bul le tin - Noble and Greenough School

Across the Big Pond (and we’re not talking Motley’s):Nobles Graduates in EnglandB Y T O M B A RT L E T T ’ 7 6From left: TomBartlett ’76, VanessaBerberian ’95, BruceWeber ’79MOST OF US ENJOYtravel of one sort or another.Some of us have gone a bitfarther to settle in one ofthe places to which we have traveled.England, for one, has always been apopular destination for Nobles folk,be they students, faculty members orgraduates, and it has become home,or home-away-from-home, for morethan a few.Having traveled to these isles anumber of times, as the son of a diplomat,my journey to London fromBoston in 1991 was not that unusual.I was planning to stay for a coupleof years, teaching at the AmericanSchool in London.Well, as one of this island’s famouspoets once said, the best-laid plans….Here I am 17 years later, with a Britishwife and two kids whose accents areless Little Rascals than Little & Large(obscure reference to a British comedyduo) ensconced in the hills of NorthBuckinghamshire, a stone’s throw froma 17th-century pub, and a village churchof even older vintage. I frequent both,as does the vicar. That’s rural life inthis “green and pleasant land.”Over the years I’ve observed thecomings and goings of various Noblespeople, some from my own Class of ’76,with most making their way intoLondon. I’m sure others are scatteredaround the Kingdom, but I’m not personallyaware of any who, like me,settled here in the Home Counties,or further afield. It is said that Londonis like NYC, D.C. and Los Angeles allwrapped into one—hence the attraction,perhaps to the exclusion ofthese provincial demesnes.As a long-term resident, I’ve naturallybeen drawn to those fellow gradswho have decided to stay for longerthan just the usual two- or three-yearwork stint, and I’ve sought out a fewto get their views on the expatriate life.Similar to my experience, KatieWalsh ’96 married into the U.K.…or at least into one fiercely proud U.K.nation: her husband is a Welshman.Shortly after she and Gareth marriedon Cape Cod in 2004, they moved toLondon, where Walsh began a Master’sdegree in the War Studies departmentat King’s College. Gareth had been inthe U.S. for the five years prior and wasready to return, according to Walsh.But was she ready for London?“There seems to be more red tapeover here,” she says. “Just to get moneyout of my bank account…. I sometimeshad to have Gareth go and doit.” Then there was the storied Britishreserve; when she joined the School ofOriental and Asian Studies (SOAS), ittook Walsh nearly five months to getto know some of her British colleagues;with other nationalities, it was muchquicker.She has not been put off by thesechallenges, however, and has appliedfor “indefinite leave to remain” in theU.K. (a legal status granted on the basisof a non-national being married to aBrit). Dual citizenship may follow,although not for Gareth: he wouldhave to give up his British citizenshipto become an American.26 l THE NOBLES BULLETIN l WINTER 2009–2010