My short answer.
Yes.
My long answer.
- Peanut M&Ms with the right color of artificial red and orange dye.
- The availability and price of LIFE cereal for my kids
- American convenience
- American electricity
- American workmen
- Tennis.
- Tennis.
- Oh yeah, tennis.
- Parking spaces with more room.
- Streets with more room.
- Being able to take pictures of my kids in their school events
- My American work family.
- My SEA family.
- My PGC family.
- My family family.
As we enter the Christmas Season, the list takes on a more sentimental toll. I've caught myself thinking, where are the real red and green M&Ms?, hustling and bustling is merrier when you aren't in gridlock London traffic, I wish the Pittsburgh Golf Club would stop sending me invites to things I can't possibly attend (but really really want to), will I ever get invited to a Christmas party here, and I guess I'll just be dreaming of a white Christmas.
Last week, while on the road with my team from Leeds, to Manchester, to Birmingham to London, I got another question quite frequently, will you be going home for the holidays?
My short answer.
No, we are staying here.
The long answer.
- Home is an interesting term right now. Yes, I'm a U.S. citizen, but we don't have a house in the states anymore. So, I am home.
- I've also been traveling since January, and I need time to not right now.
- Besides, despite the rain, London is wonderful at Christmas time, and I was gifted a British Christmas cookbook, and we got a tree from the Highlands of Scotland this weekend, and my parents are coming to visit next week, so, I'm ready to go full Brit at Christmas.
- To summarize, I am home for the holidays.
The first and last points are the ones where my technology officer lingered a bit. He had taken an assignment in Japan before coming to do the role in the UK. He said, it's good for you to embrace that. When my wife and I were in Tokyo, we often found ourselves dwelling on the temporary definition of the assignment, and saying, 'when we get back we'll do this, when we get back we'll do that.' Instead of living in the moment. Instead of calling Tokyo home.
He caught the little tear in my eye. I caught his.
These moves are big. There is always loss and always excitement that comes from there. And there is emotion between the two. Actually taking a second to reflect on what we as leaders have done and continue to sacrifice for the company might draw a wet eye.
Despite a roof over our head, home has a deeper meaning. It's a feeling of comfort in your surroundings, your support network, and your sense of safety. And in London, it's taken a little longer to create those because of the distance and differences here.
But we are getting there. And this lead up to Christmas has helped. There's something about the decorations (which thankfully didn't break on the ship across the Atlantic), the kids plays and concerts, the carols on the piano next to the glow of the Christmas tree, and the relationships we are forming across school, work, and church becoming a little warmer, all making you feel that our sense of home is taking hold.
Yes, we will miss Christmas in America. But we are embracing what Christmas in our new home will bring.
Lo.
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