The Three Phases in Expat Life (so far...)

I woke up one morning and realized that we had already been here over a month! In some ways that seems unbelievable- it was just yesterday I was packing up 1 Irving and doing last minute shopping in the US- but in other ways it feels like we have been here MUCH longer than a month. I think this is partially to blame for not only the various phases of culture shock that every expat experiences, but also because we can break down our time here in Singapore in three distinct phases based directly on our housing situation:

1) Oh My God- THIS is Corporate Housing? 
OK, so it wasn't a hostel, but it wasn't nice. I was admittedly reduced to tears when we walked in to our less-than-400sq ft-den of darkness upon arrival. It was tiny, it was dark, and hot. And there were no dressers, and no storage space, and the bed was a rock and the couch was too small for any two adults to enjoy and the internet situation sucked.... etc. We did enjoy our first few days as a tourist in a new town, but the utter hate of our corporate housing situation put us (OK- mainly me) in to a FRENZY to look at apartments and find an escape. So we took to apartment searching with gusto. Many viewings, multiple brokers and much stress later- we found our new home- and thus entered stage 2 of life so far.

2) YAY- our apartment ROCKS! 
Moving in to our new apartment was blissful. It was big and clean, had lots of windows, a pool, hot tubs, a gym- the list of amazingness goes on. We were in love. It was such a dramatic step up in life- we couldn't have been happier. Due to logistic problems with our shipment being on a boat in the middle of the ocean when we moved in we resulted to renting furniture until our stuff gets here. This was augmented by the arrival of our 500lbs of air shipment- so in one day we went from terrible corporate housing with the same clothes we had worn for 4 weeks- to a LOAD of our stuff, all new and exciting, and real furniture, and real TV and internet. I busily went about putting away our things, admiring our additional supplies of clothes and towels and pillows. It was happy times. But alas... those times have passed and we have entered in to the 3rd phase..

3) Where the HELL is our Boat????
So the rental-furniture inspired bliss was short lived. We quickly looked around at our sparse furnishings and thought, "wouldn't it be nice if we lived like normal people, with all of our stuff." Our first attempt to remedy these feelings of despair was a trip to the local Ikea. Thats right- there are Ikeas in Singapore- two to be precise. Thank god. So we eagerly (OK- mainly just me on the eager part, Dave was more begrudgingly because he knew he was going to have to build the complicated Swedish furniture) set off for Ikea and supplemented our basic rental furniture with a desk and bookshelves, shelves for the bombshelter and a dresser (which, btw, is still in the box- not that I am complaining...). "We" set off on building the new Ikea goods and for a brief period of time it was so exciting to have new things! It lasted.... oh a few days. Then the we were back in the world of "where is my stuff." We still love our apartment, the pools and hot tubs and the like are amazing- it is like living in a resort. But right now all I want is boxes and boxes of my things. I want to roll around in all of my clothes, and play with all of my kitchen toys, and have a refreshed supply of american toiletries and have a dresser instead of having my clothes in a pile in the floor. We want our couches and we really really really want our amazing King sized bed. Dave wants his TV and his playstation and his new MLB Baseball game that I didn't let him open before we left. (Note: this alone is motivation to get the new dresser built before the boat shows up and I lose my husband in a playstation-withdrawal-fueled marathon of video game playing to make up for all the time lost- aka: productivity in this house is probably going to hit an all time low)
It creeped up on us gradually. One of us would wistfully say "I really wish we had [insert item on boat]" then the next day one of us would say "I wonder where our boat is." Now the real rub is that the view from our living room is of the shipping yard. So all day we watch boats come in, laden with containers with other people's things in them and routinely ask each other "think that is our boat?" We got news from the shipping company that our boat is scheduled to arrive on the 5th of May... and then its in the hands of the Singapore customs agents to determine when we in fact receive our long-lost goods with open arms. So I suppose we sort of know where the hell our boat is... but it would be better if it was right outside our window and we were sitting on our own couches while I write this.

XOXO

Here is a quick picture of our office/guest room with our new Ikea desk- which we love. Still looking for a bed- but we promise that by the time someone comes to visit we will have one =)