Can’t quite believe I have been here in South Africa for a week only: already it feels like months. Only part of this is a matter of feeling ‘back home’, and settling into the familiar: in fact, the familiar has seemed almost strange, at times, as if I’m viewing it as a visitor – which I am, in a sense – but a visitor who hasn’t been here in quite a long while, when actually I was here (with Rob) in December and January.

No, I think mostly this has to do with the intensity, of work I mean, and being so busy: a week of meetings, introducing my Toronto colleague and ‘boss’, Alex Usher, to higher ed colleagues and contacts, while fielding preparations for next week’s important – and in some respects challenging – EU-South Africa workshop on skills planning.

I am however looking forward, immensely, to meeting up with my colleague from the UK, Professor Mike Campbell, again, on Sunday, and working alongside him next week on the skills planning agenda.

Right now, however, what I’m looking forward to most of all us simply catching up with myself, and catching up with my children and family.