Yikes - imminent move overseas - what do I need to sort out before we go?

[fanjolina]

DH has been asked this week to work abroad. They want him out by end May, and all I can think of is OMG - how can we pack up our life by then?!!

I don't have to worry about sorting out accommodation the other end, shipping etc as his company will take care of that. But I don't think I have fully got my head around all that needs to be done here.

So far I have thought of:

• sell / give away as much of our crap lovely possessions as we can
  
• tell schools
  
• tell doctor
  
• tell dentist
  
• rehome cat :(
  
• arrange forwarding of mail (or similar)
  
• check with mortgage company that can rent house
  
• contact estate agent
  
• contact house insurance
  
• have a party!
  

Can any of you who have been through this before help by providing me with a full list? Thanks!

[seoraemaeul]

Great advice here esp. on Kindle depending on where you pitch up and also on clothes, my DH officially can't buy anything over here and apparantly my UK size 5 feet are abnormally large!

Having just come back from a look-see in HK I would say speak to the estate agent assigned by your company as soon as you get a location. Get descriptions photos and floor plans. I'm moving within Asia so thought I'd be over the initial differences between here and Europe.... but no! T'was something of an eye opner .

I also recommend you start clearing things out now - a little bit every week. When we first came abroad, it was a shock to realise how much stuff I had still left one week before we went. I found charities were a bit reluctant on somethings, but the local church or Woman's Aid were much more welcoming. Obviously this applies to things in genuinely good condition. Find a local house clearer for the rest.

[BaggedandTagged]

Majoad - you scoff BUT no Uk credit card=no UK app store=no Angry Birds. Shocking but true!

Agree with what you say though. We drag all our stuff around the world with us. Have decided this is our life and we're going to have our stuff. Most places have good expat focused classified sites so if things are getting in the way you can always sell them

[MaJoad]

TBH I wouldn't sweat the small stuff - Calpol flavours and brands of painkillers?? Hundreds of thousands of human beings manage to survive over there and I am sure you will too. You will be living in a different country and some things will be different - you cannot recreate UK wherever you end up.

As other people have said, sort out schooling as a priority. Some places have very long waiting lists. It is never too early to make contact and get the ball rolling on this one (though be prepared for possible hefty 'assessment fees' or whatever they call them. Some places charge for putting you on the waiting list even when they know full well you'll never get a place.)

One mistake we made when leaving UK was to put a lot of things in storage thinking "oh we're only away for 5 years, we won't need this" when actually, 5 years (or even 3 years) is a fair whack of time and I find I wish I had all my stuff. I have ended up buying replacements for things I already have, which is annoying, or doing without because I can't bring myself to replace things. Things like old towels, baby clothes, camping stuff, sandpit. Lots of people do absolutely fine with minimal stuff, but have a look at how your family live because that doesn't work for us.

Good luck!

[BaggedandTagged]

Keep a UK debit card and billing address- useful for internet shopping from places that will ship overseas but require a UK billing address.

[laptopwieldingharpy]

Calpol is sold under the name panadol and tastes the same. Deodorant readily available both in sg and hk in any spurmarket, mannings/watsons or guardian pharmacy.

[fanjolina]

Great tips again - partic re things like Calpol and dedodorant (would never have thought of those)

And great advice bbb re power of attorney. Will sort that out with my dad.

[empirestateofmind]

Stock up on loads of DVDs in the UK, they are very expensive in Sg (and fairly expensive in HK despite the lack of sales tax).

Buy an all-region DVD player then you can play anything and everything. Or convert your existing one to all-region.

Sg sockets are the same as in the UK so electrics are not a problem. I can't remember what the HK ones are like.

[bigbadbarry]

Sorry I have skimmed rather than reading in detail but I wanted to say you might be able to take your cat, depending where you are going (I took mine to Tokyo) and that you might want to take enouigh deodorant to see you through as that was one thing that was ludicrously difficult to find!
You might want to consider giving somebody you trust power of attorney - my dad dd this for us and it meant he could sort out banking issues (though I suppose all that is easier than it used to be, with internet banking) and our letting agents dealt with him, too.

[BaggedandTagged]

It just won't die. I thought it was over this weekend- Saturday was gorgeous. Woke up this morning and I was like "What the hell? I'm in the cloud again"

[laptopwieldingharpy]

And shockingly this season that can be described as winter is dragging on forever!

[BaggedandTagged]

HK has normal Calpol, but you can only get it in 1 store- Bumps2 Babes- and it is a UK import so big mark up. Otherwise you can get "Panadol infant" in Mannings which is Calpol in different packaging but they dont do the no sugar one.

You do need winter clothes for HK- we definitely have a season that can be described as winter.

[kreecherlivesupstairs]

Check the flavour of the calpol. DD refused it in Thailand because it was a weird bubblegum flavour and in Switzerland it was butterscotch.
Luckily she can just take half a paracetamol if necessary now.

[fanjolina]

Good tip about the neurofen, I wasn't too bothered by the earlier post re aspirin as I never use that - I always tend to use paracetamol and ibuprofen instead (not sure why, now I come to think about it. is there much difference betweent hem all?)

[empirestateofmind]

No Neurofen is available over the counter in Singapore so bring it if you like it.

Larger bras are available at a shop in HV shopping centre. Or order mail order from the UK/Australia.

I would say do bring fleeces or other light coats/waterproofs to Singapore/HK. You will need them in Australia and NZ if you travel. We needed them in HK. DD has just got back from Vietnam and wore long sleeves and fleece there as it was quite chilly.

[laptopwieldingharpy]

Tanglin now officiLly accept bribes debentures

[laptopwieldingharpy]

For singapore put their name down for tanglin. Best overseas british school in the world. Very academic but also fab for performing arts/ graphic arts etc.... Brilliant pastoral care/ social responsability awareness etc....

[laptopwieldingharpy]

Then esf it is. Kellet does not yet go beyond year 6 but plan is for fully operational senior school by 2013.
Esf is well established teaching gcse / A levels ( twas the british school system established under british rule after ww2)

[FellatioNelson]

Yes we do want British curriculum, and we also want A levels in preference to IB. And it is the the Middle East. (no revolutions though!)

[laptopwieldingharpy]

Also meant to say, Kellet in strictly british curriculum while ESF schools run the IB program.

[laptopwieldingharpy]

the school issue is really a problem.

In Singapore, there is always a fall back plan (well documented on previous threads)

Fellatio, I assume you want to keep them in a british curriculum school?
In Hong Kong, unless you can fork out the $200,00 a pop debentures at Kellet (british school), then you would opt for an ESF school and you would actually have to be here to get any sort of confirmation as they go by catchment areas and for that you need an address.
We have been here since december and DS is still waitisted at Bradbury and no chance he will get in mid-year.
The peak school seems to have more places coming up and I know for a fact that they are more lax with catchment areas and will take applications for neighboring affluent areas. We could get a place there but I can not stomach the steep drive up and down twice a day.
Quarry bay should have more places as it is somehow less popular but I think that's just because its further out and there are 2 schools in posher areas for expats-on-a-package, so less people apply as first choice.

But I assume yours are senior school now? worth calling the admission officers for a heart to heart.

Now for ESF, something to bear in mind is the fast track summer relocation. They WILL give places to UK families relocating under short notice over the summer. you can not chose the school but its almost garanteed you would get a place.
Its a strategical game, apply now or wait and play all your cards in june.

For most other prominent international schools, children are assessed before they are allowed on the waitlist upon satisfacory completion of the test (from simple interview in infant school to full blown academic tests - some schools will do written tests + interview from Year 1 onwards). Bear in mind that the child needs to be in Hong Kong to sit the tests. The sooner the better.

Please don't let that stress you out, but you need to know what the situation is or prepare yourself for homeschooling/private tuition.

[SnapFrakkleAndPop]

If you're coming back to the same area do try to stay with the same doctor (if you like them). I was told if I left my GP I wouldn't get back in! So I explained at they were very understanding and said I did the right thing. Ditto with the dentist.

Probably doubly true if you're renting your house and new tenants register with the same GP.

[FellatioNelson]

We are going through the same thing at the moment, although ours is yet to be confirmed for sure. Our biggest headache is school places as my children are older. We cannot get a straight answer from the schools about whether or not they have spaces in the right year groups until we've formally applied and paid a registration fee of £200 , but we don't want to do that yet as we don't want to do that yet as we can't accept the job until we know where we stand with schools.

You don't all have to rush out there all together - your DH could go on ahead, let you spend some of the summer months sorting out last minute bits, and then come back for a week in the summer to help with the journey (if you need that.) That way your DCs could start the new school year in September. That's what we will be doing (if we go.)

[fanjolina]

Thanks Eastend mummy, I wasn't aware of those forums.

Hope you're enjoying HK!

[eastendmummy]

So glad I've seen this thread - we've all just moved to HK and there are things on this list that I still haven't done e.g. contacting re CB - didn't even cross my mind, so will sort that out!

Wish I'd known re tampax - may have to get some posted by my mum!

Fanjolina - in case you haven't found them already, geobaby (if you have small dc), geoexpat and asiaexpat are brilliant forums and I've found them so valuable for asking the most random questions!

Good luck with the move!

[fanjolina]

Interesting (contradictory!) advice about the doctors. I might have a quick word with my GP about a "hypothetical" situation to see what she advises.

Horupu - that is a good plan. Also solves one problem for me, as I always plan ahead so have about 50 cards and lots of children's presents already bought and was cursing how prepared I am when realising we are about to go away!

Kreecher - good advise about the tampons. I am a mooncup user, but suspect they are hard to come by, so I should probably buy a few spares.