It's all starting to come together...I think!

I had some very useful meetings last week.

Firstly I met with John Hayward, Regional Manager, Pakistan for CMS (Church Missionary Society). This was a very positive time. John has said that CMS are willing to take me under their pastoral wing. What this means in practice is that John will keep in touch with me and put me in contact with other CMS workers in Karachi and the surrounding areas.

Also John will be in Karachi the first week that i am there and during that time he will introduce me to Bishop Sadiq Daniel, the bishop of Karachi. Bishop Sadiq is a Charasmatic Evangelical, so we should get on well, and John tells me he will be very happy to accept my offer of help either at Holy Trinity Cathedral or St Andrew's Church.

I also met with Peter Smithers who lived and worked in Karachi for 15 years. He worked fo rthe Church of Pakistan, training ordinands, which happened to include Sadiq Daniel, who later became Bishop of Karachi!!

Both Peter and John gave me some helpful advice on living in Karachi and also learning Urdu. The language is something that is concerning me, as I have never found language learning easy. As those who know me well will testify my singing voice is not great and this is mainly because I find it difficult hear the subtle difference in notes, and this is something I am also finding about Urdu. There are many sounds in Urdu that don't appear in English. Also a slight change in sound makes a great difference to the meaning!!

I am aware that most people will speak English but I do want to learn some Urdu, as for the first time in my life I will be the minority. Much of the time I will not know what is going on around me in shops, the street, etc. That will be a very strange situation to be in...

I have made some decisions regarding shipping my 'bits and bobs'. I am only going to take personal effects and some of my books. Everything else I can get out there, and it will be cheaper to buy a new mixer, toaster, etc than to pay the cost of shipping and any duty liable in Karachi. Now I have decided to reduce what I am taking, it is going to go airfreight, which will only take 7-10 days as opposed to 6-8 weeks!

Still four days of school left, really can't wait for that to be over, mainly because it is the end of the year and I am tired, rather than I want to be rid of the school. It has been very dificult at times, but the staff have been brilliant and I will miss working with them.

Well as Zebedee once said, 'Time for bed'...

I have never like waiting!

I have loads left to do and nothing is ready, but at the moment all I want to do is put a spare pair of knickers in my pocket and get on a plane and go!

School is really hard at the moment, there are 8 days until the end of term and the whole place is on wind down, which means that it is almost impossible to get anything done.

I am also trying to get organised for two Scripture Union holidays during this time, which is fun and I am looking forwards to, but its another thing to think about.

My feelings are still ones of excitment over what the future holds and of all the new experiences I will have. I have meetings this week with Peter Smithers, the uncle of a colleague at school who has lived in Karachi, and worked for the Church of Pakistan and with John Hayward of CMS who supports their missionary staff in Pakistan and also knows the Bishop of Karachi. These meeting should hopefully help me develop some contacts in the Christian community in Karachi.

I have also email Scripture Union Pakistan (yes they do have branches everyehere) with the hope that I might be able to get involved with them.

T minus 50 Days

50 days to go and somethings have fallen into place. Rachel and William have collected the Tumble dryer, so that's one less thing to find a home for, and will be a major boon to them and Bethany, who is only 6 weeks old!

My friend Andrew and his wife Tamkeen arrived from Karachi on Tuesday and they have updated me on the apartment and car, road tax in Karachi is about £10 per year, and a full service £14, that should allow my salary to stretch a little.

Have made very slight in roads into the sorting out, Andrew has highlighted another problem for me. If I take my CD and DVD collection I will struggle getting them back into the UK as customs here will assume that they are pirate copies and confiscate them all. Looks like they will be spend a couple of years in storage.

Andrew and Tamkeen also arrived with 200kgs of luggage in a crate, so that is now residing in my dining room as well! I will start to look like left luggage office.

Coffee has brewed so time to go.