It is a strange feeling to be nervous about returning home.  It is, after all, home; where the heart is.  My trepidation comes from the strange sensation of seeing something familiar but in a different way, through an altered perspective.

For the last six years, I have called Singapore home and now my time to return to Australia has come and in many ways, I am more worried about my return than I was about leaving all those years ago to live in a new, foreign country.

On casual observation, Australia looks the same, smells the same.  My friends are still living in my home town.  My parents are in our family home.  I did not feel the passing of time in Brisbane in my absence nor did my friends and family feel the progression of my life in Singapore.  I expect life to be exactly what it was when I left and my network expects me to be exactly as I was when I left.  Clearly, this is not going to be the case.

So I am anxious for the period of adjustment which will inevitably happen as a re-enter Australian life and come to terms with the new reality.  Rather than succumb to this wallow, I will focus on the great aspects of life in Australia – the climate, the cost of living, the space, the closeness of cherished family and friends and of course, cheaper and better wine.

I now also realise that this song has a whole new meaning for me and I presume any Australian who has lived overseas.