Communicating British style

Almost a year into our stay here and I think I'm finally starting to get the hang of it. I understate more at work than I ever did. I give indirect and confusing answers to straight forward questions. I use terms like "brilliant" "straight away" "rock up" "queries" "queues" "if I'm honest" and "proper" in my daily vernacular.

In my old life, I did well at my job for a variety of reasons. One of the skills I used to pride myself on was the way in which I communicated. I was clear, direct and concise mostly and it saved a lot of useless time and energy in my day to day worklife. To illustrate- I would get a request from someone at work via email. It would be straight forward- say, " Hi Angie, are you the person responsible for ______?" My answer would be fairly direct- I would respond "Hello ___. No, I am not responsible for that. I suggest you ask _____." See how easy?

Here, it is a whole different story. There are no answers like "Yes" and "No". In the UK, you are considered rude for responding directly with a clear answer. It has tripped me up countless times as I sit in front of my laptop and ponder the right way to respond to various requests. Here is where I am at. "Angela (they call me that here- another quirk of this culture is they don't like nicknames and if my email address says Angela, they call me Angela even after repeated requests to call me Angie) "Can you do _____ and _______ ?" I read the email and immediately my answer is - actually no, I can't because either I am not the right person or don't have the authority. However, I can't respond accordingly. It would be rude. Here is how I might respond.
"Hello ____. It seems that you are asking me to complete ____ while doing_____. I understand this is important but may not be the right person for this. My suggestion is that you might want to try to ask _____ if they are aware of the right person/way to do this. It seems they may know better. Thank you, Angie.

This will invite much more chasing through the organization to find the right person and even the right person will not say they can do _____ and ______ as requested. This leads to frustration, gossip and inefficiency. This also leads to us never getting decisions made or questions answered.

This probably seems like such a minor point, but for someone who values efficiency and gets frustrated easily by extra work - I sit at my desk daily and remind myself to take deep breaths and count to 10 before answering requests. Otherwise, I'll be branded the brash and direct American- heaven forbid that!

It is the same everywhere- not just at work. You can be on the platform at the train station and ask someone in the orange jacket making announcements on trains when the train you are waiting for is supposed to arrive. The answer you get is (and I promise promise, this is true): "oh, it may come in about five minutes." OR, "umm, yeah, I'm not sure where that train is (while he is holding a walkie talkie and a schedule) or "it probably will be here within the next 15 minutes". Basically, if you hear that, your train isn't coming, but the guy doesn't want to tell you. We have since learned how to intrepret such answers.

On a separate note, we are heading into September and nearing our one year anniversary of moving out here. It is overwhelming to think that we have a little more than six months left. There is still so much to do and see! We are looking forward to the next few months with a steady stream of visitors and trips to Germany, Cotswolds, Paris and Italy.

Finally, I start my new job tomorrow (technically). I joined the new team about a month ago but have been working on a project that has taken up my entire time so I haven't really transitioned to the new role yet. That starts tomorrow and I can't wait for some more normal hours and to learn more about my new job. Until next time!

Olympic fevour

Well, not really. Why? BBC coverage stinks. We don't have fancy cable packages or crazy network coverage. And, in this day and age, you would think we have the internet to rely on for videos and replays... not so much. After much searching to see a replay of Michael Phelps win one of his many medals, we came up short.

Why is she complaining about Olympic coverage? Well, that is the extent to what I have to bitch about. August has been quiet and rainy and we are enjoying a bit of routine and a little less booze than normal. It is a welcome change. I sidelined myself with an ankle sprain a couple weeks back which has rendered me antsy and a little moody (poor JP). I don't do well being unhealthy and hate not being able to do much. I'm back in action though, with the help of some physio (as they call it here) and regular RICE-ing...

This weekend we stayed in on Friday night after enjoying a few after work cocktails at the pub. I forgot to mention that now JP and I are in same office, so now I can bug him constantly like in the old days! Last night our friend Chris organized a night out for those of us straggling GEPers who are in town and not travelling the continent. We started our night at a tapas restaurant in Mayfair (whom, our spanish friends say is muy autentico) and then hit up a couple pubs in the area. After they closed down we ended the night with "fifteen pounds per drink but great view bar" on the top of the Hilton in Mayfair. It was a fun night out, which ended with a very engaging discussion with a cab driver who encouraged us four times in the ride home to practice our right to vote this November. Don't worry we will.... Today we went to see the Dark Knight and really enjoyed that.

So, quite boring right?! That is why I've ceased posting so much. Next weekend we are heading out to Wales and staying in a Fisherman's cottage in Mumbles (home of Catherine Zeta-Jones). The cottage has a kitchen so we can buy from local markets to cook in and relax by the water. A perfect break from the city before we start a 6 week stretch of back to back visitors and trips.

Until then...

Praha

Last weekend we jaunted over to the Czech Republic to see their capital city- Praha, or Prague. It was a quick trip, we took off Friday after work and then returned on Monday morning (well, that is a loooooong story).

So, anyhoo, the purpose of the trip was really to celebrate Jamie's birthday. We joined Jamie, her husband Matt and our travel friend Aimee and her friend Megan. We stayed in the center of town and enjoyed all the sights. Our itinerary included all that Rick Steves told us to do- so we hit up the old town, the new town, Jewish Quarter, the Castle, the St. Charles bridge... The city is beautiful as well as easy to get around. We enjoyed the low key trip. We arrived late Friday night, so we just had a couple drinks. On Saturday we went walking around the whole city. On Saturday night we enjoyed a nice night out to dinner at a restaurant called Ambiente http://www.ambi.cz/index_eng.php and enjoyed some yummy pasta. (Don't worry, we enjoyed the traditional fare like goulash and schnitzel for lunch...) After dinner, JP and I retired to our hotel casino for some blackjack while the others went out to the biker bar in town for people watching.

All in all, it was an incredible trip, very low key and loads of sight seeing. There wasn't a lot of craziness or partying which aided our trip- we actually enjoyed a city without being hungover or tired!

We'll post pictures shortly. For the next few weeks we'll stay local in London and then enjoy the bank holiday weekend (the weekend before Labor Day) in Wales.

Poppin' Bottles!

Just a quick posting- I can finally rest easy. Not only do I have a new role in this newly formed HR organization here- but I was promoted and will be doing a role that is actually much more suited to what I like to do!

What is it? Well, effective Monday I will be a Learning & Development Manager in our central people team. I will move to our other London office closer to home (but, not as nice as this one!) and will be joining a new team. This new role does not sit within the business like I currently do- which definitely has its drawbacks... but I'll be involved in designing cirriculum and facilitating training- two things I really have wanted to do since coming to the UK!

So, to celebrate, I imagine we'll have some fizz and some sushi - which will basically cost the amount of the meager raise I got- but who cares? Finally, a manager title (it is about time!) and a little more job security than I've head since I joined. Life is good... let's pop some bottles!

Taco Bell, Mel Gibson, and Glaciers... our trip to Iceland

Well... here is an overview of Iceland:

Accommodations: We rolled Real World style (everyone has seen at least one episode right?!) and rented a flat on the main street in Reykjavik. It had five bedrooms, black and green decorations, a magnificent and stocked kitchen and plenty of space for all 7 of us. It was right on the main road and had loads of nice touches- big plasma screen TV (with 4 channels), comfy beds, and a big patio to relax on. Just picture your last IKEA catalogue for further visuals- but it was really nice.

Cast of Characters: Aimee- regular travel buddy & GEP from NYC, Oggie- helped represent the west coast, GEP from SF, Brian- new to the group, GEP from NYC, and then JP's friends Jared & Sarah who live and work in Geneva, Switzerland. JP & I rounded out that group.

What did we do? We arrived on a Thursday night and took the drive into Reykjavik and set to work on getting to know one another over some duty free Jack Daniels and vodka. After a few and an entire bag of Cool American Doritos (or, as we know it, Cool Ranch) we decided to go check out the nightlife. We rolled out a tad late (2:30am) and found that Thursday night is not the night to go out. It was a ghost town. No worries, we needed to rest up for Friday...

Friday we did the Golden Circle tour- http://www.randburg.com/is/golden-circle/index.asp We rented cars to do this on our own and we are so glad we did. It was a really fun and long day- we saw gorgeous valleys, hiked some great hills, saw geysers and waterfalls. It was really fun to go from spot to spot, not sure what to expect and then you are confronted with a gorgeous waterfall or vista view. It was also nice to be at our own pace and not sharing a coach tour bus with a bunch of tourists.

After returning to our flat we ordered up some pizza and headed out to sample the bars. We were warned that the people were fun but ignored all personal space and were quite rowdy. What this means when you are 5'2" is that they just knock you out of the way, dance right into you, or grab you. I mean it, it is rowdy. You have to go with it or it can get ugly- but for such a nice group of people, they can get crazy when they go out! We did our best to hold our own- we danced and hit up a rock bar close to our flat. Some of the singles stayed out past us old married couples who retired at around 3am. The mess of people and energy were just unreal though- these people enjoy to party.

Saturday- after waking Saturday with no real plans, we hit up the Taco Bell for lunch and headed out to drive the south coast of the island. Let me just say- for those of you who are thinking- what?? Taco Bell?? You are talking about 7 Americans who have not seen a Taco Bell in anywhere between 9 months and 2 years. And guess what, it tastes the same in Iceland as it does in the US- Delicious! After that we drove around in search of puffins (native birds) but were unable to hike out to see them due to some pretty nasty winds. We found the Continental divide which is where the two tectonic plates from Europe and North America meet and played around there for a bit.

Upon our return back to the flat, we made dinner reservations at a steakhouse in downtown and set out to enjoy some steak and potatoes. We sat down to our table, ordered some drinks when JP leans over to me and says- hey, is that Mel Gibson at the table next to us? Sure enough- it was!! He was sitting literally 8 feet away from us having dinner with we think one of his sons and grandsons. He looked great, kind of cranky really but we all were a bit starstruck and kept sneaking peeks over in his direction. Oh, and the dinner was great too!

Sunday we rose early to go play around on the glaciers and see waterfalls. We took this tour: http://www.mountainguides.is/English/Tours/39/36/120/default.aspx and had a great time. They outfitted us with cramp-ons and ice picks and we set off for a 3 hour hike around the glaciers. It was gorgeous, great weather for it.

Sunday night we enjoyed one last night together in the flat and cooked a big meal... meaning the girls cooked and the boys drank beers and did the dishes.

Monday we went to the Blue Lagoon http://www.bluelagoon.com/ which is easily the most popular tourist spot in Iceland. We soaked in the water, enjoyed the steam room and the massaging water falls before eating lunch and taking off for the airport.

All in all, a fabulous trip, would have been incredible without a Mel Gibson sighting and Taco Bell- but has to be one of the best trips we've taken since we've been here. I highly recommend this to anybody with a love of outdoors and hiking as it really does have every type of land- lava, desert, lush mountains, etc. The people of Iceland are fantastic, super friendly, all speak English and all are very eager to share facts about their beloved country. I learned more from quick taxi rides or talking with the flat manager than I did from our tourbook! I can't imagine a better way to experience Iceland and left yesterday wishing I had a few more days to see more.

Pics are on our site, enjoy!

A Recap...

The last few weeks here have been eventful to say the least. Let’s recap:

Work:
Without going into terrible detail, the firm here has implemented a new HR structure- which is resulting in some “rejigging” of the teams. What this means is that in the next couple weeks I will more than likely have a new role here. The worst possible outcome will be that I’ll be jobless, but I’m surprisingly optimistic that I will be fine. It is a funny exercise in human psychology- tell someone that they could possibly lose their job and regardless of what they felt about their job- they immediately go one of two ways- elation over a chance to take the severance and run or complete indignation over the fact that the firm would deem their role as “not fit for purpose.” I have fallen in both these camps in the last few weeks- but most of all, I think because I am not permanent here- I just hope that I get placed in the new structure. More to come on this subject…

More exciting social front:
Since I last wrote we’ve enjoyed a couple weeks at home and enjoying the summer by staying local. Two weekends ago we stayed close to home, enjoying the last few weeks with another GEP friend who will be returning to the US soon. This last weekend we, along with a few of our friends, hopped the train south to the city of Brighton. It is a seaside community and although nothing like the beaches we know (there is no sand, just large rocks) I’ll take any excuse to be by the water. We arrived in time to stroll the streets, have a quiet lunch, take in some rides on the pier and relax at a local pub. We then enjoyed a great seafood dinner before we caught the last train home. Brighton isn’t the first stop in a UK tour by any means, but for us it was a nice way to get out of the city for the day and enjoy the sea air. It was a big day for baby Alex, who joined us and did beautifully… http://www.visitbrighton.com/

As an aside:
Life here is not all peaches and for the last couple weeks I’ve been going through a major- “only in London” frustration. One example to illustrate: Our toilet is leaking. This isn’t earth shattering nor terribly serious- but as responsible tenants we thought it would be good to alert our flat managers to ensure they get to the leak in time and fix it. To us, this simply means they send out a handyman, who then fixes things, and we move on with life. Not in London dear friends. What this really means is countless emails and phone calls to get someone to take notice. Then a handyman who says he is coming and doesn’t show. Then four more days of calls and emails wondering where the hell the handyman is. Then he shows unannounced, takes apart half our bathroom, gets crap all over our walls and doors, leaves the job unfinished with a toilet still leaking and the tank exposed and the handle just hanging off… It takes the most precise measures to flush the toilet now. There is no note to say he will return, or a call from our flat manager to say what the next step is. I mean, why would they do that? We call the flat managers on Friday night- livid that our house is in disarray and that we can’t flush the toilet… to hear that they can’t get anybody out to fix until at least Monday… and hopefully we can make do with what we have (ummm, a barely working toilet??). Also, they are short staffed, so terribly sorry for any lack of or miscommunication.

WTF??

So, it ain’t all peaches, I promise folks. I can say with great certainty that this will continue on for at least another month. Mark my words- our toilet will not work until at least mid- August, I’m sure of it. This is what living here is like- no consistency or accountability when things go wrong. And people just take it! They just accept it! It is enough to leave you pulling your hair out.

But in the end…

We leave on Thursday night for Iceland with 6 other friends- we plan on hiking, trekking, cooking and drinking our way through some gorgeous sites. Then we return next Monday and next Friday we leave for a weekend in Prague with another group of friends. Finally, I just booked a weekend trip to Wales in later August to see some more of the UK and maybe even go to the beach. So friends, while I bitch and moan, I’m not neglecting the fact that the weather has been nice, we get at least 16 hours of daylight right now and we are soon travelling almost every other weekend!

Enjoying the summertime in London

What an amazing couple weeks... at the risk of sounding too cheesy, I'm so grateful for the great experiences we have been enjoying- and for some great weather too!

Let's start with a quick overview of the last couple weeks:

Upon my return from Lisbon, I promptly entered into HR busy season hell. I have my "day job" which is busy enough, but with our staff down and a hiring freeze going on, it is all hands on deck right now. What does that mean? Roundtables... and lots of them. We have roundtables once a year- and basically it is a forum where the managers and senior execs get together and discuss the performance of the staff and such. It is quite involved and being in HR means we moderate the discussion to ensure it is fair and bias free. In the US it was intense but people are generally PC enough that we don't have to step in too much. Here in the UK is another story. There is yelling. There is conflict. There is overt bias ("She spends too much time talking about her kids on the job, He was raised really wealthy and doesn't know how to communicate with others, This guy is like 40 and can't take direction from people younger than him") Yes, I'm serious. And, it is a total exercise in maturity and conflict resolution- how to figure out how to encourage more fair discussions of people that don't automatically favor white men with no families... all while being American (which they already don't like) and from HR (which adds to the fuel). I come home exhausted most days simply because I have to moderate or interject at almost every non male/white discussion!

So, on to summer... we've had a great couple weeks. The weather is great, the sun is shining and not setting until 10pm. Last weekend we had a low key weekend at home, just hanging out with friends. This week we saw Jack Johnson and friends in Hyde Park. Who were his friends? Well, we saw G Love and Special Sauce (throw back from the college days!), Ben Harper, Jack, and then Jimmy Buffett took the stage for one song during the encore. It was a great night, we took our friend Jamie and one of my co-workers Kelly. We enjoyed the great music, being outside with the sun shining, and cheap beer and wine. The one great thing about the UK is they don't mark up their drinks at big events, our beers and wine cost the same and almost less than the pub prices. From left to right- Kelly, Jamie and me:

Then, on Thursday night we crossed our fingers, went on to Ticketmaster, and scored one pair of 500 Wimbledon Centre Court tickets they release each evening. Talk about luck- our tickets, which incredibly pricey, enabled us to watch two huge matches yesterday- Nadal and Federer both clinched the two seats in the finals. It was a great way to spend the afternoon. Wimbledon stadium is great, most the seats are decent, ours were just fine. The tennis etiquette was super nice, people were polite and quiet during play, the access was regulated so people were not getting up every five minutes. Here we are during the break between matches:

After the matches, we had spent 5 full hours watching tennis- it was great but we were hungry. So, we headed over to our friends Darren & Nicole's house to enjoy a proper 4th of July BBQ. Darren recently got a new grill and we were all grateful for actual BBQ food. That is not a big thing here in London- in fact you really only see the Austrailians BBQ. Anyhoo, we filled their fridge with Budweiser, Coors Light, and enjoyed burgers, corn on the cob, mac and cheese and oreos. We even downloaded every American type love song on the ipod and sang along to greats such as God Bless the USA and some Bruce Springsteen. It was probably the most patriotic July 4th any of us have ever had, but not being on US soil really makes you appreciate what you left behind.

So that is it! It is Saturday and tonight we are hosting some people at our flat. We are making tacos and enjoying some champagne. It goes together as much as PB&J right? we all have champagne to drink, and JP and I wanted to cook at our flat- so put it all together and that is what you get.

I'll leave you with a short video from Ben Harper at this week's concert, it was such a great night- this is especially for Rachel who used to listen to Ben constantly during our years as roomies...