26th October 2006

Little Madam and myself returned ahead of the rest of the family, our trip truncated by school and work commitments. Just as before we left, the Lady of Leisure had organized her cohort of ladies who lunch into a massive logistics support function; school drop off, pick ups, evening meals etc.

Of course the best laid plans wend wildly awry as before. LM and myself muddled through, though I did find myself imposing on New Best Friends slightly more than would have been polite.

The kindness of relative strangers here is enough to restore a man’s faith in humanity. Yes they are not strangers to LoL, but I have never met half of the people she considers her friends. The expatriate community is small, and with the high churn, you find dispensing with much of the social etiquette we use at home to keep distance between you and the people you meet. Friends are formed immediately, no point waiting months if one of you will only be around for a year. One tends to be a little less choosy about friends as well, and even the slightest of shared interest can find you as bosom buddies with a motley crew of individuals.

Now I know I can blame work for distracting me a bit more than previously, but I didn’t think I was doing such a bad job. Something must have got lost in translation however, in updating LoL over the phone. My parenting skills were brought into question and suddenly I went from being the Best Dad on the planet in early October to apparently abandoning my daughter to the fates. I was told in very concise terms that I could not be trusted to look after the kids on my own again and that LoL would never stagger our flights home again. I suspect that there might have been a little tension with the in-laws after I left and I was bearing the brunt of frustration being unvented elsewhere.To make matters worse we seem to have picked up a bit of cockroach problem while we were away. Not too bad but I picked up 4 or 5 carcasses when I got back. Cockroaches here are monsters, the size of matchbox cars – and just as tough. LoL will have a fit when she returns