I've also, just generally, always had a travel bug. So when the travel job in Southeast Asia was offered to me, I jumped on it. No real draw to Asia, although it's always been a place I've wanted to see, but it captivated me when I arrived and I have a very special place in my heart for the place in its people. The irony of the adventure, however, was that in many ways it actually brought me here to the UK, in a round about way. On my trips in Asia, because of my company's deal with British-based travel company STA, the vast majority of my clients I led on tours were from the UK. So, as much as I learned about the cultures of the Asian world, I was dually inundated with British culture - for better or worse. There was a pretty constant barage of criticism for my "mis"pronounciations of the English language (They invented it, you know), my bewilderment at some of their dinner table habits (we Americans have it right, as far as I'm concerned), my interest in their far more socialized society (also for better or worse - health care: free but pretty shit; University, however: excellent and far cheaper than in the States), and my constantly growing iPod library, filled each trip with new music I had never heard of or listened to from across the pond. In general, I was arguably more exposed to British culture in my 18 months than I was to Asian culture. Or at least on par. But what that gave me was a bit of an in-depth and personal introduction to the ways of British society, but more importantly, a hell of a lot of friends over here. And fun friends, too. It may be a dreary, rainy, small little island, the pound may be falling, the government is whack, but the English know how to have a pretty damn good time. That, I know for sure. And, luckily, so do I.
But I'm not here primarily to have a good time. I'm here to study. I begin this week a Master's in International Development. I think I want to teach, I might want to go back to Cambodia to work for a non-profit, I'm definitely eager to be back in a classroom and re-learn how to learn, and it's a hell of a lot more affordable (and shorter) to study here than at home. And I'm fulfilling a little bit of what I like to think of my destiny - however roundabout and random it is. I never really imagined myself moving to Manchester. If the weather's bad in London, it's absolutely depressing here. But I happen to like cold and rainy - and I've had more than enough palm trees and perfect weather in the last few years to get me through 12 months here. Plus, I plan to go to Spain at LEAST once! And, of course, I'm also here to have a good time. And to soak up some culture and hopefully not catch pneumonia. So, as they say here, I'm giving it a go again with the blog so that I can share these experiences and observations with you, dear readers. I failed miserably after a couple short months in Asia, but I hope to keep up with this one. So thanks for reading! Cheers!
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