So there's only 3 weeks until the end of Term 1. Everyone is pretty knackered as it's been a pretty full on term and we're all looking forward to the holidays. As I said in a previous post, the school is still sorting out systems and such. It's kind of frustrating in a way but I think this year was always going to be like this. I don't mind too much because I reckon the positives out-weigh the negatives.
Mel's mum & dad arrived on Wednesday night. Mel is happy to see them. So is Tilda as she has more people to show off to:) She is quite the chatterbox now. I think she is getting frustrated at times because she is trying so hard to communicate but isn't sure about how to get the message across. At the same time it seems that everyday she is learning new words. I suspect in a year or so that we won't be able to get a word in edgeways! She's been really chirpy over the last 3 or 4 days which is great as she had new teeth arriving which was very painful for her.
Mel's sister and family are coming to visit as well. They arrive in a couple of weeks. They're staying at hotels mostly, including the Marina Bay Sands which is very flash! Mel is looking forward to that as it'll will cool for Zoe & Emma to see Tilda. She loves them so much and gets so excited when she sees them. The girls have seen pictures of the pool at our condo and are looking forward to swimming in it:)
Mel is starting work at school in couple of weeks. She is picking up a 0.5 load of Business Studies classes. She's quite excited to be earning some money and using her brain again:) School is happy because it releases some of the senior management team from part of their teaching load and that will give them time to work on systems etc..
The process has been a bit stressful in some ways as we have had to hire a maid, or 'helper' as they're called in Singapore. We looked at childcare but it was very expensive, which is a pain. The Singaporean government are telling people they need to have more babies, but it costs too much. I spoke to a couple of the women at school and they said it's far cheaper to hire a full-time, live-in helper. We weren't that keen to have someone live in. Pretty much all apartments in condos have maid quarters - a small toilet/shower room & a very small sleeping area. We use ours as storage space so it's pretty full. Having someone live in also means that I can't get about without a shirt:)
We interviewed a few people. The first 3 came together and although they seemed nice, didn't really convince us. The following weekend we interviewed 3 more. The first was really nice and Mel & I felt comfortable with her. The second had been advertised as a "simple girl" and simple she was. I felt really bad for her because she didn't understand the directions that Mel gave her and I had to walk down the road to find her. We were just about to give up when came across her in a 7-11. We weren't confident that we could trust her to look after Matilda properly and counted her out. The third woman was nice and seemed competent but not quite as good as Lorie (the first one.
So we called Lorie and told her we were keen to hire her. And this is when the stress arose. Her previous employer wouldn't sign a form we needed. The agency wanted us to pay $600 or they'd send Lorie back to the Philippines. Lorie was very keen to work for us and would look for work elsewhere (mainly because she'd have basically 2 days a week off as opposed to usual 1 most employers allow. In the end it all worked out and Lorie is starting tomorrow.
The process was very instructive in a way. A lot of employers and all the agencies treat the domestic workers very poorly. They are treated like a commodity. In fact, one agency that Mel spoke to actually used the analogy of "buying goods". The conditions that some employer impose on their helpers are almost draconian. One day off a month, no cell phone, no contact with people outside the family. The list goes on.
I'm looking forward to the holidays. We don't have any huge plans as Blair & Rose will be here and I'm off the Malaysia for a few days over the middle weekend. There are a group of us from school going to visit our sister school in Putrajaya just outside Kuala Lumpur. They opened a few years ago and are doing quite well. They set up a 1:1 MacBook programme which has been successful. Our school is planning the same thing so we're going to see how it works. Then we have a 3 day IB training course in KL. I'm really looking forward to the course because I think it will answer some questions I have about the IB Geography course. I'm au fait with the content because geography is geography but there is lots I don't know about the nuts & bolts of teaching an IB course. After that it's a week chilling at home:)
Today I'm meeting the some of the lads from work at bar in town. Time for a few quiets and some sport without our good ladies and kids. There's some rugby on (NZ vSA) and more importantly, Collingwood are playing the Eagles in the 2nd semi-final. I think this will be a pretty tight game. Looking forward to it:) Go Pies!!
Later
TONE
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