Service Culture

I have heard multiple times that outside of the United States there isn’t the same “service culture” we are accustomed to. When we initially heard this it’s easy to assume it is a basic as the difference in service when you go to a restaurant or coffee shop. There isn’t the expectation that a tip will be given and there isn’t the same level of service from the waiters. Back home it seems someone is checking on you every 5 minutes, if you’re at a big chain restaurant your soda is probably refilled before you even finish the first one (oh Red Robin I never knew I’d miss you). Here you get your menu and wait for someone to take your order, once your food and drink arrive you are on your own until you’re ready for the bill. Constant checking in to see if you need a refill, not going to happen. This can actually be good and bad. You aren’t being constantly sold on the dessert or another drink; it’s nice not to constantly have to tell someone “no we’re fine thank you”. On the other hand if you are in a hurry you will be waving the water down for your bill and then to have them take your money etc.  So yes it’s true the service standards are different.

Now living here I have started to realize exactly how much “service” or convenience we really do have in the States and how different things truly are. There are the little things, at the grocery store you not only don’t have your items bagged for you but you get an annoyed look from the teller if you are taking too long. Forget being able to shop at any time, most retailers close by 6:00 and if you do need help you have to hunt down an employee for assistance. The people aren’t rude or unfriendly you just aren’t catered to in the same way we would expect back home.

Today I got the first pedicure I’ve had since moving here. There aren’t nail shops all over where you can stop in for a quick pedicure without an appointment. I had to make an appointment at a spa and even then I think the $20 ones are actually a little better. As I was there I realized that you don’t hear as much about waxing, the aesthetician said women just don’t seem to get as many indulgent treatments on a regular basis. I also have not yet met a Mom who has someone clean her house. You don’t see cleaning vans driving around, no Molly Maids or similar services. I was having coffee with a Mom and asked her so what do you do to treat yourself? She looked at me in confusion and said “you don’t”.

Now some of this might be the difference between one income and two income households. Even in Seattle if I didn’t work I don’t think I could justify having Concepcion continue to come to the house, but man do I miss her sometimesJ. Also, if we lived in central London and I was asking single women I’m sure brow waxes and pedicures would be much more common than the Friday Mom’s coffee group surrounded by toddler and babies.

I’ve realized that the downside to all of this convenience is the speed at which money can be spent without even trying. I could swing through my drive thru Starbuck on my way to meet a girlfriend for a pedicure after work and even stop at Target for that one thing I sort of needed. It’s all so easy and so fast and can be so expensive. I’ve learned that you have to really want to spend money here. On Sunday Jamie and I took the kids to Café Nero, a coffee shop, in a neighbouring village to have coffees and Kellen got a treat. There are no parking lots, instead you park or take a bus and then walk around the village getting any errands done at the same time. This also means that we actually sat there and had a coffee together and enjoyed the time just sitting. Not driving thru on our way to Target.

We have gotten very used to saying the things here are different, not better or worse but just different. Like all the other things that are different the lack of convenience has actually turned out to be good and bad. On a Sunday afternoon everything is closed so you have to sit back and relax, but the downside is you better not plan on accomplishing anything on Sunday because everything is closed. I really enjoyed getting a pedicure today, I probably won’t get another one as soon as I’d like and I miss the cheap little place down the street from my house that will take you even if you get there at 7:00. But I’ll also enjoy spending my £25 on something a little more important.

Celebrating and Going On Holiday

It has been too long since my last posting, looking back over the last month it feels like a lot has happened with Christmas, Grandma and Papa’s visit, and Ireland I don’t know where to start.

Christmas this year was a very different experience then usual. It was our first Christmas abroad and there were some new traditions we tried to incorporate, we made a trip to Harrods and Christmas Markets, tasted Christmas puddings (no thank you they are just warm fruit bread from what I can tell), has mince pies on Christmas day (again a lot of dried candied fruit) and I hit the Boxing day sales. We ordered our turkey from the local butchers and I spent the week before Christmas planning our menu, watching Jamie Oliver’s Christmas specials and going to the grocery store, 4 trips was my final count.

While both Christmas Eve and Christmas day were spent cooking on my part they were also full of Christmas movies, playing and board games around the house. The family was also treated to Kellen and I signing Christmas carols. Back in Seattle we spend a lot of time traveling from house to house, sometimes it seems like there isn’t enough time in the holiday to really spend enough time with either side of the family so while we missed everyone it was a nice change of pace. I also had a good excuse to use our wedding china which only happens a few times a year. On Christmas Eve only Jamie, Ella and I made it until midnight and even then I think we were in bed by 12:30 so it was much mellower then years passed. Christmas morning was a lot of fun as Patrick was rushing us all down the stairs and Kellen was starting to get the whole concept. Each time Kellen opened a gift he would want to go play with it and we would have to force him to move on to the next gift and it would start all over again. At 8:00am our time we did call home to say merry Christmas and that was the hardest moment. Hearing everyone together celebrating midnight, obviously a few glasses of Champaign into the celebration, made me wish I could be there too. All in all we really enjoyed our quiet Christmas together.

Grandma and Papa got here on the 27^th and I was more excited for them to arrive then Patrick was on Christmas morning. Jamie, Ella and I went to the airport while the boys waited at home. We got there early and got coffee, the plan was to sit and wait patiently; instead I think I paced up and down the arrival area for 30 minutes until they walked out. Having them here made me realize how much I really do miss them each day. I’ve been surprised how easy it’s been so far, between Skype and unlimited long distance on the home phone we talk a few times a week and Skype at least once a week, but seeing them in person was so nice.

We packed the two weeks they were here as full as possible. We did a variety of day trips around the country side and days in London. I even got a few days out with just them as Jamie stayed home with the babies. Our big plan for their visit was a trip to Ireland for New Years. Mom has always said that she’d like to see Ireland; it was really fun to get to experience it with her.

We flew into Dublin on the 30^th and spent New Year’s Eve touring the city. Before going I had heard about the economic issues they have had over the last few years, including the austerity measures being adopted, so I was pleasantly surprised by how great Dublin was. It seems like such a great city. It’s small enough that you really can walk around; we made it from the Jameson distillery to the Guinness Factory with just a 15 minute walk. The buildings have character and are many are obviously historic but inside they were modern and updated. The Guinness Brewery was amazing in itself, it is huge and they have a full museum inside. There were multiple restaurants, a tour and a sky bar that overlooked the city. Overall the city was very charming and I look forward to hopefully spending more time there. Then on New Year’s Day we drove out to Cork stopping along the way to view old castles, cathedrals and the town of Waterford. The villages had a very different look and feel then English villages but there was the same emphasis on tea, sweets and pubs.

I’ve also had some learnings over the last month. The biggest one would be that coming out here has brought our family unit closer. We love our extended family and miss our extended family but we often end up spending a lot of time worrying about everyone else’s plans and schedules and it was really nice to focus on just the 5 of us this year. My second key learning is that you must be equally prepared for a day out with your parent as you do with your kids. With kids you must always have wipes, sippy cups and backup clothes. With parents you must always have tissues, Actifed and splenda.

Happiest Place on Earth

This was our first Thanksgiving away from home so we debated what to do. Do we not celebrate at all? Should Jamie and Patrick stay home that day and we have our own Thanksgiving at home? Or do we go and indulge ourselves instead of sitting home and missing everyone? We decided to be indulgent and went to Disneyland Paris for a long weekend!

The most common way of going to Disneyland Paris is by the Eurostar, there is even a train station right outside the entrance gate, but it is only about 6 hours of total travel time by car. We also wanted to check out the Eurotunnel and have the option of driving into Paris proper so we decided to drive. I spent all day Wednesday getting us ready for our trip. It’s amazing how much work it is to pack up a family of 5 for just 4 days.  The biggest delay was making sure all the laundry was done since I can only get about half as many clothes in each load as I’m used to. But by about 11:00pm Wednesday night the family was packed, we had snacks, backup clothes, stroller, multiple stroller accessories, etc. We were either going to Disneyland or war but were prepared either way.

We woke the kids up just before 5:00am and piled them in the car still in PJs. Our goal was to let them sleep for at least the portion of the drive that was still dark. Patrick and Ella snoozed but of course Kellen, the child that most needs to sleep, decided he was up for the ride so chatted with us all the way to the Eurotunnel. When we told him we were going to drive our car onto a train he laughed and said “No, Daddy” figuring of course that Jamie was teasing him. Then when we really did drive right onto the train I think we were all a bit amazed. They line the cars up similar to riding on a ferry but its only single file. They get you on, parked and on your way incredibly fast for so many cars. Then 30 minute later you’re there and in France.                        

It is a bit strange that you go into this tunnel for 30 minutes and come out and it looks totally different. Although the countries are so close you immediately can tell that the trees and fields look different, the villages have a different feel to them and of course you drive on the right hand side of the road. We were on our way, thank goodness for GPS. The drive from the tunnel to Disney was about 3 hours and this is where the details get a bit hazy as I dozed and poor Jamie had to go it alone for at least an hour. Finally we pulled into the Disney property that included Disneyland as well as all of the Disney hotels. It was a foggy day so we really couldn’t see much but being used to Disney always being sunny and warm it was definitely strange to pull up in the fog and gloom.

After we checked into our hotel we walked through the Disney Village, their version of Downtown Disney in California, this was not a good place to start. While the actually Disney store and restaurant in the village were nice the other restaurants looked like they hadn’t been updated since the early ‘90s when it was built. We ended up having our lunch on Thanksgiving day in a Planet Hollywood that was well past its prime. At this point I think Jamie and I were both nervous that maybe this wasn’t a great idea. Here we are freezing on Thanksgiving eating terrible burgers in Planet Hollywood. But then we entered the park.

As usual Disney does such a great job, you walk in and you are on Main Street USA and Mickey was right there inside the entrance. Kellen and Patrick both gave Mickey a big hug and we were back on track. Overall the park was really similar to California but there would be slight differences. For example the first ride Jamie and Patrick did was Space Mountain 2 so it had full upside down loops but was the same dark space theme. One big different between Disney in the states and in Paris was the smoking. It was crazy. We really aren’t bothered by smoking but this was out of control. I would guess that 50% of the adults were smoking in the park at any given time. Waiting in line for rides, pushing strollers, watching the parades, all smoking all the time. We were definetly in Europe and not the states. We also noticed just the number of different languages being spoken all around us. When there were announcements over the loudspeakers they would first be in French, then Spanish, and then English, followed by at least 3 more languages.

We were really lucky that we arrived on Thursday, there were essentially no lines on Thursday and Friday, we couldn’t believe how much we were able to do and see. By Saturday it was the Disney we were used to with hour long waits.  Along with Disneyland they have the Disney Studios so that was also a lot of fun. There were Cars rides and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on stage. Patrick did the Tower of Terror multiple times. We did get a kick out of all the names of the rides being different.

Kellen had a blast this trip, we really did focus more on the little kid areas since Patrick has been to Disney multiple times so we spent much more time in fantasy land then we ever had before. The Small World is just Kellen’s speed, along with the Snow White ride and Pinocchio. He did go along with Dad and Patrick in Pirates of the Caribbean but he told me that one was scary and didn’t seem interested in trying them again. It was also a lot of fun to watch parades with him, the rest of us enjoy the parade and look forward to them but it was perfect for Kellen. We would park his stroller right up on the curb and he would point out each character as they walked by.

By Saturday night we decided that a break from Disney would be a good thing and drove into Paris for dinner. I have to hand it to Jamie, I think they drive more aggressive in France then they do in England, and compared to Seattle it’s downright reckless out here. We saw the Eiffel Tower, it was more incredible in person then I anticipated. Then we found a bistro for a late dinner. It was so fun to take Patrick into Paris and have him try out his French he’s been learning.

On Sunday after a few last rides we started to head home. We decided to make a day out of it and went to Reims before catching the Eurotunnel back to England. We knew we wanted to see the Cathedral of Reims but we were pleasantly surprised to find a Christmas market in full swing. There were stalls selling all sorts of food stands and crafts, a full band playing and even a pony ride with a line of adorable little girls. Then the Cathedral itself was amazing. The façade was so intricate you found yourself just stepping back and trying to take it all in.

As we drove home I think both Jamie and I were tired but happy with the trip. It was the perfect balance of familiar and new, kid focused fun and exploring for us. It’s these kinds of long weekends that were the motivation to make the move out here. Throughout the weekend we would talk about what we were thankful for and this year we have so many reasons to be thankful. Our family is now complete with Miss Ella, we are all together under one roof and we just had our first of hopefully many adventures.