Another Chapter Closes

My 19 year old, male cousin laughed at me on Thanksgiving because I was saying something about friends from each chapter in my life.  He asked if I thought of my life in chapters, and I totally do. :)  Originally this blog was about my adventures in Singapore.  Since I've been home from Singapore, the blogs entries have been irregular and inconsistent.  To stay true to the theme of the original intention, I am going to leave Chiro Chick officially in the "Singapore" chapter.  I want to thank everyone who followed me on my journey to Singapore and back.  I'm really grateful that I got to share my experiences with you.  I hope you enjoyed reading and maybe learned a thing or two about life, love and the pursuit of happiness (or just about SE Asia :-P).  I know I did!  It was truly the most amazing experience and gave me a new perspective on life.  Here's to the next chapter I'm about to embark on!  Cheers!
Signing off,
Chiro Chick 

What's next?

I have some ideas what might be next, but we'll save that for later. :)  For now, we will start with the journey that began back in the US (career-wise).

Life

"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."  I'm not going to lie.  This is not how I pictured myself 2.75 years later.  And I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little disappointed.  I've had quite the adventure the last 2.75 years.  I've learned a lot career-wise, lived in different places, and met many awesome people along the way.  I wouldn't change any of that for the world, especially the living in different places part (and of course meeting the awesome people!)  I wouldn't be happy today if I hadn't done all that.  But as I sit here, that small part of me is thinking of the "shoulda, coulda, woulda".  But since we can't change the past, all we can do is live for today, and hope for the best for the future!  I made another rage comic poking fun at what has been my adventure the last 2.75 years. Enjoy :)

      

The Game

My good friend introduced me to making rage comics which has become a fun, creative outlet for me.  Here is one on playing "The Game".

Updates

I've officially been back for over a month.  It has been a hectic month traveling and checking out practices, visiting with everyone, and taking care of my cat the last two weeks.  I think the craziness that has been my life for the last 5 weeks is now calming down.  I now understand why I must have been so calm the last day of Singapore.  It really was the calm before the storm!!  I'm grateful the storm is over.  I feel like it's the end of an era.  A brand new chapter of my life is about to open up now that I took care of all the business the universe had me take care of.

I'm working on something now that I'll keep under wraps for now. :-P I ask that you all send your positive energy my way as I work on this "project".  I'm ready for some infinite possibilities! Weip?

Do you think life is always crazy or do you think it comes in waves like I do?     

Tribute to Gremlin

Yesterday I had to put my cat Gremlin down. :(  I got Gremlin 2 years ago after I moved into my own apartment after graduation.  He has been on quite the adventure with me over the last two years, living in four different places with me.  It was very sad because he was about middle-aged for a cat; not too old yet.  Something with his brain was causing him paralysis and he had no quality of life anymore.  He was a great companion for me and I will miss having him around!

Have you ever lost a pet you loved?  

Transition Time

Apologies for the lag in blog entries.  I don't intend to stop blogging just because I'm back in the US.  While the entries may be further apart, I plan to continue to write about the transition and life in the US.  Hopefully you don't find my life in the US too dull to continue reading. ;-)

The transition to the US has been the most unexpected and pleasant surprise of my life.  I would say the first 3-4 months in Singapore were the happiest of my career and adult life after school.  I thought the transition back to the US was going to be hard, awkward, uncomfortable, etc.  It has been the most wonderful feeling to be back and spend time with family and friends, and to just be here.  I thought I would feel out of place and not be able to connect to anyone.  I thought I was going to feel so different.  It has been the exact opposite--I feel like I'm right where I belong at this point in my life and feel like I have not been gone for 6 months.  Singapore feels like a dream.  I really can't believe that I just lived in another country for 6 months.  That above all is the weirdest thing to me right now.  I really don't understand it. 

I do understand that Singapore is exactly what I needed.  I needed to get away.  I don't even know why anymore, but the travel and adventure is what I needed  before I settle somewhere long term.  It's so hard to describe how contented (correct grammar?) I feel.  The experience abroad has fulfilled whatever it was that was lacking in my life that needed to happen.

The happiness I feel being back in the US is most unexpected.  While the US sucks on many levels right now (sorry USA....), it is still a wonderful country.  I love everything and everyone right now.  I teared up about three times during the Browns game today (first Browns game in my life!)  And no the tailgating festivities that took place before the game had absolutely nothing to do with the increase in emotions. ;-) Hahaha.
I lost it during the national anthem.  Thank goodness for sunglasses!      

I am extremely happy right now and have no idea what the rest of this year holds....Except lots of fun times with all the people that I love so much in my life!  Hdigabtt? :) 

Steve Jobs' Commencement Address

My uncle sent an email forward of Steve Jobs' commencement address to the Stanford graduating class of 2005.  It was perfect timing for me to receive this video.  I am at a crossroads in my life and I'm not sure which way to go.  The video hasn't necessarily helped me to make a choice yet but it has given me new perspectives as I contemplate the two roads.  Hdigabtt?

Adapting to the US

Now that I'm back, it feels like I was never gone.  Singapore feels like a dream to me.  Part of it is that I've been running around the eastern half of the US doing interviews and second interviews and visiting friends and family.  I haven't stopped since I've been back and I know it will be this way for at least the next two weeks.  There's a lot I have to focus on for the next month. 

Adapting to the US again was no problem at all.  I thought it would be weird for awhile but it's been quite normal.  Driving a car again was only shaky for about ten minutes.  It was fun taking a drive to VA with my fave Glee tunes blasting in the car.  Until I had a car again, I didn't realize that I actually miss it.  It can be time consuming and exhausting taking public transportation all the time.  Places that take ten minutes to drive to might take 30 minutes via public transport by the time you walk/bus to the train, wait for train, and so on. 

I thought I would be freezing after being in constant heat and humidity.  Luckily I arrived to beautiful fall weather.  Now that it's getting colder---yeah I'm cold and shivering but not any less than last fall.  It's just normal midwest fall weather to me.     

My favorite part of being back is eating American food again.  I've been eating all the different things that I missed while in Singapore. 

I am not sure where I am moving yet but I've been blessed with a couple wonderful possibilities.  I will make a choice sometime this week and let y'all know! :)



 

I'm baaack

I am back on US soil and in my favorite city in the world. :)  NYC was probably a good first stop on the way back from Singapore.  The two cities are very comparable.  Walking in midtown Manhattan reminded me of being in Singapore with it's diversity, the tourists, and the tall buildings.  NY has at least triple what Singapore has but it wasn't as drastic of a change as going right to suburbia America.  Everytime I'm here it puts a big smile on my face.  I was riding the subway yesterday and had to hold back grinning like an idiot while I was sitting there.  People always say it's the little things---this is so true.  The bud light ad for NFL.  Hearing the English conversations on the train.  The beautiful fall weather.  :-D  <---Me

Last Day

I am very calm.  I'm leaving tonight and I'm calm, neutral, indifferent, not really having any feelings.  I was really excited last week and now I'm very cool and composed.  Not sure if I already experienced all the up and down emotions that I got those out of the way?  Maybe I am just focused on the tasks at hand today preparing to leave?  Or maybe it's the Wayne Dyer book I started reading yesterday that has created this attitude?  Whatever the reason, this is unexpected.    

~14 more hours in Singapore...

The Countdown and Reflection Continues

Friday was my last day of work.  I was super high strung all day and felt out of touch with reality.  The day flew by and felt like a dream.  It feels unreal that I'm leaving here and it's really hard to imagine what it's going feel like to be in the US again.  I think this experience has changed me in ways that I don't even realize.  It's hard to describe in words what it's truly like to live in another country.  Sure I can describe the food and the culture, but to actually give someone an idea of how it feels to live in Asia is very difficult.  For starters, it's the most amazing experience I've been through in my life.  It has put me above and beyond my comfort zone.  I feel like if I can move to another country and make it, then I can do just about anything.  I feel like I'm a stronger and more independent person.  Sometimes life abroad is frustrating.  You don't always understand cultural habits and anything that is different is uncomfortable at first.  But nowadays, it's merely amusing.  It's common for me and my friends to say, "Oh Asia...." or "Oh Singapore...." with a sentiment that only expats in Singapore understand.  Living abroad was a time of deep reflection for me.  I've been through quite a journey the last couple of years and I just wanted to get away from everything and have this kind of experience to reflect on everything that's happened the last couple of years.  I'm so grateful that I was able to do that. 

I know with all my heart that it's time to come back to the US for awhile.  I'm not sure why but the universe has really pushed me to go back for some reason.  Deep down inside this whole time, I just had this feeling that I wasn't going to be here for as long as I said that I was.  It also seems since I've been here, my intuition and gut have been the strongest as ever in my life.  I'm not sure what to attribute this heightened sensitivity to.  I hope to use this as I continue on and figure out where i'm suppose to be next. :)

So let the countdown continue:
2 more days left in Singapore
3 more days until US (NY)
7 more days until Cle

See some of you soon! :)    

POA

The next few weeks are going to be crazy with lots of traveling! :)  I had to change my flight due to an overnight layover which would have forced me to get a transit visa.  It was all more trouble than it was worth for a 14 hour layover.  So I called the wonderful customer service at Orbitz.  Kudos to Orbitz for changing my flight with minimal charges!  (I think I'm suppose to say something like---this is merely the opinion of the blogger and I'm not endorsed by Orbitz in anyway, blah, blah, ha).  Seriously though they were awesome.  They got the airline to wave the $150 change fee and found me a flight that was within of a day of my old flight and only a tiny bit more.  My flight is day later now which means I had to push back all of my original plans.  The key in life is flexibility!  So my new POA (plan of action):

Weds 5th Oct-Arrive in New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of! ("Empire State of Mind" plays in the background) Let the interviews, reunions, and fun begin! :)
Saturday 9th Oct-Bus from NYC to Cle!  It's an overnight bus ride that will arrive early Sunday morning in Cle...More reunions!
Monday 11th Oct-Drive to Va....Even more interviews and reunions!

That's as far as I can go.  The rest is "go with the flow", "one day at a time", and any other cliche phrase you can dream up! :-P

Going through a myriad of emotions this week with it being my last week!  3 more days of work, 7 more days with my Singapore besties and wonderful Asia, 8 more days until I hit US soil and see the first bff, 12 more days until I see my family (including my baby Grem!)  Let the very short countdown begin! 

F1

This weekend was the biggest event of the year for Singapore.  The Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix.  I had never heard of F1 because we don't have it in the US.  Formula 1 is the big car racing event everywhere in the world but the US.  We have Nascar instead. 

I had the pleasure of watching them set-up for the race all week from the view of my office window.  Pretty cool actually.  Singapore and Monaco are the only two F1 events that hold their race on the actual streets.  They block off part of the actual roads in Singapore and set up a race course.  I went to the Sky Bar on Wednesday and could see the whole track lit up from the top of the building. 

My boss ended up with two free tickets for Saturday's event and offered me one. :)  Car racing doesn't excite me too much (at least on tv) but I wasn't going to pass up the chance to attend the biggest event of the year in Singapore.  I was most excited about the concerts on Saturday---Shakira and Shaggy!  I have to admit car racing live is a million times more exciting than on tv.  I still got bored after about 5 laps (out of 61).  The first few laps were most exciting and then the last few laps at the end were also the most exciting part for me.  Shakira was great in concert---she is an awesome dancer.  Shaggy was a ton of fun in concert and brought me back to my childhood with songs like, "Mr Boombastic", "It wasn't me", and one I had forgotten about---"Girl you're my angel" (not sure if that's the name).  I also was able to get in the VIP section in the front so I was one row of people right behind the stage.  During the Shakira concert, two girls standing by us couldn't use their Sunday tickets, so they sold theirs to us at a discounted price. 

So I ended up at the race all afternoon/evening on Sunday too. :)  My friend bought my boss' ticket and we had a fun afternoon checking out the race, eating mexican, drinking corona, cotton candy for dessert, and of course my favorite part---the music.  Earlier on, there was a nice mellow band playing soft rock cover songs.  Then there was a show called "Forbidden Broadway", which makes fun of popular broadway shows by using the music to the show's songs and changing the lyrics.  I LOVE broadway musicals so this was very entertaining for me.  After the final race was over, Linkin Park put on a show.  They are also fantastic in concert. 

What a great way to spend my second to last weekend in Singapore! :)

Have you ever been to Nascar or F1 races?  What's your favorite concert you've been to? 

Let the Good Times Roll

I want to make the most of my last few weekends here in Singapore by spending time with friends and doing some last things that I haven't done here.  This weekend was a great start.  Friday, four of us girls went out for chinese dumplings.  Our eyes were bigger than our stomachs and we over-ordered but it was so delicious. :)  Then we headed to THE bridge.  In Singapore, there are no open container laws.  So on Friday and Saturday nights, the hot spot to hang out is this bridge in the middle of Clarke Quay area (the hot nightclub and restaurant area).  The walls of the bridge are very wide and perfect for lounging on with a beer or spiked 7-up.  It's an awesome place for people watching, bullshittin' with you friends, and making new friends which is also exactly what we did.

The people watching--fascinating!  Because central Singapore is filled with the most diverse mix of cultures, the couples you come across are interesting.  This was our favorite---watching the couples walk by and making up theories about them.  Some of them....well let's just say our theory included an attraction to the passport, if you know what I mean.  No judgements, just theories. :)  We made friends with the group of Germans next to us.  They were finishing up their internship and celebrating their last weekend in Singapore before traveling some of SE Asia and going back home.  They were a blast to hang out with.

Sunday my friend and I ventured out to do the tree top walk at a place called MacRitchie Reservoir.  It's a 7 kilometer hike total to and from the treetop walk.  The treetop walk itself was very short but nonetheless pretty awesome.  The 7K hike was a great workout on some rough trails through the reservoir.  We saw many monkeys including moms with their baby monkeys.  (I have a picture of me standing next to a monkey but it wouldn't upload..sorry!)  We wanted to take one home. :)  It was very peaceful and calming walking through the reservoir, being inside nature listening to the sounds of the small jungle.  The smell of the tropics and then of the fresh rain that showered us halfway though our trek.  As much the city girl that I am, I love being in nature as well.  Got to have that balance!


Do you prefer the city or nature, or do you also like balance? :) 

   

Books

I love to read.  I always have.  When I was 9 years old, I would check out at least five or six books at a time.  I remember the librarian making a comment to me once, impressed with how much I read.  Oh those were the days of The Babysitters Club and Sweet Valley High series.  My love for reading has only continued to grow as I've gotten older.  Nowadays my favorites are chick lit and self-growth & inspirational types.  I've even ventured into the occasional biography and historical fiction book which was surprisingly fascinating.  Recent reads:

-Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert: She is the author of Eat, Pray, Love, which I absolutely LOVED.  Her writing style really appeals to me.  Her story in Eat, Pray, Love was relateable for me on so many different levels.  I was excited for her book following Eat, Pray, Love---Committed.  I never got around to purchasing it and eventually I heard people say it wasn't as good as Eat, Pray, Love.  Since I loved that one so much, I was hesitant on reading Committed at all, for fear of being disappointed.  A few weeks ago after browsing the bookstore forever and not finding anything that looked interesting enough (and not finding an Audrey bio :( hint to mom for xmas ;-) ), I decided to just cave in and buy it.  I was captivated from page 1 and on, finishing it in less than a week.  I completely understand why people didn't like it as much as E,P,L.  E,P,L is more of a story and Committed is more informational. 

Committed is about marriage.  Elizabeth has to marry her Brazilian bf for him to be able to stay in the US with her.  They originally had taken vows to never get married, as they had both gone through horrible divorces.  To find peace with marriage, Elizabeth takes a journey learning about the history of marriage, marriage across different cultures, and present day marriage.  Being a 28 year old single gal, you could imagine I may or may not have thought about the topic once or twice at this point in my life. :-P  Needless to say, I was engrossed. 

-Think Big and Kick Ass by Donald Trump and Bill Zanker:  Two chapters in and I'm inspired and motivated to kick some ass on my next venture! :)  Some great lessons from the first couple chapters:

• Dream Big.
• One very important quality common among the hundreds of super successful people that Bill Zanker has observed--persistance.  Never quitting and never taking no for an answer.
• Learn to trust your gut (Woohoo, I do this often! :-P)
• You have to love what you do or you are never going to be successful.  Passion is more important than brains or talent.  Some of the smartest people fail because lack of passion.
• Another key to success is how well you deal with pressure.
• If you want to be successful, you can never, ever give up.
• You have to get out of your comfort zone to achieve greater and greater accomplishments.
• After you discover what you love doing, you have to take action.  Get involved with what you love doing at whatever level you can.

What good book have you read lately?

 

Slightly AWOL

I've been kind of AWOL since I booked my flight.  There's so much swirling around in my head, along with preparations for leaving, and exploring possible career possibilities.  I don't want to say where or with whom the possibilities are (I'm superstitious), but I will say there are 2-3 shoo-ins...How did I get this lucky?  The two skype interviews I was least vested in and which I didn't really think would be a good fit for me before the fact ended up being the shoo-ins, and the ones that after the interview I found the most intriguing.  The two I was most vested in and thought I wanted, are just so-so.  Funny how that happens.  It seems when you have the least expectations is when you gain the most.  If one of them works out, they want me to start Oct 15th!  This means I am going to have a week to visit with people and then I'm gone again.  The first few weeks of October are going to be a whirlwind.  

 

But I have to say it's amazing how beautifully everything is working out as I finish up here in Singapore.  My boss offered me to leave earlier so I could get back, found a great deal on a flight to NYC so I can visit a friend, we have filed what we need to so I can leave the country---I actually thought I could just hop on a plane and go. :-P  I had a freak out moment yesterday when I heard we had to do this and this.  But everything should be done within 7 days.  My one suitcase is broken so I bought a new one today for 49 SGD!  Score. :) You can get amazing deals on luggage in Singapore.  I've already cleaned out my closet and gotten rid of a lot of clothes and some shoes, which will leave room for the clothes/shoes I've gained here.  Also cleaned out my drawers and thrown away stuff.  I want to make everything as easy as possible so that the last weekend I can have fun, pack up and go!  My goal is to fit everything in one suitcase....Any bets if I can do it?? :-P     

Flight is Booked

Holy sh*t, I booked my flight...Is this all really happening?  A little bit of buyer's remorse kicks in right after I buy my plane ticket.  Am I making the right choice???  But there really is no right or wrong choice.  It is what it is and it is what you make it.  :)  Life is one grand adventure.  I will be ready for whatever comes next when this initial state of shock is over.  

I will arrive in NYC Tuesday Oct 4th to visit a friend and hopefully check out a job prospect or two!  Then it will be easy and cheap to take a bus down to DC area for the next job prospect (or two; weip?).  Then back to O-H-I-O for some reunions and more job prospects.  How does it get even better? :)  

Countdown Time

I knew that once I made a decision on the date that everything would start to happen really fast.  It all started this weekend.  I had a couple skype interviews at the end of the week and they both would like to proceed with an in person interview.  I'm also in contact with two other doctors who I've been in contact with in the past about potential opportunities.  Once I had those two skype sessions, I knew that it was time to get a plan into action for heading back.  Unfortunately, I don't think any of those docs will hire me right off of skype like the doc did here.  After some discussion with my boss, it has been decided that I'm done at the end of September.  Eighteen days away.... I'll book a flight in the next few days, and then most likely be taking two road trips the first week I'm back for in person interviews.  It's all going to be quite hectic I imagine.

Right now I'm sort of having that out of body type experience.  Like this crazy whirlwind of changes is going on and it's happening so fast and I have no idea what's going on, and I'm just kind of watching it from the outside.  I am in a state of disbelief, utter excitement, sadness, happiness, anxiousness all at the same time. :-P

Have you ever had an out of body type experience before?  Tell me about it. :)     

     

Time is Relative

Now that I'm going home, it doesn't feel like I'm going home.  By the time I go home, I will have been here half a year and it feels like I've barely been here at all.  I find myself saying 'see you in 30-60 days!' at the end of emails not really believing that's true.  My friend told me the new season of Glee starts in 2 weeks---I was wondering why the season was starting so early??  But wait...it's almost mid-September.  Because the weather never changes here, in my head it's still the middle of August (and forever it will stay).  Since the weather won't be getting cooler, college football won't be playing on tv, and the trees outside won't be changing colors, it will forever be summer to me.  The hot and humid part of the year where I come from.  It really goes to show that time really is relative. 

I suppose this is because I have no idea what date I'm coming home and where my next career move is going to be.  There are three potential prospects in three different places.  This shouldn't be a surprise coming from me :-P  I won't talk about where they are or with who because I don't want to jinx anything.  All I ask is that you think many positive thoughts for me this weekend as I go through some Skype interviews.  Everlasting gratitude to you!

  

The Race

This half marathon was by far the easiest half marathon I have ever done.  By easy, I mean it was easy on my body and I barely hurt or struggled throughout the whole race.  How does this happen when one trains so little and when running in Singapore humidity??  Well I will say this---when the day of a race comes, you never can predict how it's going to go.  You don't know how your legs are going to behave, if your digestive system is going to cooperate, or if your mental attitude will carry you throughout the 21 Kilometers.  There are several factors that may or may not have contributed to this:

-It started at 5:15am in the morning, so I got up at 3:30am so that I could get a cab at 4:25, pick up my friend and get there by 4:45am.  Since it was so early, I was half asleep and had no time to think or freak out.  It was dark for the first hour and a half (at least) of the race, with very little lighting, so it was almost like you were running in a dream. (kind of)  Many of the trails were not lit very well.  But I rather liked running in the dark with tons of people around me.  It's like no one was watching you, yet everyone is running alongside providing a kind of silent support to help carry you through.

-I took advantage of every water/100 Plus (the Singapore gatorade equivalent) station along the route because I did not want Singapore humidity to kick my butt!  I also used those 10-20 second water breaks to walk as I drank the water, whereas in the past I've always tried to drink it while still running.

-The course was in kilometers instead of miles.  Kilometers are much shorter than miles.  So even though there were more of them, they came much faster than each everlasting mile during the previous half marathons.  Running is more mental than anything in the first place, this only added to it in a positive way.

-I saw the Glee concert movie the night before.  It made me exceedingly happy to watch my favorite characters singing to me in 3D.  I was smiling from ear to ear the whole movie. :-D  It put me in an amazingly positive mood before the big race.  I mean how could you not do anything but smile at this kid who was in the movie.  This little kid performs the songs that the Warblers do on the show and does the exact same dance moves---it is beyond adorable.  For those who are not fellow Gleeks, I apologize for this little stint.  Moving on...

-During the times that I felt I needed to go a little slower to reserve my energy, I picked someone who was running at a slow, steady pace and followed them for awhile.  Thank you to my pacers who have no idea of the huge weight they carried on their shoulders for that 1 kilometer. :)

-Support always helps.  Two of my very dear friends dragged themselves out of bed, one to go to the race at 4:30am to hold my bag and see my off, and the other at 7:30 to see me cross the finish line.  Now that's a true friend.


My wonderful support group!

Overall it was a very calm race and quiet race with small groups playing music every few kilometers.  The 70,000 participants consisted of all the army members (Singapore males are required to serve two years in the service), tens of thousands of the fittest Asians, and a few random fit expats scattered throughout the crowd.  In the previous 3 big races I've done, there have been every age, shape, and size running the half or full marathon.  This crowd was pretty uniform which was interesting to me as an American.

Sweat soaked but happy that I'm not hurting this time!

Results:
Time: 2:37:38
6145th place out of 13221, 46% of runners finished ahead of me
828th place out of 1708 women, 48% of women finished ahead of me
I was ahead of 54% of male runners (that's right fellas, watch out!)
In the final 3K, I passed 133 runners and 53 passed me  
It was the slowest race but I felt the best.  I'll take it! :)
       

Half Marathon

My half marathon is on Sunday!  I've trained the least I've ever trained for a half but I'm still excited :)  The race goes through the downtown Marina area so it will be a very scenic route.  It starts very early at 5:15am because if it starts any later, it would be too humid to run for that long.  On the plus side, that means I will finish earlier too. :)  This race draws about 70,000 people so the atmosphere should be very motivating and awe-inspiring!  I'll let you know how it goes. :)   

End of an Era

It's the end of an era.  The Singapore era.  It is time for me to move on to my next venture.  I have no idea where that is right now but it will all work itself out in the next couple months. :)  I will be home sometime within 2 months-ish. 

Due to some changes a couple weeks ago, I had a very tough choice to make between staying here in Singapore or moving on to whatever comes next.  It was the easiest decision of my life to come to Singapore.  I got offered the job on a Friday night and by Saturday morning I knew without a doubt in my mind that I was coming here.  This time around, it was one of the hardest decisions to choose to leave Singapore.  The experience has been above and beyond anything I could have ever imagined.  I am grateful for the time I have had here and every moment that I have left here.  In the end though, I had to go with my gut.  I knew my time here was coming to an end.

It's time to make that "must see/do" list of things I haven't seen/done yet in Sing.  Coming soon to a blog near you....:)

When you have a tough choice to make, do you go with your gut or logic?         

Breaking up with Facebook

Dear Facebook,

     It's been a long journey....a very long journey...It all started when we met senior year of college at THE Ohio State University.  You let go of your pretentiousness for only those that attended Harvard or Yale.  Oh how fun it was in the beginning, setting up our profile, putting our relationship status, checking out everyone else's relationship status, adding our friends who went away to different colleges, 'friend-ing' each new sorority sister, and then we decided it was perfectly okay to 'friend' every random dude that we met at frat parties who we may or may not ever run into again (it was senior year after all).  We proceeded to post every drunken picture from tailgates, house parties, and sorority functions.  No worries about privacy in the early days.  Then we celebrated our first milestone together....graduating from college, along with all of our other friends, sorority sisters, and 'friends'.  Then we packed up and moved to Iowa for chiro school....This is when the real fun began...
    Grad school was the start of our long emotional journey together.  We met so many new people during the first trimester alone.  'Accept', 'accept', 'accept' with each new friend request.  Every new class member we met, every person we met at the bars downtown on the weekends, every single person we had a conversation with.  "Are you on facebook?" became the standard question after every new association made.  We posted silly quotes and more drunken pictures from our crazy weekends after studying so hard all week.  We kept in contact with our friends from other chapters in our life who moved all over the US.  At some point during those glorious 3.33 years of grad school, we received a friend request from John Smith and Jane Doe from high school.  Did we ever talk to John and Jane in high school.  Pretty sure that's a no.  John however did manage to spray paint on my basement walls when him and his 'gang' crashed my party in high school.  Yes John, let's become friends 5 years later on the computer.  Makes perfect sense.  Sometimes he even 'likes' my status.  My how we've become close.  The high school friend requests doubles over time.  Tell me again, why do we want to go back to high school?  Oh the dilemma of whether to 'accept' or 'decline' those friend requests.  As we got sucked in deeper and deeper, we hit 'accept' repeatedly. 
    We had lots of fun dating in grad school.  With each new beau, each boy we dated, and "dated", we added as a friend, failing to de-friend when we were done dating.  Oh no of course not.  We are absolutely okay with being friends with our exes on facebook.  No problem, really.  It's perfectly okay when we come home drunk at 2am to go on the computer and proceed to stalk---seeing who the ex's new "person" is, looking at pictures, checking out their wall.  This never bothered anyone.  Let's just hope we were too drunk to remember what we looked at the next morning.  Oh but we had some good times with some great guys.
    Then came the very bittersweet day of graduation.  Status after status of, "Congratulations class 091!" and "Good Luck!" and "I will miss you class 091!".  Oh what a glorious journey we had in Iowa...
    We headed down the road to the real world.  We started to realize that maybe all those drunk pictures, silly quotes and zero privacy aren't such a good idea before we headed to the job scene.  Delete.  Picture after picture.  Whole albums gone with the click of the mouse.  Cleaned up the profile just in case the prospective employers checked us out.  Learned how to set up the privacy settings.  Then we entered the professional world of facebook.  We learned about networking, making a 'page' for our business, and posting informational videos.  The new dilemma--Is it okay to 'accept' friend requests from patients?  As long as we privatize some of the pictures and wall feed, sure we can add some patients.  We'll teach them a lot about health and chiropractic.  We did a great job of this our first year in the real world.  We had wonderful wellness patients who actually watched our informational videos and 'liked' them.
    Then we moved to Virginia.  We met lots of new people down in the mountains.  One day we had 666 friends.  Was this a warning sign??  We had a job with too much free time which led to constant checking of the wall feed, the photos, and what's this person up to.  We became a little obsessed with each other.  At some point, we took a much needed break for a month.  We came back refreshed, ready to hang out once or twice a day.  Then the wall feed started becoming loaded with weddings and babies.  With each passing week, someone else was now engaged, married, or pregnant.  We never saw more belly pictures in our life!  Bellies of girls we never even talked to in high school.  Dare I say it's time to clean up the friend list.  De-friend random person I never talked to in high school, De-friend cute guy I met at a frat party, De-friend old patient from another practice.  We felt a little lighter and little less cluttered from our friend clean up.
     Life continued to move on and for whatever reason we grew more and more attached to each other.  We added family members that we haven't seen for years, we recover even more high school friends that we run into at our hometown bars, added more professional contacts, etcetera.  Then we moved all the way to Singapore.  Thank god we have each other thousands of miles away.  Now we can always make sure we know what's going on back home.  This was the beginning of our downward spiral (or did that begin a few years ago?)  At some point, we needed a break.  That lasted a month, but really it was the break before the break up...
     I'm done with your pettyness and "poor me" statuses.  Your life sucks?  Well get off the computer and do something about it.  I'm finished with your extra detailed description of every little thing that you're doing today.  I really don't care and frankly, neither does anyone else.  I'm done with your 500 baby pictures.  Babies are adorable and you're proud of your little one, I get it.  (I love babies).  So post the best 50 pictures and then go spend time with your little one who won't be so little the next time you log off facebook.  We had some kick-ass awesome times together, we laughed, we cried, we even inspired others.  It was the best of times and it was the worst of times....You were a huge part of my life for 7 years.  Will we ever reunite?  Only time will tell...

Love,
Me              

Deleted....and more....

Just a few things.....

-That's right folks...I deleted....(dramatic pause)....facebook!  I'm done with a capital D.  Done, done and done.  Now I truly believe facebook can be used for many good things especially when it comes to networking and business.  But I did not really use it for the greater good.  I will use a new website to post my pics on to share with you all.  :)

-Tomorrow I am doing an intro to rock climbing course to see if it's my potential new hobby.  Super excited!! 

-Going back to 'nam in Sept for a weekend!  I went to Vietnam in June of 2008 on a clinic abroad trip with my chiro school.  One of the most amazing trips ever that influenced me to practice abroad after school.  We started in Ho Chi Minh City and travelled east and a little north visiting a few different cities.  This time I'm going to Hanoi which is the capital and is located in the northern part of 'nam.  :)

Any good picture websites your recommend?? :)

Rules and Tools of Life in Singapore

1)  First and foremost, respect the locals.  You are in their country after all.  If they are rude or get frustrated because they don't understand you, either politely defend yourself (depending on the situation) or walk away and brush it off.  Remember they were forced to become an English speaking country only 46 years ago.  That's younger than most of you, or most of your parents. :)

2)  It really is safe to walk in the dark at 2am by yourself, even if you are female.

3)  The bus driver will NOT stop at the bus station unless you press the button.

4)  If you are not familiar with a bus route, check gothere.sg to make sure you get on the right bus stop or else you could be traveling over an hour on the outskirts of Singapore.

5)  No, your bag does not get its own seat on the bus.

6)  Watch out for cockroaches...ick!

7)  Yes, those asian girls in tight dresses and lots of make up outside the bars on circular quay are prostitutes.

8)  Always carry an umbrella on you, it can rain at any given moment!

Mentors

I am very lucky to have not one, but four mentors who have been a huge part of my chiropractic journey. :)  Here's a little bit about the part they've played in chronological order:

-Dr. D-My first chiropractor and educator.  I didn't even know what chiropractic was when I started going.  My mom just kind of dragged me there saying I had to check it out.  My sister worked there as an office manager and convinced my mom to come in who then dragged a curious 15 year old.  I don't know how far into my care I became sold but it couldn't have been too long.  I remember being excited about this thing called chiropractic and wanted to tell everyone about it.  Somewhere along the journey I couldn't picture doing anything other than chiropractic.

-Dr. H-My internship doctor.  She has one of the busiest family wellness practices in a small town outside of Rock Island, Illinois.  She is a really special person and has the biggest heart of anyone I know.  Her passion for family chiropractic is infectious.  I truly admire her; she is a true leader and is a female chiropractor to look up to.

-Dr. L-My trainer doctor.  He is the doctor that trained me at my first job for a week before he moved on to his next venture.  I learned more from him in a week than I did in a whole year from the owner at my first office.  I have never seen anyone care more for their patients than this guy.  He also has a passion for chiropractic unlike any other I've seen.  Him and I stayed friends after I left and he helped get me my second job in Virginia.

-Dr. I-My current doctor.  She is so good at what she does.  She is a kick butt business woman and an awesome chiropractor.  Her clinical knowledge is amazing because she was a nurse before she was a chiropractor.  She really looks out for the patients best interest.  Everything she does, she does for the patients.  She also has done nothing but believe in me and my potential even when I was lacking belief in myself.  She is always trying to help me become a better chiropractor and business woman.  I am truly grateful for everything she's done for me since I've moved here and hope I can continue to learn how to be as successful as her!

Thank you to all my mentors!  I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for all of you.  It's been an interesting journey and I don't expect that to change anytime soon :)

Who has been a mentor to you in your life? 

Four months

Today is my four month anniversary of living in Singapore. :)  It's strange knowing that back home kids are going back to school after their summers off and all my teacher friends are back to school too.  I don't have a season change or American football to remind me that the fall season is on its way.  What I do have is the magic number 19 to remind me every month that I've been here yet another month in Singy! :) 

They say there are 4 stages to adapting to a new culture (taken from the two websites highlighted):
-Excitment:  This is the 'honeymoon' phase.  Everything is new and exciting. You love the new culture because you learn new things everyday, there are so many unexpected things to learn daily, and you have left the monotony of everyday life behind. You get a chance to experience brand new foods, language, habits, weather and lifestyle. This phase usually lasts between a few days and a few months.
The individual experiences a holiday or 'honeymoon' period with their new surroundings.
They:
. Feel very positive about the culture
. Are overwhelmed with impressions
. Find the new culture exotic and are fascinated
. Are passive, meaning they have little experience of the culture

-Withdrawl or Negotiation:  Usually within 1 - 4 months the negotiation phase sets in. Frustration can occur as new ways off live become more familiar and lose their charm. Barriers from language and different cultural lifestyles become more apparent and can leave you feeling isolated. Feeling of being homesick are common at this stage and it is helpful to chat often with your friends and family back home.
The individual now has some more face to face experience of the culture and starts to find things different, strange and frustrating.
They:
. Find the behaviour of the people unusual and unpredictable
. Begin to dislike the culture and react negatively to the behaviour
. Feel anxious
. Start to withdraw
. Begin to criticize, mock or show animosity to the people

-Adjustment:  Between about 6 months to a year, a person immersed in a new culture begins to grow used to living in the new culture and have a new daily routine they have adapted too. They no longer feel like such an outsider, but start to consider the new country home. They are accustomed to subtle cultural nuances and things begin to feel normal. A deeper love and appreciation of the new culture can occur.
The individual now has a routine, feels more settled and is more confident in dealing with the new culture.
They:
. Understand and accept the behaviour of the people
. Feel less isolated
. Regains their sense of humour

-Enthusiam or Mastery:
When a person is fully immersed and adapted to life in a new culture, they are participating like a language. The language and communication problems from before are gone and the person feels at home. The person does not have to lose their original culture, but can appreciate both and feels at home.
The individual now feels 'at home'.
They:
. Enjoy being in the culture
. Functions well in the culture
. Prefer certain cultural traits of the new culture rather than their own
. Adopt certain behaviours from the new culture

You really do go through these phases.  The one difference with living in Singapore is there is no language barrier for me because the main language is English.  I think that helped me adapt MUCH faster than going to a foreign speaking country.  I am definitely at stage 3 and most of stage 4 all at once since I don't have as many barriers here.  I have really come to embrace and appreciate the Asian culture and no longer feel annoyed by things that used to annoy me before.  :)  
Some more 4 month thoughts:

-I still love the consistent hot weather.  I can even handle running in the heat if it's after 5pm.  :)

-In the beginning I thought I would be at the beach every weekend.  Last weekend, I went to the beach for the first time in a couple months.  I've become somewhat of a 'lazy singaporean'. :-P

-Running really clears my head and always gives me a better perspective on life!  I feel my joints starting to get a little worn from running though.  After this half marathon, it may be time to switch to biking (which I already love.)

-I finally bought a monthly Skype subscription so that I can just call people because the normal Skype-ing hasn't worked out too well thus far.  $2.99 for unlimited calls to the US.... Why didn't I do this in the beginning??  So if you get a strange US number calling you, pick up!  It could be me :-D

-I've been thinking WAY too much lately trying to figure things out.  My mom today said just STOP!  STOP thinking.  And she is absolutely right.   So I've stopped. :)  I am going to just live my life and let the rest happen on its own.  Whew, that feels so much better!!!

After a couple of crazy weeks, I feel calm and happy again (and grateful)!  Hdigabtt?

What's the best part of fall where you live? :)

Reflexology

Because of my running and wearing heels too often when I first moved here (I'm back to flats...), my feet get quite tight.  I get reflexology every so often to help relax my foot muscles and loosen them up a bit.  I get off early from work everyday right now, so I wandered around one of the malls and found a reflexology place.  A blind man (I don't think he was 100% but pretty close) was my reflexologist today.  I thought that was pretty cool and what a wonderful profession for him to be in.  Usually when someone has lost one of their senses, another one of their senses is more keen.  The foot massage was excellent and much needed after a long run yesterday and some stress going on in general.  There's been a lot of changes lately and I can't blog about it until I know what's going to go on for sure.  But for now...stay tuned for more.  Tomorrow is my four month anniversary!

            

Sights, Sounds, and Smells

Here are some of the sights, sounds, and smells that will always remind me of Singapore long after I leave one day.

-7-11 convenience stores....weird but true.  There is a 7-11 about every 500 metres.  Every MRT station is also equipped with a 7-11.  Some of my fave items I pick up from 7-11:  a bottle of water, kinder bueno chocolate, a tall can of tiger, and an ice cream cone. :)

-The Singpore National Day Song of 2011:  This song played all day, everyday in the MRT stations up until National Day 2011 which was August 9th...and is still playing in the morning when I get on the train.  This song will live in my heart forever. :)

-The smell of incense burning:  Whenever I go for a run on the sidewalk surrounding these condo buildings, there are always incense sticks burning on the sides of the sidewalk in the grass.  Or when I walk along the streets even where there is no grass, there are incense sticks sticking out of the side of sidewalk cracks and bricks.  I'm assuming this is for people who pray to Buddha.  I forgot to mention, there's usually a plate of food for Buddha offerings along with the incense sticks.

-The singing coming from the Ktv (karaoke) club at night across the main street from my condo.

-Curry-There's an Indian food stall on the corner of my side street that I pass everyday on my way home from work. 

That's a few that I thought of but I'm sure there will be more :) 

What is a smell, sound, or sight that will always remind you of where you live? :)

 

Crazy time

I haven't been keeping up with the blog lately because a lot has been going on!

The week after Bangkok, I was sick for most of the week...:-/ Might've been something I ate in Bangkok??  This meant a lot of down time with me, the couch, and Glee dvds. :) 

Then the week after that, I spent a lot of time with my German roommate because it was her last week in Singapore. :(  She finished up her internship and  has headed back to Germany for her last semester at the university.  I had a blast being roommates with her. :)  We had fun cooking dinners, heading to many ladies nights, teaching her american phrases, and learning a few German words myself.  Now I have someone to go visit in Germany which is always nice to have. :)

My boss is back from maternity leave in the afternoon, so this changes up my schedule a bit. :)  Now I have a little bit of variety in my day which will be nice and leave me with more afternoons to explore Sing!

Now that the crazy couple weeks are over, it's time to focus on training for the half marathon again!  I only was able to get a few runs in between all that's been going on.  Now I'll have more time to focus. :)

More updates coming this week!  Hope you guys are enjoying the end of your summer :) 

Bangkok, Thailand

I went to Bangkok, Thailand two weekends ago with my German roommate.  It was....interesting.  Here are some highlights:

One of my favorite parts was riding the Tuk-tuk cabs.  You have to negotiate a price with the driver to wherever your going.  A good price is 30-40 bahts which is about 1.50 SGD.  Many of the drivers try to rip you off and take you a lot of extra places you don't want to go.  By the end of the night, some cabbies wanted 100 bahts per person!  The most we paid was 50 bahts total for a ride which was okay.



Tuk-tuks



Riding the Tuk tuk

My other favorite part was the boat ride through old Bangkok.  It was really cool to see all the little wooden shacks along the river.  It was also nice to just sit in the boat and relax for an hour, without constantly getting heckled by the locals.  We stopped at a floating market along the way for a snack.

Boat ride through Old Bangkok





Scenery along the boat ride




More Scenery



Spicy Thai food with teddy bear shaped rice :)

The other main attraction we saw was The Grand Palace and the Emerald Buddha which is inside of the Grand Palace.  I'm not that into architecture but the Grand Palace was very shiny and pretty :)

The Grand Palace

I am grateful that I had the opportunity to visit Bangkok but it's not my favorite city by any means.  It was a bit of a culture shock but it was an interesting experience (some unfortunately is unbloggable).  We saw most of the main attractions in one weekend and mostly hung out on Khao San Rd which is the main shopping/food/club/hostel area where a lot of the backpackers roam.  That's really all you do in Bangkok.  I do have to say though that the shopping in Bangkok is awesome because you can negotiate and get stuff for very cheap.  I bought some dvds for about $3.00 each. :)  And only 2 out of the 9 don't work which isn't too bad.  There is a lot of heckling and ripping off going on there, but that's part of the Bangkok experience and you have to expect it when you go there.  I learned a lot about roaming around in Bangkok in one weekend and will be prepared if I go there again. :)  It's a cheap get away if one needs to get out of Singapore for a weekend!   

Homesick

Here it goes....It's finally hit.  I'm going through a bout of homesickness.  I went through a mild period of it a couple of weeks ago for a few days.  But I think the first case also had to do with breaking away from facebook for awhile and just missing people.  This time it really is a true case of homesickness.  Missing friends and family and all that's going on back home.  Missing lots of little things about life in the US.  I know this is natural when living thousands of miles away and everyone goes through it who lives abroad.  My one friend here is surprised that it took this long and said that was pretty long.  I've been away now for about as long as a trimester in chiro school, which is the longest I've been away from home without visiting.  So I guess that's about right for when it would hit me.  The frustrating thing is that there is absolutely nothing you can do about it because you are too far away.  You can't just plan a weekend drive back home to visit.  You just have to work through it until it passes....

What's the longest you have gone without visiting friends and family back home?     

Ladies Night

Wednesday night is a big night for ladies in Singapore :)  You can find deals at many of the bars and restaurants downtown.  One of our favorites that my girls and I regularly partake in is the pizza/pasta special at an Italian place called Sailors.  Sailors is an outdoor restaurant situated by the water in an area called Robertson Quay.  Robertson Quay is a quieter area with some of the finer restaurants and hotels of Singapore.  On Wednesdays, ladies can buy a drink (alcoholic or non-alcoholic) and they can choose from a margherita pizza or the special pasta dish of the night.  This is no small personal pan pizza...I'm talking a large size pizza :)

It was my roommate's second to last week in Singapore last Wednesday before she goes back to Germany to finish her studies.  She is trying to see as much of the 'must-sees' in Singapore before she leaves.  We headed to what claims to be the tallest rooftop bar in the world-1 Altitude.  It's 282 meters, on top of the 63rd floor of one of the downtown buildings with a 360 degree panoramic view of Singapore.  The view is GORGEOUS!  All the lights and buildings and then looking out into the dark sea at night.  Beautiful...  Being up there only enhanced my love for big cities.  

Overlooking the Marina Bay Sands Hotel

Beautiful lights

One of my fave Germans

1 Altitude-Tallest Sky Bar in the world

My other fave German (the roommate)

Gorgeous

Goals

Every so often, I think it's important to set goals in life.  Goals and plans can change (and in my case, they change often!)  But it's still important to have something you are going towards, otherwise you are just going through the motions of life.  My life took a completely unexpected turn in March when I was offered this job in Singapore.  I never, ever would have guessed I would end up in some country I knew nothing about.  The first couple months, I had to adapt to a new lifestyle, new culture, and new job.  Now that I have adjusted well and everything is going smoothly, it's time to set some goals to work towards while I am here in Singapore!  

1)  Save 10-20% of my monthly paycheck until I get to the point I can live for 3-6 months without working!  :)

2)  Pay off those damn little pieces of plastic that I got into trouble with in chiro school...oops :-/

3)  Be the best chiropractor I can be for my patients!

4)  Plan a trip to Europe at the end of my stay here in Singapore: Germany-to see my roommate and friend from here, and Italy-because I've always wanted to go :)

5)  Learn a new skill while I am here

6)  Learn everything I can about running and growing a business while I'm here (and possibly take this model to a big city in the US??)  

7)  Enjoy life to the fullest!!! :)

Visitors!!

Okay, so it's not for awhile but eventually I'm going to have some visitors at the end of the year!  We are in the process of planning a visit for my mom, my cousin, and my mom's friend to come see me in Singapore.  Tentatively, they will be here around Dec 27th-Jan 9th :)  I am SO excited!!  By this time, it will have been the longest length of time I have gone without seeing any family or friends from back home.  I had my first wave of homesickness last week.  It was more like people-sick (not really a term...I know :-P); but I missed the people back in the US more than the actual US.  I have a friend that lives here who has been away from home for almost two years now...She said the homesickness comes in waves for her.  I am sure by December that I will have gone through a couple more bouts of it and family coming to visit me will be just what I need! (Especially right after the holidays!!) :)

Who else is coming to visit me all the way in Sing Sing?? ;-)   

Life

Time is flying by!!  I blink and it's already Friday.  I've always heard that time goes by faster, the older you get.  OH MY, how this is so true!!  I feel like I'm definitely settled into my life in Singapore at this point.  I have my job, my friends, my routines, my weekends of relaxation and fun.  One moment it's the beginning of the month, the next minute it's already the last week of the month.  It's always a little bit scary when you realize this.  It makes you stop and think for a second, is my life going the direction I want it to, am I enjoying life for all it is, am I making the most of my time here?  I am definitely enjoying my life here and where it is right now. :)  I like the direction it could be going; but do we ever really know what direction it's going for sure?  We can plan all we want, but ultimately I think the universe puts us exactly where we are suppose to be in each moment.  And it's up to us to make the most of that moment no matter how big or small.   Sometimes I wonder about the last question.  Am I making the most of my time, is there more I can be doing, if so what else is it that I could be doing?  I think my plate is pretty full right now without overwhelming myself...I think right now I'm suppose to be the best chiropractor I can be and learn as much as possible while I am here, and enoy this country as much as possible while I am here!               

History Lesson

I am not sure if living in another culture has provoked this, but all of the sudden I'm really interested in my family history and where I come from.  I asked my mom about my birth story for the first time in my life at 28 years old.  Is this strange??  Is it abnormal that I've just went about my whole life not wondering about the day I was born??  Currently I am reading this book that my mom sent me for my birthday.  I've never been that interested in history.  I read the back of the book and was kind of like 'yawn', this is going to be booring.  BUT, since my mom sent it all the way to Singapore for my birthday, I figured I better give it a shot.  By chapter 2 or 3, I am fascinated with this book.  It transitions back and forth between the present time and World War II era.  The present time is about the story of this woman who is a history professor that was born during World War II in Germany.  Her mother has always been hush, hush about the past and would never speak of it.  I haven't gotten too far in the book yet, but I get the sense that the present day story is about this woman's journey to finding out about her past and where she came from.  The part of the book that takes place in World War II era, is about this woman's mother who lived during the war with her as a baby.  I look forward to lunchtime every day where I can go sit at one of my favorite lunch spots and read this book. :)

What have I learned so far?  My great grandmother came to the US from Ireland when she was just 16 years old with her sister.  This is something that inspired me the morning I was getting ready to leave for Singapore and was in freak-out mode and thinking, "What am I doing???"  My mom said, just think of your great grandmother coming over to Ireland in the late 1800s on a boat with nothing (well maybe a small suitcase??).  Her and her sister lived with a family that sponsored immigrants; they worked as a cook and a maid.  The rest of my great grandparents were born in America.  So I'm pretty pure blooded American. :-)  I'm pretty sure my last name is English, still waiting for confirmation on that.  To be cont....

Where do your parents, grandparents, or great grandparents come from? :)

Three months part 2

Some more tidbits and thoughts from the three month mark:

I like the simple life, uncluttered by stuff.

I still have no real sense of how long I will be here.  I hope that it will be for about 2 years or so, but deep down I don't feel like it's going to end up being that length of time.

I miss getting into my car, plugging in my mp3 player and taking a weekend road trip to visit a friend.

I'm a city girl at heart.  I sometimes think about what cities I would move to if I move back to the US at some point.

Being so far away makes all the "what's going on" news back home seem exaggerated.  I keep wondering did this much stuff always happen in 3 months time??

It's been 2 and half years since I've seen one of my bests from chiro school.  I miss you D!!     

I still love being a chiropractor.  I think about possibly going to teach at a chiropractic school one day because I also love the academia world also.  Chiropractic school is a journey that changed me forever and what an awesome thing it would be to be a part of the future generation of chiropractors' journey.

I still really enjoy living here. :) 

Three months

Tomorrow marks my three month anniversary of being in Singapore.  I feel like I've been here for much longer than that even though three months is not a long time; I think the longest I've gone without visiting home is about 4 months during chiropractic school.  What have I learned and what kind of thoughts are going on in my head now that I've been here the length of a 'summer'?

• I have a much greater appreciation for the asian culture than I ever imagined I would in my life.  I honestly was never even interested in Asia until I got the job here.  European countries have always been my primary fascination of places overseas.  So it is well known that Americans are the worst when it comes to geography (I didn't even know where Singapore was when I found the job ad).  There's so many Asian countries you hear of but have no idea where they are.  Now I have a much greater understanding for Asian geography and where countries are and a brief understanding of the different cultures of many of these countries.  Asia will forever be a part of me now.
• I have a greater appreciation for my home country and the comforts of America.  At this point, I can't even imagine what it will be like to walk through the airport whenever I come back to visit and be among a crowd of American English speaking white people.  I have become used to being a minority here and am quite comfortable with it now.  It has been a tremendous growth experience getting me out of my comfort zone.  
• I know I talk slightly differently so that my patients and people around here can better understand me.  I am now probably speaking a mixture of Singlish, UK English, Australian English, European English all combined into one.  Whew!  Things that I've noticed I do when I talk: I raise my voice towards the end of my sentences when explaining things to patients.  I omit words from my sentences which probably stems from the Europeans whose second language is English.  I use contractions a lot less; I know this one definitely comes from being around my German roommate. I use words like "lovely" and "pleasant". :)
• I have become a much better chiropractor in just the three months that I've been here.  My boss is very knowledgeable, as she was a nurse in Austria before she moved to the US and went to chiro school.  She has taught me a lot clinically and also helped me become a much better adjuster as well.  I know that we are forever students and I will always be learning over the years, but I feel like there isn't too much I wouldn't be able to handle in the chiropractic setting.  
• I am getting to see yet another way to practice chiropractic.  I have been lucky to have been involved in 8 different practices over the last 13 years: as a patient for 13 years, a CA (chiropractic assistant) for 4 years during undergrad at two different offices, an intern for a trimester, a doctor at 4 different offices.  This doesn't even include observation days and interviews over the years.  If I ever choose to open my own office one day, I will have lots of ideas and tools to choose from! :)
• It is weird that I am so far away from home.  It's unfathomable at times how far away I really am.  The last couple months I was in Ohio, I took for granted how easy it would've been to drive 8-9 hours or less to see some friends I haven't seen in a year or two.  I wish I would've taken advantage of that opportunity...:-/      
• You really realize what the most important things to you in life are.  Everyone is driven by different things in life; whether it be climbing to the top of the corporate ladder, having a fulfilling career doing whatever it is that you like to do, raising a family and having lots of kids, running a race every year, visiting every state in the US, opening a business, whatever it may be.  Traveling and having new adventures drives me.  It makes me the happiest.  Developing good quality friendships with people I connect with fulfills me.  I have been blessed to find that this can happen no matter where I live.          

Day One

I had my friend change my facebook password yesterday in the event that I get tempted one day to sneak on there.  Today is the first full day of not being on there.  I am realizing how much time I really spent on there...especially to fill up boredom time at work.  I am not proud how attached to the site I was... Not having gone on there in the last 24 hours, I feel just a teensy bit less anxious today.  Again not proud, but it's crazy how much more free time I have because I am not on there all the time.  After moving here, I figured it will be a really good way to keep up with people and know what's going on back home.  But I am realizing that the people who really and truly matter in my life; well we will keep in contact via email and skype because we are actually friends and not facebook 'friends'.  Just to show you an example of this point:  I looked up August birthdays to make sure I remembered to email those who are important to me (sorry I don't remember when everyone's birthdays are...), I only came up with 4 people that I really and truly will be wishing happy birthday to over the next month and half.  I even had time to start reading Ukelele for beginners online this morning. :)  Next weekend I will try out my friends ukelele at his party to see if I enjoy it.  Why did I choose the Ukelele as my potential new hobby?  It's small, easily transportable, I learned a couple chords on the guitar before and enjoyed it so this will be similar to that, and you can get one for really cheap here. :-D    

How much time do you really spend on facebook?  What are the positives and negatives about facebook?

Facebook Fast

Facebook has taken over the world.  You can't go on any website without seeing the facebook symbol for you to "like" whatever page you are on.  It is the new source of world news, engagement annoucements, news of pregnancies, who's with who, and how much ppl either love or hate their life.  Once I became a professional I deleted a lot of pictures, simplified my profile, and only posted positive statuses, quotes or big news.  I think I've kept up with that pretty well (or at least I hope!) :) 

I admit that I spend a little way too much time on facebook.  I don't think it's mentally or emotionally healthy to be so consumed with it.  During my long run today I decided that I am going on a facebook fast.  I stayed off for a month, two summers ago and I know it won't be a problem staying off.  My fast is going to be until Sept 1st.  No reason why I chose September 1st; really just an arbitrary date.  Oh what will I do with all that free time?? :-P  Possibly learn to play the ukelele??  I just might..... :)          

This pink one is pretty sweet, lah??

Half Marathon

I am officially signed up for a half marathon Sunday Sept 4th and I am pumped! :)  (I know, I know...who gets excited about running 21K/13.1miles??)  I love the feeling when I cross that finish line....I'm pretty sure I had tears in my eyes last year when I crossed the Columbus half finish line.  You train for weeks and weeks, you have good runs and not-so-good runs, and the day finally comes.  You are excited, nervous, maybe even thinking 'what the h*ll did I get myself into??'  But you signed up, you trained, and now you're there at the start line.  You just have to go for it and do your best!  The adrenaline rush you feel and the excitement of the crowd gets you pumped up before the race starts and it is an amazing feeling.  Then when you cross the finish line, the sense of accomplishment is incredible.  Once I finish a half marathon, my legs are in quite a bit of pain and I usually think, 'I'm never doing that again'.  Then I take the winter off running, I get amnesia as to how much pain I felt after the race, then spring comes and I'm ready to run again.  By summertime, I'm ready to have something to work towards, and I end up signing up for another half.  So here I am again 9 months after my last half, and signed up and ready to go in September!

When I train, I am not hardcore and don't stick to a definite training plan.  For several reasons, a) I never stick exactly to the schedule, things come up and you have to change running days, etc b) I am not doing it for time c) You can't predict when you are going to have good running days and bad running days so I would rather just go with the flow, and finally d) It takes all the fun out of running if I know I have to do exactly this on this day and so on.  My basic goal this training season is to run 3-5 miles 2-3 times a week, then a long run on the weekends, adding more mileage each weekend as I get closer to the race.  A patient told me about this place called the MacRitchie reservoir that has a loop that is 12k around that I plan to check out this weekend when I go for a long run.  I know the MacRitchie reservoir has monkeys too! :) :)     

Have a nice weekend readers! :)