Leaving Britain

The last 12 days have been very, very tough. Leaving work was a lot harder than I thought it would be and as I left the office I felt distinctly shaky. This was soon cured by a few beers with everyone at Red Cube (thanks Ben). The following morning, after having slept the night in the office in Leicester Square, I had breakfast in a cafe and watched all my ex-workmates coming out of the tube and going into work - very strange!!

Once back in Chichester it was full steam ahead with the last few things to do to the house. However, these last few things included painting the landing, stairs and lounge, painting a lot of doors and frames, laying carpet in the three bedrooms, clearing out the shed and taking apart some furniture for storage, as well as . By Sunday night we had a very white and virtually empty house, but still no tenants. We decided to get another agent involved but at the moment we have no idea whether it has been let or not.

Our aim on Wednesday was to have everything packed and ready to go, and to have the house totally cleared by 4.00 pm. We did it by 4.30 pm! It was great to see people coming around that day to say goodbye, and as Lisa and I left some of the neighbours came out to wave.

We managed to spend 30 minutes with my grandparents before leaving for Heathrow Airport. Goodbyes were very hard and tearful, and I hope that we can get back to see them soon. At Heathrow the same was true again for my parents and brother, and their help and support has been invaluable especially as we know how hard it has been for them.

The kids were really excited about their first flight and we took off just before midnight. I wanted to take a photo of Jacob and Isabel, only to find that the camera battery was flat, and of course the spare was in my case! Isabel was asleep within 10 minutes!

Arriving in Bangkok

Due to a late take-off we arrived about 50 minutes late. We were met on the other side by Stuart Morris, the Headmaster of Shrewsbury School, and other staff, as well as the other teachers who had been on the flight. About 30 minutes later we were at our new home - Bangkok Garden.

Lisa and I had already seen the apartments when we came out at Easter, but it was reassuring to see that our apartment is very nice, clean and with a good view of Bangkok, especially the sunset - more of this later. A girl from customer services came up to see us. She explained that her name was Rak which means 'love' in Thai and that if we need anything to call and ask for her. Dial 1004 and ask for love - I don't think so!

Until our stuff arrives from the UK we have virtually no household goods, so we spent the first night sleeping under our beach towels. Still this didn't stop Lisa and Isabel from sleeping until 1.00 pm the following day, 15 hours sleep! Jacob and I made the most of the peace and quiet and went down to the pool where there soon wasn't any peace and quiet! Things are going well so far.

Posted on 16 August 2003, but I don't have an internet connection yet so I'm not sure when you will actually read this.

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