"What I Didn't Know" - Athenaem, 1998

When you make a move to a new country, as I did at the end of 2002, you quickly discover that there are loads of things you don't know...and should, if life is going to run smoothly. Some of those are very important, and some are merely trivial. But even the trivial can add to the feeling of "not belonging" that affects even the most stoic of us.

I was reminded of one of those moments of confusion yesterday afternoon.

Feeling a little under-the-weather this weekend, I lay on the couch downstairs and caught up with some TV programs that I'd recorded on our hard disc recorder over the past couple of weeks. One of those programs was BBC4's "Corrie: The Road to Coronation Street". And given that I'm a recent convert (hmm...should that be "addict"?) to regularly watching the show, I found the BBC's drama very interesting.

When it finished, a memory of my early days in the UK flashed into my head. Back in early 2003, every time I heard something about Gary Barlow on TV or on the radio, I assumed he was part of that family on "Coronation Street". It took me quite some time to figure out that Gary was actually a real person.

I must apologize to my non-UK readers, as this post won't mean much to you...unless you just happen to be fans of Take That!

Janet