My Last Day in Singapore
Friday, June 24th, 2005Tomorrow is my last day in Singapore. I will start a new life in Vancouver, Canada. Although I’ve been dreaming to live in North America since 5 years ago, by the time I have a change to live there, I am not so excited any more. Yes, very strange…
More than 5 years go, when the IT industry was booming in the United States, I was very keen to work and live there. At that time, I got a job offer in a small company in San Diego area. Unfortunately before I had a change to start working there, the bubble economic was exploding. My company was bankrupt and I could not relocate to the States. I was stuck in Stuttgart, Germany at that time.
Fortunately, that was not the end of the world… I decided to continue my study at the University of Stuttgart until I got my M.Sc. degree. Then I had a change to work in the biggest mobile phone manufacturer in Bochum, a small city in north-west Germany.
After working for more than two years, I relocated to Singapore because my girl friend was working here. Then suddenly there was another offer from my former company in Germany. They offered a better job in Vancouver, Canada. Oh no… I have been dreaming of North America and now I have a change to realize it. After discussing with my girl friend, then I decided to accept the offer.
The plan was that I will relocate there together with my girl friend, Emi. She will come to Canada as my dependant, as suggested by my company’s lawyer. Unfortunately this didn’t work. After a long discussion with Canadian consulate, they didn’t approve my Emi’s application. They didn’t even give her a tourist visa. Yes… I think that’s one of the difficulties being Indonesian citizen. Most American and European countries don’t trust Indonesian any more.
Once again, this is not the end of the world… Life must go on. I will still relocate to Canada and try my best to settle down there. After we’ve got married, Emi will relocate to Canada too. I can only hope that all will work well in Vancouver. My feeling says that life will be very tough there. A new country, a new job, a new life, a new culture….
As I said, I am not too excited relocating to North America at this time. Living in Europe for about 4 years has changed my perspective: I like Europe more than America….
