I was supposed to fly to the UK on January 25th, with C, but with no news about my visa application since December 17th that didn't happen.
So I'm stuck in limbo, staying with my mother while I wait for my visa to come through. (I will write more about the visa debacle later.)
Our house is rented out, our car is sold, most of our possessions are on ship heading for the UK, and C is in Oxford, having to face settling in a new country all by herself. I'm in a strange liminal state, and will be for an unknown length of time.
There's no shortage of books to read here, there are nice cafes just down the road, and plenty of events on - I'm going to a performance of Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex tonight, a dinner with friends tomorrow, and a bushwalk on Saturday. But it still feels like an anti-climax after the rush to get everything ready for departure, and after all the planning for Oxford.