About Me

Hi there thanx for visting my site. The chances are if you have come to this page you probably know who I am so you will probably not even read this you will have jumped straight to the photos. That’s what I would do so I don’t blame you. Well anyway the purpose of this is to inform anyone who may have stumbled into this site out of the blue and has no idea who I am or anything about me.

Scotland: well this is where my life began.It all started in a place called Motherwell which is where I came into this world on the 5th of Aug 1985. after a year of bumming around in Motherwell not doing much more than eating sleeping crying and growing I set off on my first plane ride. I was going off half way round the world to Pakistan
where my parents were going to work in a school teaching the kids of missionaries, diplomats and aid workers.

Pakistan: at the ripe old age 14 months I arrived with my parents and big sister in Islamabad the capitol of Pakistan. This is where I lived for several months before moving north to Murree where the school is that my parents came to teach at and where I was to grow up and go to school. Murree is a small town in the foothills of the Himalayas. At the age of five I started at school (Murree Christian School). This is where I spent the next 11 years of my life “learning” and growing up. On Sept 11 2001 that all changed. When the two towers fell the world did change. Well mine did at least. I was off again back to Scotland, evacuated because it was felt it was unsafe to keep the school open.

Scotland: a week after Sept 11 I was back in Scotland, this time in Hamilton. Not long after I was into school again, this time at Hamilton Grammar. I spent just under 6 months here going to school with two friends from Murree who stayed with me. This however was always going to be temporary, and in February 2002 I went back to Pakistan and back to school in Murree.

Pakistan: once again back in familiar territory it was back to school and business as usual for just over 7 months. Going to school had become a bit more of a risky business with armed guards being frequent travelers on the school busses and walking to school being an offence worse than any other. Walls were built around the school
which became more and more like a prison everyday as the restrictions on movement and activities began to be enforced. These restrictions were supposed to provide a sense of security however wary that was. As the months past people began to relax a bit more. Summer holidays passed and all was well. This was to change on the morning of Aug 5th 2002, Murree Christian School was attacked by six armed men who were linked to al quaida. They shot and killed 5 national Pakistani staff and
injured one other Pakistani and one Pilipino parent who was visiting the school. The school then shut and relocated to Thailand.

Thailand: up and off again. That was me and the rest of the school. In Thailand we joined an international school in Chiang Mai. This is where I spent the rest of my final year at school enjoying the new surroundings
and the freedoms again which were once granted to us at Murree. Once school finished in June 2003 I was off again, this time back to Scotland.

Scotland: I arrived back in Scotland in Aug after a short visit to Sri Lanka on the way from Thailand. I now live in Motherwell the town of my birth. I’m currently doing a HND in Architectural Technology at Motherwell
College three days a week. I also work at Next in East Kilbride and Davis Duncan Architects in Glasgow. This keeps me busy for the time being. Who knows what may follow. Somewhere: who knows what the future may hold for me hopefully it will be as exciting and it will take me to many more far flung and exotic places.

Cheers, Douglas Wood