Well, today marks one month since I arrived back on the ground in the UK (also, about year since we officially started the race!) and walked through Heathrow airport with increasing excitement on the way to seeing family again. For those unaware, I was met at the airport by my mum (expected) and my aunt (expected, because she works there) and then by my sister (unexpected) who lied and said she couldn't come because of work. Check out the experience:
I spent the next week and a half doing a little maths revision but mostly spending time catching up with friends and family, including a surprise party. What happened with that was my sister had invited me round a few weeks before to dinner on the saturday, the week leading up to it suggesting we invite dad along too which I of course agreed to. However, having had her pick us up and drive her round to her house, I walked into the house and was blown away when I opened the living room door to find a room full of friends and my mum as well who had all gathered to throw me a belated birthday / welcome back party. It was amazing that they had all thought to do so and it really surprised me which was so nice and I even got a skype from Andrea and got to chat to a couple of WRers too. (It has also been nice to get back because I had a small bag of chocolate waiting for me from Christmas from my mum, another from my dad, and presents from my sister, including chocolate, at this party! I'm still working through it all now, a month on!)
The weekend after, I bought a new suit and headed the 9 hours of travel (with a 3 hour pit stop in there on top of that to drop off my things in Portsmouth) to Cornwall for my friends Kat and Pancho's Wedding. It was great to be there because it was a great day for them and also it was great for me because of being see all of our mutual friends on top of that, friends who I hadn't seen for at least a year. It was a lovely ceremony and a fantastic reception and an all around good time.
Since then I have been in Portsmouth almost continually, going home at the weekends to increase the amount of time with friends and family, since it was only 10 days I had after being back before I left again. I completed my two week subject knowledge enhancement course without issue and am already into the swing of the main PGCE course, so far not too taxing.
It's not really like this
Adapting
Many people have asked me, "is it weird being back" and to be honest, no. What's weird to me is that it's not weird. One thing I found from this year is that "culture shock" really wasn't a thing for me. I noticed it from the very beginning, as people were talking about the teary departures they had had leaving, which was something I didn't experience. Occasionally moving from one place to another was a little saddening as we said goodbye, but for the most part I didn't feel too shaken by it. This isn't because I didn't care, because I did, but change doesn't seem to be something that seems to phase me that much. I haven't had any particularly noteworthy things stand out to me in different places in terms of comparisons or adaptation as I just tend to slot into wherever I am, and this has been true of my return home. (I of course hope that that doesn't mean I default back to who I was before I left and lose all the learning of the past year…)
But as well as being asked about anything going on within me following my return, I've also been asked about how the UK seems, being back. Having reflected a little on that, although it was nice to get home and see more patriotism because of the Olympic and Paralympic games happening, I would say that it does seem a little darker/more oppresive than it did before. I do notice how inherent things like materialism are in the mindset of the country, but also how much harder it feels to talk openly about faith. I think about how easy it was this last year to be open and overt about Jesus with pretty much everyone I met, and it seems hard to bring it up here. I think how secular this nation is is a lot more apparant, having spent so much time in nations that have so much church in their culture, and so it naturally feels uncomfortable to try and talk about faith compared to the last year. On further reflection, I guess the fact that I am having to try and get into a rhythm of being able to talk about Jesus with people again would suggest I am still having to adjust back to my own culture.
Moving On
But now that I am back I am going to have to move on from this blog, since I am no longer on the race itself. I have set up a new blog at WordPress. If you want to stay up to date with what I'm doing the this will be a simple blog (I've chosen a minimalist layout) to jot down thoughts, etc., I might have from now on. You can use the 'Entries RSS' link at the bottom to follow it if you have an RSS Feed Reader. You can also follow my Tumblr account where I may or may not share photos, videos, links and any other multimedia I find interesting online, and then there's twitter for occasional updates about mundane life (that's what twitter is for, right?) and youtube for any videos I may or not make (a lot of this seems to be speculation about my future internet use, haha). I'm afraid that going into teaching means my Facebook privacy has gone right up, so if you want to add me on there you will have to email me to arrange doing so.
amanofgodforever.wordpress.com
Thank you for following me and being a supporter of my missions work and the Kingdom in this last year. You are a friend and a brother/sister and I thank God for you.
So for now, peace out and God bless.
