The Leaving Assembly

So, today was the morning I had dreaded for a while - the Leaving Assembly...
Considering I've been crying in every Leaving Assembly I've ever been to, for other kids and their parents, I thought I would bawl my eyes out this morning too. Luckily Tash came well prepared:

I did shed a few tears before the Assembly, just thinking about it - but when it was actually time for the goodbyes, I didn't cry at all! It was actually all just very lovely.

Lucas' teacher Mrs Rickell talked about how he has always entertained the class, sometimes a bit loudly..., about his amazing performance in their class assembly earlier this year and how it's a great loss to this school, but that the school in Abu Dhabi should be happy to get this talented boy!

Lucas had his two good friends Nick and Daniel with him to say a few words. This was Nick's speech:

"To Lucas, You have been a great friend over the past five years. My earliest memory of you is from Reception when we were both four years old. We have grown up a lot and we have had a great time, such as playing football tournaments in Panaga (…)  and playing in a successful touch rugby team.
We have both had fun on some great trips, like the Y5 Miri trip and the trip to the OECD.
You have also had some very cool parties, like the Star Wars party and the Lego Movie party, which we all have very much enjoyed.
Not many people know that you are a fantastic clarinet player, I’m sure the people at your new school will reap your great talent.
We all will miss you because you are a great friend who is funny, smart, sporty, cool - and the best of all, friendly. Good luck in your new school."

And this was Daniel's speech:

"Lucas,
You have been my best friend ever since Kindergarten. (…) I wish you all the best in Abu Dhabi and I hope you make lots of good friends in the future. It has been a pleasure being your friend."

Then he got the JIS bear, a laminated memento from his class, and a big handshake from his teacher!

Mrs Fowler-Watt also talked about Linnea's performance as Mrs Flower-Pot in their class assembly. She also said how she was going to miss Linnea's big smile and good sense of humour.

Linnea hadn't been able to choose, so she had her three best friends with her. Ben's words:
"I’ve known you for about seven years. I hope you will make new friends in Abu Dhabi. I will miss you but I will visit you."

Emily's words:
"Linnea, You have been my friend for the past six years. You were the second person I met at JIS. You have been kind to me and we have played together and had lots of fun, especially at parties.
This year I have loved talking to you in class but it has been hard these last few months as Mrs Fowler-Watt has found out that we love talking and separated us!
Always remember I have great memories of our time together. Have a nice time in Abu Dhabi."

Gemma's words:
"Dear Linnea, You have been y best friend since Kindy Panda and you are not going to be my neighbour anymore. But when I come visit you for a week we can go to Kidzania 1 hour drive away, or to Ferrari World with the roller coasters. I will be lonely but I am lucky I will visit you. I hope you have a lovely time in Abu Dhabi, but I will give all of you a big warning - she is coming back."

Then she got her highly anticipated JIS bear, and it was luckily all over. It was a really nice goodbye for them.

Happy kids, they just love the limelight!

I did cry after the assembly though... and when watching the videos I took... and now while I'm blogging this... Just a touch emotional at the moment I guess...

Sport Relief Run 2014

Yesterday the kids were dressed in red and white (well, sort of) for another fundraising event at school - the Sport Relief 1 mile run.

 

They've done this once before, two years ago, and back then I remembered it being a huge event with lots of parents participating, and it was very festive. Yesterday, not many parents turned up at all unfortunately, and out of those who did, very few ran.
Me? I took pictures. :)

It's an event organized by the British High Commission here, and the British High Commissioner himself was there to set the first run off. The little ones ran first and then they all followed after.

Happy faces before the run:

"Mr Beast" was there too - leading the warm-up:

Then "Mr Beast" set off the run:

They ran two laps around the field and some of the school buildings. It was hot, hot, so well done!

- "Did you do one or two laps?"...

Mood boards

I'm not sure how many hours I've already spent on the wonderful page Pinterest, especially in bed at night when I'm supposed to sleep... I'm creating all these different mood boards for our new house and it's very exciting.
The kids have been looking around too, and we have talked a lot about how they want their new rooms to look, now that they are becoming "tweenies", and might need more room to hang out, and not as much storage for toys as before.

Linnea really really wants a loft bed, so we might look at that. As far as I remember it's high enough to the ceiling, so why not. She is also mostly interested in getting a proper desk, so we will make sure she gets one she likes.

Lucas doesn't want a loft bed and he's adamant he doesn't want a small (read: standard) single bed, he wants a queen. This one below is quite nice, with storage in the headboard.
We also thought about putting sofa beds in their rooms, to make it easy for ourselves when they have friends who come on sleepovers. It would also be a cosy place to sit and read, or play video games.

Our new house

When we first moved here to Brunei, we started out in company accommodation, in Rimba. Back then it wasn't as fancy as it is now, there was no pool, no tennis courts, no playground - but we liked it, although the house was too small for us.

We ended up staying there for 11 1/2 months, whilst searching for the perfect house. Of course, the longer we were here, the trickier it became because we saw more and more houses and got pickier and pickier. We saw over 100 houses - and I know that for a fact, because I listed all of them!

We were so lucky finding this house, and we have been so very happy in it for the last 5+ years. I'll be sad to leave it, it's such a good house, truly ticked all the boxes.

Moving to Abu Dhabi is turning out to be a different story... There is not really any company accommodation, most people take the allowance and find their own place.
Nathan has been staying, as many other of his colleagues, in a hotel room since he got there. He changed hotels after a few weeks, but this current one is perfectly located and really nice, and he will be there until he moves into our house. Some single people never leave the hotels.

It turned out we needed to find somewhere ASAP though, because until Nathan has a permanent residential address, he can't sponsor our visa applications... (It's actually an even longer story and I won't bore you with all the details - all I can say is that the admin work involved when moving countries is always crazy!)
So our main mission during my flying visit a couple of weeks ago was to make a decision on a house. Nathan had already seen a few before I came, and we saw quite a few more while I was there. None of them really rocked my boat I must admit. Too big, too small, weirdly laid out, too old-fashioned, too expensive, too far from schools etc.

We kept coming back and comparing them all to this one house we had seen already in December when we were here - the house of our friends from Brunei. They had told us there was a few units available still in their compound, and after we'd been looking around, it turned out those houses were very much the best choice, for us. We are a bit sorry we're bringing Brunei into their life again... but there you go!

There are 34 houses in this compound, and they are all identical.
Downstairs there's a big hallway, a huge kitchen, a downstairs storage room (it's really the Amah's room, but we'll have ours outside in what's really the driver's room), downstairs toilet, big dining room/living room area; a paved area outside and a small grass patch:

Here's looking from the living area in through the hallway and towards the front door, kitchen is on the right, and the stairs to upstairs on the left:

Here's looking the other way, at the living area, where we will have our sofas, and our TV on the wall to the right by the window. Behind the door to the right we will make a little "office" corner, with a very neat (!) desk and some storage:

This area is to the left, connected to the living area. We will have our dining table here, and some buffet tables or other forms of storage for glass ware etc. The doors open out to the paved patio area:

This is also looking from the entrance, through the hallway and into the living area. The living room to the right and the dining room to the left, although it's actually one big room, but with two doors.

Upstairs there are four big bedrooms, and they all have bathrooms with bathtubs! Plenty of space for visitors..! Lucas bid dibs on this one, because he liked the window nook:

So Linnea will get this one, which has a balcony instead. She was pretty happy with that. Both look out over the big empty area in front of the house, which is practical, so they can spot when their friends are out.

The kitchen. Always comes without white goods, so we will need to get out and buy a cooker, fridge/freezer, dishwasher and washing machine as soon as we get there. But the kitchen is nice, modern and roomy, and also looks out over the planned play area, which is good.

The hallway with the stairs to the second floor and a small under-the-stairs storage cupboard:

It's a brand new compound, so we will be the first people in our house. It's now the standard magnolia colour on the walls, so we've hired some handymen to paint it white for us before we move in. I want it as bright as possible.
As all the units have now (just!)  been completed, they are going to concentrate on the common area: build a swimming pool, a gym and a playground. Could become really, really nice eventually!
I found a picture on how they are planning for the common area to look, although I can't really make out much what is what, apart from the pool of course:

Here's a screen shot from Google Earth where I've marked out approximately where our house is in relation to the schools we have been looking at. You can also see the airport to the right; IKEA in the top right corner on Yas Island as well as the hotel Park Inn where Nathan has been staying.
Downtown Abu Dhabi is to the left outside the picture, and Dubai is 50 minutes away following the motorway disappearing in the top right corner! :)

Now the kids and I are busy making mood boards and shopping lists, it's very exciting getting to decorate a brand new house! And of course, guests are welcome!

Let it go

It's stressful times right now as the moving preparations are a bit at a stand still, and that at this very crucial point. It's like a domino game, and I'm waiting for the first brick to fall so that the others can follow. It's all out of my control though, which is very, very frustrating.
I need to listen to Linnea when she sings her favourite song at the moment, and just "let it go" and wait it out, before my tummy turns itself inside out... :/

Last dinner with the gang

Last night we had the last dinner with "the gang". Although it was a bit decimated, since Ben and Andrew were flying and Kym and Jeremy weren't feeling that well. Turners are off to NZ this week already, so we had to do it before they go.

Yummy, yummy oysters and "Bloody Mary oyster shots" for appetizers, Pip's seafood chowder for entree, Will's lamb for main and Anna's kladdkaka for dessert - mmm!

The decorations were all in my honour, Tash had lost herself in the archives of the blog whilst finding the photos, and we all got a bit nostalgic remembering nice times:

It really sucks moving, but leaving the good life you've built for yourself and your family is even harder. Only two weeks to go.

March

It's March. Our leaving month. Not long to go.
My mood is up and down on a daily basis right now, mostly down. It's becoming so sad, all these lasts... Here is a list of some of the things I'll miss when we leave:

The jungle
The Yacht Club
The fact that someone fuels your car
The frog noises outside at night
The tasty, and yummy, sushi
My Tuesday night hashing
The jungle
Eating roti
All our friends - people make a place, that's for sure
The beach
The view from my breakfast table
Driving down Leburaya really fast
The friendly locals
Our house
The cheap cinema tickets
Maharanis, our local Indian restaurant
Jerudong International School - kids have had 6 1/2 great years there
That fuel is so cheap
My workout buddies
That you can park nearly anywhere
The jungle
That nobody smokes here, anywhere
The massive thunderstorms
The sea
Being able to hop on a plane and discover a new Asian country within hours
The Empire, and it's High Tea
The small and easily navigated airport
Fresh mango and papaya
My Zumba girls
The Kids Hash
Bukit Shabandar
Our dog(s)... :(
The cool breeze sometimes in the evenings
The power shower in our master bathroom and the bright light
The jungle
The luxury of having so much time, and space
Seeing familiar faces wherever I go (Yes, actually! At least some days...)
The Spit
The relaxed lifestyle
All the dress-up parties
Going on day trips to Singapore
Our local Thai, and the $5 Pad Thai
The heavy rains
The jungle
The monkeys in the trees by our house
The beautiful wooden floor in our house
All the oldies music on the radio
The Water Front