England, its not all chips and beer

All you Korea-dwellers, look at this

Things which are odd about being back in England include reminding myself not to treat cheese as a luxury item, ditto tomato soup, tampons and deodorant. Can't get used to seeing people sitting around in the house with their shoes on. Have not yet managed to pass anyone something with my left hand or use a toilet without looking around for the bin I expect to find next to it. Waited for ages for someone to pour me some wine the other night too.

Nice things about being back in England include spending a lot of time with my family, brother, sister, aunt, cat, taking phone calls from people in the UK and not having to worry too much about their phone bills being a nasty shock at the end of the month. In the (nearly) two weeks that I have been back I have bought a pair of shoes (from a large selection of shoes in my size- joy!) and two blouses. It was a treat to walk into a clothes shop and not be confronted with a look of shock from the assistant. Again, I had clothes to choose from and didn't have to just buy the one that fitted. No-one followed me around the store and no-one giggled behind their hands when they heard me speak English. Fortunately, so far, I have managed to suppress the urge to say 'annyong haseyo' every time I walk into a shop.

Other great things about being back in England include the countryside. The fields are not rice paddies but overflowing with flowers

and stinging nettles which I just managed to avoid in my eagerness to take photos

It is just so green here after the browness and snow of a Korean winter. I guess that Spring really is the season of greeness and I am sure that Korea is looking great now with its cherry blossoms everywhere.

I am enjoying the houses here too. Felixstowe has old parts and new parts, we are somewhere between since our house seems to date from the sixties, judging on the wallpaper behind my mum's wardrobe. But the old houses are just gorgeous. Some of them are thatched and a lot of them are painted Suffolk pink. This one isn't though

It is an old farmhouse just behind my mum's house. Me and my sister went for a walk yesterday to an area which used to be just trees leading down to the shore. The Port of Felixstowe extended into it years ago. We stood there and said 'I remember when all this was fields' then realised that a lot of it still was

Much as I am loving the peace and quiet of Suffolk, between the bouts of house clearing and rubbish dumping, I am going to London next week with my sister. Penny has to go back to work and I don't want to be left alone here without someone to drive me around(!) I will try and catch up with some folk in London and send some photos of the Big Smoke to you then.

I have to go now as I can hear the chime of the ice-cream van and am wondering if my sister will give me the money for a 99!