Another Great Day in Truro !!!

(John)

Today was another great day in Truro.  Today was the first day of many where I stepped through the front doors of the Royal Cornwall Hospital.  I don’t start work until Monday so the purpose of today’s visit was simply to meet the rest of the speech and medical staff.  The hospital building itself was built in 1999 so everything was very up-to-date.  My new director, Margaret is incredibly nice and is clearly a well-respected advocate for speech throughout the hospital.  They have been a bit short-staffed for the past month so everywhere we went I was met with quite the reception.  Apparently this new “male  speech therapist from America” has been “the source of great speculation” for the past few weeks.  The head and neck team is in serious need of an SLP, or as they call it here, a SALT (Speech And Language Therapist).  The great part about today is that I began getting my first look into what health care is like here in the UK.  In an attempt to keep my writing as accurate as possible, I will hold off on blogging about my initial impressions until I have actually started working.  Overall, the staff at the hospital seems amazing and I am excited to get started next week. 

Random Tidbits…

Katie and I continue to be constant observers of this new culture that we are living in.  There seems to be an underlying “politeness” about the people we continue to encounter, regardless of their age.  This was never more apparent than during this morning’s bus ride, when we witnessed one teen and young-adult after another quickly spring from their seat and offer it to the new elderly rider who had just stepped on to the bus…so wonderful to see such a great gesture of respect from this younger generation.  Listen to me talk like I am some wise old elder : )  Just a great thing to see regardless of what country you are in.  

Another example of this politeness is the fact that everywhere we go, it is SO quiet.  Not a cold, sterile sort of quiet—just the respectful tone of people being unobtrusive.

We finally had time to do some much-needed laundry this afternoon.  Unlike Laundromats in the States the local “Launderette” here in Truro has a full time staff person from whom you buy your detergent and who takes your money before she starts the washing machines for you.  An unnecessary but, nice touch.

We also had our first movie experience today.  There is a local theater right down the road from our B&B so this being a cold evening; we decided to do what we love to do most.  (FYI…”Our Town” with Ben Affleck = Fantastic). Anyway, when we bought our popcorn, we were given the choice of “sweet” or “salty.”  There was also a huge display of candy bins, each with their own scoop (like in a candy shop) where you could fill a bag to bring in to the theater with you.  But the ultimate surprise was that our new local movie theater has COTTON CANDY !!!....or “Cotton Floss” as it’s called here.  For those of you who know Katie best, you can only imagine the look on her face when this was realized.

The last thing I want to comment on is my first impressions of what seems to drive a small part of this local economy.  Truro is only a town of about 25,000 people that relies heavily on tourism during the summer months.  This morning as we were walking streets filled with countless shops and restaurants, I couldn’t keep from wondering how so many of these businesses are able to keep their doors open, especially during the winter months.  I have never been in a place where the people are so clearly dependent on the small business owner for their daily needs.  And then it hit me; there is no Super Target or Super Wal-Mart where everyone goes to get EVERYTHING they need.  If your child needs a uniform for school, you go to “The Uniform Shop” on Lemon Street.  If your watch stops working, you walk down to Princes Street to “Watch Repair & Co.” (Yes these are actually shops : ) )

This made me think of Katie’s dad Tom, the quintessential small business owner whose years of hard work and focus on customer service, have earned him the respect of so many.  He would do well in a town like this.

We are starting to really see that it is these things that set a cultural tone for a town like Truro...and therein lies its charm.