I usually keep these things brief and witty but I think this blog needs a little more detail so please forgive me while I ramble a little on the story so far.
I was born in 1970, grew up in Mablethorpe, Lincolnshire (population 7,000). I attended Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School in Alford and then Salford University. I was one of those people who could turn my hand (or head to both arts, humanities and science, but ended up choosing A-level subjects taught by a teacher I had a crush on and then a degree subject that required the minimal effort. I am still easily led by both my hormones and my unwillingness to overtax myself.
Rather than decide on a career at the age of 21 I hysterically enrolled on a part-time course for Teaching English as a foreign language which was great as it was paid for by Margaret Thatcher on some scheme to avoid me becoming an unemployment statistic and I could go and live with my cousin in Nottingham and therefore avoid being homeless. The course at the time called the RSA CTEFLA is now the Cambridge CELTA and the best entry qualification into the profession (yes I call it that) of EFL. I finished in February 1992 and three months later I was waving goodbye to my rather stunned and tearful parents at Heathrow as I stepped on a plane to Singapore. Prior to this I hadn't been abroad except for a school trip to Boulogne and a 2 week drinking binge with my friend Dawn in Lloret De Mar when I was fourteen. I remember my first night in Singapore, sitting in inlingua's company flat listening to the sheer NOISE of a tropical country at night and wondering exactly how uncool it would be to go home immediately. Instead of fleeing to the airport I turned on the TV and was assaulted by the cheerful dance of a group of Ribena berries. "They have Ribena, can't be that bad" I thought to myself. I haven't lived in England since.
I stayed in Singapore for two years, met many wonderful people including my first husband Noi and friends with whom I am still in touch 20 years later. It was a remarkable experience. After Singapore Noi and I spent a year in England before moving to Thailand in April 1995. My love affair with Thailand proved to be more enduring than the one I had with Noi, although I have nothing bad to say about him - he was a good husband and is a wonderful guy - and our reasons for divorcing are not for public consumption.
