Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Brighton: born ('71), lived ('92-'03), married ('08), returned ('09)

I'm in a short period of transition at the moment. It's a positive one and in the right direction (after being in limbo for too long), but it means I'm only with very intermittent internet access for now.

Having the tap turned off for a few weeks certainly makes me realise how much of my life I usually spend online. It's actually quite nice in a way. The birds seem to sing a little more brightly and I've been interacting with people that live much more of their lives offline. I'm still rather itching to get back on though.

The first year back in the UK was spent in Scarborough, on the North East coast of England. It's a place that is not entirely without its charms, but after the thrills of five years in Tokyo, was a significant comedown. Browse through the pictures below to get a bit of a feel for the place:



After six years away from my birthplace and the town where I also spent my twenties, I have now returned to Brighton, with wife in tow. We're about to get ourselves set up a little more solidly. It's going to make a radical difference to being stuck out on a limb in Yorkshire or rushing headlong through the madness of the metropolis, and is suiting us both very well so far already. I hope to get a bit more involved with Brighton's netheads too, but all in good time.

In a fortuitous piece of timing, we've arrived in town bang in the middle of the Brighton Festival too, giving a whole stack of things to see and do. For non-British readers of this, the pictures below will give you an idea of this fair English seaside city I am now calling home again.



I won't write too much now as this is just a snatched moment online amidst all the mass of sorting out of a new life. When the dust has slightly settled, I'm hoping that this blog will gain a new lease of life. Until then, I offer a final group of pictures from the last place that I called home before returning here - the city that marked such a major turning point in my life - Tokyo.



Catch you soon.

2 comments:

idleformat said...

great news my friend & I wish you both well with the move. must admit to a degree of sadness on reading this tho as not a day goes by when I miss the place like crazy... the vibrancy of the streets, the people from all walks of life & all corners of the globe, the graffiti, stickers & stencils everywhere, the noise, the geography, the shabbiness... & the fact that whoever you are, whatever you're into, you'll fit in somewhere...

Globalism said...

Thanks for the comment mate.

Yes, Brighton's a tough place to leave and a great one to return to. Particularly glad to have returned during the festival and as summer kicks off.

I know what you mean about always fitting in somewhere and I've been very pleasantly surprised by how much more diverse the city has become. It brings a whole new feel to things.

Once you've got Brighton in your system, it seems it stays there. Even in Tokyo (of all places), I sometimes missed it!