It's January 7th as I write this, and today marks the passing of a mini-era. Today is the day the Hammonds (okay, so my mum and dad) move out of their/our (hey, I'm still emotionally attached) Bainton close abode of fourteen years and transfer to new more bourgeoisesc (please don't call the word police, I don't know what it means either) accommodation not two miles away, still on the hallowed slopes of gentle Bradford on Avon. So, with this momentous happening the endpoint of a plethora of misspent teenage years, I thought it important to mark the episode by briefly detailing an event which closely mirrors that of a thousand miles away: my Mae La Ou hut move.

On my December return to the camp it had been decided to move me elsewhere for reasons to do with privacy (the headteacher maintains a permanent stream of visitors and guests) and quiet (running behind my old room and Hla Htay's hut was a Mae La Ou main road: a tiny path maybe 50cm wide). Having unknowingly set all my stuff up in my old room while everyone was away at school, my goods were re-bundled and transported in minutes to my new home just 50 meters away, where I now live with deputy head teacher Nay Htun. It's surprising how much a small thing like this can change things.

What's hot

• The unbelievable view of the night sky; as people around me bed down early I can walk privately around and gaze silently up at a million stars.

• The hut's location next to the boarding students - there's always interest and friendly faces around, or a student wanting to speak about this or that, or something they're up to I can join in with - brill.

• It grants me more independence to find my solutions to problems, rather than someone else be my proxy and make others do this or that for me out of 'respect'.

• There's a computer! I get to photocopy things on the printer… an entire class did a reading activity the other day which is usually just not possible with one book between twenty. Yippee!

• Privacy: because the hut is slightly more out of the way and in an elevated position, I am free to do as I please inside it's bamboo walls. Hence, I am currently practising walking about in my birthday suit all day. Oh, the thrill of naturism.

• That students and teachers can perhaps be and show a little more of themselves, being away from the head teacher's abode means there's less of an expectation to behave this way or that. This is great. (That is good too.)

• I've come to a much more wholesome work / life balance, shipping all of my teaching work out so the only thing that abounds inside the walls is bamboo to bamboo hedonism.

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What's not

• It may be more private, but it's also nearer (maybe fifteen meters) the generator site, the loutish noisy thug that powers the lights and electrical things three hours every evening. To my delight, it was decided after Christmas - due to poor exam results - to whop on the electricity for a good two hours every morning before sunrise, so the students awaken from their slumber and start memorising a few more choice words. (Actually I'm taking this as a positive - it means I'm up earlier and have to make to with a bit less sleep, which has always been an aim.)

• Nay Htun's midnight singing - I think I'm going to remove his tonsils. Thinking about it that wouldn't do much good, it's the vocal chords I want to be after. So as not to arouse suspicion, I'll wait until he's asleep to decide which chords to remove.