When the Cheshire emerges...

What a mouthful. It reflects that I've had a bunch of things running through my head this past week - not that I don't normally, but these things have just been pretty prominent.

I think my perceptions on people and the world have changed dramatically over the last two years since finishing university. A lot of the time it's not obvious, and more often than not I notice it in seemingly insignificant things. This change of taste realisation mainly came about during the Australian Open last week, as I've already detailed in my lowdown. But on a totally different note, I've also realised this week I care a lot more for seafood than I ever have before. A few years ago I couldn't stand the thought of my aunty and cousin absolutely devouring prawns, and now I find myself drawn to seafood pastas. Heck, I'm cooking myself a creamy scallop variety later this week - and I can't wait!

It's interesting how breaking barriers and trying different foods, perhaps years after a first experience, can open your eyes and tastebuds enormously. Travel helps with that, and I think it's helped moving out of home and having to feed myself...

Which brings me to my next point. Moving long distance has gone better than I anticipated in that I don't really get homesick and said cooking has turned into an adventure, but there are days when it gets hard.

Yesterday was one of them. A photo sent to my phone from two of my school friends saying they missed me made me want to laugh and cry at the same time. And then I found out they and one more had applied and been accepted into university.

Whaaaat?

I'm SO proud and happy for them. But it made me realise there's a damn lot I'm missing out on at home, and no-one's telling me about it. And that can be depressing sometimes.

Thankfully I'm not at the stage where I could get to this point. But I worry that someday I could be. I was on the BBC site to read about the Eurozone crisis and then I get a link to this about expats finding readjustment at home hard. How ironic.

I'm not even going to go into where I feel replaced. It's not worth it because dwelling on these things for too long is never healthy and they're insignificant when you look at the big picture. I should continue to remind myself that my time away from everyone is an adventure, where I'm expanding my worldly horizons. And I hope that everyone in life has a similar attitude, even those back home.