Jelsurely golf on picturesque courses where T might reasonably expect to escape water hazards and be able to ult on a surface not unlike @ green carpet, At inst, 1 hope, the chits are all ald, the odds and ends of unwanted Impedimenta stowed away Ju the attics of obliging friends, the do ried out" for ihe "duration", and, the familiar Empress elbows her way out into the muddy stream, 1 fool I can at last relax and try" to Fecover from the loss of sleep and the too generous hospitality of those last few weeks of friendly' feasting For those who have been resident in China for any length of time it It, T suppose, hardly possible" to undertake such a journey without nding acquaintances among. one's fellow passengers, andthe general Atmosphere of goodwill and cheery At Nagasaki while the ship is coaled, we make a hurried visit by ear to Unzen; at Kobe we shop and ind at Yokohama un~ turous taxi ride to Capital, Then on to Victoria and Vancouver, where friends await and the pleasant green of lawns and trees Is in striking contrast to the drab browns we have so recently left in Shanghai.
By Rail Through Canal The journey by rail through the snow-clad Rockies is on unforgettable pleasure, and then for a day across the wind-swept prairies, still held fast in winter's grip, to the lakes and woods of Eastern Canada. At various points along the rule we say good bye to steamer companions making detour, but when we embark on the Duchess at Montreal still ind ourselves in the company of friends making the direct homeward connec-ton.
'AS we approach the Trish coast we ore thrilled to hear again, after all oe tong a silence, the cultured voice of the BBC. announcer, and realize how. much we have missed these broadcast programmes. Brief calls al Greenock and Belfast bring us to the last stage of our journey, and we awalt with impatience the arrival fat Liverpool. A. sti fon a distant wi Htgelf into distinct groups, of dividuals. A. child is vigorously Waving a handkerchief, but surely she cannot have picked me out already the crowd of people lining the rail, In any ease she looks so tall that I etn scarcely believe her exeltement Is on my account.
Customs formalities over; the heavy baggage sent off by train; and then, after a breathless greeting, we are in the new ear and speeding through the Mersey tunnel. Home at last, and how exciting i all is. Now for a real holiday and a chance to enjoy LI those associations and experiences that have seemed so far off in distant China, Of course there will be disappointments, but 1 am in the mood te enjoy everything as it comes.
"There was a fine spring greet me, and, as we travelled south through the valley of the Severn and inia the Colswolds, J felt again, as on my return home at the close of the war, the quiet charm of the Eng-Ush countryside, and wondered why I was so foolish as to choose to live abroad, We spent the week-end in the old world, Cotswold village -of Broadway, wandering through lanes fand fields, exchanging the Intest news of relatives and friends, and 1 break~ Ing down the shy reserve of my daughter, mot seen for some years, who had in the Interval changed from a chubby child to a long-legged school girl"
In the preface of a reprint of that bet seller," HI.V. Morton's "In Search of England," the author states that the publication of his book brought him letters from Englishmen scattered all over the world, and he refers, 1 seem to remember, to the feeling of homesickness for which he considered himself' responsible. 1 don't suppose his readers blamed him, and, except. where the feeling was indulged to excess, I suggest it might actually have proved a stimulus successful effort in a far-off land.
At any rate the enjoyment of my recent holiday at home will keep me ing for quite a while in the rathe artificial atmosphere of Shanghi This Is a point that might well be considered by employers. of labour. here who seem to be toying with the dea of abolishing home leave for their foreign staff. Probably those who are called upon to make such Aeeisions will still And it necessary, course for business reasons, Teave China for home at fairly regular intervals.
"Living in Sulteases The best way to spend home leave obviously a matier of individual choice and T would not attempt to suggest a programme for anyone else. Probably too many of us go home with a determination to do and sce more than can conveniently be undertaken In the time ay with the result that we rush about, from end fo end of the country, "living suitcases." and perhaps never really ing all the clothes we take with Certainly much of the summer kit 1 took with me returned to Shanghai unworn, though Uhat may perhaps be explained by the unusually Inclement
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.