His home is my home

I met my husband in Hong Kong in 1981. He came to Hong Kong to teach in the newly established Medical School at the Chinese University. I was working in the office there. After a few years, he was headhunted for a job in Britain and I agreed to uproot and move with him, although I have no family in Britain. The first three years were very difficult, having to get used to a different way of life among strangers. Britain was much less cosmopolitan than Hong Kong in those days. I remember that there were only potatoes, carrots and parsnip on sales in the winter. And they were so expensive relative to prices in Hong Kong. Nowadays, you can get most things from the big supermarkets, including condiments for Chinese cooking. I still miss the fresh food, especially the seafood but I have got used to living a quieter life in the countryside with my husband, keeping chickens and growing vegetables. I have also built a richer and more fulfilling life for myself by taking advantage of free university education in Britain (at least it was free in the 90s). As a woman, my family could not afford to send me to University. But I now have a Ph.D. and am working in one of the research councils. Coming to Britain has changed my life and I would not consider going back to live in Hong Kong. But Britain has changed too, it is now much more materialistic, people getting more self-centred.... In a strange sort of way, it is getting more like Hong Kong.