Monday, October 31, 2011
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Sunday Picnic
Some friends of ours were visiting Austin to participate in a half-ironman race. We went to the race to support our friends and enjoyed a picnic and lots of outdoor fun while we waited for our friends to pass by so we could cheer for them!
The picnic area:
Matt and Kara rooting for the runners:
Ainsley looking ahead for our friends:
Jack preoccupied with sticks and trees:
The highlight of the day was this huge open field that the kids ran across hundreds of times. They loved it! (look closely and you see Kara on the left in the pink skirt and Jack is further in the distance near the tree.)
The picnic area:
Ainsley and Jack getting more food out of the cooler:
Matt and Kara rooting for the runners:
Ainsley looking ahead for our friends:
Jack preoccupied with sticks and trees:
The highlight of the day was this huge open field that the kids ran across hundreds of times. They loved it! (look closely and you see Kara on the left in the pink skirt and Jack is further in the distance near the tree.)
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Fun Saturday!
The kids were out of school all week for fall break from school. You would think I would have a million pictures from the week, but strangely I didn't take a single picture! We are having some work done in the house, so we were a bit distracted from trying to avoid the mess!
Saturday we decided to go as a family to the UT game against Oklahoma State. It was an afternoon game and the temps were warm, Jack & Kara had to skip a nap, and sitting still for an entire game is a stretch for them -- so we didn't last past the first half. The kids loved it though, so we will definitely take them again! Below is a pic taken right before we left for the game:
Next up for the day was a project we slated for the weekend: moving the kids into the same bedroom. We ordered a bunk bed and switched them to a bigger bedroom. Now all three are cozy in their new room and very excited to share a bedroom :-)
Because of the construction inside the house we haven't been able to eat inside, so we had a lot of picnics this week. Tonight we had a naked pizza picnic. What could be more fun than eating pizza outside naked? The neighbors probably weren't big fans...
Saturday we decided to go as a family to the UT game against Oklahoma State. It was an afternoon game and the temps were warm, Jack & Kara had to skip a nap, and sitting still for an entire game is a stretch for them -- so we didn't last past the first half. The kids loved it though, so we will definitely take them again! Below is a pic taken right before we left for the game:
Next up for the day was a project we slated for the weekend: moving the kids into the same bedroom. We ordered a bunk bed and switched them to a bigger bedroom. Now all three are cozy in their new room and very excited to share a bedroom :-)
Because of the construction inside the house we haven't been able to eat inside, so we had a lot of picnics this week. Tonight we had a naked pizza picnic. What could be more fun than eating pizza outside naked? The neighbors probably weren't big fans...
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Repatriation
This week marks six months since we moved back to Austin. I promised myself I would not evaluate our repatriation until we had been back for six months because experts say it takes that long to adjust -- both for expatriation and repatriation.
I can easily say that the first two months back were a big adjustment. The first two weeks back we were struggling with jet lag, kids who were confused, both Matt and I took very little time off of work, and there was a ton of things to do. But our furniture arrived (yippeee!), the jet lag dissipated and it started to feel like home. We bought cars, cell phones, and got the kids into a new school. Even though things started to feel normal, culture shock definitely hit us. I felt overwhelmed by all of the new things in my life like a house, a car, and basically just everything felt new. It was all good stuff, just overwhelming all at once and we had gotten used to the Singapore way of life so it was a bit of a shock to go back to our old ways of life. Going to the grocery stores I felt like a kid in a candy store! Grocery stores suddenly had the most amazing and cheap selections on earth. A weeks worth of groceries for only $150? WHAT?!?! A beer or margarita at happy hour for $2???... It also took a while for us to adjust to driving in traffic for our commutes to work and having to wake up at 5:30am.
After three months we felt like residents again but kept finding that we didn't actually know our way around town like we used to ... new restaurants, shops, bars, etc. A lot of deja vu moments where we felt like we had been someplace familiar, yet things had changed a little. Roads were familiar, but felt and looked different.
Language, although the same, was different again. If Matt or I responded to anyone with "Can!" we only received blank expressions in return. Good thing we didn't pull out the "Can can, lah" or the "Off the aircon" phrases. And all of our fluent taxi Singlish was no longer an asset! Our first domestic flights I was in shock that I wasn't asked for a passport, a green card, or visa requirements. It seemed too easy to fly! At work my memorization of country codes, time zones, and currencies were useless. My brain was able to throttle back 15% because the only accents I had to de-code were American versions of English. No more straining my ear to decipher accents and random phrases!
Now, after six months, we feel settled into our life in Austin. The kids are happy and they are in a really great school that we love. Matt and I are into a routine with commuting, working, and getting most of our chores done. We are happy to be near old friends and our families. I asked the kids this week if they miss Singapore and this is how they responded:
Ainsley: "No! Not at all. I like Texas."
Kara: "Yes, I miss my other home. I miss Singapore!" (tears included)
Jack: "Look! Spiderman! ... "
Overall the repatriation experience was good for us. It was a bit harder in the first couple of months than I imagined it would be, but now we are back into the swing of things and feel ... home.
I can easily say that the first two months back were a big adjustment. The first two weeks back we were struggling with jet lag, kids who were confused, both Matt and I took very little time off of work, and there was a ton of things to do. But our furniture arrived (yippeee!), the jet lag dissipated and it started to feel like home. We bought cars, cell phones, and got the kids into a new school. Even though things started to feel normal, culture shock definitely hit us. I felt overwhelmed by all of the new things in my life like a house, a car, and basically just everything felt new. It was all good stuff, just overwhelming all at once and we had gotten used to the Singapore way of life so it was a bit of a shock to go back to our old ways of life. Going to the grocery stores I felt like a kid in a candy store! Grocery stores suddenly had the most amazing and cheap selections on earth. A weeks worth of groceries for only $150? WHAT?!?! A beer or margarita at happy hour for $2???... It also took a while for us to adjust to driving in traffic for our commutes to work and having to wake up at 5:30am.
After three months we felt like residents again but kept finding that we didn't actually know our way around town like we used to ... new restaurants, shops, bars, etc. A lot of deja vu moments where we felt like we had been someplace familiar, yet things had changed a little. Roads were familiar, but felt and looked different.
Language, although the same, was different again. If Matt or I responded to anyone with "Can!" we only received blank expressions in return. Good thing we didn't pull out the "Can can, lah" or the "Off the aircon" phrases. And all of our fluent taxi Singlish was no longer an asset! Our first domestic flights I was in shock that I wasn't asked for a passport, a green card, or visa requirements. It seemed too easy to fly! At work my memorization of country codes, time zones, and currencies were useless. My brain was able to throttle back 15% because the only accents I had to de-code were American versions of English. No more straining my ear to decipher accents and random phrases!
Now, after six months, we feel settled into our life in Austin. The kids are happy and they are in a really great school that we love. Matt and I are into a routine with commuting, working, and getting most of our chores done. We are happy to be near old friends and our families. I asked the kids this week if they miss Singapore and this is how they responded:
Ainsley: "No! Not at all. I like Texas."
Kara: "Yes, I miss my other home. I miss Singapore!" (tears included)
Jack: "Look! Spiderman! ... "
Overall the repatriation experience was good for us. It was a bit harder in the first couple of months than I imagined it would be, but now we are back into the swing of things and feel ... home.
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