My Expat Life

he one thing that was consistent all the way through school was on almost every report card my teachers indicated that I needed to participate more in class. Other than one instance in high school, I was the quiet one. I did not raise my hand unless I was absolutely, dead sure that I knew the answer.

On Wednesday and Thursday, we had our planning meetings at work. When it was announced there would be a prize for the person that participated the most, I decided the prize would be MINE. Imagine my surprise when I found out that I wasn’t eligible to win the prize. When I asked why I wasn’t eligible, I was told that it was because I had too good a chance of winning, and it wasn’t fair to others. Uh? Say what? I asked if that was a polite way of saying I was a loud mouth, and the very honest reply was “yes”.

Can someone please let all my teachers know, or at least add it to my permanent record?

This week went by in a flash. Until this afternoon, I barely had time to notice that my friends are still out of town and I am facing yet another boring weekend.

Monday, I was sequestered in secret project meetings ALL day. I was supposed to have every other hour off to do my actual work, but somehow I got pulled in to EVERY meeting and had no time for my stuff. By the time Mandarin class was to start I was just wrapping up the last meeting and could barely even remember my own name. So I re-lived a bit of my Uni days and just skipped class (really bad considering I will miss the next class too). Even with skipping class, I wasn’t out the door until just after 7 pm.

Tuesday I spent much of the day just catching up from Monday and preparing for a very big Wednesday. Again I was at work until after 7.

Wednesday, now that was a marathon of a day. The alarm went off at 3:45 am. Yes! 3:45 am. I worked from home until about 10:30 then taxi’d into work. I had hoped to leave work a bit early, and I guess I technically did. I left at 5:00 instead of my official end time of 5:30.

I was invited to a 7:00 dinner at the house of one of the big bosses, so there was no way I was passing that up, sleep or no sleep. I made it home in enough time that I could have napped for an hour. I walked straight to my bedroom, turned on the air-con, closed the drapes and did a face plant on the bed. Ten minutes later I was wide awake. Argh. It must be true that you can get to a point of being too tired to actually sleep. The dinner party was great, but I wasn’t home until sometime well after 11 pm.

Thankfully Thursday was a public holiday; National Day. That meant that after originally waking at 8, taking some nurofen, and going back to bed, I was able to sleep in. It was 3:00 before I was even ready to go outside in search of food more substantial than goldfish crackers.

Today, I was once again sequestered in all day meetings. Boss was nice enough to join me for the Friday afternoon beer.

And now, boring weekend awaits. Next week looks to be just as crazy and just as full on. It starts with a 5 am taxi pick-up, followed by 3 days of working in Kuala Lumpur and a return to Singapore at almost 11 pm Wednesday night.

Yes, I think that light I see isn’t the end of the tunnel, it is the train coming straight for me.

Don’t know why I even bothered taking the test. Of course I’m a book nerd. I already know the best bookstores in Singapore. I knew the best bookstores in Sydney. I know the best bookstores in cities I don’t even live in. I love to be the first person to crack the spine of a new book, what a great sound. I love the smell of new books. I feel honoured when someone wants to share one of their favourite books with me; it’s personal. Yeah, I love books. Another time I’ll explain my love for reading. I know exactly when, how, and why I learned to love to read.