After an epic journey which started from February 28 - March 3, 2015, my search for a perfect school has somewhat materialized before my very eyes. However, with other ongoing job searches, I could write that Indiana University Southeast, located in New Albany, nestled in the southern tip of Indiana, some 20 minutes of driving from Louisville, Kentucky is a perfect match so far. After 10 years in Singapore, I have been searching for an idyllic town setting in which a university is located plus a little hustle and bustle when I need them for things such as easy access to some great restaurants, entertainment, and cultural venues. In this way, I get the best of both worlds, a little sanity when I need them and some noise when it gets too quiet.

The journey was epic indeed, with 25 hour flight and some 10,000 miles to cover each way. On the way back, it was more than 30 hours due to delays which caused a domino's effect to alter the originally planned trip. Instead of transiting in Tokyo, it was rerouted as UA895 bound for Hong Kong before finally touching down in Singapore at 4 AM! By all account, I had been awake for at least 48 hours with possibly 2 hours of sleep the night before. Typically for international flights, my body would deny itself any shuteye the night before due to the paranoia of missing the flight. While on the plane, the typical activity was binge-watching of movies instead of some power naps. There were no words to describe how my body felt like. It was as though you would take a snowball dome, shake it and before it could hardly settle, shaking it violently one more time ...

It was worth it though. Singapore, since 2004 has been a wonderful city but the time has come for me to move on to greener pasture so to speak. It is restrictive, overcrowded and becoming prohibitively expensive to maintain a space to live, work and play, if any. At New Albany, I met some truly kind people and it is great to see a robust fine arts department with a supportive administration. The small faculty to student ratio meant that I would be able to work closely with my students. The faculty members are doing great work where they are looking to push teaching and ideas of art to new boundaries to match the demands and perceptions of what art has to offer.

There is something charming about the town itself which bolstered my belief that after this short visit, I could say with total confidence that I could see myself living in New Albany. With the current contract ending in June of 2015, starting a new job in the USA means that in addition to relocating internationally, my future dog can finally have a backyard to run around and I will be behind the wheel again. Eric, the bird, will always be out in the patio accompanying the future dog. I think his name should be "Milo," named after my favorite cocoa drink from Nestle.

Check here for images posted in Facebook.

UPDATE:
Some 10 days after my trip, the Dean of the School of Arts and Letters extended an offer to join the Fine Arts Program as an Assistant Professor of Graphic Design via an email on March 13. Three days later, I accepted the offer. After a period of negotiation, a letter of job arrived via email from the Office of Academic Affairs on April 9, 2015. After 11 years living in Singapore, I'm finally coming home!

Originally posted: March 6, 2015 and revised April 7, 2015

My buddy James told me that moving is second in comparison to surgery for causing the levels of stress in us to rise. Relocating is an epic journey. Maybe 3rd time the charm. In this case, I was hoping that the job would pan out and I wouldn't have to go through another epic journey again. After all, this is the 3rd time I picked up and move across continents. The first time was from Malaysia to San Francisco which was basically a luggage and a big grin on my face in December of 1990. The 2nd time was moving back back to Malaysia to take a long break after spending 13 years in the USA in September of 2003 and finally the 3rd time, to put Singapore behind me in 2015.

5-figure to relocate? The most expensive quotation came from Allied Pickford at over S$14,350 and the cheapest was from Oxford Van Lines at a S$11,350-- exclusive of insurance, demurrage, storage if applicable, customs duty/taxes, custom inspections, crating of special items, carrying and so forth. A personal move which meant that nobody is paying for the move but myself, I was faced with 3 options: i) to bring almost 90% and eventually reducing bigger items to make my new location livable; ii) to bring what I really need which includes knick-knack from my travels, things imbued with sentimental values as well as books that I have been collecting during my stay in Singapore for the past 11 years and third option, to bring nothing but two pieces of luggage and a hand carry. Only if the university can be more generous to fork out some dough, I wouldn't have to be kneading so hard, so to speak. Even after removing a few big items, the price only dropped a measly S$500. The one single word that held me back from paying the 5-figure is "probationary" as the contract is yearly and to be renewed as the university sees fit, especially the 1st year. Starting the position in August, I will only find out 6 months, by February 2016, whether the contract will be renewed by the upper administrators. Since putting Singapore behind me is the plan, option 1 seems like the best option as I need my stuff to be efficient and fully operational. Literally, I need to hit the ground and start running. All 3 options are doable and they all present opportunities and challenges to face and solve. However, paying so much to relocate seems like a risky gamble. What if I persevere for 6 months and if I see light at the end of the tunnel, then I shall hire a forwarding company? In the meantime, all the things will be sitting inside a 4' x 6' x 8 in a self-storage in Singapore waiting to be reunited with me...

On June 6, 2015 Taiwan's China Airlines flight CI0754 took off from Singapore's Changi airport and landed in San Francisco where I spent 2 weeks before flying to Chattanooga, Tennessee to spend some time with the Magros and Stokes. When I left Chattanooga, thanks to James' sister, Sarah who has a friend who consults with VW managed to get me further discounts where I finally drove off a brand new VW Beetle on June 26, 2015. Brian and Tiffany, my future colleagues were so kind to let me stay at their place while they were in Germany and in a week, I managed to find a carriage house in New Albany by signing a contract with a domineering landlady on July 6.

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