Culture Shock

Now that we have been here almost two months (time has flown by) I have had a chance to get used to a lot of different things here in Singapore. I guess you can call them "culture shock" as these items did seem to frustrate me in the beginning, and now I am very used to it. Here are some I can think of off the top of my head:
*Lack of electrical outlets throughout the house:
-no outlets in the bathrooms (yes, I have to blow dry my hair in my bedroom)
-only 2 outlets in the kitchen (AUGH!!! do you know how many things we keep plugged in normally? and you have to move your small kitchen appliance way over to where the outlet is to use it!!)
-only 1-2 outlets in each room, and in the least used part. We had to buy many extension cords upon arrival.

*Hot Water Heaters- There are switches (like light switches) to turn on the hot water in the bathrooms and kitchen. It takes only a few minutes for it to start working, but many times I have gotten into the shower and can't figure out why there isn't any hot water...forgot to turn it on! Kids have taken cold quick showers many times due to my forgetfullness. Some places in Singapore don't have hot water in the kitchen, thank goodness ours does. Most houses do not have dishwashers either, due to everyone having live-in maids. I had our landlord put in a new dishwasher before we moved in, can't live without it!

*Store employees "stalking" you while you shop. They hover over you while you look around. I first thought that they must think you are about to steal something, but later found that they do that to EVERYONE who come in. They hover....and hover....and ask you frequently, "can I help you with anything?" Keeps me from window shopping now-don't want to deal with the employees of the store! And they give you attitude if you say "I'm just looking".

*You pay for your grocery carts at the store. You put in a dollar coin to release the cart, and if you don't return it to the line of carts after you are done shopping, your dollar is gone. Like the airport carts at the airport. It DOES cut down on the amount of carts left in the parking garages. :) (see photo above of the carts and the chains that connect them until you put in your $1 coin)

*There isn't any consideration when waiting in line for anything-locals will push, cut in front, or ignore you. They call it "queuing" for things. But most are not considerate of kids, pregnant people, elderly etc. Which is very odd, because the local "Singaporians" are the nicest people, just not when they are waiting in line for things.

*REAL donuts are not to be found here (YES, one of the few US companies NOT here is Dunkin Donuts!!) They have donuts, but they taste like cardboard. And the few places that sell donuts, the line for waiting is sometimes as long as 2 hours!! People will wait in line for hours until they open their doors in the a.m. CRAZY but true. And they taste horrible...just gross. Anyone want to come over and open a Dunkin?? The people here would love it!

*No central air conditioning! We have separate wall units in each room, that are mounted to the walls (not windows, thank goodness) and have a remote control to set the temp. Pain in the butt to get used to. They also have to be serviced and cleaned every 2-3 months due to the fact that they run constantly all year. (it remains a constant 75-85 degrees here year round-great beach/pool weather though).

That's all I can think of now, but my list was a lot longer when we first arrived. I just seem to have forgotten or are so used to it, that I can't remember! :)

All in all it has been very easy to transition living here in Singapore. I have met a lot of moms from the US who lived in other countries before coming here, and they all say that living in Singapore is SOOO easy. I guess living in China or Japan is very difficult, and not very "western like the USA". I really forget sometimes that we are in a foreign country so far away, because of the same products, stores, and items we have at home you can find here easily. And there are SOOO many Americans here that we don't seem like foreigners. (at least in the Central and Downtown areas).

I will post more later about our adventures. :) Keep checking back, as I am sure we will have funny stories to tell (I already have a few that involve a GECKO in the kitchen and Brian screaming like a girl......)