u/Familiar-Lynx7996

How different is life across these 3 cities? Comparing factors such as rent, groceries, cultural diversity, social climate, public transportation, services, and job market?

As above and:

• what country are you based in now, and how small/big is it? i.e., city, regional, rural
• what are the list of countries you've lived and worked in?
• is this location your final stop? If not, where to next?
• what life stage/age bracket are you in i.e., building, coasting, retiring, or lost and limbo?
• what is your current social circle like overseas, and back in Singapore?
• what type of hobbies have you picked up since leaving?
• and... would you be keen to adopt a friend (me) online?

re the last point, it has just been a little rough when I'm based in a place where the international crowds are transient and the local crowds are insular and cliquish.

I can't believe I added the final dot point because it takes a lot. I might as well have tried getting myself 'adopted online' than never tried at all. Anyhooo, thanks for reading 😳

edit: Idk why this post deserve so many downvotes... but ok.. 🧐

As above. I previously failed to use my Wise card for my overseas trip. I've since figured out that I need to active it at the ATM, make a withdrawal and all. Is there anything else I'm missing? Thank you.

Mods, kindly remove if inappropriate.

As above, I'm looking for just 2 or 3 digital villagers for myself. That's all my introvert bandwidth can manage without burning out.

About me. Late 30s, F. I moved alone from Southeast Asia to Australia a decade ago and am currently based in Newcastle (townish city). Australians are friendly, but breaking into the local's social circle has been insurmountable in my experience. Local Australians say it has a lot to do with Newcastle and it's reputation but I've given up trying locally. ALL my friends back home are busy with babies and parenting. Most of my friends in NSW are international/foreigners and they're largely a triansient crowd (fulfilling Visa purposes), always leaving after 1 to 2 years. Quiet heartbreaks are equally as devastating, with age.

I'm pretty active and busy - I backpack, hike, camp, and play racket sports. I used to binge documentaries, now I camp for A24's newest release and binge slice of life dramas and movies, foreign movies alike. I read. Currently reading Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky. I have a very old soul - not my words.

My world view and sense of appreciation (in a broad sense) have changed SO much just from having to do and manage everything alone. Now I'm too Western for friends back home, amongst other things, and too Eastern for locals in my area. My identity is, at best, fragmented. Some days I wonder if I did this to myself, by moving.

Anyhow. This is my social experiment. I can say I've tried even if I fail. I may be downvoted to hell but these are the following factors I'm looking for in a villager. Offending you is not my intent. I see no point in forcing a connection (and wasting your time) when I know what and who I'm looking for. You, too, will find and build your own village.

A desirable villager:

• Age: Preferrably late 30s to 100 (+?).
• Gender: Preferrably female. LGBTQIA+ welcome.
• Intent: Strictly friends/villager. You'd be sorely disappointed if you're after more.
• Your status: Single, partnered or divorced w/o children, or empty nesters (I have tooo many people showing me pictures, talking about their children all day and all night, to me, I just can't do more)
• EQ: High. Logical and hopefully level headed.
• Energy level: Introverts preferred.
• Bonus: You have an old soul, and get by life with assistance of a dark humor.

If you're sending a DM, kindly give some basic introduction that is more than "Hi" or "How is it going". Effort goes a long way. Lastly, I might not get to all the DMs, I do apologise!

"Everyone wants a village but no one wants to be a villager." Well, hopefully not everyone.

Let's call my client Obi. Obi is 6yo. Obi is a late speaker, started talking between 2 and 3 yo. I started with with Obi a year ago and his speech was 50-60% intelligible then. He's come a long way with plenty of improvements. However, /s/ and /z/ continues to trip him, /s/ being much trickier. Here's what he can and can't do:

Can't do:

• /s/ in isolation
• explosive T (t,t,t,tssss). Weirdly, the first time I did this with him, he was able to do it. When I came back a week later, it was like it never happened. i.e., "t,t,t,t, (nothing, and air comes out through his nose)"
• CV (See/si) - I picked ee/i because the tongue position is the closest to /s/, still, he couldn't do it
• CVC - real words, i.e., soap, same, becomes 'toap' and 'tame'. 4 months ago, the first sound, /t/ was very distinct. Now, you can actually hear a resemblence of /s/ before the /t/ in his production. It's VERY quick and very soft, so if you weren't paying special attention, you'd have heard 'toap/tame'. In terms of placement and movement of tongue, its in the right position etc.
• basically, /s/ and airflow comes out from his nose, completely. When I pinch his nose to stop airflow, everything stops - air is still pumped towards his nasal passage rather than his oral cavity

Can do:

• "sh" words - he does it perfectly. Yes, perfectly.
• my attempts to get him to go from "sh" to /s/ has failed miserably. Maybe I'm missing something or doing it wrong? Open to ideas/suggestions, please.
• S blends. sk, sl, sm, all of it. He says most (80%) of the S blend words accurately across clusters. So it's not like he has more success with certain clusters than the others. Basically, hit and miss across clusters.

With his current success with S clusters, he should be able to do sentence production easily. But this doesn't address his production of words without /s/ clusters i.e., soon, sing, say, sock, sun, etc.

I've tried it all - placement, visuals with mirror, verbal and tactile cues. I'm quite literally am at my wits end. What have I overlooked? What am I missing?

Thank you for helping.

I'm wondering what FT work would look like as a FIFO worker as a clinician. Would you be comfortable for a chat in private (online)? Thank you.

edit: Or has anyone worked for Stream Healthcare as a FIFO clinician?

Where have you returned from? How did you cope with reverse culture shock? How long did it take before you started to feel less anxious or more at ease with being back? Or have you never fully recovered and think a full recovery + "re-assiimilation" back to Singapore is unlikely?

As above. Thank you everyone.

I'm not unhappy, but I'm not necessarily happy with current status quo either. I think a large part of this has to do with my location and crowd. It's a very white town (racism is well and truly alive), it's a long way from being multicultural. Locals are very cliquish nor do they see a need to involve new people/foreigners into their friend group, which is understandable. International crowds here can be very transient - the people who work regional for Visa purposes and then leave as soon as they can for bigger cities. After a while, you get sick and tired of investing in people who are always leaving. Career wise, there wouldn't be pay increment for another 2 years, not in this economy. The company is ok, an improvement from my previous. Rent and insurances increases year on year, above inflation rate as aways. I'm mostly comfortable but I'm considering moving to another regional area/trying remote (in location, not the same as WFH) work for a professional challenge and better pay - this will mean social life will either be the same or much worse.

Has anyone been in a similar position? What did you do?