Closing And Opening Doors

Preparations have begun for our move to Hong Kong. School applications have been filled out and sent and next week we go on a “relocation visit” to check out potential neighbourhoods and the like. Our house is cluttered with various Hong Kong travel and cultural guides (and my links keep growing). We’ve already started sorting through our belongings to see what we can sell or give away.

Perhaps hardest of all, we have started to say goodbye. A move like this means closing some doors, to friendships that will change and to places we will no longer frequent (some that we have enjoyed others that we have not). So, over the coming weeks you can expect lists, post and pictures of this process, as we farewell Delhi.

To be honest I have very mixed emotions right now. For me, Delhi has been a time of frustration more than anything else. I failed to achieve most of what I had planned to do during my time here. Moreover, whilst Delhi has its charms and points of interest, I have experienced this city as a harsh, angry and at times unfriendly place. It didn’t take long for me to realise that I was unsuited to thriving here.

But, on the other hand, there have beensome good experiences that will gel into fond memories. By pure chance and circumstance I was able to pick up the game of golf again and almost become proficient at it. Golf also opened the door to the few friends I have been able to make during this sojourn. As well, we have lived in a very pleasant house (of course with the sual share of electrical and water problems), which has been a wonderful and inspiring home for C. For a child of her young age, this house and its gardens really has been like a castle with its enchanted forest.

Also, oddly, through the last 15 years of constant moving, this home has seen the second longest spell I have lived in one house.

So, of all the farewells, the most emotional for me will be to a golf course and the games played on it, and to a house and times I have enjoyed it with her. Who would have thought that at the end of this season in Delhi, the times of play would be the most memorable?

[tags] Moving, Relocation [/tags]