its been a year

Yesterday marked a full year since I arrived back in Cape Town. On the one hand I can't believe the time has passed so quickly, yet on the other hand there were distinct periods that passed by excruciatingly slow. Last year this time all I wanted to was to be further along with my work. When I reached December  and hadn't made much progress I remember my extreme frustration. Then came the month of writing the Introduction and another month spent re-working the data chapters. So yes, the time did disappear before my eyes but at certain times I felt each moment tick over.

I had an e-mail from my colleague in the UK - she submitted her thesis a few days ago, just making the fourth year cut off point. The 2008 cohort appear to be finally closing the circle. Then I get e-mails from the OU advertising activities for the new PhD recruits. This makes me think back, almost nostalgically, to my first few days at the OU, which now seem such a long, long time ago. But, I'm pleased that I'm on 'this' side of that journey. I realise I haven't said much about how I feel about being back home for a year. That's a story for another day, nicely lubricated by some lovely South African red wine.