ball noodles!
-In Singapore we were surrounded by water and rarely saw it. Here we're seeing, walking by, and smelling the ocean every day.
-In Singapore I got hot/sweaty almost every day. It's a rare thing here and a nice change! I can mop the floors without needing to take a shower!
-In Singapore the bus stops are relatively close together. Get off early here and you'll be walking a block or two to the next bust stop! There is a subway being built-I'm looking forward to that!
-So I knew China was the land of the firework/firecracker, but I had no idea how frequently they use them! We've seen a couple of fourth of July shows already and firecrackers were used hourly during the hungry ghost festival. Yesterday was the first day of autumn (on the lunar calendar) and there were lion dances/firecrackers galore. Singapore had all these things in moderation :)
-Because of where we live, the nights are much quieter. We have no traffic noise, no Hindu temple, and no drunks breaking beer bottles underneath us!
-We stand out here much more than in Singapore. Singapore has so much diversity. Plus with three kids of different races, we are considered a "wonder."
-Singapore was often much more convenient. I remember whining about walking to the store. What I wouldn't give for my mall next door! Here it is a 16 minute walk to the closest grocery.
-Singapore had 12 hours of day and night the whole year. Here in the summer the sun rose at 4:30 am. Now it is rising around 6 and getting later everyday. This has helped my kids sleep later!
-Here our school is almost 80% Korean. In Singapore it was around 25%.
-In Singapore (on staff) the school had three stay at home moms. Here there are around 20! It makes for a really nice family oriented environment.
To sum it up there are things (and PEOPLE) that we desperately miss from Singapore, BUT we are enjoying some of the wonderful, new things here!
To add to this random post... Here's a picture of the golf course by the ocean (on a rainy day) for all you Eilers that want to come golf!
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