Good to be Back

I'm still not certain if, by 'good to be back,' I am referring to our recent trip to the US, being safely back in Sussex or finally getting around to updating my web site. A little bit of each, I suspect.

We've just returned from a two-week, four-city tour of the US, wherein we spent the bulk of our time in Albany, NY, which is no one's idea of a tourist destination but which happens to be where I came from.  Nearly three years have gone by since I've been to the States and I found the experience both familiar and frightening.  It's a much more guarded place than when I last saw it, and patriotism--always an unabashed trait of the American people--has acquired an alarming insistence, to the point where we felt we might be considered traitors because the car we were driving didn't have a yellow ribbon on it.  And the elections!  Don't get me started.

But seeing friends and family again was a joy.  I don't know that I've ever mentioned this on the site, but I don't have any real friends here in Britain yet, no one I can call up and say, "Hey, wanna go play skittles tonight?"  I'm not having a moan, just stating a fact--when one ups sticks and leaves behind friendships which have been evolving for decades and plunks down in a foreign country filled with strangers, one has to expect something like that is going to happen.  So talking to people on the phone and meeting up with them at familiar watering holes was refreshing and fun.

Having grown used to navigating narrow, winding roads, it was shocking to cruise along the broad boulevards, bordered by fast food joints, shopping malls, bowling alleys and cheap motels, rolling into the distance as far as the eye could see.  This Olympian level of tackiness and excess exists no where else on the planet.  God bless America!

The complete tales of our adventures will be posted to the travel section soon.  You can read all about it then, and see the pictures, so I won't talk much more about it here.  I would be remiss, however, if I didn't mention Eamonn's Irish Pub in Loundonville as being the highlight of the trip for me.  It was reassuring to find it just as friendly, familiar and fun as the last time I was there.

During my trip, I began a scorecard showing which location did what better.  The final tally is listed below:

   - Eggs Benedict; US 1 : UK 0
     (This doesn't seem to exist in the UK)
   - Customer Service; US 1 : UK 0
     (This supposedly exists in the UK, but not to the 'making 
     you happy is the sole purpose of my life' extent it does in 
     North America)
   - Construction; Canada 1 : UK 0
     (Or, more specifically, the CN Tower 1 : Spinnaker Tower 0)
   - Queuing; US 0 : UK 1
     (Outside of Britain, the concept of proper 
     queuing simply hasn't caught on)
   - Conservation; US 0 : UK 1
     (The USA: 4% of the world's population and consumes 25% 
     of the world's resources, and proud of it!)
   - Water Pressure; US 1 : UK 0
     (Have you ever tried to take a shower in Europe?)
   - Rules for Walking; US 1 : UK 0
     (They queue well, but they can't walk on the right side 
     of the pavement)
   - The Weather Channel; US 1 : UK 0
     (With the British obsession over weather, you'd think this 
     would be required viewing)
   - Wal-Mart Super Stores; US 0 : UK 1
     (Yes, they have ASDA in the UK, but nothing like the
      hanger-sized horrors we endured in the States)
   - 'Bottomless' cup of coffee; US 1 : UK 0
     (Not that you'd want a second cup of UK coffee)
   - Decent cup of tea; US 0 : UK 1
     (Yes, it matters to me now)
   - Clam Chowder: US 1 : UK 0
     (Inexplicably unavailable in the UK)
   - Public Transportation: US 0 : UK 1
     (The UK has the worse public transportation system in 
     Europe but it's miles ahead of anything the US has to offer)
   - Snow; US 0 : UK 1
     (Never liked it; don't miss it)
   - Pubs within walking distance; US 0 : UK 1
     (What could be more convenient?)
   - Pubs you can smoke in; US 0 : UK 1
     (Until the nicotine nazis catch up with us.)

You'll notice this list was contrived to come out even.  That's as it should be; both countries have so much going for them it all boils down to personal preference.  In my case, despite some inherent disadvantages, I prefer living here.

After the hectic schedule and hubbub of the holiday (which, at one point, involved driving from Boston to Buffalo) I am appreciating the more relaxed lifestyle I enjoy in Sussex.  Right now, I'm waiting for a train, en route to a business meeting in Wales, and feeling less harried than I have in weeks.  While that may sound contradictory, train travel is preferable to climbing into a car for a three-hour session of negotiating traffic jams and meandering about on unfamiliar city streets.  I never lived anywhere in the States that allowed me to go from my front door to an office two hundred miles away totally on public transportation, and I have grown accustomed to having that option.

Where would you rather be early on a Monday morning, in a world-class traffic tie-up, or sitting in an out-of-the-way cafe in Paddington Station, sipping a cup of coffee (US 1 : UK 0) with plenty of time for a leisurely breakfast pasty (US 0 : UK 1) before the next train arrives?

It is, indeed, good to be back.

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