My Expatriate Adventure – Year 1

In February 2013, I set out on an 18-month expat assignment in the UK (or more specifically, Dundee, Scotland with many trips to Poland where our manufacturing site is located, and Royston, Coventry and London in England for company meetings). It has been one amazing journey made possible by my supportive family and friends. While I’ve been out here on my own, I appreciate the fact that I have Facebook to share my adventures with all of you, and let you in on the up’s and down’s of living and working in Europe.

I consider myself very fortunate to have had this opportunity, and have tried to take advantage of everything it has to offer.While the Managing Director of the company we bought was a bit pompous and over-the-top arrogant (and therefore was summarily dismissed after the acquisition), he did give me one piece of advice I actually chose to follow – and that was, take advantage of this chance you have to see and experience new places. He told me, ‘don’t just go to work, go home, hang out and then go back to work. Travel, do weekend aways, and ‘do something’ with the time you have available during this assignment.’ So, that’s what I did. . .Over the past year, I’ve:·     

• Learned to comfortably drive on the left-hand side of the road in both Ireland and Scotland – even in the highlands around Cairngorm Mountain where there are single-track roads going straight up a mountain and you can’t see what’s at the top (much less if there’s a car coming at you head-on).
• Spent a memorable Holy Week and Easter on the Isle of Iona with my husband, including a fantastic boat trip to the Isle of Staffa to see Fingal’s Cave
• Visited several Scottish landmarks including: Broughty Castle, Scone Palace, Balmoral Castle, Blair Castle, as well as notable ruins, including the ruins of Arbroath Abbey, Dunnottar Castle, St. Andrew’s Castle and the Cathedral
• Attended the Scotch Whisky festival in Speyside with my son, tasting the most amazing single malts (as well as a couple yummy blends)
• Rode an eBike around a lake in Aviemore – way cool and my Company makes the battery packs that power them.
• Attended the Edinburgh Military Tattoo and a play at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with my daughter during her university graduation trip.
• Climbed the Wallace Monument with said daughter –10 years after her first attempt (which had fond memories of a constant wailing and ‘are we done yet?’)
• Road the Steam train from Fort William to Mallaig, passing over the Glenfiddian Viaduct where the 2^nd Harry Potter movie was filmed (the famous flying car scene).
• Went to a warm and sunny Highland Games in Perth, followed by attending the National Bag-Piping championships in Glasgow where it poured rain off-and-on the entire time.
• Visited Stratford Upon Avon and the RSC three times – twice alone, and once with hubby, seeing 3 amazing plays.
• Visited my maternal Grandfather’s home village of Keowacht, in the Netherlands, and explored the nearby cities of Middelburg (NL), Antwerp and Brussels, Belgium
• Spent a weekend in Poland where I attended a 7-hour employee summer party followed by a Polish style ’80’s Club’ (whew!); then had a personalized tour of Krakow as well as visited Birkenau / Auschwitz for a chilling reminder of the horrors of the Holocaust
• Experienced the Enchanted Forest light display in Pitlochry, Scotland
• Visited my husband’s extended family in the West Cork highlands, and spent time in Dublin learning a lot about Irish history.
• Visited the Roman ruins along Hadrian’s Wall on the border of England and Scotland (roughly).
• Traveled to the Christmas Market in Vienna for a spectacular weekend shopping for gifts and hats (yes, 2 winter hats)
• Got to see Lessons and Carols at King’s College Cambridge – live and in person, for the first time, after over 40 years of listening to it on NPR via the BBC.
• Had my first trip to China, visiting Changzhou, a 3, plus-hour taxi journey from Shanghai.
• After many work-related visits to London, I also spent a weekend visiting Madame Tussaud’s, seeing Spamalot, hearing St. Martin’s in the Fields choral music, attending the Chinese New Year parade at Trafalgar Square, and attending a beautiful choral service at Westminster Abbey.
• Went to various concerts and theatre events in the Dundee area. Discovered Barbara Dickson and her amazing voice. Enjoyed local productions that painted a vision of life in Scotland, including a fun production of Pantomime at Christmas that was made more fun by the fact that I understood the political references.

And, it wasn’t just about travel. It was also about meeting people and sharing experiences with them. I hosted a ‘flat warming’ party for about 20 of my co-workers and showed them a good-old American-style BBQ, while they showed us how to party to Scottish country dancing until the wee hours of the morning. Later, I had two group dinners at the flat for about 15 Polish staff, and introduced them to American delicacies like ‘pig’s in a blanket,’ my mom’s homemade chili and pumpkin pie, as well as how to drink a really fine single malt whisky. My co-workers benefited from my being home alone and loving to cook (but not loving to eat all of the spoils), so they became my Guinea Pigs for testing out my oven (could it make a really good apple pie? What about chocolate chip cookies, or banana bread?) and other home-cooked meals.

In between all of this, my Mother-in-law turned 80 and held a family reunion in Delaware; my baby graduated from the University of Alabama, with high honors, began planning her wedding, and moved to Houston, TX; my son left Rochester for Dallas; and my 2^nd sister turned 50 (and the Stearns girls descended upon Durango, CO to celebrate).

So, what will the next year bring? Well, as I always say, only God knows – and sometimes He tells me, but often He doesn’t, so I just pray for some sort of insight, and go along with the master-plan. However, we have let my company know that in August, my husband and I are expecting to live together again – be it in England (so he can work in London), or back in the Delaware Valley. Time will tell what God and my Company have in store for us.

In the meantime, thank you all for being a part of this crazy journey called life! Welcome to the next year of ‘what do I want to do when I grow up?’