Singapuri kolimine

Ootame siin parastlounase aikese loppemist, et ujuma minna, aga tana on see myristamine kuidagi eriti pikk. Joudsime just oigel ajal enne vihma algust poistega lasteaiast koju. Kirjutan teile koigile vaikese ylevaate, mis me siin oleme teinud ja arge pange pahaks, et mitte igale yhele isiklikult seekord.
Saabusime ligi 3 nadalat tagasi ja vottis aega kuni koik jetlagist yle said. Laste arvates olime alguses ilmselt kuskil puhkusel, sest korteri condominiumis on bassein ja manguplats jne. Koik ongi ujumisega tohutuid edusamme teinud. Beatrice oli muidugi juba varem toeline merineitsi aga poisid ei olnud sugugi suured veesobrad, eriti Raoul, kes isegi beebibasseini hyppas ainult kaest kinni hoides. Nyyd ujuvad koik vee all ilma abivahenditeta ja hyppavad pea ees vette.
Oleme leidnud alalise elupaiga, kuhu just praegu sisse kolime. See juhtus olema just yle tee meie ajutisest korterist, nii et elame nyyd paar paeva kahes kohas. Konteiner saabus eile, nii et jalle pakkimine jne. Aga loodetavasti saab olema tore, kui koik on korras. Seal on samuti ilus bassein ja manguplats ja karbitiik ja gym jne. See asub yhe kanali ja pargi aares, nii et teoreetiliselt peaksime saama tagavaravast valja ja ratastega soitma voi jooksma minna.

Beatrice sai koha Dover Court'i kooli, mis on yks nn international school'idest ja jargib briti oppekava, nii et loodetavasti on yleminek kerge. Seal on aga just praegu vaheaeg, nii et tema alustab alles 22. aprillil. Kord nadala on koolis ka ujumine. (Basseini olemasolu oli Beatrice'il kooli valiku pohikriteerium.) Beatrice hakkab ka koolibussiga kaima. Imelikul kombel on meil seal koolis tema paralleelklassis yks vana tuttav Redhillist, voi oieti kyll mina tunnen selle poisi brasiillannast ema. Aga veider kokkusattumus igatahes.
Poisid on koige rohkem juba oma ues elus sees. Nemad hakkasid 1. aprillil yhes korralikus Singapuri lasteaias kaima. See on frantsiskaani nunnade lasteaed ja vaga tore ja troopiline, suure manguplatsiga, kus kasvavad mangod, starfruits jn. Klassid on poolavatud laepropelleritega, ei mingit konditsioneeri, mis on lastele kindlasti parem, kui see alaliselt kylmas istumine. Samuti on seal lindla suurte kakaduude ja papagoidega. Poiste klassis on veel yks blond austraalia poiss ja kaks pool hiinlast pool austraallast, lisaks india kaksikud. Tegemist pole aga mingi mangukooliga vaid kaib tosine too. Paev algab nn aktusega, kus lapsed laulavad Singapuri hymni. Iga paev on hiina keele tund, lisaks sellele inglise keele lugemist, foonikat, matemaatikat jne. Natuke vist on manguaega ikka ka. Ja vaga tore koolivorm. Poisid peavad ka koolibussiga soitma (kusjuures hiina arimeel on eriti vilgas, nii et bussifirma kasseerib raha ka vaheaegade eest). Kool ise kestab 3 tundi, aga koos soiduga tuleb peaaegu 5 kokku koduuksest koduukseni. Kaks paeva on molemad bussis tukkuma jaanud.

Elu on siin yldiselt lihtne, sest inglise keel on ju ametlik keel ja koik on vaga lihtsaks tehtud ja nammutatud kodanikele. Samas on muidugi byrokraatlikke erinevusi eelmiste maadega kyllaga. Naiteks ei saa me ei mobiili, oma interneti ega telefoni enne kui nn employment pass on kaes ja see votab tavaliselt ca yks kuu. Praegu oleme oma ajutises korteris saanud neti, aga nyyd ei tea, ka seal uues on mingi ligipaasetav avalik wifi. Kuni siis paberid korda saavad.
Kohalik poliitika on ka hasti lobus - parim naide selle olemusest minu meelest just viimastel paevadel, kui pm teatas, et tal on jarglase otsimisega kiire taga, sest kavatseb ca 70 aastaselt ameti yle anda. Sinnani on ligi 20 aastat aega! Aga see on nii tore.
Oleme vaheke vaatamisvaarsustega ka tutvunud - paadisoit joel, Merlion, Esplanade etc. Kaisime Hiinalinnas ja eelmisel pyhapaeval Little Indias (mis kahetsusvaarselt tekitas mul yhe hullema kohuhaiguse, mida ma yldse maletan). Poisid on leiutanud uue lastelaulu "tempel tempel trikatrei". Vaga tore on nn science centre, kus on palju katsuda isegi kolmeaastastele, eriti ponev kineetiline aed ja optilsed efektid. Ja teha ja naha on veel nii palju.
Tana vist tuleb esimene paev, kui me ei lahegi ujuma. Olen vahepeal lastele ohtusooki teinud, mis on juba soodud aga vihm ikka kestab. Vahepeal oli koik nii hall, et aknast ei nainud paari meetri kaugusele ja myristas vahetpidamata oma pool tundi. Nyyd hakkab vist jargi jaama, aga Beatrice'il on tema uus sobranna siin.

We have moved into the permanent apartment and it is nice to have our own stuff again. Of course we didn't know what is going to be there when we sent our things away from England, so now we have ended up buying a new TV after we had all this trouble getting rid of 2 old ones! Well we have joined the LCD-age now and Beatrice hardly moves from the sofa. I am seriously thinking about bringing it back. Well she has another 12 days until school starts.The boys are well in their routine already - uniform, bags, bus, kiss and off they go! We have nearly 5 hours of peace and quiet and can do our own thing with B. I hope they will be happy in school, no big moaning so far. Raoul has said he doesn't want to go but that was to expect. They did remarkably better this time - I only took them there 4 days, stayed 2 and from this week on they have been going alone. Unfortunately for me the school holidays of the boys and Beatrice will not overlap at all this summer. The boys will be off whole June and back from July, Beatrice is at school until end of June and then off. The aotomn looks a bit better. I will try to arrange some alternative childcare for the boys I guess. Otherwise won't get anywhere.Seung - we have found an old friend from Okpo / Korea, who lives here now. A korean girl who was like a sister to me back then! And Beatrice made some new friends yesterday at the pool - 10 year old twin girls and their 14 year old brother from Seoul who all go to her school as well. They have only been here 2 months and don't speak a lot of English yet. Beatrice seems to attract non-speakers because the same thing happened at the temp. apartment - she made friends with a little girl who didn't speak much English and I was quite surprised as everyone else does until we found out that she is actually from Vietnam and has been here only a few months.A very embarrassing story happened to me today - we went grocery shopping with Beatrice and when I tryed to pay the machine didn't accept my credit card, so went to try ATM - same story. And I only had a few dollars of cash on me. Well the girl called the manager and he actually let me have the stuff as long as I go back tonight and pay. He just took my details and didn't even want to see ID. Can you imagine this happen at Tescos?I'll try to take some photos of the boys when they are off to nursery, they look really sweet in their uniforms. Time for another album!

Hiya! Here comes a little update on how we are getting on. We are hopefully getting most things sorted this week. Our shipment is here but still in customs, hopefully they can deliver tomorrow and we can move into the apartment. It is just 3 bedrooms but the rooms are quite big so we can accommodate guests. And you are very welcome anytime! There are lovely swimming pools, playgrounds, carp pond etc. It really is like a holiday if you don't have to work.I have found a nursery for the boys where they can start today. I just need to go to the bank in town to get cash for the fees. Money has been a major hassle because we only now managed to open a local bank account (very fast by local standards anyway) but still don't have chequebook etc. And to start with the costs are horrendous - 3 months rent as deposit, school fees and deposits upfront etc. Well that is all mondane. The boys nursery is really nice - a very tropical setting with mango trees, starfruit trees, aviary with huge parrots, lovely outdoor spaces, no AC in the classrooms. It is run by the Franziskan nuns and is called Maris Stella. Unfortunately it is a bit far away and they will have to take the school bus. But they are quite excited about it. They will have a mandarin class every day. In general nursery here is nothing like an english pre-school but rather structured and proper learning. We'll see how they are going to take it. I'm a bit worried about Raoul because he probably still thinks school means playing with cars.We went to see Little India on Saturday and had some food there at the hawker center - a big mistake at least for me as I have suffered with a severe Dehli Belly for 2 days. Robert was a bit nauseous but nothing like me. The kids just had a pancake and survived very well.They still make good progress swimming wise - Beatrice did the whole pool-length of proper breaststrokes yesterday and Raoul has also started to take head-dives and swims under water to find his cars. And he would only jump into the baby pool when I was holding his hands when we first arrived.