On the Move Again

My family and I are on the move again. After close to four years in Tokyo it is time to move on. This will be country number 6 for me, although if you count countries that I’ve worked in it would be country number 11. We’ve decided that we want to remain in Asia, after four years we’ve only just begun to scratch the surface. It is such a dynamic continent, so much is happening here – the good, the bad, and the ugly (mostly me if I don’t get enough sleep!). We want to remain here a little longer.

Nowhere in the world will be quite like Tokyo so wherever we go will need adjustment. This, for me, is part of the attraction of the expat lifestyle. I regularly have to take stock, consider what my values are, and how they match the culture where I live.

Tokyo required quite a change in work life balance. It made me question whether I could be more or less effective working my usual working hours, or whether adapting Japanese cultural norms would improve this. I also lost easy access to nature while living there. Before I could walk out my back door into a forest. In Tokyo these experiences required planning.

So, where are we? After looking around we finally decided on India. This fascinating country has had a pull on me since I was a child. Seeing the Taj Mahal on travel programmes, reading books like the Secret Garden and the Jungle Book. It was one of those places I wanted to visit, but thought I never would. I certainly never thought I’d be living here. We moved to Gurugram, a city just south west of Delhi within the NCR, the National Captial Region.

It wasn’t an easy move by any means. Any seasoned expat reading this will know how these moves can go. It takes a lot to organize a move for a family of four from one country to another and you need everything to fall into place. At times we thought it wasn’t going to happen – also not uncommon for this type of move. We had delays in paperwork, visas, and even uncertainty on destination at one point.

While these delays were both frustrating and stressful, they did allow us to experience that little bit more from Tokyo – adventures that were added extras as it were:

• The rugby World Cup moved into town before we moved out – we got caught up in Japans thrill at hosting
• We had our first experience of an Airbnb – the consequence of not leaving the country after the notice period is up on your apartment and hotels are full of rugby following supporters
• Super Typhoon Hagibis struck Japan in October just days before we left. This was the most powerful typhoon to hit the Kanto region of Japan for 70 years
• For the first time ever I was in the eye of the storm as Hagibis passed overhead. I’ve always wanted to experience this and was able to without the usual dangers thanks to Tokyo’s strong buildings. It really was an eerily quiet experience

Now we’ve been in India for a little over a month. Life is beginning to settle down into its new rhythms. Some expected, some completely bonkers. In Europe we owned cars, in Japan we used public transport, here we lease a car and driver. There’s no way that we could drive on the roads here.

Our new life centres around our condominium complex with its club house – another new experience for us. It’s our gym, our meeting place, a centre for our social life. We’ve already made friends in the complex – saying hello as we bump into them makes it feel a bit more home.

Living within the NCR means moving within diplomatic circles. Had we not just lived in another capital city then this would feel strange. Already we’ve met government ministers and a few Ambassadors. Had we stayed in the UK this would never have happened.

We are still in the process of finding our new norms. My training regime has completely had to change. Gone are my long runs, they are something that I’m just not going to be able to do here. I’m having to get used to treadmills – they will be my new friend except that they are not. I find it hard contemplating a 3-hour run on a treadmill. Our food culture has also changed once again. Out go our Japanese staples, in come Indian ones.

There are so many new experiences waiting for us as we start the next chapter of our lives. Just what they are will only become apparent as we keep striving forward. Seeing the Taj Mahal with my own eyes has been an incredible start. I can’t wait to see the rest.