Two months today!

It is exactly two months today until I arrive in Singapore, dragging two bags and probably a lot of teary snotty rags behind me from the plane out into the stunning sunshine and heat.

            Having spoken to Nick this afternoon, it’s all starting to feel a whole lot more real. The flat is now being lived in, the cupboards are full of glasses and plates (our glasses and plates) , the balcony is equipped with furniture and night lanterns (our furniture and lanterns) and the bar in the corner (our bar) is starting to take shape!

           Eeeek!

Waiting for my window to open...

It’s been another full week since spoke to the Executive team during the application process for the job that I am really hoping to get in Singapore, and I still hadn’t heard back from the HR department. There was only one thing for it – on Thursday evening I sent them a note to let them know that I would be calling for an update on Friday at 6pm (their 10am), so hopefully they would be ready for me.

            Having stayed at work late I gave them a call and set about trying to get a clearer idea of what’s going on. In essence, it sounds like they want me to come and work for them, and they are keen to get something signed off. However, apparently they were supposed to have recruited a number of new members to the sales team before they found someone to do the role I would be working through, so the CSO now has to meet with the CEO to work out whether or not it would fit with their company strategy. It sounds like the CSO likes me, but now he has to try and persuade the boss man that it’s worth a change in company plans. Hmm, I probably won’t hold my breath there.

            Worse, it turns out that each company are only able to have a certain number of team members working in Singapore on the International Work Visa, so once the CEO has been persuaded that they need me, the application then gets handed over to the Singapore legal world to debate. Hmm, I suppose it might be tine to head back to the drawing board and make a new plan of attack. Sad, sad times.

The life box-up continues

Whilst I don’t have a lot of free time between now and the 23^rd January when I’m due to be flying off to Singapore, I’ve been using the occasional free evening or early weekend morning to get my life packed away and either into storage or ready for shipping.

            It’s been slow and steady progress, but now the dry vault has been emptied and swept ready for use, most of my books have been boxed up and transported down for storage, and a couple of other bits and pieces have been gathered up from around the house and bundled into the vault. Three and a half boxes have been sealed up ready for shipping, and the majority of my wardrobes have been striped of any clothing, shoes or bags that can be either binned or taken to the charity shop.

            I’m working to get myself down to the bear essentials before Christmas so that I can make sure everything is in it’s place by the time I will be teary and confused about life when it gets closer to my time to fly. Not long now! 

Everything crossed

And I mean everything!

            It’s done – the fourth and final (I very much hope) round of interviewing for a job that it turns out I am grossly under qualified for. So now it’s just a case of cross everything and hope for the best.

            The call went really well – everyone who I have met from this company has been enthusiastic, passionate, interesting and keen to discuss all my ridiculous questions and interests in detail. I’ve left (or hung up on) every interview with a positive feeling, and even yesterday when it was confirmed that they were considering me for a Director role, which is something that I thought I was a good few years away from being ready for, they sounded like they wanted to carry on our conversation further, and to discuss their tech and data solutions (which I had way too many questions about) in more detail.

            They do say that men are more likely to apply for jobs above their experience whilst woman hang back and wait until they feel that they would be suitable for the role, so I suppose I’ve accidentally pushed myself in the man remit with this application. I know that I can do it. I just hope that the executives who I chatted with yesterday can see that too.

            I said that a move to Singapore would be a career grower, and that it was a decision fuelled by emotion but hopefully supported and justified by industry demand and the potential to step up. I just really hope that this job comes through for me, and that I get to both have my cake, and eat it too. Please keep everything crossed for me while I wait…again! 

Got the keys!

We’ve been talking about it for a while, and in fact the paper work has been signed since before Nick came back to stay for a few weeks in October, but it’s all suddenly a lot more real.

            Nick now has the keys to our little Singapore flat. The old occupants have cleared out, leaving a sofa, a table, a bed and a table with chairs on the balcony – everything else we’re going to have to source from scratch, although Nick has already made a pretty good dent in the list (mostly thanks to his uncontrollable love of Ikea!).

            Last night, the first night that he had the keys, he spent his evening picking up a few extra house bits and pieces before heading to the flat to open a beer and mark the occasion by having a quiet evening drink on the balcony.

            In ten weeks I’ll be there too! I will obviously have insisted on drinks being consumed out of nice glasses, and there will probably be a tablecloth and cushions on the furniture, but seeing past that, it’s a very exciting start, and it’s making everything feel a whole lot more real! Only ten weeks to go. Gulp! 

One line for every big (and small) adventure!

Yesterday Debbie gave me the sweetest little present to help me mentally prepare for my adventures abroad.

            It’s a little book, designed to last for five full years, with space for one line to be written against each and every day. It’s grouped with a date “January 1^st” for each page, with five slots on each page to enter the line of the day.

            My plan is going to be to move out to Singapore and back before the book has been completed, so hopefully it’s going to see me through great times, adventures, a couple of down times, and a lot of fun!

            Now I just need it to be the start of the new year so so that I can get started on the first entry of the book, and the first entry in my next big adventure!