Wednesday, May 06, 2009

Being back in Bangkok

Oh, it is lovely to be back.

When I ‘phoned my parents to tell them I had arrived, I could hardly believe I had been at my childhood home, six thousand miles away, just the day before. The only evidence of this strange time travel was my dizziness and the fact that Monday was only a few hours long.

The bit of Monday I did have was a slither of the late afternoon and evening before Daughter disappeared for a sleepover (life goes on even when mum returns from two weeks away.) I caught them up by telling tales from Kent and they told me bits from Bangkok life and then Husband, Son and I watched Slumdog Millionaire. I stayed awake!

Life really began again on Tuesday. Only a couple of hours after getting up, I lay down on my bed ‘to read’ and had to sleep again: horizontal is a very dangerous position to be in after time travel. (Oh my bed! My pillow, oh they are divine and the shower, my mugs…) Having put myself back on UK time with my nap, Daughter and I went shopping and gossiping, past her bedtime… Eek (The shops stay open ‘til 10pm here.)

I do wonder if this culture hopping/time travelling will ever feel normal. Or perhaps it’s me? Am I making it worse by being conscious of it each time I do it in order to keep it alive for my writing?

Still, who cares? It might be odd, but it is lovely to be back.

16 comments:

BEAST said...

Bed, Pillow, Shower, Mugs. Interesting way to rate the delights of Home, or maybe it's more a reckoning of the woes of non-Home. I did notice, however, that Husband didn't make the top 4! Can I be #5 please?

Unknown said...

Chuckling from comment above :-)

I think it's important to savour the changes each and every time. It reminds me how lucky I am to have both.
lx

Jenny Beattie said...

Oh dear Husband, only the inanimate objects were hailed as the animate rate too highly to mention on my blog...

(Did I get away with that?)

Liz, *wincing still from hideous faux pas*. Hmmm, I am lucky, I do realise that but it messes with my head so much.

Jen said...

I think Liz is right - positively revel in the changes brought upon by your time travel.

And oh! Poor husband! Lucky they love you, innit?!

Queenie said...

My solution to the overwhelming need for a jet-lagged nap is to sleep (or even read) somewhere uncomfortable, e.g. on our kitchen sofa which is only a two-seater and therefore much too short for my lanky frame. That way I nap just enough to keep me going, rather than sleeping for too long and prolonging the jet-lag. An academic friend of mine who flies a lot swears by melatonin. Then again, jet-lag can be useful as an excuse for things. For example, I'm sure you would have put Husband at the top of your list if you didn't have jet-lag;-)

Rachel Green said...

It's always good to be home :)

Chris Stovell said...

Good to see you back, both here and at home. We have our house to ourselves for a couple of weeks and I feel like staying in bed all day after a run of visitors so I can empathize with the attraction. (I wonder if I can claim jet-lag when our visitors get too much?).

Jenny Beattie said...

Jen, Oh dear it is, isn't it? I think like Queenie says I should blame the jetlag for everything I'm doing wrong.

Queenie, okay I've tried that. I've just had a sleep on the sofa in the office; now I have crick in my neck...

Rachel, that's the thing... It was great getting home to the UK and now it's great to be home in Bangkok.

Jenny Beattie said...

Ooh you snuck in there Chris. Thanks you - it's lovely to be back. I think that's a marvellous idea of yours - do let us know how it goes.

Sue Guiney said...

Glad to see you're back home safe and sound. This "time traveling" thing is amazing though. I often wish they could figure out some way to make jet lag less of a problem. But the metaphorical implications may be worth it :-)
It really was great meeting you!

Lane Mathias said...

Glad you're back safe and sound. Hope you're almost back in the right time zone now:-)

HelenMWalters said...

Glad you're settling back in x

Flowerpot said...

It's so long since I travelled any distance that I cant remember jet lag. Now the furthest I go is Truro or Penzance!!!

Anonymous said...

I popped across from Carol and Chris's blog for a wee visit. Hullo!

I would hate jet lag, as I am a horrendous traveller. All that time travel would leave me all of a befuddled. That's why I prefer to travel everywhere by bike.

Jenny Beattie said...

Sue, it was lovely to meet you too. I'm so glad we managed it.

Lane, thank you.

Helen, thank you. And will I see you at the Novel Racers meet?

Flowerpot, that sounds very sensible to me. It's a bit tough on the body to time travel.

Hullaballoo, well, you're very welcome here, however you came (I'm just relieved it was time travel!) Going everywhere on your bicycle sounds eminently sensible to me! I do get very discombobulated myself!

Leigh Forbes said...

What was even more bizarre was waking up on the Monday morning, and knowing that you were still on the plane!