Life on the Other Side

Life on the Other Side

Do you ever get moments when you wonder what it would be like to live somewhere else and even do something else?

I have these moments when I return to the UK on holiday. I haven't lived in the UK for over 10 years now and when I did live in the UK, I used to wonder what it would be like to live somewhere else. Now that I live in Asia, I wonder what it would be like to live in Europe again and live in the UK!  Personally, I think we bring the same old baggage with us wherever we live unless we choose to change the baggage. Some things do change though by living somewhere else such as our appreciation, wonder and curiosity.

I was reminded of this last week, when my three daughters and I arrived in England to stay with our friends in Thame, Oxfordshire.  We became the observers of typical family life back in Blighty. Schools haven't yet broken up for the summer holidays in the UK like the international schools, so we could see all the comings and goings of this family of four. It was like being witness to a fire drill operation. There was the early morning rise ready for the children to go to their swimming lessons before school, the packing of lunch boxes, the unpacking of the dishwasher and stacking it back up again with dirty plates, the husband whizzing in and out of the kitchen doing up his tie and grabbing a piece of toast before running out to his car ready for work, the wife running around like a tornado picking up all the relevant things she needed before driving the children to swimming and then back again ready for school, before starting work for her own business.

Like one of the members of the fire crew, I agreed to do my bit and offered to do a supermarket run . What I love about British supermarkets is the choice available. As I walked down the aisles of Waitrose supermarket, I became mesmerised by the sheer quantity, quality and choice of products offered. I was as excited as a child in a sweet shop.

"Can I help you?" a polite and helpful assistant asked.

"I'm really looking for the honey, but can't help being distracted by all these things," I exclaimed, my eyes wide open in amazement, while scanning the range of Cath Kidston mugs, colourful children's baking utensils (you can get little, soft, silicone heart shape moulds in a range of colours that can be used again and again) and pretty egg cups with their own individual bright cosies.

The assistant looked at me perplexed as though she was wondering whether extra terrestrial people do exist.

"I don't live here anymore." I thought I had better explain myself quickly. She still looked a little hesitant.

"We don't have supermarkets like this, where I live,"  I was trying to make myself sound more sensible, but judging by the assistant's silence, this clearly wasn't working.

"I live in Asia ..... Singapore .... well Bali .....," I tried to explain while the assitant led me to the honey.
The assistant smiled politely and showed me the honey. I thanked her profusely for getting me back on track for what I really wanted and we parted ways. I walked down the aisle with the Cath Kidston range and quickly peeked one more time before anybody else asked if I needed assistance and then I determinedly headed straight for the checkout before getting distracted again.

Paying at the checkout made me realise the ease with which you can pay for items in the UK. Instead of counting out over a million Indonesian rupiah in fifty thousand notes as I do in Bali, I could simply use my UK bank card and even get some cash back! How convenient is this?!  Usually I have to kidnap an ATM booth in Bali for at least fifteen minutes, while I attempt to get out a million rupiah (100 US dollars) in 50,000 notes which requires at least twenty attempts of re-enetering my card into the machine!

It does pay to sometimes stop and think about what we do have on our own side:-

"A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it."

George Moore (1852-1933) Irish novelist, short story writer and poet

Appreciate life wherever you are and including on your own side.

Janet