New to the neighbourhood

It's been more than half a year since we returned from Sydney. I have been having many thoughts about living in Singapore again, so here's my usual random ramblings.

Many times, I feel like I'm learning to live in Singapore all over again, especially in the context of having 2 kids. I spent most of my mothering years in Sydney, and so it's quite a change as I settle into Singapore again. I feel like I'm back to the 'finding things out' stage when I was in Sydney.

Some neighbours still remember us, but many others would ask if we just moved in. At the playground and at the coffee shops, I've been asked where I came from. (Many think I'm from China.) Two older ladies, who spoke in Hokkien and Teochew asked (in shock) why I couldn't speak Hokkien/Teochew if I am a Singaporean. And I found myself wondering when Hokkien/Teochew were made official languages in Singapore. =P I could only reply sheepishly that the only dialect I spoke is Cantonese.

The guys at the 'veg-rice' store reminded me of the students I used to teach. They find me a familiar face now. They would chat with Charis and Adriel when there isn't a crowd at the store, and would call me 大姐 (big sister) when they see me.

After being so spoilt in SMBC, we were very grateful to have another family with 2 girls whom Charis can have playdates with. In our time at SMBC, Charis had no lack of girlfriends to play with. But over here, our immediate neighbours have boys and perhaps we'll try arranging a playdate with them soon. Charis took a while to like the 'Ben 10' stickers she was offered by a boy who lives in another floor of our block of apartments.

Another area we have to settle into would be the differences in kids' bedtimes. Kids in Singapore are usually late sleepers. They go to bed around 10-11pm. It's not hard to understand why. Most shops are open until 10pm everynight, bus and train services end at about midnight. It's 10pm now, and I can still hear kids playing outside. Enrichment lessons for kids like Ballet, teakwondo, art would start at 7-8pm. Parents who work come home at around 7-8pm too, so kids stay up to spend time with their parents. So we are the only wierdos in our neighbourhood who get their kids to sleep before 8pm if they did not have a nap in the day. (If Charis did have a nap, she'll be in bed by 9-10pm.) So Charis and Adriel sometimes have to deal with the noise around them when they sleep. Charis is also trying to understand the difference. She asked me once why her neighbours could go out at night, while she has to go to bed.

Charis still speaks of Sydney once in a while. Just during lunch, she told me she missed watching 'Playschool'. Just the mention of that brought back a flood of lovely memories and I started singing the opening song. =)

It's the June holidays now. Charis doesn't need to go to preschool for the whole month. Her school had a mini-concert a week ago, and we went to watch. She sang and danced with her classmates, and she recited a Chinese rhyme with another classmate during the concert. Roger reminded me how Charis came back to Singapore with zero Chinese, and now is able to recite rhymes and recognise simple words. We are truly thankful to God. Her Chinese teacher is good at using the 'soft' approach with Charis- getting into Charis' good books so that Charis would like Chinese. I remember when she just started preschool, she spoke Mandarin with a Caucasian accent. Roger and I would be so tickled to hear her, but now, that is gone. She's still weak in her ability to converse with others in Chinese though, but we're thankful for her progress already. =)

We're expecting lots of visitors from aussie-land this July, and we're so thrilled. =) Pray with us, that we may be good hosts. Good hosting includes durian tasting right? =P

Take care friends! I'll write again!