You sound really, really ready to return home, Taffy. You must be leaving soon, in a couple of weeks if I remember well?

How would you summarize your stay in China?

China is probably good for many old white farts like me, as long as they wind up all their interests back home in the west; apart from any pensions of course. If one really wants to stay in China, I have a feeling that one's only available choice should be to accept and settle down in China and then you're able to come to terms with the place. The consideration for me is I have a young child who carries a British passport, and I have too many reasons to return, like property and so forth. If I were determined to settle in China I would need to sever any strings that tug me home.

We do discuss what we should do in life but it does fall on me to make the big decisions. I have to decide what's best for all of us.

The good news is, we have sold this flat and have worked out that we will go home at least £10,000 better off, largely thanks to Brexit. Much of the money has been transfered home already. I have no intentions of having large amounts of money confiscated en route. £50 will be enough for the trip. During our stay here we have lived solely off of my wife's earnings, which have also been used to put back any initial draws on savings. The books have been long since squared.

There have been some advantages in spending a year here, like Esther's Mandarin....but she would have ended up bi-lingual anyway, so it's probably all been a bit of a waste of time. End of May.