Normality

There are those who, perhaps with a degree of justification, say that no matter how hard I try I can never be normal. I'm just too weird for the term normal to apply to me. Still, following the manicness of rehearsing for Bocelli, or Brahms, or something else in between, I suppose that these last two weeks have, for me, been somewhat normal.

So what does normality actually mean? Well - work is manic. Our project lucrhes from one deadline to the next in a never-ending firefight, trying to stem the flow with, of all things, paper. Mounds and mounds of paper. If we don't think the proposal is decent, gain acceptance by confusion - just submit so much paper that they've forgotten what the overall aim was.

At work I often end up in meetings. Lots and lots of meetings over here. I think work sends me because a lot of the natives don't really understand what I say, particularly if I talk fast. It's more of this gaining acceptance by confusion tactic. They send me, and another ex-Maunsell Brit in, and we talk fast in very English accents. We either get agreement, or, at times mystified silence - which we take as agreement. Only rarely do we get disagreement. When this happens we take advantage of our cultural differences and start swearing - unlike Britain, this is responded to with mystified silence, and we have our agreement. All's well that ends well huh?


Outside of work I help a few people play cello on the odd nights. On the even nights I don't. I go home and consider whether I should do my chartership reports. For the most part, my consideration results in a decline to re-watching DVDs. I live in Region 3 for DVDs now, but my computer plays region 2. I can legally get region 3, and illegally (but quite easily) get region 1. Not all that useful, but at least my student loan went to good use in making sure that I only have to watch each film about once a month. If anyone has any DVDs they don't want, then be sure to let me know.


Weekends I do as little as possible. I rarely succeed in doing little though. The regulare things are laying squash on at least Sunday, and some Saturdays. After which I eat dinner with the Dodgess and her Mum.  The food always varies, but equally always includes fried tofu and fish cake. Not two foods which I ever thought would become such regular features of my diet, but then there are several parts of my life which I never really envisaged, but nonetheless enjoy, not to say love. I usually end up shopping in the equivalent of ASDA - in fact it could even be the equivalent over here. At some point I'll talk about buying food here - even the raw stuff is a different experience to the UK.


So now it's time to make those of you who live in the UK a little jealous. There is the odd evening when I have a bit of time to myself. On these occasions I swim in my flat's pool. It is 30m long, and under the stars, and I often have it to myself. When I have plenty of time, then I end up going for a walk along the beach. It's nice after dark. I can sit on the pier and watch the long haul flights land at Changi airport, or walk down to the Hawker centre and eat kebab sticks and have a nice cool drink.