8 things I miss about England

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Well, I've now passed the four month mark here in Beijing, and have just about got acquainted with the basics of this vast city - at least the 10% of it I've explored. Time has flown by, and while I feel I've adapted to the Chinese lifestyle quite well, I've also started missing many aspects of England. So, in no particular order, here are 8 things I miss about my home country:

1. Football. I'll be frank - this has come as a huge surprise to me. I've never been much of a football fan - I don't even have a team. But of late, I've started to crave the beautiful game like never before. If I happen to see a match on the TV in my local restaurant, I'm glued; if I hear one of my students talking about it, I can't help but join in; I imagine how nice it would be to sit with a beer and watch Match of the Day. Have I been secretly repressing my feelings for football all along?!

2. British TV. Question Time, Mock the Week, Have I Got News For You, The Apprentice on a Wednesday night, even the BBC news. I don't have a TV here, and even if I did, I'm sure they wouldn't show much British TV. To make matters worse, IPlayer only works in the UK. Oh, what I'd do for a day of wall-to-wall British television...

3. My piano. There's a piano place 25 minutes walk from my apartment here, where you can rent a room for 10 RMB an hour. I take advantage of this whenever I have a spare afternoon, and it's always time well spent. But let's face it - it's just not the same as having your own piano 10 feet away from you, is it?

4. A British pint. Mmm... a good old British pint on a lazy Sunday afternoon. London Pride, Hobgoblin, Old Peculier... I can almost taste it now. The smooth head, the lingering hops... yeah, that hits the spot. Now, don't get me wrong - I've sampled some good Chinese beer - and there's nothing wrong with a can of Tsingtao to reward a hard day at the whiteboard. But you just can't beat a good old British pint.

5. Family. Well, of course, they're always going to be on the list, aren't they? As Dorothy famously said, there's no place like home, and home to me is with my folks in Derbyshire, listening to my Dad's tales of the cat's latest misdemeanours, and eating my Mum's roast beef. I miss you folks!

6. London. Well, again, I'm rather surprised about this myself. I've always considered London a very crowded, busy city, where I wouldn't want to spend too much time. Indeed, I haven't spend too much time there - just the occasional visit every now and again. However, I guess living in Beijing has rather redefined the meaning of 'crowded' for me, and I've come to realise that London isn't so bad after all. I think what's really changed my opinion, however, is 'Destination UK' - a series of presentations I've created for my students over the past few months, which inform them about UK life, and which have featured London regularly. I've sold London to my students, and in doing so I've also sold it to myself. There is no doubt that London is a pretty cool city, and there's so much I haven't seen there. The next time I'm back home, a few days sightseeing is definitely in order.

7. The Guardian. Ah, the good old Guardian, with its witty banter and insightful commentary on the latest happenings around the world. I've spent the last 4.5 months without my favourite British newspaper and I feel like I've been severely missing out. After all, there's nothing like a long soak in the bath, with a copy of the G2 supplement. The online edition just doesn't cut the mustard - and half of the time it doesn't even work.

8. The weather. I am not exaggerating when I say I miss rain like crazy. It's probably rained about 10 times since I've been here, which it could easily do in the space of two or three weeks in England. Beijing sunshine can be nice, but boy, I don't half miss the gloomy, overcast, rainy days of England.

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