Rain

You know what they say: "when it rains it pours". Living over seas has been a bit difficult for us at times, not having our family and friends right at our finger tips can make for some boredom and loneliness.

Culture shock can play a huge role in how these things are handled and how they come about. There tends to be many different layers of issues to your emotions.

  Frustration from trying to find something in a market, even the grocery stores are not consistent in what they carry, we are learning that if we see something we have been looking for we should get several because we do not know when or if we will find it again.

There also is a sense of Independence loss as we are dependant on taxi cabs and buses to get us where we are going. We have learned that when it is raining the taxis do not come by as frequent as they pull off the roads to avoid accidents, this can leave you without a ride to your appointment. The phone system is overwhelmed so one can not even book a taxi when it is raining.

Communication is difficult, most people speak English in Singapore which is great and it makes our communication easier but speaking English and understanding the meaning of the context is a different thing and can be frustrating.

"Save face" is a big deal in this Asian culture therefor if you ask for directions and they do not know where your requested location is, they will just simply tell you something so that they don't disappoint you to your face. As you can imagine it is extremely frustrating to try and reach your destination when you are being given the wrong directions. We have learned to confirm directions with at least 3-4 different people before following them.

Parking is a huge deal in a city as densely populated as Singapore, the spaces are so small you have to back into them and the ramps in the car parks are so narrow that you seriously have inches on either side of your car. As you drive up and down the ramps you see major scrapes of paint on the walls where drivers have misjudged the amount of clearance the car has.

As I was sitting down to write this blog I got a call stating that our car has for the second time been smashed by the car park walls, it is just simply part of living here.

The thing we focus on is that when it rains the sun follows and if you look close you can see a beautiful rainbow.

Living in Singapore can be frustrating and those frustrations can add up but it is also a very cool adventure. Our family is experiencing things that we never dreamed we would experience in life. We can see how this is affecting our boys in a positive way as they prepare for manhood.

The Miles Family is grateful for this opportunity to learn to live in and love a culture so very different than our own and as we get bumps and scrapes along the way, it is making for a stronger family with many different rainbow colors forming who we are as people.

May you be able to see the rainbow at the end of your rain storm.