Close to Ideal

It's a lazy, rainy Sunday afternoon. At the risk of sounding cliché, I'm writing this by the window overlooking the flowery garden with a steaming cup of chamomile & lavender tea while hubby is wrapped in a blanket on the bed watching the idiot box switching from one channel to another. It's a satellite tv so tons of channels to choose from, with additional channels from Russia, Norway, Sweden and Chile. There is a generous streaming of American and British shows so you could've stayed indoor all day and thought you've had a beautiful day. Outside, it's a clean coastline with people smiling and greeting each other. It's a bubble I don't wish to pop. There's no beggar, no indication of poverty or pollution, no sign of immorality. For the first time abroad, we both feel like we could happily settle down and raise a wonderful family here. That's mostly what the expats here feel and eventually do.

My workplace is amazing. The staff work in their own room with freedom (you can arrange your own time to fit your children, etc.), lunch buffet is provided, weekly breakfast or tea together (our department had ice-creams last week!) and they have a strong network with other offices be it in South Africa or Vietnam by communicating regularly with their counterparts through surprise, surprise...Skype! They're casual but results oriented and everyone feels like they belong. Every evening you can see parents biking or jogging with their kids, something you don't see often in Malaysia with teenagers loitering with their equally aimless friends and parents working long hours. It tires me just to think about it.

I love my country, but we could really learn a few things from a region so developed and yet stain-free like Scandinavia.