Concordia

Concordia Winter 2021

Class Notes

I moved to the USA 19 years ago, moving for a job in the industry I still love – the airline revenue management business – and have called it home ever since. While nostalgia creeps in as I approach 50, it’s balanced by a healthy set of social media connections including to my old classmates – the 1983 Third Form 30 – and as I raise my boy in the land of opportunity, these few thoughts strike me: • Back in the day, most people thought moving to the US would either be “Cheers” or “Deliverance”. It’s neither. • West Virginia and Virginia are like an English rural dream from the turn of the previous century – unspoiled and green and sprawling. • Avoidance of politics and commercial media is essential to a healthy mental balance. • In the US, most people’s view of a ‘historical’ building is one older than 50 years. • You’ve never lived until someone in a bar in the U.S. recognizes an English accent and asks you “do you know Brian; he lives in the North of England?” • The American critique of English people running their words together stands. Try saying “Champagne Supernova in the Sky” without saying “noverin” in the middle. So many things to say, too few words to express them. I’ll close by saying the below is three miles from my front door. It’s a charmed life and this expresses it perfectly. David M Smith (1983-1990)

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