Meet Saira Valibhoy

If you ask Saira Valibhoy, she'll tell you that the saying is true about the U.K.:"if you don't like the weather, just wait 10 minutes." And this has been the biggest challenge for the GROW participant from Sydney, Australia. "I had been advised that I would be coming in the summer, looking forward to lots of hot sun," she says. "But it has been cloudy, rainy and definitely cold and windy. It's as though I am experiencing Sydney's current winter weather while it is summer in the U.K." But the weather hasn't stopped her from making the best of her three-month exchange from Weldon Owen to Autumn Publishing in Chichester. "The days the sun is out and about, I have learned to enjoy it rather than hiding away from it as I normally would do back in Sydney," she says.

 Although the languages are similar, there are plenty of differences between the companies.  "The main difference is the books that I deal with as well as the market," says Valibhoy. "From a packager of reference books of non-stockholding publishing to a more educational and novelty mass market of stockholding publisher, it has shown me how both sides of the publishing industry work." And dealing with education and novelty books as a part of a large series is quite different from the individual children's books or adult reference books she is used to working on in Australia.

 Outside the job, the transfer from big city Sydney to smaller city Chichester has meant a lot more walking. "I do miss the ease of getting around easily but walking around has allowed me to explore places I would otherwise not be able to if I were driving," says Valibhoy. "And I avoid the traffic jams."

 Not that it's always simple. She has gotten lost on occasion, but when she's had to ask for help, people have been very polite and even knowledgeable. "Chichester and the U.K. in general are full of history with new modern buildings standing side by side with the old," she says. "I'm learning new things almost every single day. The exploring and growing has been really great. It's like a home away from home."