My Summer Vacation

By Grant Garriott

It was longer than a summer but at times, it sure felt like a vacation. My relocation to England for 6 months now seems like a dream - another life. I don’t ever remember time flying by so quickly.

But I was very fortunate in this experience because I had the support of my family. There were daily emails from many people and using Internet, I was able to hold long conversations (several hours in fact) with Mom, Dad and Grace which even included live video of me - all free. Technology served me well.

I went there to assist in Honeywell’s global implementation of a computer software package called PeopleSoft. It is used in the Human Resources department to track employees and is also used for creating employee paychecks. Kathy is an employee of PeopleSoft and actually taught classes in Reading, England during her 2½ month stay. So from a professional aspect, we both learned quite a bit about international usage of the software. But that’s pretty boring. What I want to describe is the personal growth and relationships that resulted from this experience.

Neil

Neil was not only my UK supervisor but became my best friend. I first experienced his unique sense of humor when at the airport, I instinctively walked to the right hand side of the car to get in as a passenger, and of course in the UK, that’s the side where the driver sits. He handed me his car keys and said, "OK, you can drive."

As the weeks went by, Neil and his family adopted me into their household. I had many wonderful meals at their home (Olivia is French and is an accomplished chef). As I got to know their two sons, Mark (15) and Luke (9), I discovered what an incredibly close-knit family this was. We often took day trips on the weekend to walk around a National Trust lake, go on a picnic, visit the beaches at Isle of Wight where Olivia’s parents lived or toured London museums. Olivia would do her best to keep the 2 boys from torturing eachother and sometimes would have to rein in Neil too, as he has the heart of a child. Then a song would come on the radio and all of them would sing together without any prompting. Those were warm family moments.

The Colonel

I made a pact with myself that I would try and meet one new person every week who was not part of my workplace. This is not an easy thing for me to do so fortunately one week, the Colonel selected me instead. I met Bob Linford while grocery shopping and he was providing free samples of wine (they do that in grocery stores there!). He saw my t-shirt and asked, "What does Oshkosh mean?" I told him it’s a town where I went to school, was the name of a famous Indian Chief and a now defunct beer. And that launched our friendship. We visited every Saturday morning while I did my grocery shopping and I slowly learned about the fascinating life he has led. Listen to what he’s done:

Kathy and I were invited out on Thanksgiving Evening to have dinner with Bob and his wife Pam. When they discovered it was our US day of thanks, we told him how grateful we were to have met them.

Bob left me with many philosophies on life and here are two that are particularly significant to me:

Mind the Gap

When you travel by train in England, you will find a bright message on the cement platform that says, "Mind the Gap." This is the dangerous area that you must step over to walk from the platform to the train. Most people do this without thinking but for me, this became a metaphor of life. There are aspects of living that get taken for granted and need to be looked at: religious beliefs, relationships that should be appreciated; friendships that should be renewed. And there are gaps everywhere that silently wait for the unsuspecting passenger in life.  Mind the gap.

The Swans

I had never seen a live swan, much less fed one. But in England, they are found wherever there is a waterway and are owned and protected by the Queen of England. So it was particularly exciting for me to find a family of them near my flat in Fleet and watch them grow to maturity. I found the parents to be extremely protective and aggressive while the cygnets (baby swans - I had to learn the term) to be curious and friendly. They were incredibly beautiful and graceful, and seemed to fit so perfectly in this old world country. I often watched an elderly man with his elderly dog slowly walk together down to the pond just to feed them. I’m sure it was the highlight of the day for both of them, as it was for me.

The Pubs

Of any single thing I miss the most about England, apart from the friends we made, were the pubs. Not the new, crowded, smoky bars as were becoming more popular but the old, worn buildings that served families for centuries. They had an inviting characteristic to them. The smell of an oak fire burning in one corner, huge beams that showed their age adorned with brass horse buckles and the beer. The beer - it’s hard to describe the choices. Irish ales, Belgium drafts and dark beers from the Continent. It became the way I treated myself. The US can scarcely provide a place to socialize that has the warmth, odors and tastes of a real English pub.

Biking

Since I was not wild about driving in England, I found that biking in the evenings satisfied my need to get out of my flat and discover the world around me. In fact, it was a very good way for me to experience the small villages near where I lived and I made it a challenge to see how far I could go. Usually that was to a pub where I would reward myself to a Caffrey’s (an Irish ale that really quenched a biker’s thirst).

Fleet Pond

I was quite fortunate to have the perfect "flat" (apartment) which overlooked a small bay on Fleet Pond. Olivia works as a real estate agent and probably didn’t know how important lakes are in my life - yet she found the ideal place for me to live. Every window in my second story flat overlooked the pond and it brought me great joy in its serenity. But it wasn’t always quiet - the ducks and geese would wake up about 4am, just before sunrise and soon the local birds would join in chattering.

The Car Boot Sale

In England, the trunk of a car is known as the "boot" and the hood is called the "bonnet." I’ve always enjoyed rummage sales in the US so you can imagine my excitement when Neil invited me to spend a Sunday morning with his family attending my first car boot sale. You see, the English find ways of making things more efficient and this is a good example. They close off a parking ramp, invite sellers to pull in with their vehicles full of sale goods and tables, then charge the public about $.35 each to walk past hundreds of vehicles all selling items. I quickly became addicted to this and found it to be a wonderful method of adding art, antiques and kitchenware to my flat. I found the prices to be much better than in the states and the quality of merchandise to be excellent. In fact, I shipped back several original paintings, dozens of English beer mugs, an antique clock, alabaster phone and countless other English items that now adorn our lakehome walls and shelves.

New Forest

It’s actually a very old forest but what makes it so unique is that for many miles, the animals are free to roam wherever they please just as it was hundreds of years ago. This area of England became one of my favorite places to visit. Imagine driving slowly past horses, cows, deer and even sows which wander across roads and co-exist with humans alongside their homes, businesses and pubs. I’ve never seen anything like it. These were lucky animals.

The Sights

There is so much to see in the UK. Our longest drive was an all-day trek to the Scottish Highlands and that’s one of the beauties of this island - it’s all within a reasonable distance from home. We made day trips to the Roman baths in Bath, the museums in London, the scenic Lake District in Northern England, the castles along the Isle of Wight, the Cathedral and university in Durham, the very mysterious rock formations at Stonehenge and the white cliffs of Dover. When we didn’t feel like driving, we took the train to scenic and old towns along the Thames River. Even in our little hometown of Fleet, we spent wonderful weekends buying produce in the Farmer’s Market or drinking tea and eating scones in the tea room adjoining the library. There were long walks around Fleet Pond or bike rides along the Baskingstoke Canal. When I was gone on a "Boys Night Out" evening, Kathy would hop the train to another town and find a pub for her dinner. There was never any fear.