Leaping again

We are again on the cusp of a leap into the unknown except this time we will be linked to a different mothership, after 16 years J has decided he would like to try working for a different employer. So you could say we’ve leapt twice. We are about to go from the relative comfort of Singapore to Cambodia comfort levels as yet unknown. This will be our third leap (unless you count the leap into parenthood, the leap into marriage and the leap into home ownership all of which were also giant leaps) so we are feeling a bit more like we know what we are doing. This time around we actually got a ‘look see’ for a couple of days so at least we have a picture of where we will be living, what Js work looks like and M even got to see his new school in action for half an hour or so. We have not had the privilege of a ‘look see’ before and for me the jury’s still out on whether it is a good thing or a bad thing. In this case the biggest benefit was being able to visit both international schools on school days. M is a pretty easy going lad, not afraid of change and able to make friends easily with anyone so he would have probably been happy at either school but the second school we saw was so obviously ‘him’ there was excitement. So he is enrolled at International School Phnom Penh (ISPP).
We also got to see the ‘office’ which looks just like any one of ‘The Company’s’ offices in Australia, New Zealand or Singapore. They are (and there are a few of them) air conditioned, clean and polished, quiet oasis’s off various dirty, hot, noisy and crowded streets in Phnom Penh.
We also got to see where we will be living thanks to a very accommodating colleague and his family. This should make packing easier as we have a mental size of rooms and idea of furniture provided...yay!! It was nice to see that it too is a peaceful oasis away from the bustle of life on the capital’s streets. The plan is (and I say this because in our experience plans don’t always go the way they have been planned even when we do have all the control so when we don’t have any control it is better to not assume or count on certain things like accommodation) to live in one of the houses at the Northbridge estate, a 58 hectare property that includes a pool and the Northbridge school, apartments and houses.
Meanwhile back in Singapore we have had our medicals and most of our shots. Being Singapore this is taken very seriously and performed mechanically in a genial but very business like manner. We were poked and prodded and xrayed, had eyes and ears tested, vials of blood taken and a couple of immunisations. That was a week ago. This week we went back for the results and more shots. Poor M has had to have the most jabs. We are a family of incredibly healthy individuals, very rarely is any one of us sick even with colds or flu. We often eat street food while travelling and we have still to succumb to a dodgy tum. I like to think the boys had such a good start being breastfed for 12 months and 3 years respectively and I suspect genetics also has a lot to do with it as both J and I come from disgustingly healthy stock. M is the only one of us who has had anything during our travels. In Samoa he contracted Dengue, 4 days of a 40 plus temperature and a few days of laying about then he was up again and wanting to go back to school. This does however mean he has a higher chance of catching the rather more serious hemorrhagic dengue...hhhmmm
So now its onto the packing. We’ve been told by the moving company they think it will take 3 days. Three days!!!!?? Then I guess you have to remember this is Singapore and the packers will probably not start work until 10am and will of course break for an hour or so for lunch and then probably want to finish at 4pm.