... and place

At the end of my draft write-up yesterday I had a bit about longitude and meridians, since place and time are so connected. But it was all getting too long so I deleted it.

However, place is preoccupying me at the moment and now seems a good time to share some news: When I was made redundant last July I glimpsed an opportunity. My brother and family have lived in New Zealand for many years but either my work or other responsibilities have meant that I've never been to see them. Since July I've had only freelance work so I have decided to take advantage of my first chunk of freedom for over 25 years to head off in that direction at the end of January.

I will abandon my family here for two months and on the way I will spend a week in Burma/Myanmar. I know this is controversial but I have been interested in Burma for a long time. First, as a child I knew that my dad had spent time there during the second world war. He was reticent about it so of course I was intrigued, though much later he told me a bit about his work building bridges; also that he had not been involved in some of the horrific things that happened there during the war. 'Much later' was when I got a job as the British Council's London desk-officer for Burma. Through my work I was lucky enough to get to know some Burmese people in London and was overwhelmed by their kind, gentle grace. Something of their culture did not seem to fit with what I knew of Burmese politics and I have wondered about it ever since.

Now I am excited about what is happening there and I would like to go and absorb some of the atmosphere, as well as see some of the places I have read about. I don't speak Burmese, but one of the many astonishing things about Burma is how many people speak good English, despite their isolation, so I hope I will be able to listen and learn.

This is the great circle between the UK and Burma.