Quote Originally Posted by ginapeterb View Post
I love my Barkada (group) do you miss yours ?

Just look at my English, I tend to slow down, emphasize certain points, and have this yo yo stretching words, such as take the word attentive, you roll it like this...atennnnntive !

Yes the DNA is coming up to the surface of my veins and complaining, or is that reklamo ng reklamo, the fact is:

I belong to a group now, and I miss my group, they were great fun, and I wonder how many here, on arriving in the UK, miss their group too, perhaps some of you girls, who came to UK, feel a little isolated, perhaps you miss your groups too, I can well understand how you feel, the UK can be unforgiving when it comes to groups.

I know what they mean, no Jeepneys, no pedicabs, no tri-cyles and even more so, no noise, (akin to life) no one selling anything, and no one calling for a chat.

Come on guys I would like to seriously explore how you felt, this is for the men here at the forum.

How was your landing ? did you stare out through the port holes ? what were you thinking ?

How was the journey home back to your house ? what went through your mind ?

Did you leave a girl behind for the first time ?

Was that your first visit ?

Did you leave a newly married wife behind ?

Are you a seasoned traveller, and still get the same feeling ?

What was it like when you put the key in the door lock and went in through the door.

What about the 300,000 letters on the floor or in the mail box ?


These and many other questions circulate through all of our minds, perhaps maybe you are like me, if you know you have a problem with all of this, you mentally prepare yourself as I did.

What I tend to do is physch myself up for the return, I remind myself of what I will expect, how it will be, and tell myself you have done this many times before, and its always the same, I tell myself a little plan how to overcome it, and ensure that I know what I will do when I get home, so as not to be stuck watching the 4 walls.

Let me hear your stories....
Yeah exactly, really hard coming home to the silence.

Done it loads of times, absolute agony at the airport particularly if the kids are there as well, I am a usually a bubbling wreck while going through the first x-ray inspection.

I take pictures out of the portholes every time I take off and land, I want to remember those moments, always feel the cold when I get back to Glasgow or Manchester and look at the others around me and wonder what is going through their minds, wonder what's on the telly as that is the only companionship I'm going to have for a long time, I usually just want to sleep as soon as possible when I get back then I call back home as soon as I can to let everyone know I'm safe on the ground.

In the air on the way back and on the ground I'm thinking about Ana about everything we have been doing together for the previous few weeks, remembering all our missions to this government office or that government office, thinking about all the times we have cried our hearts out to each other in bed when things have been going badly.

Remembering playing with James and him destroying the umpteenth toy car that we got for him and watching him bouncing up and down on the sofa and wondering exactly how much longer it will last before he goes right through it.

I just think about the smiles all the time, everywhere I go all the lovely smiling kind generous people, god I'm crying typing this, it's so hard not being there :(

I remember the smells and the pollution pushing Janna's pram round mall of Asia and going for Sunday night dinner after Church at Adriatico by the Bay before they closed the businesses at Baywalk.

Ana has lots of friends but it's only recently that some of her really good strong minded friends have come back into her life they have been missing for many years, she really needs those good friends in her life. We had a really good time with them last time I was over, barbecues on our terrace, going out to the pub, simple stuff but really good being with them all and to feel I belong somewhere.

I miss fixing the plumbing when it goes wrong or running round the house with Bygone trying to murder the ants we rent a nice place but next door have ants and they spread to our place really badly.

Yes I am a seasoned traveller and I feel this way every time, I usually drive home when I get back to Britain and it is a hard adjustment, really hard.

My heart is in the Philippines I would love to retire there but I worry that things will get much worse over there in the next 10 years, also that things are going to get really bad over here in 10 years time and it will be at least that long before I can retire probably longer.

Asia is alive...... the people are alive...... some of us live a very sterile existence here in the UK and I worry so much that if I ever manage to get my family over here that Ana will find the life here too empty.

All this goes though my head, every time I land back here in the UK.

Ana has been here once but even that journey was tinged with sadness as we had to leave James behind she spent 42 days in the UK and it was very hard for her, didn't help that she had morning sickness within 3 weeks of getting here (I got her pregnant either a couple of days or so before she arrived here or the first couple of days she was here )

But I do worry about her ability to adjust, no life outside the four walls/window could pretty much sum it up for a Filipina in the UK :( and it is so hard to see your partner suffer.

But sadly I have to work here I have no choice :(


Jim