Ah yes, I remember now: coming back after your first visit back home is one of the trickiest points of any stint abroad. I'm neither one thing nor the other now: not full of wonder at the newness of it all, nor yet so at home that the sudden removal from more familiar environments doesn't cause those pangs of culture shock. What makes it really hard, though, is the plunge from a two-week social whirl back into the relative isolation of the single expat.
And this social whirl was particularly, er, whirly. This being England and the Netherlands, the majority of my catch-up with friends involved the pub; having come from India, which is not a big drinking society and which has eye-watering mark-ups on my favourite tipple (wine), my body was suddenly catapulted from happy near-teetotalism to something that was certainly well over my recommended intake of units.
Anyway, the result of all this frenetic activity (and the fact that only a week of my time away was actually holiday) is that I came back to Delhi feeling pretty knackered, which is not normally what one aims for after a holiday. Next time I think I'm going to hop on a plane to the Maldives.
Of course, I naturally now do the sensible thing and slow down the extra-curriculars for a little bit, right? Um, well, no, not exactly. After having had rather too much time on my hands for the last few months, I am now studying for a post-grad qualifcation in education, directing a short play, learning Hindi and (hopefully) fitting in the gym a couple of times a week. I've also just joined a local choir which I'm very happy about indeed. It took me a while to find one, but I was pleasantly surprised at the first rehearsal tonight to find that it's very healthy indeed: at least 80 members by my reckoning, and even a fairly healthy complement of tenors.
Fellow choristers will also empathise with my pleasure at the universal choral bickering that started pretty much as soon as the conductor had warmed us up:
"OK, from bar 27-"
"Wait, I think the tenors are singing the wrong note on "deo".
"What deo?"
"The deo after the "in excelsis".
"They all come after "in excelsis".
"Well, after that one."
"But the tenors don't have a deo there."
"Yes you do."
"No we don't. Look, we stop after "in excelsis."
"Well, you're singing the wrong note anyway."
"We're not singing anything!"
"Just be quiet and try to get it right."
"Witch..."
And of course the eternal favourite:
"Can you please stop talking when the other sections are singing!" (repeat ad infinitum).
Ahh. Maybe it is starting to feel a little bit like home here after all.
And this social whirl was particularly, er, whirly. This being England and the Netherlands, the majority of my catch-up with friends involved the pub; having come from India, which is not a big drinking society and which has eye-watering mark-ups on my favourite tipple (wine), my body was suddenly catapulted from happy near-teetotalism to something that was certainly well over my recommended intake of units.
Anyway, the result of all this frenetic activity (and the fact that only a week of my time away was actually holiday) is that I came back to Delhi feeling pretty knackered, which is not normally what one aims for after a holiday. Next time I think I'm going to hop on a plane to the Maldives.
Of course, I naturally now do the sensible thing and slow down the extra-curriculars for a little bit, right? Um, well, no, not exactly. After having had rather too much time on my hands for the last few months, I am now studying for a post-grad qualifcation in education, directing a short play, learning Hindi and (hopefully) fitting in the gym a couple of times a week. I've also just joined a local choir which I'm very happy about indeed. It took me a while to find one, but I was pleasantly surprised at the first rehearsal tonight to find that it's very healthy indeed: at least 80 members by my reckoning, and even a fairly healthy complement of tenors.
Fellow choristers will also empathise with my pleasure at the universal choral bickering that started pretty much as soon as the conductor had warmed us up:
"OK, from bar 27-"
"Wait, I think the tenors are singing the wrong note on "deo".
"What deo?"
"The deo after the "in excelsis".
"They all come after "in excelsis".
"Well, after that one."
"But the tenors don't have a deo there."
"Yes you do."
"No we don't. Look, we stop after "in excelsis."
"Well, you're singing the wrong note anyway."
"We're not singing anything!"
"Just be quiet and try to get it right."
"Witch..."
And of course the eternal favourite:
"Can you please stop talking when the other sections are singing!" (repeat ad infinitum).
Ahh. Maybe it is starting to feel a little bit like home here after all.
1 comment:
There was me drinking your favourite tipple in front of you. How very terrible of me...
Was great seeing you while you were back here in The Netherlands.
I look forward to reading more about your choir antics - I am sure they will be antics!
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