My First Blog

Welcome to my first ever Blog!

I thought about writing a Blog or something similar when we first moved from the UK to Ottawa, to record the experience and to keep friends and family at home up to date with our new life, but due the the very Real Experience taking over that new life, it never actually happened. A few entries made it to my personal journal, and to be honest, it's maybe better that they remain there as it was a somewhat emotional journey for me, especially for the first year. I would say it takes this long to truly find your feet in a new city.

I made a point of re-reading my little green journal, which has captured some wonderfully emotional moments over the last 3 years, on the plane ride from Toronto to Hong Kong, a long 16 hour flight, just to remind myself what I was letting myself in for, all over again. Parts of it were definitely entertaining, some bits made me laugh out loud, other bits made me wonder why on earth I wanted to move from a country I had just got to grips with and start afresh in another totally foreign land! More than anything though, I was left with the desire not to miss the opportunity to record my thoughts and feelings on this Part II of the Big Adventure. So, here I am...attempting my first Blog just 3 weeks in to The Asian Chapter.

My main intention, in blogging, is to record the ups and downs of our year in Hong Kong. To capture on paper the highs and the lows, because there will be both. Life is about balance...yin and yang...I fully believe that and I have no problem with a few life lessons along the way. That is after all, how we learn and get stronger and ready to face yet more of life's challenges!

In addition to my own need to capture this part of our life..mine and Alan's...I confess my desire to keep in touch with family and friends around the world and by sharing snippets of our life on a regular basis, I will feel closer to them and I hope, they will in turn feel a bit closer to me, despite the physical distance. After all, simply in time zone terms we are a whole 12 hrs away from our Home and friends in Canada and 8 hours from our family and friends in the UK. It's hard to keep in touch with this additional complication - I know..I've been practicing for the last 3.5 yrs!

As I begin to write, I have no idea in reality, how many people will read this and neither do I care.... but if you are reading, it would be nice to know, so do not be shy about adding your own comments or simply letting me know you're there....