An update....

Wow - its been a couple of months since i last posted to the blog, and what a couple of months it has been...For reasons that might become apparent, i am not going to be able to go into loads of details, but here are the highlights....

Nov 29 - moved away from Germany.....my apartment has been packed up and shipped (see below) and I fly to Japan

Nov 30-Dec 22 - FIFA Club World Cup 2007 in Japan. Yup its the same event that brought me to Japan this time last year. Not going to say too much about the event other than I did not go to any of the games (Personal choice - wanted to catch up with mates instead) but the event was the easiest so far in my opinion. Loved being back in Japan, and was great to catch up with all the people that i did, as well as meeting a few new and interesting people along the way..

Dec 22 - Jan 8 - Christmas/New year - in the UK with Family and friends.
Was good to be back and caught up with a few people i havent seen in a couple of years - so all good.

Jan 8 - the big move. I moved to South Africa for a four year stint in preparation for the 2010 World Cup. I will still be travelling to other events too - but South Africa, and more importantly Johannesburg is going to be my base for the next few years.

I have been here a week now, and not much to say - I am looking for apartments, but biggest difficulty there is finding a reliable agent that wont keep cancelling on us. Currently living in some nice rented apartments in Sandton, one of the Jo-burg suburbs. Thats the biggest challenge about Jo-burg - it does not really have one centre - but more 5/6 different suburbs that are cool and i might like to live there...so before i can really look at apartments i need to work out where i actually want to live.

Downside to being here is that the new office (which opens in Feb - we are currently in temporary offices in Sandton) is going to be by the FNB stadium, which is almost in Soweto, and not in an area that i would want to live - so looks like i will have at least a 30 min commute to work each day - bugger...

FInally before i sign off - everyone always asks me about the safety aspect of south africa, and Jo-burg in particular. It is different down here, and it is worth taking more care than usual, but i have to admit i dont think it has been that bad so far - I so not feel particularly unsafe - although there was one evening when we ended up in a dodgy area in the car - but we quickly retraced our steps and got back on the main highway..I am suer there will be more on SA security in future posts.

Anyway - here i am, and this is where i will be for a while....as i am in temporary accommodation i no longer have internet connection at home so these posts may be few and far between for a while - but my intention now that i am here is to post more often with thoughts on the country area and people...