UK Unions on Strike

Earlier in the year, Katie and I watched closely as the unions in Wisconsin fought to maintain a number of their rights.  We watched as the public sector union employees protested at the capital and the state of Wisconsin spent weeks in the national spotlight.  

Striking union workers in Truro

Well today in the UK, as millions of public sector employees (all who belong to unions) are on strike, the news headlines are eerily familiar.  The only difference here is that a large amount of NHS (National Health Service) employees are also on strike, which made today a very interesting day at the hospital.  The doctors and nurses were not allowed to strike, but almost every other employee (including Occupational Therapists, Physical Therapists and some Speech Therapists) spent the day picketing throughout the hospital grounds.  Since the hospitals here are all public property, this is very different than when the nurses went on strike in Minnesota a few years ago.  Since the American hospitals are mostly private, those on strike were limited to the "public" sidewalks that surrounded the hospital.  In the UK however, the workers are allowed to physically walk up and down the hospital corridors of with picket signs.  (NOTE: Those who did this remained VERY quite so they did not disrupt the patients.)

To further complicate things, all teachers in the country and almost all airline workers were also on strike.  With an estimated 12-hour wait time for anyone going through customs at the major airports, let's just say we are thankful that we're not traveling today.  

So, what is the strike all about?  This particular strike is essentially about one thing.  The government has proposed to reform the public sector pension plans.  The government is requesting that public employees contribute more out of each paycheck into their pensions, the value of which continues to decrease each year.  To quote my friend Tim, a particular militant physiotherapist I work with, "Today is about all of us being sick of paying more, to get less."  

Similar to the protests and picketing that took place in Wisconsin earlier this year, this strike will be made up of mostly peaceful professionals exercising their right to assemble for something they believe in.  The only difference is that over here, there will likely be more breaks for tea.

First Stop.....Las Vegas!

First day seeing the fam

After a couple of crazy weeks leading up to our trip to the States, we were finally off!  We left London on the morning of Tuesday, October 25th and proceeded to have the longest travel day of our lives!  Our flight from London to New York went by quickly and smoothly as there were some great movies for us to watch and the food was delicious.  Yes, I am a little weird as I actually enjoy in-flight meals :-) 

Once we touched down in New York, we had our first taste of being back in the States.  Some things we immediately noticed:

- The American accent was everywhere and really stuck out to us

- People were so incredibly friendly and helpful in the airport

- Walking into the news store and seeing all the familiar snacks, newspapers, magazines, etc.  Noticing and missing things you didn’t think twice about while living in the States

Having a good time at Old Downtown

John and I couldn’t help but walk around the airport and take note of all the little things that we hadn’t seen in over a year.  And as our layover (and enjoyment of seeing American things) finished up in New York, we started the next leg of our journey to Las Vegas in celebration of Mary’s 21^st birthday.  We couldn’t help but smile as we looked out the window and saw the defining bright lights of Vegas.  After a long day, we finally made it.  Since we were absolutely exhausted, we went directly to our hotel a block off the strip and proceeded to fall asleep and get a great night of much-needed rest.

As we were meeting my siblings Thursday morning, Wednesday was spent trying to get on American time and get some loose ends wrapped up.  As we didn’t have a car, we decided to walk to the nearest Target and pick up a couple of things before the real Vegas experience began.  As we walked up to the Target doors, we couldn’t help but be excited.  As corny as this sounds, Target is the store I hands down miss the most being in England.  So getting to go to Target the first day back in the States was actually a pretty fun experience! 

Once Wednesday night rolled around, we kept things low-key by heading to a movie theatre and seeing the movie Moneyball.  To be honest, a huge reason we went to a movie was for the pop and popcorn.  Every time we go to a movie in England, we talk about how the popcorn just doesn’t compare to the amazing stuff in the States.  So we definitely enjoyed a night of pop, popcorn and a really great movie.

Getting ready for our first night out

Once Thursday rolled around, John and I were beyond excited to finally meet up with my family!  We ended up all seeing each other for the first time in the lobby of our hotel and it was such a surreal moment.  To be seeing all my siblings in person and in Vegas was just unbelievable!  I couldn’t have been happier. 

All dressed up for "O"

As you can probably guess, we all (Adam, Kevin, Mary, her boyfriend Bryan, myself and John) spent the majority of the day just hanging out and catching up.  Even though it had been over a year in seeing everyone, things immediately felt normal and like we were never really gone.  There was such comfort in seeing my family and really having time to be together.  The only downside was that Adam and Kevin’s wives weren’t able to join in the fun.  Maybe next time!

Superheroes!

We all spent the next three days together in Vegas having a blast and just taking it all in.  We saw the fascinating Cirque du Soleil show “O”, visited the Old Downtown, did some gambling, spent an afternoon by the pool, walked the Strip, dressed up for Halloween, enjoyed the Wynn buffet, did some dancing and so much more.  It really was a perfect weekend spent with some amazing people.  Let’s just say that it was bittersweet leaving Sunday morning.  I was sad such a fun weekend with my siblings was over but beyond excited to get to Wisconsin to see more friends and family.

Visiting America...

Well, we’ve officially been back in England for one week now and it’s like we’ve never been gone.  Our time back in the States was everything we hoped that it would be.   It’s not very often that you get to dedicate three full weeks to spending time with family.   So one has to wonder how three weeks can go by so quickly and still leave you feeling like it wasn’t enough. 

Although we knew our time in the States would be busy and packed with visits with family and friends, we were able to truly enjoy each moment because we knew that waiting for us back here in Truro, would be days like today.  As I write this, I’m sitting in our favorite Truro coffee shop on a Saturday morning, watching people fill the streets and shops (now decorated for Christmas) as I wait for Katie to join me on her lunch break from work.   It’s a great life that we’ve built here and no matter where we live Truro will always be on the list of the many great places we’ve gotten to call home. 

It feels a bit odd updating our blog with things we did back in America, but after being away for so long, reuniting with family and friends, meeting new babies and looking at places that were once so familiar with a new and different perspective, is as much a part of this experience as every other trip we’ve taken.

Like many other trips we’ve taken, it would take days to cover all the details, but instead, we will try to provide the highlights that made our time back home so amazing.  I’ll let Katie write about Halloween in Las Vegas and our first days back in Wisconsin and I will write about our time with the growing Henry family and our return the UK.  More to come soon…

U.S.A. Babies

As our time in the States is winding down, we can't help but look back on a common theme of the trip.....babies!  Here's a quick look at all of the babies we met that had been born in the year we were gone.  

Henry Borens

Sophia Mohr

Caedmon Henry

Turner Bradley

Ryley Sue

One Year...a look back.