Scribbling #28: For This Week Only...

We're coming to the end of our stay in in England for this week, with a few stopovers along the way (especially in regards to Indian restaurants).  The last time we were here was last Easter, which in itself is an unreasonably long time to be away and still feel like I'm still part of the country.  Many things are easier, such as the ability to go down the bank by myself, but also we see how many things have degraded over time.  It only took six hours before the first chav threw a bottle of apple juice at our rental as we were passing through my hometown, and there is still a feeling that the UK as a whole is still as hurting as I left it, if not moreso.

This doesn't mean that I'm going to up sticks and leave Slovakia, far from it.  The guys in the UK may have a harder job to do, but more often than not, there are more resources at their disposal.  When living in Slovakia, it is easier to see from comparison what we can bring to a society who may or may not listen.  The fun part is integrating yourself into an alien society, and I do kind of feel like an outsider when coming home and catching up with people.  It really feels like I've got to 'traveller' status and I'm reminded by that quote from one G.K. Chesterton that 'the whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one's own country as a foreign land'.

It feels strange coming home after being away so long, but now it is time to go home again.