There's No Place Like Home

I've just taken a couple of weeks out of my busy LA schedule to travel back to England - so nice of everybody to get the flags out for me!!

Of course it's just pure coincidence that we are back for our hols at the same time as the Royal Wedding - despite being able to string a few American acquaintances along for a couple of weeks we really didn't come back just to witness the nupitals of Wills and Kate. It's all to do with that quaint old thing called school holidays - my daughter doesn't get very many in the US so we decided to take advantage of the fact that she's now off for 10 days and come back down to earth for a reality check.

There is a great atmosphere in the UK at the moment, personally I think this is more to do with the glorious weather than that wedding although most people do seem pretty happy about that too - and the extra day off work of course. I have tried to explain this purely British phenomenon about the weather to my new American friends but its not really something those lucky Californians with their constant sunshine will ever understand. The British really do make hay when the sun shines - we get out there and make the most of it, after all you never know how long it will last.  The village where we have our UK home was positively buzzing; the pubs were packed; beer gardens and parks overflowing and yes there were actually kids swimming in the river.   Everyone just heads outdoors, takes the day off, strips off, packs a picnic or lights the BBQ. To have nearly three weeks of unbroken warm sunshine is almost unheard of in April, even rarer to have it over a bank holiday weekend as well.

Americans don't get that either - this bank holiday thing - my husband's colleagues can't believe how many days off work we Europeans get given each year. Fortunately my husband went out to the US on his home country leave entitlement - most US employees have a miserly 10 days annual leave per year and if they are lucky perhaps another five added on as paid time off - which they have to use if they are sick. After that any additional days are unpaid.

Most UK workers will have four fully paid days off out of the last working 10, without taking any leave at all. Canny folks who have planned carefully will have taken 7 days leave to have a continuous period of 17 days off work. Not bad eh?

So how is England? Is it much changed? Well my local Tesco was absolutely packed and food was flying off the shelves like there was no tomorrow - despite all this talk of a recession. Fresh fruit and veg was still a lot cheaper and looked a lot fresher than anything I can buy at my local US Ralphs, despite the further distance it has to travel and the increasing cost of fuel. Talking of which the price of petrol is twice the price it is in LA, and yes everyone does moan about it but most people are happy to drive around in smaller cars, will use public transport and can and do walk. All this fuss about rising gas prices back in the US and not once during the petrol saving tips they keep dishing out on TV has anyone suggested leaving the SUV at home and using your legs instead. But there you go - a  few more price hikes and they might get there eventually. (In case you are wondering the top tip is usually drive 50 miles out of your way to save 5 cents a gallon.)

How are the people? Well the sun is shining so everyone is extremely cheerful and very friendly. Hardly a grim miserable face to be seen. Of course not everyone rushed to greet me effusively, and no shop assistant instantly started acting like my new BFF, but that was okay. I could cope with that - I'm a grown up. I knew it wasn't because they didn't like me, it's just that old fashioned British reserve. I wasn't offended - I positively enjoyed the opportunity to browse in peace.

It's good to meet up with several old friends and yes, visit lots of very pleasant hostelries and have a good old gossip over an alcoholic beverage or two. It feels good to stay in the pub until after 10.00 pm, not need a calculator to work out the correct amount of gratuities, or be under the impression that the staff can't wait for us to leave.

It's good to catch all the old favourites on TV - Come Dine With Me, Masterchef and my day time treat -Homes Under the Hammer! It's a relief to watch programmes that credit the audience with an ounce of intelligence and aren't interupted every ten minutes by a lengthy commerical break (even the commericals seem positively intellectual). TV news is always more credible when it isn't presented by a Barbie doll or sponsored by Ducolax, and it really is quite enlightening to find out what is happening out there in the rest of the world.

My daughter can just take herself off every morning and meet up with her old school friends - there's no having to taxi her here there and everywhere. Just normal kids taking a walk or catching the local train or bus to meet up - rediscovering the freedom and independence that she just doesn't have in the States.

So, all in all, it feels very good to be back home and have my feet well and truly back on the ground. Happy smiley faces all round - until it starts to rain of course! That'll be Friday then.