Wrong but oh so right

It’s funny when you’re in a foreign country and you’re suddenly overcome with a wave of nostalgia for home. Usually I feel it in my stomach. What I wouldn’t give for a pack of BBQ Shapes or Twisties. Or, even better, a Farmers Union Ice Coffee. Oh, and Fru Chocs. And Lift. OK, I’ll stop. But the reason why I’m talking of all things home is from watching the grand final on the weekend. Yes, I got up at 4am to cram myself into the Slug at Fulham to watch it live with a hundred other Aussies. Don’t ask me why. Well, I do know, it was fun. But, it’s wrong to start drinking at 5am. Ok, what am I saying? It's fun but snakebites? What have I turned into? Beer just should not be mixed with raspberry. Crawling out of the pub at 11am is also wrong. Especially when everyone else is going about doing their food shopping outside and you’ve been dancing to Barnsy in the pub. It was a good day and long night, filled with completely random fun including bumping into some people I had met in Croatia, stumbling into a dim sum themed pub and eating the best chicken kebab on the way home.

I can’t begin to describe how different my life is over here. Not that life at home was bad, just different. I feel like I haven’t taken a breath since I got here. Standing still is now alien. But, I wouldn’t have it any other way. There are always so many new things to discover and my list of 'want to do' is endless. Of course I miss you all (and of course BBQ City) but I’m so happy here. Perhaps I’m in a hurry to do it all because I know it’s not my home and there's an end point at some stage, but if there had to be a temporary place to call home, I couldn't ask for a better one. Well, maybe take the tube and the bad weather out of the picture. Perhaps it's not even London itself, just the fact that I wanted more and now I have it.

This week I am off to Krakow and Budapest with Jen. I can't wait, although it's proof of how quickly time has flown, as I remember spontaneously booking it back in June. I'm looking forward, although this is not quite the right word, to visiting Auschwitz. Being able to go to a place such as this, that played such an important, albeit tragic, part in history is part of what living over here is all about.