5 Thoughts About Britain

OK, 15 thoughts.

As we pack up to move and head to France (I know, I’m still not completely used to how incredible this opportunity is), I wanted to do a quick wrap-up of these past two years in Britain.

Here it is, in list form:

5 Things that Disappointed Me About Britain

• Brexit I’m still gob-smacked that the country (very very narrowly) voted to exit the EU, and even more shocked that this mess of a government seems to think this narrow edge meant they had to push for the hardest of hard Brexits. The May government now stands against everything I loved about the Britain I first knew: its openness to foreigners, its excitement for the future, and its belief in an inclusive and vibrant community.
• Austerity bites While I was here, I became pregnant and had a marvelous son, which of course required lots of doctors visits. I came to love the NHS for its accessibility, but going through two winters seeing first-hand how overstretched staff is, and how many more doctors and nurses the NHS needs, was sobering. When this was coupled with the government’s refusal to offer spots to more (foreign) doctors, I began to understand just how far this government was willing to go to ensure a significant drop in migrants. The NHS needs saving. And I can’t quite see how that’s going to happen.
• Hostile environment of Home Office The Home Office takes care of all immigration-related concerns (as well as justice and prisons, it’s a weird lumping), and for the past 7 years has implemented something known as a ‘hostile environment’ - which means they’re not looking to assist immigrants in any way and will do what they can to ensure immigrants leave quickly. There are plenty of nightmare stories - of people with valid visas getting notice of deportation, people whose passports have been held by the Home Office for years and then those same people getting notification that they’ve overstayed their visa and must leave….it’s an unpleasant reality for an immigrant. When we arrived, I had wanted to change my name to Côté (to match my husband’s, I wasn’t allowed to in Quebec). But to do that, I would first have to change the name on my US passport, and then REAPPLY for a British visa. I just didn’t trust the Home Office, in their zeal to kick immigrants out, to approve it, and so I remain, for now, Jacobsen. It's tough to live in constant fear that the Home Office will decide, randomly and out of the blue, to give you grief. 
• The high cost of childcare It’s ludicrous. Just ludicrous. I’m very happy with the level of care Mag received, sure. But paying 52% of my post-tax salary to have him in daycare was unexpected, and unnerving. Vive la France, where it’s supposed to be MUCH much cheaper.
• Lack of New York-style giant pretzels Seriously. The UK needs to import these. And NYC pizza. Where you can buy it by the slice.
  
  5 Things that Surprised Me About Britain, This Time Around
• The weather I’m always surprised about British weather. When I’m here - especially in fall-spring - I know that the never-ending grayness, the constant tap-drip of moisture, and the chilliness that comes from perpetual rain really does get to me. But then, after I've left, I forget about it. And I resolve that I won’t let it get to me again, if I ever move back to Britain. But it does get to me. It always always does.
• Radiant summer sunshine On the flip side, I had a very pleasant surprise: our first summer was sunny, hot, and everything I hoped for in summer weather (and VERY different from the summer of ‘07, when it was essentially November weather in July). I had taken the summer of 2016 off, and spent it on my bike, weaving through the old Cambridge colleges and spending every spare second either on the Cam or in a bookshop. Thank you, England, for that summer and those memories. I forgive you the cows.
• The government/lack of inspiring figures Having worked in Parliament in 2003 and 2007-08, I had a deep respect for British politicians and British institutions. I found the level of debates to be so much higher, so much more focused on the detail of policies and not nearly as obsessed with partisanship as they were in the US….if nothing else, the British government seemed to function better than the US government did, and I appreciated that. Brexit, and everything that came after, has thrown all that out of whack. I came here wanting to stay for a long, long time, and apply for citizenship. But what came to pass in the months following June 23, 2016 made me think long and hard about how committed I wanted to be to this country. I did not expect this to happen. In some ways, I’m still surprised I had such a reversal of opinion.
• The high cost of living This also took me for a bit of a shock. I knew living in London wasn’t cheap - but I thought living outside of London would make a difference. I thought the strong pound would make it easier to make a dent in my student loans, and I thought we’d still have enough money (and time) left over to travel throughout Europe. I didn’t anticipate the high cost of Cambridge rent. I didn’t anticipate how low salaries really were (and hubs and I were in the higher salary categories). And God almighty, I did not anticipate spending £500+ a month on trains to get to work. I’m still shocked by this.
• The trains Which brings me to my next point. In my previous go-rounds in the UK, I never really took the trains - once in a while to Cambridge, a few times to Edinburgh, once to Peterhead. They looked much cleaner than Amtrak trains, and went so much faster. To me, they were top-notch. Fast forward to 2018, after 2 years of commuting on British trains, and I understand the frustration of British riders. There aren’t enough trains to meet demand, which means more often than not you’re packed to the gills next to the seats for a 45-minute ride. Now, try doing this pregnant (and no, people didn’t get up unless I specifically asked them to). Between the overcrowding, the delays, the cancellations, and the price, I got pretty disgusted pretty quickly. Here’s hoping rail companies improve these services for riders, and soon.

5 Magnificent Things About My Stay in Britain:

• London Oh, how I missed London. The river, the South Bank, the Tate Modern, the British Museum, revisiting old haunts and old acquaintances and breathing a sigh of relief every time I passed by Westminster that I no longer worked there but appreciating the experience for what it was….I missed the pasties, the train stations, the Tube, the buses, the parks, the pubs. It was so very wonderful to get to work there again, and be part of the London world yet another time.
• Exploring the country The last two times I’ve lived here, I never ventured very far from London (being a student, with a student budget). This time around, armed with a partner who drives, I got to experience so much more. Camping and climbing in the Peak District; a whirlwind trip with my travel bestie in Nottingham, Sheffield, and Manchester; camping (again) in the Chilterns and meandering through towns like Henley-on-Thames and High Wycombe; setting foot in Wales for the first time, to experience Tintern Abbey in the rain and the pubs of downtown Cardiff where people sniffed coke out in the open; living in Cambridge for a glorious 10 months, and Hitchin for another 13, and going for long Sunday drives in Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, and Bedfordshire in the rolling green hills.
• Rugby My partner is committed to rugby, and I was hoping he would find a good, friendly club in the UK. He couldn’t have asked for more than he got in the Cambridge Rugby Club. Magnificent people, from the coaches and the admin to the players - the coach even had us over for Christmas in our first year, just to make us feel more at home. They’ve been a wonderful bunch of lads, and did so much to welcome Matt, me, and then little Magnus into their circle. I will miss them.
• Jaffa Cakes Don’t ask me how I hadn’t been aware of jaffa cakes after my first two forays here. I think I was too focused on Cadbury for my own good. I need to find a way to get jaffa cakes in France.
• Learning to be more assertive in my career I’d always been a bit hesitant to toot my own horn (or really, do anything that might make my job search easier). But after two years of staying low to the ground in Quebec, dodging what I imagined to be immigration officials tracking my every email, I felt a release in the UK that I hadn’t in a long time. It was great, and yielded some fun results. I hope I can translate this newfound comfort with advertising myself into French.