During 10 years service with the Royal Air Force, from the age of 17 I was lucky enough to travel widely throughout Canada, Europe and the Mediterranean, which no doubt shaped my continuing interest in the view of Britain through the eyes of other nationalities.
The end of the cold war, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the subsequent withdrawal of the vast majority of British military presence in what was then still West Germany meant that my choice of whether to continue further service was made for me, and led to my setting my roots in Norfolk, a happy accident that I have never had cause to regret, finding employment in an art gallery at the University of East Anglia.
I first came to the Guardian Weekly at the behest of my brother-in-law, who like so many of its readership is an English expat (currently resident in Germany). Having given up for some time on the British daily papers full of celebrity gossip and politically slanted editorial opinion presented as news, it was so refreshing to find some incisive and thought-provoking journalism with a global eye.
It seems I share the habit of many Grauniad aficionados of starting my read from the back, with Notes & Queries and Oliver Burkeman’s insights into the workings of our grey matter.
I then always try to have the Quick Crossword done by the time I tackle the cover story, and I am always pleased to challenge my perceptions with topics and issues raised in Comment & Debate.
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