back in the UK for a bit..... dad and me at windsor racecourse... dad won, I didnt.... ('nuff said)
So since I last wrote I’ve actually seen many of you as I got home for a few weeks…… What a treat!
In celebration, I have decided to add a couple of extra bits to my blog…. Main thing being my ‘flickr’ photo account.. I was having so many problems uploading my photos and so now you can access all my photos in one place online by clicking on the flashing photo box on the right. Also (and if you are REALLY desperate for something to do!) you can click on my links and take a virtual stroll with me down Rangiora High Street- pass the smelling salts!!
So update time…..
The week before I headed home we had another prison visit, one of the other team members had bought his mother-in-law along… she was visiting from the Philippines and she shared her testimony with the prisoners .. turns out she is a famous film star (now retired) in her country and had a really powerful story to tell! Also turned out she was on the same plane from nz to Singapore than me so we arranged to meet at the airport and check in together.
And so verily it came to pass that I found myself playing escort to a Filipino Film Star…. kind of hoped she would be recognised by the flight crew and hustled off into First Class (with me very firmly in tow) but alas it seems that Filipino film stars are not so famous in Singapore and so it was with a sigh that I folded myself into my 2.31cm of leg space and settled down for the long flight home.
Singapore Airlines has this thing where you can keep track of your flightpath on your personal tv screen, I kept checking it to see where I was and it was lovely to be able to note I was flying over places where good friends of mine currently are….. India, Vienna, France & Canterbury(!) to name a few…. did you see me wave!!??? 
7 years later….I unfolded myself from seat 35C…… how FAB it was to see mum and dad beaming away in arrivals along with what seemed like a million other people…. It was only about 6.30am but I think I saw more people in the arrival hall of Heathrow then I had seen in my entire year in nz… took a bit of getting used to and I did wonder how on earth earnest young Kiwis fresh off the plane on their big O.E. cope with it all!
Driving home on the M25 and then through Sunningdale, Bagshot etc I was fascinated at how small everything was, the motorway lanes (practically held my breath as we passed within inches of the other cars!) and the houses, they were so packed together! And the OLD THINGS!! Was so wonderful to see old things (Mum and Dad don’t count) churches, steeples, cottages, pubs, stone walls… buildings of substance!!– those of you living in the UK, don’t take them for granted EVER!!
My first week home was spent catching up with family and of course Corrie! I wasn’t too well, but it worked out OK as it was good to have to take things slowly, and have the chance to spend quality time with a few rather than dash madly about the place seeing lots of people all-too-briefly as I originally felt compelled to do!
After the initial integration time was over I was very much looking forward to visiting London although slightly apprehensive as to how I would find it after over a year away (and in such a different environment!)
On my first trip in, I stepped off the train at Waterloo and literally broke into a run as I raced along the platform and sprinted into the tube station. I was halfway down the escalator tutting and glaring at the torturously slow and bulkily laden tourists in my way before I caught myself and stopped…… what on earth was I rushing for!? I had deliberately got to London much earlier than necessary for my arranged meetings to enable me to have time for a wander to savour it all so I had absolutely no reason to! It was shocking how instantly I had stepped back into the fast flowing tide of London life!
Slowing down drastically I continued my wanderings, it quickly struck me how it was physically impossible to walk in a straight line for more than 3 steps at a time, also how completely multi-cultural London is (rural nz just isn’t!) and, what depth of variety there was…. for example, I was walking past a HUGE bookshop and realised it was completely devoted to travel books…. That wouldn’t happen in nz, there simply isn’t the population to sustain such specialisation.
Most striking of all, after a year in the backwater of Rangiora, was how much potential there seems to be in London…. I was completely caught up in the feeling that round the next corner ANYTHING could be happening or I could bump into ANYONE etc etc. None of the above observations have EVER crossed my mind when I was actually living in the city for all those years!
Someone gave me some advice when I was new here, that whilst making such a huge move is obviously broadening my horizons, in reality, life actually contracts massively as you establish yourself, It wasn’t negative advice at all, but it has proved very true….. for whilst on the one hand I am experiencing new things all the time (even a regular supermarket trip still brings new surprises!) my social networks and day-to-day living in such a small town have all become very small and focused… with all that in mind I decided to relish every second of my short time back in pulsatingly crazy London!
First treat was a ride on my favourite section of the tube… that overland bit on the Piccadilly Line between Hammersmith & Acton Town where it doesn’t stop at any of the District Line stations and so goes really fast and is a real bumpy ride…. My lunch was in Hammersmith but I carried on to Acton Town and caught the next tube back just for old times sake! (and yes, I really am as sad as I know I am making myself out to be)
I was treated to a wonderful ‘homecoming’ moment whilst walking from the tube to my lunch appointment (catching up with the gang at the Christian Healing Mission (hello You Lovely Lot!!)) and overhearing the following conversation….
Man “Excuse me, sorry but do you know where Argos is?”
Woman “Oh sorry I don’t know, really sorry!”
Man “That’s OK, sorry to bother you”
Woman “Sorry I can’t help!”
I could have hugged them both for providing me with a delightfully intense moment of Englishness at its best! Marvellous!
I must confess that I did manage to fall in love with a lovely young man whilst back home….. devastatingly gorgeous, lovely smile and gives great hugs! My oldest friend Louise’s, son, Barnaby is completely fab… an 8 month old cutie! Though was funny to meet him as Lou was barely showing when I said goodbye last year!
So the rest of my trip home passed all too quickly in a flurry of friends, various birthdays (including my own milestone!) and Christmas shopping…. Yes it was only October and I’m usually a Christmas-Eve-kind-of-girl, but I had to buy them so I could leave them all at home! Believe me, it’s very hard to muster up a festive spirit when you are surrounded by pumpkins and devils horns! How come Halloween’s got so big in the UK over the past couple of years (and one final and quite random reflection… where DID all that pomegranate juice suddenly come from..??!! The shop shelves are positively groaning with the stuff and I didn’t even know what a pomegranate looked like before I left to go to nz last year!
I found it very difficult heading back out to nz again, I LOVE this country but I think I got a taste of how much more ‘normal’ life could be if I stayed in the UK…. in terms of good friends around me, chance of a decent job/career/ flat share/ etc. I felt as if I belonged when in London particularly, I was one of the crowd…. my age, single, my sense of humour etc! All the aspects of life where I feel different in nz… How hard it is to go against the worldly flow!
And I certainly got a second (double) dose of culture shock when I returned! Its SO quiet it here! What potential is there for me!? I think turning thirty made me reconsider what I’m doing here and in my first few days I majorly panicked (took all my willpower not to turn tail & head straight back to the airport!) BUT I felt more strongly than ever that whilst it IS hard over here and I seem to be kissing goodbye to all the things I long for by moving away from where its ‘happening’ I KNOW that its is where I’m meant to be for now and there is a real sense of peace about that, I cant really explain it but its something I wouldn’t swap for the world (or a man or a good salary!) and anyhow… God can do ANYTHING ANYWHERE!- watch this space… and I say that with more than a little faith (um I think!)
A week after being back I felt fully reintegrated and England seemed like a surreal dream. I was really bowled over by how much I was loved over here. I think I had to go away and come back to fully appreciate it!
For starters… Jessica and Emma had the day off school (naughty!) to pick me up from the airport with their dad and stepmum and as the plane touched down I could see a group of dots waving madly from the viewing platform at chch airport…. I just KNEW it was them and I can’t tell you how special I felt to be welcomed home so literally on arrival! God is so abundant! (also got overwhelmed with the biggest smiles and hugs as I came through arrivals!!)
The first Sunday back at church, I lost count of how many people came and hugged me and said how much they had missed me and even the “Christian Culture Cynic” residing in me could tell they meant it! I had a nz birthday ‘party’ a week later ( a quiet drink in a local bar with an open invite to all at church) and I was blown away by how many and who came… I got pressies galore and a delicious cake (courtesy of the lovely Christine) and whilst it wasn’t my very nearest and dearest around me it was the very next best thing! Check out the photos on flickr!
Life since has been … well fairly dull actually! I’m just horribly frustrated if I’m honest.... Its tricky to explain how I feel but its like I’m on the very brink of something amazing, but not quite there yet and I still have the major issue here of not having good friends who are around to ‘do things’ with.
TV is a massive culture thing out here, EVERYONE watches it all the time…. that’s not necessarily a criticism, rather an observation. I’m longing find a friend who embraces life completely, who wants to go for a walk or drink in the evening, watching the awesome sunsets they get out here and just talking and revelling in life!!
I said in a previous blog that following God like this is never boring… I stick to that…. Its not! BUT I still feel like I’m in some kind of cage or Perspex box here, I’m a ‘do-er’ and I WANT to engage fully in life but whilst I’m happy (or OK!) to do 90% of things on my own there are some things that I can’t for safety reasons or simply because I don’t want to on my own and I need a best mate here.. a partner-in-crime! Those of you who pray for me… please pray for that (thank you!)
A couple of weekends ago, I had a lovely lunch with Danella and Rick as they passed through Rangiora, they are old work colleagues and friends from HTB who have just moved back to nz after many years in the USA and UK and are suffering from similar (if not worse!) culture shock than I did!
Well how lovely to be able to empathise with each other and to share old jokes and chat about familiar people (in the non-gossip sense!) They are expecting their first baby in a few weeks (and there you were, putting Danellas shape down to a decent lunch!) and I’m so excited they are home and on this side of the planet (albeit several hours drive away…its all relative.) Avid blog readers amongst you will remember Danella’s parents as being the union Jack flag bearers of Nelson this time last year!!)
I was encouraged by a number of you whilst back in the UK that you actually read my blog (its goes off into Cyberspace each month and I tend to think that that’s where it stays!) and so on my return I approached a local magazine to see if they were interested in publishing an english girls rantings….. they seemed to be keen and I got published last week… Fame at last!!! I can send you an autographed copy for $10 and, yes you’ve guessed it…… if you can find it, an un-autographed edition is worth an absolute fortune……
So , Christmas is coming again and I thought I would be more used to it this year….. summer and santa… but noooooooooo its still so wrong!!! I was at the Kaiapoi river carnival last weekend (neighbouring town- see flickr photos again!) sitting in the sun, watching rubber duck racing… avec ice creams, strappy tops, sunglasses, sunshine… you name it, it was summer … except perhaps for the “I saw Mummy Kissing Santa Claus….. “ ringing out from the PA system. (ably accompanied by the beefy log-cutter competitors frantically chopping wood on the other side of the river…. Can it GET anymore surreal??!! I ask you!!!)
Well actually, yes It can ‘cos only yesterday I witnessed the Rangiora Santa Parade…(‘tho before I go on….. what a wonderful community day! The whole town turned out and you can see the photos on flickr. Must make a mention of the fact that the church won the best float in the parade!!!! Hurrah! …though have absolutely no claim to fame on this as I was not taking part, simply took some photos and felt like the proud parent on the pavement as they passed and waved!!)
Santa Parade Day in Rangiora took on the same kind of surreal flavour that other special event days adopt, with the whole town taking on some kind of ‘dream sequence’ feel…. but maybe I'm being harsh,,... after all what Christmas Parade would be anywhere NEAR complete without a chicken and a rooster on a moped?!
Then again... I was driving out of town to a BBQ party after seeing the parade go by and gave way to a car on a narrow bit of road, only to glance at the other driver and note he was a dressed in full clown attire. (wig, make up, nose. the lot.) For one horribly sinister moment I was an unpaid extra in Stephen Kings ‘It’….. then minutes later I turned onto the main road and found myself behind a traction engine, fully bedecked in tinsel naturally) with none other than Ivor the Engines Driver at the wheel, gunning it down the road at top speed of 5 MPH. What has happened to Life As I Know It!!!!?????
I’m going to end there…Its been too long since I wrote and God's been challenging me and changing my heart even more than before... and there is so much more than I can even begin to fill you in on but thats for a whole other blog.... In the meantime, dont forget to look at all the photos!!!
Looking forward to hearing from you this Christmas time... have a good one!
Lots of love
Charlotte xx
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