Dover and Normandy with my Dad

This month, Brian and I had a special visitor - my dad was able to come over and visit for 10 days.  My dad was stationed over in Germany in the 1970s, but he hadn't really been back to Europe in a while, so it was fun to be able to go around with him.  Our adventure started in England, but included France and Switzerland as well.

Anyone who visits us needs to know that we want you to be able to see as much as possible so you'd better be well-rested and ready to go!  =)  My dad was a trooper as we took him immediately down to the coast the first day - we were able to explore Canterbury and the Wartime Tunnels in the white cliffs of Dover which is an absolute must-see if you're in that area.  These were the tunnels used during the World Wars, and it's really interesting to walk through them and see the artifiacts they still have.  This was the perfect prelude too for the next part of our trip over to the Normandy region of France.

Normandy is known for the D-Day Beaches where troops came in to defeat the Germans.  We took a car train over to France and then made our way down the coast to Omaha Beach and the American Military Cemetary located there.  We had only planned on spending one night, but we were delayed a bit by holiday traffic and there was so much to see, that we improvised and stayed an extra night.  Thank goodness we did because we were then able to drive to see Mont St. Michel, which is basically a giant castle-fortress that is surrounded by flat land. 

After France, we spent a few days relaxing and running errands in Bury St. Edmunds before we flew over to Switzerland to train through the Alps.  More on that part of our adventure tomorrow!  In the meantime, hope you enjoy these photos from England and France.  =)

Brian is a Licensed UK Driver!

As a final update to our UK driving saga, I am happy to report that as of today, Brian is a licensed UK driver!

Like me, he didn't pass the first time, but he did pass on his 2nd try (which is a HUGE relief because he needed to get this done before April 30 when our foreign licenses expire!)  Also like me, he ended up with a bunch of minors (10 in total), but as long as you're under 15 and you don't have any majors, they have to pass you.  He got the same lecture I did about how we're really not good drivers and how we were lucky to pass.  So annoying!  Obviously we drive a lot better when we don't have a scary little examiner man sitting in the front passenger seat with us...  =)

The biggest thing Brian got knocked for today was his bad "eco" driving - the instructor HATED how he drove stickshift.  Apparently, Brian is a big fan of "coasting," which is not good for the environment.  Oh well, all that matters is that he received his license today and we can continue driving in the UK!  What a process - we have been working on this since the beginning of the year, and we have spent about $800.  Moral of the story - getting a license in the UK is a pain! 

CONGRATULATIONS AGAIN BRIAN!!!

British Politics: It's Election Time! (by Brian)

For those who haven’t heard, Gordon Brown, Britain’s current Prime Minister (PM), recently called for an election to be held in the UK on May 6th. Over the past few weeks, all of the news stations have been flooded with political coverage, much like we see in the States. In general I’m not a huge fan of politics, but I’ve been fascinated by many of the differences between the British and American political systems. I thought it would be fun to share with everyone some of the differences that I’ve seen.

Did you notice I mentioned that the current Prime Minister decided to call an election? That wasn’t a typo. The current Prime Minister gets to choose when he/she would like to hold the next election (i.e. they do not have defined terms). When he/she does call an election, parliament is “dissolved” and all of the current Members of Parliament (MPs) go back to their constituencies and seek re-election.

Unlike in the US’s presidential elections, you’ll never see a place on the British ballot where you choose between the many Prime Minister candidates… instead, you vote for your local MP, and the party with the most MPs appoints the Prime Minister. The parties choose their candidate for PM well before the elections so people know who will take control of power if their party wins the most seats.

Also unlike the US, where it’s strictly a two-party system (for all intensive purposes), Britain has what I refer to as a 3+ party system.

• Labour – A centre-left political party led by Gordon Brown (center), they currently hold 356 seats in parliament (a majority) and have been the ruling party for the past 13 years (starting with Tony Blair, who passed on power to Gordon Brown in 2007, two years into his third term… no election, he just decided to step down and hand it over to Gordon Brown). 
• Conservatives (aka the “Torries”) – A centre-right political party led by David Cameron (left), they currently hold 198 seats in parliament and are attempting to overtake Labour’s longstanding majority.
• Liberal Democrats (aka the “Lib Dems”) – A centrist political party led by Nick Clegg (right), they currently hold 62 seats in parliament. Until recently they’ve been seen as a distant third, but Nick Clegg’s performance in this past Thursday’s televised political debate (the first in the nation’s history!) has helped them move into a virtual tie with Labour and Conservative.

The plus portion of the “3+” refers to the many different independent parties, which actually hold a combined total of more than 10% of the parliamentary seats. These include the Plaid Cymru party from Wales and the Scottish National Party (SNP).

Hopefully this gives you a quick overview of the upcoming British elections. For more info, check out BBC’s coverage of this year’s election. Stay tuned for future blog posts covering some of the other major differences that I see between now and election day.

What’s Worse… Florida’s Love Bugs or England’s Pheasants? (by Brian)

Growing up in Florida, I used to hate love bug season. No matter where you drove, your car was bound to be covered with tons of love bugs by the time you reached your destination. Being the only son in the family, that usually meant that it was my job to clean them off. For those who have never lived in Florida, a quick sponge and soap won’t work… it takes a whole bunch of “elbow grease”.

When we moved to England, I was pleasantly surprised to find that they don’t have love bugs. You still get the occasional fly hitting your “windscreen” (British for “windshield”) every once and a while, but nothing like the massacre that I would witness when I drove over the St. John’s River bridge in Sanford at night.
Of course, I’ve now come to discover that England has its own hazards that attack the windscreen. Let me introduce you to THE PHEASANT!

Prior to moving to England, I had never heard of a pheasant. It’s basically like a fat turkey with a long tail, except these guys are more commonly seen in the wild. A few days ago I got a nice, close-up view of a pheasant. As I was driving to work at 6:30 am down the A14 (their version of I-4), all of a sudden one decided to FLY INTO MY WINDSCREEN! Imagine having a fat turkey hit your windscreen at 70 mph! Needless to say, it definitely scared the you-know-what out of me.

Luckily the windscreen held up for the rest of the drive and I was able to make it to work, where I later had AutoGlass (their version of Safelite… even with the same annoying jingle) come out to replace it.
So I pose this question… what’s worse, the love bugs of Florida or the pheasants of England?... All I can say is that from this day forward, I’ll never again complain about having a few love bugs hit my windshield!

My Nemesis: The Washer/"Dryer" Combo

Whenever anyone asks me what I miss most from home, I list three things every time: 1) family and friends, 2) our favorite foods, and 3) my washer/dryer. Now you’re probably wondering why in the world I have that so high on my list. Well let me introduce you to the British washer/”dryer” combo:

This tiny piece of machinery lives in my kitchen and is the standard size for UK households. (Our real estate agent explained this to me when I complained about its size!) It can fit about 4-5 pieces of clothing at a time, unless of course you are washing towels or jeans or anything large. Then you are forced to wash only 1 or 2 pieces of clothing at a time. A full wash and “dry” cycle takes about 2 hours; and in case you are wondering, I keep putting “dry” in quotations because the thing really just steams your clothes. I’ve gotten to the point now where I don’t even try to get it to dry our clothes; I just get them washed and then hang dry everything.

As a result of this tiny capacity and extreme length of time to get through a cycle, I do at least 1-2 loads of laundry each and every day (I used to do about 3 a week in Florida). If I don’t keep on schedule (either because we are traveling or because I rebel and refuse to do laundry for a few days), I end up having to go the Launderette just to get everything back under control. We also end up at the Launderette when we have to wash our sheets or Lilo’s bed or anything since they wouldn’t even come close to fitting in the combo. It’s funny when we go there on Friday or Saturday nights – it feels like college days again!

What also makes this machine special is the extreme loud sounds it makes during its wash cycle. It sounds like a 747 is taking off in our kitchen! As a result, we now have a new standard joke about buckling in your seatbelt when the wash is running!

Everyone who has come to visit has looked at our washer/dryer combo in amazement and just laughed. I laughed too, until I actually had to use the thing. =) It’s so bad that when we visit the States, we make a point to wash all of our clothes before returning home because it’s so much easier! I even took bed sheets home with me last time. Think about that: I took sheets across the Atlantic and back! So I hope this blog gives you insight into our world a bit more and explains a bit why I hug my washer and dryer every time I go home to Florida. =)

Graduate School

So I realized that many of you out there may be wondering what in the world I do over here in England since I gave up my job when we moved here.  I have actually started graduate school to get my MBA, something I have been wanting to do for a while but the timing just never worked out.  I thought about doing a UK program, but ultimately decided to stick with an online program from the States.

I am now in Term 3 of a 2-year program through Penn State University.  When I graduate in August 2011, I will officially have my MBA!  It really isn't that long, but as anyone who has done a grad program can tell you, it can seem like forever at times!

So basically I do all of my coursework and discussions and team meetings online.  My group actually works from 3 different time zones, so we've learned a lot about compromising and working together to develop a schedule that works for everyone.  I wasn't sure if an online program would work for me, but I really like the flexibility it gives me especially since Brian and I love to travel.  I think it's also good preparation for the future since so many businesses are global now and you have to be able to work with people across the country and the globe.

I will actually be traveling to Pittsburgh in May to meet my group for the first time in person and work together during a residency week with a company.  The only other time I will have to travel to Pennsylvania is for graduation next year, which is really nice given how expensive tickets are from the UK!

So far, the program has been going well, but just like undergrad, I still don't like any of the economics, finance or accounting classes!  And speaking of school, I actually have to run now to get some homework done before a group meeting.  =)  More later!

Whirlwind Trip Cont'd: Vienna, Austria

Our trip with friends continued when Brian, Emily, Jon, and I headed to Vienna.  This trip allowed us to cross two more countries off of our list: Austria and Slovakia.  =)  We flew in and out of Bratislava, Slovakia because of Ryan Air - it's only about an hour drive outside of Vienna so it worked well. 

Vienna was a beautiful city with lots of German influence - that's always nice for me because I feel comfortable with the language and culture.  We had less than 48 hours to experience everything, but I think we did a good job.

We went to the famous churches, the Royal Palace, and the Museum of Natural History.  We also did a tram tour around the city.  One of our favorite parts though was visiting the local food market.  There were tons of restaurants and food stands as well as vendors selling fresh fruit, veggies, fish, meats, etc.  We highly recommend you always try to find these in cities - you get a real taste of the country's culture and get really good food at great prices (you just have to be a little adventurous!)  =)

And so we came back to Bury St. Edmunds where our trip with friends ended.  To our wonderful friends who came to visit, we LOVED having you and had so much fun traveling with you!  You all are welcome back anytime!  =)  And for those of you who haven't visited yet, we hope we made you jealous enough to want to come and have an adventure of your own.  Hope to see more friends soon!  ;)