Hi LT,
You asked how to reduce the pain and stress.
- keep healthy. Lving in such a difficult place, every little effort makes me feel good about myself.
- Remember that many advertised fast food is less healthy than we eat in S'pore
- avoid too much unhealthy snacks esp. during long office hours. tough for some people. I try to bring fruits and “healthy” biscuits
- regular exercise. tough for most people.
- take breaks during long work hours
- help my wife who is under more pain than me
- find some full-time activity to occupy her time
- spend quality time together
- try to get her to make new friends
- try to get her to become interested in learning English
- try to get her to find some new hobbies
- live around Chinatowns, where she can find Chinese food
- work long hours and feel good about it. This helps my adjustment.
- make new friends. I didn't find any time for this, since i was so busy with job and a million other “important” things.
- call home regularly
- increase income
- a mobile phone that can receive Chinese SMS from our families in China. We can't afford it now.
- better accommodation
- less time wasted on commuting. Extremely important to me.
- my wife will afford many foods that are simply priced beyond us
- more sight-seeing. important for my wife. There are so many places to see in this vast country.
- perhaps a more suitable training course for my wife. Right now many of them are just too expensive
- some new clothes for her