Serendipity

Summary

The text recounts the unplanned yet serendipitous journey of a couple who moved from Singapore to Lake Placid, NY, after receiving an unexpected job offer at a boarding school.

Abstract

In the early 1990s, the author and their spouse, Rhonda, were presented with an opportunity to relocate from Singapore to Lake Placid, New York, when friends recommended them for teaching positions at a boarding school. Despite having no prior intention to move, they embraced the chance to transition to American life, especially for their US-citizen children. The move included roles as houseparents with provided accommodation and meals, allowing them to save money. They embarked on an extensive trip across the US, visiting friends and family, and seeing iconic sights like the Grand Canyon and Niagara Falls before settling into their new life in Lake Placid. The couple found the transition eased by the welcoming school community and the fully furnished home provided to them.

Opinions

The author views the unexpected job offer as a positive and life-changing event, attributing it to serendipity.
They express that the timing of the opportunity was fortuitous, aligning with their desire to move to the US.
The couple appears to be pragmatic, selling their car in a way that benefited both them and Rhonda's mother.
They are described as avid travelers, taking advantage of their move to explore the US extensively.
The author conveys a sense of gratitude for the warm reception they received from the school community in Lake Placid.
The move to Lake Placid is portrayed as a significant and beneficial change for the entire family, particularly for their children's upbringing.

Sometimes big changes are not planned.

In early 1990, my wife Rhonda and I received an unexpected and surprising long-distance phone call. It was an invitation by some close friends to apply for open positions at a boarding school in Lake Placid, NY. Our friends who were teaching at the school, put our names forward as prospective candidates who would be a good fit for the school. Although we had not even considered such a major change in our lives, the timing was good. We were then both working in Singapore and our children, who were US citizens, had never lived in the US. This opportunity offered us an easy and smooth transition into the US. The school needed teachers who would also serve as houseparents and the positions included year-round room and board on top of low but decent salaries. Having a home and meals provided meant that we could even save a little of our salaries. We had a phone interview with the head of school and were offered the positions.

We gave notices to our employers in Singapore and excitedly prepared to make the move in three months. We had accumulated a lot of “stuff” from our years living in Malaysia, the Philippines, and Indonesia. We culled as much as we could and packed and shipped the rest to a storage facility in Lake Placid to await our arrival.

Being avid travelers, we decided to take the opportunity to visit as many people and see as much of the US as we could during the journey to our new home. We first flew from Singapore to Hong Kong to visit some Irish friends who once lived next door to us in Singapore. From Hong Kong, we headed to Vancouver, Canada where my brother and his family had recently settled. Then to Los Angeles to spend some time with Rhonda’s mother. While there, we were informed she was in the process of trading in her 3-year Ford Taurus for a new car. We were looking to buy a car and discovered that by paying her the trade-in value offered for her car, we all came out ahead. Soon it was time to start our long drive across the country to NY and we decided to take two weeks to do it.

From California, we drove east to see the Grand Canyon in Arizona before heading to New Mexico and the famed Carlsbad Caverns. Next up was Dallas, Texas to visit with my sister and her family. From Dallas, we headed north to Lincoln, Nebraska for a visit with Rhonda’s brother before driving to Primghar, Iowa to attend the large annual family picnic hosted by Rhonda’s grandmother. We continued east to Mt. Vernon, Iowa to stay and visit with some close college friends of Rhonda’s. Finally, we left Iowa and headed for New York State. We spent a day visiting the spectacular Niagara Falls before driving the last leg of our journey to our new home in Lake Placid.

We arrived at the school’s campus in Lake Placid on a gorgeous summer’s day. We were met by our friends who helped us settle into our new home and acquainted us with the local area. Our home came fully furnished with our own private suite and living area and five other bedrooms to house ten boarding students. We spent the next week settling in and meeting our new colleagues, most of whom also lived on campus in homes similar to ours. With the help of a wonderful and welcoming school community, who all lived on campus, we felt very much at home. Our children who already knew the children of our friends and were fast making new ones loved their new child-friendly surroundings.

Six months before we arrived in the US, we had no idea we would be half a world away from Singapore living and working in Lake Placid. This major life-changing adventure was never planned nor anticipated. One day Serendipity just decided to pay a visit and we are thankful she did.