When I wrote the first entry to this diary, I planned to follow it up reasonably regularly. I didn't, but that is partly because I spent most of December on vacation. The new year seems like a good time to try again.

So to begin with, a few impressions gathered during that vacation.

• For two weeks, I played at being a tourist in London and England, the city and country I lived in for most my life, doing all the tourist highlights. England really is an expensive place to be a tourist, but overall seemed decent value for money.

• I drove a lot. I hadn't driven for almost 2 years, and wondered how I would find it. It was fun. The roads were clear, the weather was good, and I was driving through some pleasant places, which probably had a lot to do with it being fun.

• I spent Christmas with my parents in London. I wasn't there last year, and missed it greatly. There is something strangely magical about watching TV with a full stomach and a decorated piece of tree in the room.

• I returned to Moscow, where I now live, shortly before the new year. Three weeks away was enough to restore the sense of foreignness I felt when I first came here, the feeling was short lived.