CHRIS MAYER
Living Assistant
The summer after freshman year, most students still have a bed at their parents’ house. The summer of sophomore year often leaves students in the guest room but nonetheless back at home in the same city they grew up in. But by junior and senior year, thoughts of going home are more often than not nightmares, leaving students in a cold sweat.
Senior Tyler Long had to get over the idea of returning home to San Diego much sooner when his parents moved to Windsor, England, a city 30 miles west of London.
Did you still go home during the summer?
Sophomore year I did. I got an internship in the human resources division of Symbol Technologies.
Did you know anyone in Windsor?
Not really, I just kind of worked a whole lot and went out when I could.
Where’d you go?
To pubs and stuff with work buddies. It was crazy, though, because they order everything in pints over there and they would get two with lunch, and then when we went out after work they would get another three. And there I was with all these rich business guys who kept trying to feed me alcohol.
That must have gotten interesting.
Yeah, they wanted me to do that and then drive home on the wrong side of the road. I usually had to take it easy and not drink as much everyone else did.
Did you go sightseeing or visit any museums while you where over there?
I went to Cairo (Egypt), so I went to a museum there. The Cairo City museum or something like that. It probably has some official name, but I don’t really remember it.
Any good stories from that trip?
Yeah, when I went wakeboarding in the Red Sea. I looked down and there were thousands of jellyfish below me. I was like, ‘Oh sweet, tons of jellyfish.’ And then I fell into a sea of little jellyfish.
That must have felt good.
Actually, it didn’t hurt. They
didn’t sting. They were too young or something like that. It was really funny, though, because this guide was trying to be funny but wasn’t and kept on saying, ‘Look, you are in a jellyfish sea’ in really bad English.
Do you have any other exciting trips planned?
Yeah, I’m going to Jamaica for Christmas break and probably Cancun or something for spring break.
I hear the weather in England is pretty bad.
Yeah, it was kind of crappy sometimes. But I was also there over the summer, so it was a little nicer. I hear it does really suck during the winter, though.
How was it adjusting from San Diego to Windsor?
It was hard trying to understand the people with all the different accents and all. Also, driving on the wrong side of the road took a while to get used to.
Any closing words you want to give to our readers?
Yeah. Stay in school and don’t do drugs, kids.
11-17-2005
