Second Helpings

Oh To Be In England

When people talked of culture shocks and serious adjustments I thought they were referring to Mey Ling, not me. lol After five days Mey Ling has assessed certain aspects of life in Old Blighty in her own inimitable style.

The weather. - 'It so cold here. Your country. My GOOOOOD.'


The cuisine - 'You like the cheese and chocolate here. YUK! MY GOOOOOD'


The music. - 'You playing that rubbish CD again, Paul. MY GOOOOOD'


The sport - 'Football, football, always on television. Boring. MY GOOOOOD.'


The natives - 'People very strange here. They no smile, look grumpy. MY GOOOOOD.'

I predict this young lady has enormous potential as a person and a possible writer. Her powers of observation are second to none.

So, now we have a cupboard full of rice, noodles, soy sauce and green tea, a fridge containing vegetables with limbs and appendages, oriental aromas drifting from the kitchen, khmer music floating from the bedroom and telephone calls from asian friends at seven in the morning. MY GOOOOOD.

Despite the concerns and obvious changes in our routines the sound of laughter is frequent and reassuring. The khmer music's not bad either but right now I have 'I will survive' playing in my head for some reason.