On arriving at Stansted Airport I expected tumbleweeds to be blowing across the tarmac,soothsayers proclaiming that the end of the world is nigh and raggedy urchins running around asking for "a few pennies mister".
Nothing of the sort.Dear old England seems pretty much the same to me,but then I haven't got a mortgage or job to worry about here and children are notably absent from my life.Of course on arriving in Brighton I have observed more boarded up shops than usual and the price of your average item has notably risen after 15 months away,but then this always happens.
We do like a good old moan in these parts,it's just that people have something serious to actually moan about now.There are always cultural differences that you notice,and this time around I've really picked up on people holding doors for you,waiting for ever and ever and ever in banks/post offices etc,people showing open displays of affection(which is a criminal offence in S.E.Asia)and the differnce in eating habits.These are all fairly obvious things but important all the same.
It's not that I dislike my homeland....far from it,and I think it would be disingenuous to start slagging off aspects of life left,right and centre as there are many things that I miss and enjoy in equal measure.Visiting the cinema,walking around a great old town,being chased by my niece and nephew amongst other things.It's always the same.......you miss home and you miss home.By that I mean that wherever I seem to be I look forward to being somewhere else!
I leave for Cambodia on the 5th May and am anticipating changes.
