Westward

Europe. I didn't even have to leave the airport at Amsterdam to be reminded why I'm making this trip: the lure of the unfamiliar.

Walking through the calmly chaotic airport, I felt like a piece of dry white bread, dunked into a delicious soup. People's clothes, mannerisms, faces and skin were warm juices and their constant uttering of foreign phrases was like a subtle mix of herbs to enliven the brew. Dutch, German, French. Patisseries, Beethoven, cathedrals, wine.

And now I sit in Norwich. Finally, here. Though the seed has barely sent off a shoot, it has been planted. The new phase of my life has begun.

in transit

Brisbane to Singapore: good; fine. Uneventful, almost.

As when hunger is so prolonged that eating is about easing the pangs rather than savouring the texture and taste; so I seemed somewhat desensitised to my departure. "Finally. Really? Yes."

Tonight, however, I leave Singapore after a relaxing break. This time I fly to Amsterdam and then to Norwich. Tomorrow I will be in my new hometown. A little savouring seems possible tonight.

sweet sorrow

I won't have time to post an entry before I fly out tomorrow. So here is how I envision my departure, through the words of William Wordsworth:

Where lies the Land to which yon Ship must go?
Fresh as a lark mounting at break of day,
Festively she puts forth in trim array;
Is she for tropic suns, or polar snow?
What boots the inquiry? Let her travel where she may,
She finds familiar names, a beaten way
Ever before her, and a wind to blow.
Yet still I ask, what haven is her mark?
And, almost as it was when ships were rare,
(From time to time, like Pilgrims, here and there
Crossing the waters) doubt, and something dark,
Of the old Sea some reverential fear,
Is with me at thy farewell, joyous Bark!

the chasm

I'm on an island at a busy intersection

I can't go forward, I can't turn back

Can't see the future; it's getting away from me

I just watch the tail lights glowing

One step closer to knowing

One step closer to knowing

-- From One Step Closer by U2

Here I am in this numb timelessness between the warm goodbye and a crisp hello. This landscape is littered with boxes and stray belongings; a desert governed by lists.

One step closer to going. One step closer to going.

So near yet so far

I feel close enough that I can almost envisage the life awaiting me across the globe. Or is it only a collection of my imaginings - nothing like the reality that lies ahead?

Image: Norseman by Shaun Tan, brilliant artist/writer/picture book author and illustrator

20 days 'til take-off

My visa has arrived! One week to go at work. Two weeks left in our unit. Three weeks 'til we're soaring above the Middle East, on our way to Amsterdam. Feels just a little like this fabulous vid.