Homeward Bound

Arrangements for our return to UK are gathering steam. I’ve got an end date for HK of 30 June and when I’m in London this week I’m going to try to get a start date in London of 1 August or maybe even 1 September, leaving me with a nice month or two to get the family settled in before I start back at work. Someone told me that that lovely Blair government has brought in some kind of leave allowance for having kids under five - every bit of which I've missed out on by being out of the UK. But Curly is still under five, soooo maybe it's not too late to take advantage of at least some of it.

I’m getting quite excited about this – back in our own place at last! It may be half the size of our current place with only one loo, the paper may be peeling off the walls, and Mrs Downstairs Neighbour may hate us (because we are thin, brown and clever, and she is the opposite), but it’s our own place. And hopefully by the end of the year we will have found and moved into a house.

But I’m already beginning to miss Asia in advance. I know once we’re back I will find myself wandering down Gerrard Street, sniffing the smell of the roast pork, and bewailing my stupidity at ever leaving Asia.