Expat life

It's been an interesting and stressful day, some news from home not reassuring. Living away from home, missing out on special occasions and missing the significant others in your life is part of the expat package. I hear this a lot from others, I feel it for myself.

But there needs to be a balance. A balance of self and family, of self and societal expectations. It's interesting to see just how many there are here around a certain age, leaving children and grandchildren at home to follow a career adventure. We talk about this, us grandmothers and grandfathers. It's tough to just see and not touch, not breath in that special baby smell.

Lyn and Kerry have set off on their new adventure, Helen's heading off again, Mike's back in New Zealand and Kate's getting set to join him, many of my current friends and colleagues have resigned their jobs and are moving away in the next three months. Life here is fluid, an ever changing shifting carpet. Family demands may lessen as children grow into adulthood but they never cease. It's 11 or 12 weeks until the next break, Who knows what might happen after that.