remixed feelings

it's been almost six months since returning from london and only now, due to the change in visa rules i've felt the need to reflect on the year i spent there.

i guess the biggest thing about living abroad is...exactly that, living abroad and meeting unfamiliar surroundings, unfamiliar accents from different parts of the island and a world of adventure awaiting my discovery.

i've dossed with friends, made new friends and reforged old ones and met distant family that i've never ever seen before.

i had a 3 hour round trip to aylesbury everyday for 7 months for work.

there, i met some hard working english and some lazy ones, like every other working society.
i admit, it's a rather small sample group but i can only speak from my experience (strange and coincidentally i met an ex workmate from sydney from several years back).

the bloke who sat next to me had only been to london a handful of times, he grew up in aylesbury, now 32, he's worked in that organisation since he was 18 in the call centre, recently as he says, got "promoted" to IT. one day he'll visit sydney, one day.

then comes the european trips, ticket purchases, check ins, customs, the delayed flights, dawn departures and midnight arrivals are just some of the things that's defined many australians' experience.
this by no means is an exhaustive list, our trips were at best guess every 3 weeks. we visited a fair few cities as you do during your first year in london (ibiza is all sorts of crazy).

there were also so many memories i took away from being in london-town itself.

i've been fortunate enough to have a fairly close knit bunch of friends over there that's either super-enthusiastic about jetting off to some european city or getting out and partaking in local activities and places of interest - bath, windsor, touch footy, musicals, portobello markets, and hunting for good coffee!

leaving london in september last year, i made many many promises to friends about returning by early '09.

so a change in the visa rules which has effectively ruled me out of the only venue for me to return to london has me feeling, inadequate, unsatisfied, disappointed.

lately, the idea of working and living in canada came up on my radar, due to the ease of acquiring their visa and perhaps a substitute for london...

i've not lived or worked in another city other than london, but i can't be bothered to explain why the desire for london right now.