To the USA

In Europe, people in distance education and education technology knew of me and my work. In the US, no one knew or cared. Whereas the European countries were advocating cooperation, the American culture is dog eat dog. If you want to be known, hire a branding expert.

In the summer of 1995, Ancolien and I took a month to explore the United States, a country she had never seen. We visited Mom for a few days in Virginia, assembled backpacking equipment, rented a car, and headed west. A long auto trip was a new experience for Ancolien, whose idea of a long excursion was a fifty-kilometer bicycle ride. Yes, her family in the northern Netherlands had a car, but they never ventured far. We stowed the camping gear in the trunk, leaving plenty of room on the back seat for Ancolien to nap during our four or five hundred-mile early morning drives.

We avoided big cities but sampled small towns cafes, McDonald’s, barbeque, morning coffee with bagels, and chicken-fried steak. We breathed the fresh air high in the Rockies, spent three days riding undisciplined horses on a dude ranch in Estes Park, CO, rented an adobe house for a couple of weeks in a Santa Fe barrio, and danced Texas Two-Step on the rooftop patio of the LaFonda Hotel. At every opportunity, we met ordinary Americans, every one of which was curious to talk to a person from another country. “Where’re you from, honey?” became a common question .

While in New Mexico, we visited several Native American Pueblos, looking for a black ceramic pottery wedding vase, a specialty of certain artists in the region, as a wedding gift to daughter, Laura, whose wedding we were planning to attend on our return to the East Coast. Searching for a vase gave us the opportunity to visit several pueblos and meet Native artists. Ancolien was quick to establish rapport with several Native women at the pueblos. One woman invited us into her home to show us pictures of her family and grandchildren. We talked at length, each of us sharing stories of growing up in our different environments and countries.

Driving back to Virginia, we talked about what our life might be like in the United States; and where, in the vast country, might be the best place to settle. Mom and my children were on the East Coast, but my heart was still in the West because of my time in Colorado and New Mexico.

Our business was another thing to consider. We needed to be closer to the technology developments in the United States. What would be the best place from a business point of view? We decided against suburbs of big cities, preferring instead small college cities, close to good transportation because we wanted to maintain good ties with Europe. The East Coast quickly became the top choice. And I remembered my promise to Ancolien that she could finish her degree in the United States.

The following year, returning to visit Mom, we saw an announcement of some open houses on display at Lake Monticello, close to Charlottesville, VA, home of the University of Virginia, my alma mater. One of the houses excited us, the right size, the right layout, the right price. We worked out a plan with the builder and his realtor who were displaying the house. He would build us a house like the one on display on a lot we would choose later.

Ancolien and I described the kind of location and parcel we preferred and returned to the Netherlands. A couple of weeks later, a cassette arrived from the realtor with videos of three plots of land that would fit our chosen house. We picked one of the lots and building began.

Nine months later, Ancolien and I returned to the USA and moved into our new house. I was in the final stages of completing the Japanese project; preparing the report and presenting it to the European Commission. That meant spending the next few months continuing writing in the new location and, later, returning to Brussels to deliver and present the reports. Ancolien quickly enrolled in the local community college to continue her education. Her English Language qualification test demonstrated that her language training in the Netherlands had provided excellent preparation for her studies.

Completing the Japanese project was an ideal concentration for our first six months. Our researcher, Mari Hyodo, accumulated all the data needed for the report and it was left for me to compile it into a coherent document. The office in our new house provided a quiet, well-equipped venue for the work.

The project also kept me in touch with my counterparts in Europe. But once I completed the project, American culture hit me in the face. I’d been away for five years, only occasionally visiting the USA. Everything was different from Europe and from the country I left five years ago. Yes, Ancolien and I watched Jay Leno and CNN International in Europe, but TV is not reality.

Kids on the street used slang that was foreign to my ears. No one had a cellphone five years ago; now everyone has one. European English had become my vocabulary. What are these people talking about? The cafes where Ancolien and I sat by the river sipping local beer or having coffee were left behind, replaced by McDonald’s and other fast food places on every street.

In Europe, people in distance education and education technology knew of me and my work. In the US, no one knew or cared. Whereas the European countries were advocating cooperation, the American culture is dog eat dog. If you want to be known, hire a branding expert.

Ancolien asked, “It hasn’t been easy for you, has it?”

“You can probably see me struggling,” I answered.

Ancolien had a clear purpose, to get her university degrees. I left my purpose behind in Europe. Now, I must create a new one.

At the professional level, I joined the Virginia Piedmont Technology Council and the Charlottesville Venture Group, local organizations focused on entrepreneurship and economic development, developed some good trusted colleagues, acquired some free-lance consulting projects, while also raising my profile in the professional community. Although I engaged in some workforce development projects, my main focus became leadership and management in scientific and technical companies, my core skill set.

Our team in Europe had studied educational technology in the United States, publishing a report, Telematics for Education and Training in the United States. The report demonstrated the fragmentation of the American education and technology sectors, compared with the more centralized European system. I contacted a couple of entrepreneurial companies offering new approaches to educational technology, but ultimately decided they were not for me. And they, interestingly enough, saw little value in my international experiences.

An attendee at a local Chamber of Commerce meeting summarized the American attitude: “We have the best telecommunications system in the world,” he said.

“Have you ever been to Finland?” I asked.

The other guy responded with a blank stare.

We continue with stories from my book, “Hand on the Shoulder: Finding Freedom in the Confluence of Love and Career.” (see Amazon) In case you didn’t notice, these stories start from the end and are moving toward the beginning of the book. If you want to read it the other way, well…get the book.

Grant