Monday, June 30, 2008

exit interview

Ok, so now that we're heading back to Cincinnati, it's time to reflect on the good, bad, and ugly...

Q: What do you think you'll miss most?
A: (Jamie) I guess there are quite a few things that come to mind and probably more once I get home. I'll miss the rolling grassy hills, the sheep, authentically old stuff, the idyllic quality of many towns, the reuse of old structures due to new development restrictions, the sunsets (when the sun is out), the absence of roadside billboards, and fewer commercials.
A: (Pat) The flow of the countryside. The historic towns. Lack of puritanical ideas about TV and what is socially wrong to talk about. Absence of mixing religion and politics.

Q: What are you looking forward to at home?
A: (Jamie) Low prices, seeing friends & family, good food, more choices & variety (for just about everything), warmer temperatures, more sun, better customer service, having a dryer, having a garbage disposal, and being a person again. I will no longer be the "wife" or "spouse." Not that I don't enjoy being married to Pat, but come on.
A: (Pat) Have to repeat Jamie in that I'm looking forward to the variety and convenience as well as customer service. But probably most would be our friends and family.

Q: What has improved the most while you've been in England?
A: (Jamie) The laundry process had improved until we got the new washer. I'd been able to make some progress—gentle cycle only, low spin, extra fabric softener, and longer dryer times. Dress shirts and all pants stay out of the dryer to prevent unremovable wrinkles. All-in-all was the same overall amount of time and I still do it 3-5 days a week, but at least we weren't exfoliating with our bath towels anymore. The new washer has no drying capabilities, so it's all drying rack. This means it's quicker to deal with the machine, longer until you have dry clothes, and we're exfoliating again. It does wash better though and isn't as loud.
A: (Pat) Better understanding of how to easily get around. I feel like we suffered through learning about the train system and its quirks only to now leave. Should have added the trains to something I will miss; it makes getting around so easy and reasonably cheap.

Q: Do you have a British accent?
A: (Jamie) Definitely not, but I use the words "sort" (as in "figure out or organize") and "bit" ("thing") more.
A: (Pat) Nope, but as Jamie points out I have picked up on the local sayings and intonations, though I still won't spell color with a "u" no matter how many times the spell checker at work tries to correct me.

Q: Do you feel like you've immersed yourself in the culture?
A: (Jamie) No, but mostly because I don't have to. I work with people in the US, watch US TV and movies most of the time, and am surviving on hoards of US products we brought over with us. Some don't exist here, and there weren't good replacements for others. For example, our experience trying to find a simple bar of soap that worked for us was futile. Apparently, the Brits are into moisturizing big time and the LAST thing Pat and I need is more oil. After many breakouts, we stocked up on 20 bars of Dial on a trip back to the US. Having to find all new brands and products is a whole other adventure I don't really want to deal with. Basically, I'm an American on a long vacation.
A: (Pat) Yes. I spend the better part of my day with all British (aside from the occasional Italian or American). I've had greater exposure than Jamie to just the everyday bits I guess. This isn't to say I know everything there is to know about being a Brit, but I feel I got the whole treatment so to speak.

Q: What was your best purchase for life on the isle?
A: (Jamie) Ooh, that's a good question. I'd say it's a tie between tomtom (portable satellite navigation) and a rainproof, windproof jacket.
A: (Pat) Tomtom, definitely tomtom. Being the designated driver all the time and knowing my patience, or lack thereof, for misdirections, it has been much better for our relationship to have an inanimate object to focus any misgivings. Besides, it's better than Jamie at reading maps (sorry), and I only have myself to blame for entering the wrong information.

Q: What are you glad to leave behind?
A: (Jamie) BT, HSBC, Cigna, stores that close at 5, sinks with separate hot and cold faucets a mile away, and the washer. Happily. The sinks are the stupidest thing ever. I guess they've been handed down from olde, but they haven't evolved at all and are no longer really functional. However, you will find them in virtually EVERY public restroom. Pat says they made sense in the days when you filled the basin to wash up. It's true that every one of these things has a stopper on a chain, but I have yet to see one person fill a sink in a public bathroom to wash their hands.

There are lots of reasons why the sinks annoy me... 1) You have two faucets—one that gets instantly scalding and one that's ice... pick your poison. I've been known to use two sinks in the winter—I put my hands under one hot faucet to wet them. By the time my hands are soapy, it's too hot to go back so I turn on the hot faucet in the next sink to wash off. 2) The faucets are always teeny weeny and barely clear the edge of the sink making it very difficult to actually get your hands underneath without touching the sides of the public sink (ewww).

3) That damn stopper that no one uses is hanging there for you to brush against while you're trying to squeeze your hands under the water (another ewww). 4) The little faucets are so far away that there's no way to get your hands under both at once to even out the effects of the temperature extremes. The moral of the story: pack hand sanitizer.
A: (Pat) Have to share Jamie's dislike for the faucets, but I tended to try to wave my hands back and forth between the cold and hot fast enough that the pain receptors didn't kick in. But by far the thing I am happiest about leaving behind is the really really bad customer service from just about every major entity you have to deal with, phone company, bank, etc.

Q: Would you do it again?
A: (Jamie) It's hard to say but I think I would if the offer was right, however, I'd be a lot pickier now. It would have to be an interesting place that speaks English, not hurt us financially, have a better health plan, not be longer than a year, etc. It would be hard to repeat the set of circumstances that have allowed us to do this comfortably—friends to take care of our house, our cars, and family to take care of odds and ends. I wouldn't do it if we had a pet either—I think a Trans-Atlantic flight would be torture for animals.
A: (Pat) No. This isn't to say I didn't enjoy traveling around Europe and experiencing new things, but the behind the scenes crap I had to deal with, mostly coming from a combination of J&J's inept relocation squad or Deloitte royally screwing us on some of the worst tax and financial handling ever, has made the logistics a real nightmare and something I wouldn't wish on anyone.

2 comments:

Butch said...

Glad to hear your home but I am definitely going to miss your writings on England. You kept me entertained for the past year, even when Steph and Greg were gone.

Thanks and again, good job to both of you.

Welcome home.

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