In Summer 2011, a big decision was taken: We are going to move to Singapore !
The place was not totally unknown. My wife started working there temporarily during 8 month when we decided to move for real. During her small stay, I had the chance to stay there twice for one month, diving into a different culture on step at a time.
Moving to another country or even to another continent is not that different than moving to the neighbor town. You pack all your stuff, put it in a minivan and open it again a few hours later. I just needed to pack all my stuff, put it in a sea container and open it six weeks later. If you forgot to pack something on D day, it becomes more difficult to just fetch it the next day.
In addition to all the moving hassle, you have to deal with all the administrative stuff: get rid of the car, close the phone contracts, close all insurances, settle all the pending stuff with the tax agency and quitting your job.
All the administrative hassle on the Singapore-side was taken care of by my wife. She found a place to live, got my papers settled. I was not going into nowhere. This helps a lot, having something to hang to on the other side.
The last days before taking the plane, I felt like belonging nowhere. I was no more living in Switzerland, but not yet living in Singapore. You need to drive a rented car, use a pre-paid cellphone with no data connexion (was that the hardest part?).
Those few days of vacation before the real take-off, allows you to throw some going-away parties, to see a last time your friends and family. Good thing with todays communications, is that even on the other side of the world, you can keep in touch.
Now, after more than one year living in Singapore, I decided to start this blog to share what I have learned and what I are my thoughts about Singapore and the countries around that I had the chance to visit.