Pensioner Pole lost in London, unhappy to be home
An 84-year-old Polish farmer who had never been further than the next-door village snuck off to London to follow his dreams, but his plans of a new life there didn't last long.
Without a word to his family, Ludwik Zon donned his Sunday best and rode off on his bike to catch the bus and train to Warsaw, then flew off to London.
Worried officials who found him wandering around Heathrow got the Polish consulate to take care of him. It arranged his passage home, to his chagrin.
"It's too bad I wasn't allowed to stay longer, because the people there have got a wonderful life. I thought I might look about for a job. Here in Poland a person hasn't got a future," the disgruntled pensioner told Saturday's daily Super Express.
Fed up with life at home in the small central town of Znin, he skimped on food for years to save some $3000 from his meagre 600-zloty (104 pound) monthly pension to execute his plan, he said.
His baffled family reported him missing.
"Grandad had never travelled farther than the neighbouring village," said granddaughter, Malgorzata Kocinska.
Zon knew no one in Britain and cannot speak a word of English, but it did not dent his enthusiasm for London.
"In my long lifetime no-one had ever been as polite to me as the English, and who knows if I won't return," he said.
Thousands of younger Poles have had the same idea as Zon, moving to Britain for a new life and a better-paid job.
From here.
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Hamish, their's hope for you yet so;) :p.
