A holiday post

Scattered thoughts from my hotel room on the last night of my recent trip (written at 22h43 on 2 November 2004)

What a brilliant holiday I've had. I've seen good friends, eaten delicious food, drunk tasty beer and done some sightseeing. What has the best part of my trip been? The memories. The entire time I've been here, I've been thinking back to my past in this country. The people I had met, the different train trips I had taken, the classes I had taught, the fun nights out I had enjoyed, etc. Everything. Memories have been flooding back to me ever since the plane touched down. I remember everything so vividly, including the first time I set foot in the-Eastern-European-country-I-used-to-live-in in 1998, a year before I moved here.

I came here on a whim. I was in (insert country) and met a Canadian girl who had just come down from the-Eastern-European-country-I-used-to-live-in. I asked her about it because it wasn't on my list of places to visit - I had nothing against the-Eastern-European-country-I-used-to-live-in, I just didn't know much about it or think it had anything of interest to me. However, she finally convinced me to go to (insert city) for a few day - and I ended up staying for two weeks. Later, on the same trip, I came back and visited a few different parts of the-Eastern-European-country-I-used-to-live-in - amounting to another two week stay in the country.

I frequently get asked why I love this country so much, a question I can't answer. Yes, I love the people, the food and drink as well as the culture, but there's also an atmosphere that has captured me and won't let go. Honestly, I hope it never does.

Friends in the-country-that-won't-be-named have told me how my face lights up when I talk about the-Eastern-European-country-I-used-to-live-in. One good friend in the-country-that-won't-be-named has told me that he's been waiting for the news that I'll be moving back here ever since we met in July 2002. He'll be the first to know. A relative that came to visit me in 2000 said, 'I see why you like it here,' at the end of his visit. He felt it too. So have many others that have visited.

I know that life in the-Eastern-European-country-I-used-to-live-in isn't perfect, but I also know that it's wonderful.