Homecoming

Here's something that struck me as an interesting take on being part of your community. My friend Jeanne is doing a PhD at the moment, and has been spending months away in Kyrgysztan. She recently came back, and described coming back as a kind of culture shock. The big thing, she said, seemed to be not having an opinion on things. Things like Gordon Brown becoming Prime Minister happened in her absence. It's not something that's difficult to get your head round as such - indeed, when she went away it would have certainly been in the pipeline.

So it's not a question of knowledge, or even understanding. The thing that seemed to act as a measure of engagement with community for her was how able you feel to take a view on what's happening.

Thinking about that leads a few interesting places.