Tomorrow's my last day at work.  It's a strange feeling, leaving a company where I've worked for 7 years.  These days, that's like an eternity to stay at one job. But my mom's been at the same job for 40 years!  Anyway, it doesn't seem like 7 years because I've been through lots of changes:
5 bosses
3 job titles
3 office moves
2 countries
1 acquisition
So the last one is basically what did it for me and why I'm not staying with the company.  I don't trust the new management team, and I can't live with a commute of 3 hours a day. (Incidentally, the only other American left that moved over 2 years ago has separately decided his last day with the company will also be March 31st.)

For awhile there, I was really trying everything I could to stay in the UK.  It wasn't that I felt God wanted me to stay-- I didn't feel called either way-- even after lots of earnest prayer and seeking God, I didn't know what to do. All I felt was sadness thinking about leaving here. I just felt happy with my friends, serving the Pruitts, and settled in the UK and I didn't want things to change. I even talked to a lawyer about applying for my own visa because finding a job that would get a work permit for me was proving to be too difficult. I was going to tell the lawyer on a Monday to ahead with my application, but that Monday morning while I was lying in bed, I felt this was all wrong. It was like God telling me all my reasons for wanting to stay in the UK were selfish and that I needed to let go of it and move back to the US. It's hard to explain, but since I made that decision to move back (almost 2 weeks ago), I feel so much peace and now I'm excited about the future.

So, next week I'm going on holiday to the Lake District with the Pruitts. And then in 2 weeks, I'll be visiting the bay area with 5 friends from the UK. After the bay area visit, my plan was to come back to the UK for about 6 weeks and hang out with friends, travel, and then move back at the end of May and start work after 3-4 months.  But we'll see what happens.  The job market in the bay area seems really hot right now and there might be an opportunity I can't pass up. Anyway, the earliest I would move back will be the first week of May... the latest will be mid June.

Oh yeah. I went skiing in Switzerland a few weeks ago. How cool is that?!  I'll definitely miss all the travel. How did I get by on 3 weeks holiday a year?  I get 5 weeks here and it doesn't seem like enough!

Thinking of moving back to the US and preparing for "re-entry." I've been away for 2 years. Is this what a missionary feels like when they come back?  I'm sure there will be some degree of reverse culture shock. In many aspects, I did get used to the British way of life.

Is the guy who plays Moira Kelly's father in The Cutting Edge, the same guy that plays John Locke in Lost?

Does anyone else think that Mark Ruffalo looks kinda like Donnie Osmond?

I really like the UK traffic lights.  The sequence goes from green -> yellow -> red -> red+yellow -> green.  I love the how the red+yellow lets you get ready to take off as soon as (or before) the light turns green.  Also, if you're approaching an intersection and you see the red+yellow, you don't have to brake-- you just carry on at your normal speed knowing that it will be green once you get there.  The US should adopt this traffic light sequence.

Today I was channel surfing on the telly. Channel surfing doesn't mean much because there are only five non-cable channels in the UK.  Oxford has six because we have an Oxford TV channel that airs from like 7am to 10pm.  Anyway, BBC2 was airing a DARTS TOURNAMENT during prime time on Tuesday!  BBC1 and BBC2 are like the main channels in the UK-- like NBC and ABC you could say.  But at 7pm on a Tuesday night... DARTS?!?!?!

Job Update

And then there were two...  Americans.  I was one of five Americans that came over to work in the UK 2 years ago. 3 of them were "let go" when new management took over on December 2nd and they moved back to California before Christmas.

I guess they must really want me to stay because they're giving me everything I asked for-- which is a very generous financial package.  But I don't have a lot of faith in the new management team, and I will be driving 3 hours a day to/from the new office. It's been really hard to say goodbye to the other Americans, who I've worked with for 4+ years (I've been with the company longer than they have), and they're a fun group.

I had a job interview (my first and only in the UK) before Christmas at another company but as I expected, it won't be easy to find another job for several reasons. I need a company to sponsor my visa; I don't have the UK accountancy qualification (similar to a CPA) that seems to mean a lot here; there aren't many international companies in the Oxford area that need someone like me.

So, because I don't feel it's time to move back to the US just yet, I'll try to stick out the commute and new job until summer. In the meantime, I'll still look for other jobs in Oxford and if nothing comes up, I'll probably move back to the US sometime in the last half of this year.  I think I'll be ready by then-- and actually looking forward to reconnecting with friends back in the Bay Area.

If any of you reading this were planning to visit me in the UK, you should start planning now.