It is now 12 months since I took up my appointment in Singapore. It has been a very positive experience as Singapore is very safe, clean, close to many other Asian countries and quite friendly. English is the official language, so all the signs, notices, announcements are in English (sometimes also in Mandarin, Malay). It takes a while to realise you are the ‘foreigner’ and to remember that, even to buy a fridge (or anything much other than clothes and food), you require your FIN (I think it must stand for foreign identifier number). Even people like the bank where you bank, if you want to transfer money or frequent flyer points, ask you for your passport number. Being a good Australian, I refuse to remember these numbers, so make the person wait while I find it. The day I thought all I needed was my employment pass (with the FIN on it) was the day someone wanted my passport. So now I carry both all the time!! I have experienced culture shock, there is no doubt about that. But with five other Australians working with me, it has been much less than it would have been if I had come on my own.

Singaporeans all say that the only things to do in Singapore are shop and eat. They seem to eat frequently and it is normally a very social affair. Not for them to eat while at the desk or walking along the street. Certainly, since I came to Singapore I have done both shopping and eating, as it is very hot (the temperature is hot or very hot, like the coolest it has been overnight is 26 and it can get up to 35 in the afternoon), and I have not been doing the walking exercise I used to do.  This is a bit of a problem, as I am not an Asian size in clothes (I am in shoes – don’t get me startes on the lovely shoes here) and I seem to go up and down two clothes sizes.  I am sure I will settle now that I am finding it not quite as hot as it was 12 months ago.

Teaching at NUS has been a great experience.  The students are all hard working and mostly their English is quite good (it is supposed to be).  It is lovely to be able to establish a new nursing program and use my skills and expertise to help grow nursing in another country.

Love to hear the experiences of others and looking forward to sharing more about my time here in Singapore.