Birthday Weekend!

As expected, February continues to be a busy, yet fantastic month!  I celebrated my birthday this past weekend and it ended up being about as perfect as a birthday can be!  John made me my favorite breakfast of french toast, bacon and Starbucks.  We then headed off to the town of Penzance for the afternoon for some exploring and even a little bit of shopping.  It has been raining every day here for the past couple of weeks, so we lucked out with a day filled with sun!  Once back home Saturday evening, we decided to stay in, relax and catch up on some of our favorite shows. 

A really fun part of the day was opening up this huge box sent to me from Emily.  I just about fell off of my chair when I opened it up to find some of my favorite American foods and treats that we they don’t sell here.  She even sent two loaves of her famous banana bread!  It didn’t take long for me to have a meal of cheeseburger macaroni hamburger helper (I know, very high class :-) and eat some of my absolute favorite microwave popcorn of movie theatre butter! 

John also surprised me with the neatest cake from a bakery here in Truro.  The cake is shaped just like a teapot and was the perfect size for two of us.  It really was beautiful and I had a hard time finally cutting into it!  Overall, it was a really great day and I enjoyed all of the cards that came in the mail and facebook postings.  I definitely felt loved!

As my birthday is finished, John’s 30^th is this weekend!  We are getting excited for our trip to Amsterdam and plan to pack tonight and then head out tomorrow morning for a long weekend.  We have both been looking forward to this trip and hopefully we have a fun time.  We will be sure to update our doings once we’re back next week!  Happy February!

Eden Project...and a Job!

Eden Project Biomes

It has been a great mixture of fun and relaxing over the past week or so.  On Saturday, John and I decided to make the trip to a place we have heard a lot about called The Eden Project.  John’s work sponsored a day of free admission, so we thought we better take advantage of one of Cornwall’s biggest tourist attractions. 

Watching my hand rolled breadsticks being cooked in
the Mediterranean biome

The Eden Project is located outside of St. Austell, was built in an old clay mine and opened in 2001.  It is a sprawling area with huge biomes (that look like gigantic golf balls) built at the bottom.  The biomes contain plants from around the globe and are the biggest conservatories in the world.  One group of biomes contains the Mediterranean plants while the other bigger biome contains the tropical plant-life.  They also have a separate building that is focused on interactional education for both adults and children as well as a seasonal ice skating rink that turns into a concert venue in the summer!

Sculpture made of each human's average
lifetime consumption of electrical waste

While we were there, we got to see some pretty great plants and flowers and learn a ton about the nature around us and in other parts of the world.  They did a great job of keeping it interactive and having a ton of interesting information scattered throughout the entire place.  Going to the Eden Project, we didn’t really know what to expect but we ended up really enjoying our visit.  Definitely worth the trip there!

Some exciting news to share is that I started a job this week!  While walking by a women’s clothing store on my way home from downtown last Wednesday, I saw a posting for a part-time job in the window.  I decided to stop in to ask about it and ended up talking with the manager for a while, which went really well.  She told me to fill out the application and bring it in.  When I stopped by on Friday to drop off the application, I was immediately offered the job!  It’s a part-time position and I already had my first day of work yesterday.  So I am looking forward to be working again and am excited that it’s only a five-minute walk from my front door! 

Holy Lemon!

The next couple of weeks should be really fun as it’s my birthday, Valentine’s Day and John’s 30^th in Amsterdam!  I am hoping to visit a coastal town and maybe even do some shopping on Saturday and then pack up for our trip next weekend.  Not a bad February!

An Old War Story...

One of the things that I love most about working with an older patient population is getting to hear old war stories.  In the States we have a dwindling generation of WWII veterans who have experienced things that most members of my generation couldn’t even imagine.  That being said, a huge part of what I am finding most enjoyable about my job here is the opportunity to meet patients who fought in the same war, but for a different country. 

Today, I had a new patient come in for what started as a routine valve change and ended with a fascinating conversation.  This patient (we’ll call him Jack) was well into his 80's and was a quintessential Cornish man.  When I asked him where about in Cornwall he lives, he began telling me about his village of Mawnan Smith, a small fishing village, where he has lived his entire life.  As he began explaining what makes Mawnan Smith very unique, he started to get very emotional.  What I learned over the next ten minutes is something I will always remember.  Jack went on to explain that in Mawnan Smith there is a place called Trebah (TREE-bah) Beach, which is a short walk down the coastal path from his cottage.  What makes this beach significant is that on June 1^st, 1944, 7500 American soldiers left Trebah beach to embark on a 5-day journey for Normandy Beach, where most of them died on D-Day. 

Jack was in his teens at the time and recalled his Mom baking dozens of loaves of bread just to give away to the American soldiers.  As word spread, two soldiers in particular used to come up to the house almost daily and talk to him while his Mom wrapped their bread in cloth.  He remembers them talking about the “long haul” they had ahead of them and how the bread reminded them of home.   

With tears literally streaming down his face he told me that will never forget how, in a matter of weeks, their coastal village was filled with thousands of young American soldiers, and overnight they were all gone. 

He apologized repeatedly for being so emotional but said that as soon as I started talking, my American accent reminded him of that time and how many soldiers died during that war—among them, his two older brothers. 

As he was leaving he looked back at me and said, “You know, talking to those two soldiers was the only other time in my life I ever talked to an American. Who would have thought, all these years later?” 

I remember thinking as he walked away that this guy probably hasn’t left the county of Cornwall his entire life, let alone the country.  The whole world has changed around him and here we are living about 7-8 miles from this beach, enjoying an opportunity that was made possible by those American soldiers.  

An American landing craft on Trebah Beach, 1943

Health Care

Well, it’s been a few months now and I have had a lot of you asking me about how my job is going and how the health care in the UK compares with that of the US.  I recognize that this topic may be more interesting for those of you who work in health care, but I thought I would write it anyway.

National Health Service...my employer.

As most of you know, health care is a topic that I could talk about for hours, which mostly results in the glazing over of eyes after a few minutes (at least that’s how long Katie lasts). The fact it, it’s a conversation that I very much look forward to having with people but I believe that it should be just that…a conversation.  There are a number of things that I really miss about health care in the States and there are a number of things that I am truly enjoying about my job here.  That being said, it’s important to remember that there is a very big difference between being an employee working in a health care system and being a patient receiving the care that system provides.

What I do know is that this experience is giving me a very unique perspective on how different health care systems can work and it’s helping me to construct a viewpoint on what it means to have “quality” health care.  The honest answer is that although I am seeing a lot of differences, even I don’t know exactly where I stand on the issue. As a result, I will save opinions for our future conversations and instead try to present the facts and observations that I have found most interesting.

Initially, pronunciation of medical terminology was difficult to adjust to.  Obviously we all have the same anatomy and every hospital in the world has pretty much the same departments, but what they call them is a different story.  For example here “respiratory” is pronounced “res-PEER-i-tree” and “trachea” is pronounced “tray-KEE-ah.”  Physical Therapy is Physio Therapy and the only people who you call “Doctor” are the GP’s (General Practitioners) and the L1 and L2 junior doctors (like 1^st and 2^nd year residents).  Once a doctor becomes a surgeon and/or has completed enough procedures to reach “consultant” status (like an Attending in the US), they are then referred to as “Mr” or “Miss” and no longer “Dr.” This was really hard to get used to since most of the people I work with are consultant ENT surgeons who are VERY experienced.  So, I needed to quickly learn to call him/her “Mr. Wilde” instead of “Dr. Wilde” because the latter would technically be insulting. 

I never thought these words would ever come out of my mouth, but “I have a whole new respect for paperwork.”  This was one of the least favorite parts of my job in the States and I’m not saying that I enjoy it here, but never has the importance of consistent and clear documentation been more evident.  The thing I miss most about the US is the fact that everything is done on the computer.  The NHS is just now starting that painful transition to computerized documentation that a lot of us went through about 4-5 years ago, but for the time being, we are still using paper charts and all the scheduling of patients is done by the therapist by hand writing in my diary (oh yeah, here your scheduler book is called your “diary.”)  Every time I schedule a patient, I resist the urge to write “Dear Diary” at the top of the page. : )

There are a few things that I really don’t miss about working in the US health care system.  In the three months I have been working here the word “productivity” has never been used.  In the US, I was used to every second of my time being accounted for.  You were met each day to a full schedule of patients and you were lucky if you got time for lunch or paperwork.  Now, I’m not saying that I haven’t been extremely busy here and we certainly need to be productive, but there isn’t a predetermined target for how many hours you need to “bill” each day.  Instead the most important thing is that you do a good job with patients and represent the Speech service well throughout the hospital.  As a result you have fewer patients on your schedule each day and get to spend as much time as you want seeing them. This also allows you extra time to do the little things like make follow-up calls to check on patients and work on program development aspects of your job.

Entrance to my building

I do have to say that so far my absolute favorite thing about working here is how incredibly collaborative the care is.  In the US, sometimes the hierarchy of doctors, nurses, and allied health can very clearly defined, and as a result it can create a sense of division between care providers that can negatively impact how cohesively a “team” provides care.  There just doesn’t seem to be that here and there is just a culture of everyone being on the same level, each approaching the patient with a different specialty to provide the best care possible.  One good example is our Joint Head and Neck Cancer clinic every Tuesday afternoon.  In this clinic the entire head and neck team is present which includes 3 ENT consultants, 2 surgeons, 2 oncologists, 1 clinical nurse specialists, and the cancer specialist for nutrition and speech and language therapy (me).  It’s an open clinic where patients have a chance to see the entire team at one time and the entire team is able to establish a comprehensive and collaborative plan.  This kind of service delivery model would NEVER fly in the US because insurance companies would never pay for it.  They would say that everyone was providing too similar a service to justify covering all the care provided.  If you are a US hospital, know that this is SO incredibly efficient and great for patient care, but your hands are tied by the payment regulations of the insurance companies.  If you work in health care you exactly what I am talking about : )  Anyway, since the health care here is paid for from the same place (the National Health Service) it’s much easier to set up these type of patient-centered clinics.  This type of efficiency is not only encouraged but expected and ends up saving the hospital money AND benefiting the patient. 

Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife
after having their baby at the Royal Cornwall
Hospital.

Lastly, I am finding that the pace of the workday is much different here.  It is quite common for all of us to arrive in the morning, sit around and have a cup of tea for awhile and then go up to see our patients.  Almost everyday about mid-afternoon everyone will also take another break to have some more tea and relax before finishing up for the day.  Since my job is a leadership position it’s a little bit different than the rest of the speech team.  As a result, I spend a lot of time in meetings and working on program development, policies, procedures, etc.  This has definitely been an adjustment from being in a strictly patient-care role back in the States, but I am finding that I really like it.  I am the only specialist in Head and Neck Oncology here, which means that my role is to see these patients almost exclusively. I was excited to find that it is expected that I attend the monthly laryngectomy club and cancer recovery club meetings, which are organized and led by cancer survivors for newly diagnosed patients.  Considering that these meetings take place during the workday at a local pub, I can’t really complain about getting paid to attend. Other than that, I have also been filling a dysphagia specialist role and am in the process of rolling out the FEES service here, which this hospital has never had.  It’s been a great challenge and I feel like I am getting some really diverse experience, which is exactly what I was hoping for.  I find there are some opportunities for improvement within the speech service here and the challenge of being responsible for changing these things is something I am enjoying more than I thought I would.

Overall there continue to be many aspects of my job here I love and many things that I miss about working in the US.  I suspect that this will remain the case throughout the next year so I am just trying to keep an open mind and learn as much as I can from this opportunity to just do something different. 

At the end of the day, whether we want to or not, we will ALL be a patient receiving health care at some point in our lives.  I think no matter where you live in the world, the quality of care you receive is more dependent upon the actual person providing that care than the system in which that person works.  Working with health care providers who genuinely care about their patients and go out of their way to provide the best care possible is probably the biggest similarity I have seen between my colleagues in the States and my new colleagues here.  If there is one thing I find that holds true no matter where I work, it’s that the best doctors, nurses and therapists are the ones who never forget that they will one day themselves be the patient.

UK Picture Randomness Thus Far

Bingo Wings Translation
The old lady underarm fat that jiggles when you wave.......or play bingo!

Cotton Buds = Q-tips
Took us awhile to find these because we kept asking where the q-tips were

Notice how they have to phonetically spell out how to say fajitas?!?!
Cornwall = Rare to find Mexican food = We miss Chipotle

If I can't find a job, at least I have options!

In the States if you park your car in your front yard you're a redneck.
In the UK you have no choice

January Doings

Victoria Gardens

I want to start the post by thanking everyone who took the time to send us a holiday card.  We loved getting all the new pictures and family updates.  It’s always fun getting mail, especially here!  We appreciate the extra effort it takes to mail anything overseas (and figuring out how to address an envelope to us, took us awhile to figure out).  We loved hearing from everyone….thanks again!

Since the New Year, things have been relatively quiet around here.  The weather has warmed up, it’s typically in the 40’s and 50’s each day.  The only downside of the warmer weather is that the rain comes along with it!  I ran some errands yesterday only to come home drenched from head to toe from the random downpour I got caught in.  The joys of unpredictable, rainy English weather.

The sport of basketball exists here?!?!

Last weekend John and I decided that we needed to continue exploring Truro, so we decided to go for a walk in areas we haven’t been yet.  The sun was out and we took advantage of it by exploring all over town.  We came across some pretty cool finds a couple blocks from our place.  John was ecstatic to find an outside basketball hoop and court.  Basketball isn’t much of a sport here, so it was surprising to find a place to play.   We also found a pretty large community park/garden, which overlooks parts of Truro.  It made us realize that during our down times here in Truro, we need to push ourselves to continue to explore. 

Porthtowan Beach

This past weekend we decided to take a short bus ride to another coastal town called Porthtowan.  It’s a tiny village, but boasts some amazing scenery.  We started with some lunch at the beachside restaurant called Blue Bar.  The food was amazing and it was great being surrounded by lots of cute dogs, as it is a “dog friendly” place.  We then headed to take a Saturday stroll along the beach.  There weren’t a ton of people there, so it felt really serene walking along the ocean and checking out the area.  Definitely a place we will be visiting again soon!

How adorable is she?!?!

Some exciting news this past week is that John and I had a niece born on January 5^th to my brother Kevin and his wife Kaite.  I received a memorable early morning phone call with the news from a glowing father about the birth of his daughter, Sophia Kathryn.  We were lucky enough to be able to meet her over skype and talk with Kevin and Kaite about the experience.  They are over the moon and loving every minute of having a new baby in the house.  Congrats Kevin, Katie, Sophia and Wrigley!

January continues to look pretty quiet for us.  We are enjoying the down time and watching lots of movies (we would highly recommend The King’s Speech) and catching up with our favorite tv shows online.  It seems no matter what country you live in, January always seems to be a catch-up month from all the holiday busyness!  Hope all is well with everyone back home.

Happy New Year!

Truro's midnight fireworks in Lemon Square

It's been a relatively quiet week since getting back late Monday night.  John had off of work Tuesday, so we spent it relaxing and recuperating after all of our traveling.  We were invited for movies and drinks with some friends Wednesday night, which was a lot of fun.  Good way to ease back into the week!  

Lantern lighting

We ended up making New Year's plans with a couple that we met here.  We started last night having drinks and tasty appetizers at their new house along with another couple.  We walked down the hill from their place and had a fantastic New Year's dinner at a restaurant called Bustopher's Bar Bistro.  The six of us got along really well and had quite a few laughs throughout the night.  We finished up dinner and headed to Lemon Square in Truro for midnight fireworks.  There was such a great energy as the square was filled with people watching the amazing fireworks display.  In the square we saw a lot of people dressed up in costumes which they call "fancy dress" here.  We found out it is very common for people to dress up in costumes when going out New Year's Eve night, much like the US's Halloween. 

Lift-off!

While watching the fireworks we also saw a handful of lanterns floating in the air.  We were lucky enough to be standing next to a group who lit and sent off their own wish lantern into the New Year's Eve sky.  We were told that pilots are not fans of the New Year's Eve tradition of floating lanterns as the lanterns can make it up to a mile into the sky and can supposedly be confusing for them.  But the tradition continues as people light their lantern at midnight, make a wish and release it into the night sky.  Pretty amazing to witness!  After fireworks, we headed back up to our friends' house for a late night of drinks, chatting and laughing.  A pretty incredible New Year's Eve 2010 in England! 

I love breakfast!

The rest of the weekend, we plan to hang out and maybe head to the coast for a day or two.  John has off of work Monday for bank holiday, so should be a nice extended weekend.  And John started out 2011 in a pretty fantastic way this morning....with an "American breakfast!"  Breakfast in the UK does not include french toast, maple syrup and the bacon here is very different, more like fried ham.  So I was super happy and surprised to wake up to "real" bacon and my favorite breakfast of french toast with syrup and tea.

On our way home last night, John and I took a moment to reflect on what a fortunate 2010 we had.  We look forward to seeing what 2011 brings us!

Christmas in Prague

Old Town Square

Well I think that Katie and I have both concluded that if you can’t be with your family for Christmas the next best place would be Prague.  I know that it may sound like a broken record that we come away from these individual trips raving about them saying, “It’s the most amazing place in the world.”   But for anyone who has been to Prague, you know that it truly is one of the most beautiful cities in the world.  Prague is one of the only cities to escape destruction during World War II so some of the buildings that were built in the 8^th century are still standing today.  Architecturally it is by far the most awe-inspiring place either of us has ever been.  What struck me was how old the city was, but how clean and well preserved everything is.  The tourism industry has boomed in the past 20 years since it was only in 1989 that what is now the Czech Republic was still under communist rule.  In 1993 Czechoslovakia peacefully split to become the Czech Republic and Slovakia.  As a result it’s kind of crazy to think that tourists couldn’t even travel to Prague until 1990.

Mmmm...Chocolate-covered Strawberries

In light of multiple flight cancellations throughout the UK, we found ourselves quite fortunate to be flying out of Bristol and having smooth travels to the Czech Republic.  We were met at the Prague airport by a private driver holding a sign that said “Mrs. Katie Mohr,” and we were taken directly to our hotel.  Interestingly, they drive on the right side of the road here, something we haven’t been around for a few months.  Although we immediately found ourselves looking the wrong way when we crossed the streets, it was a quick adjustment and the familiarity was somehow comforting.   We stayed at the Art Deco Imperial Hotel, which is located right in the heart of the city.  Our package included an upgrade to an executive suite, one dinner at the hotel restaurant and room service breakfast each morning.  Like the rest of the city our hotel was beautiful, very modern and had all of comforts we had hoped for in the place where we would spend Christmas, 2010. 

The Astronomical Clock

We spent the first days exploring the city and wandering the streets to Wenceslas Square (as in “Good King Wenceslas”) and the Old Town Square, which were both filled with people shopping the Christmas markets.  The main attraction in the old town square is the astronomical clock.  This two-story clock has been updated over the years but was first erected in 1410.  Every hour, on the hour tourists gather to watch the little show of apostles parading out of the face before returning back inside for another 60 minutes. 

Bin Filled with Carp

One Czech tradition that we HAVE to write about is the traditional Christmas carp that is eaten on Christmas Eve.  The first day we arrived, we noticed that literally on almost every street corner there were huge bins the size of small swimming pools filled with carp.  Additionally, there were lines of people who were waiting to either buy a live carp to take home, or have the worker behead and de-scale right there before taking it home.  These were of course the patrons who chose a less traditional route.  Most Czechs had bought their carp 4-5 days prior to Christmas Eve, where tradition states that you keep it in your bathtub to fatten it up until it’s ready to be eaten.  That is of course until you need to shower, when the carp is transferred into the toilet for a short time until you are done showering.  That’s right, this actually still happens as one of our friends who lived in Prague for a few years confirmed.  I can’t get Katie to like fish that has been swimming in the ocean, let alone one that’s been swimming in a toilet.  Needless to say, we did NOT have carp on Christmas Eve.

Old Town Square

The weather was much colder than we have been used to in Truro so the 20-degree, snowy air felt much more like home than we have experienced this year.  The markets that lined the streets were mostly filled with ornaments, clothes and Bohemian crystal, but the smell of food hit you like a wave when you rounded the corner at the entrance of each market.  The smell of traditional Czech sausage, roasting chestnuts, and a sweet rolled cinnamon bread called Trdelník, filled the air and was as much a part of the atmosphere as the shoppers, carolers and bright Christmas lights.  The backdrop of buildings ranging from 100 to 1000 years old made us feel like we were walking around a movie set.  It was very clear that the “traditional” Christmas here far predated the United States…or as my Dad put it, most of the buildings were built before Christopher Columbus was even born.       

Anyway, on Christmas Eve we strolled along the famous Charles Bridge where numerous King’s used to parade across to the old town square after being crowned up in the castle.  We found some cheap last minute tickets to see a marionette performance of Don Giovanni, one of the operas that Mozart premiered in Prague.  After that, we came back to the square where there was a sung Christmas Eve mass completely in Czech.  Randomly, as we were on our way back to our hotel, we came across a club called “Bed,” and decided to stop in to see what it was all about.  To our surprise, instead of it being filled with tables and chairs, it was filled with beds, where people were sitting around sipping cocktails.  Needless to say, we kicked off our shoes, climbed into one of the beds and had a nightcap before heading back to our real bed in the hotel.  

Drinking in Bed : )

Katie sampling the local beer

On Christmas morning, we just spent the morning relaxing, had room service for breakfast and exchanged presents.  In the afternoon, we ventured out and were surprised to find most restaurants, stores and markets open for the holiday.   One of our friends had given us some great advice on where to go that was less touristy and we were glad we took her advice.  We had lunch at a great pub where I finally got to have some real Czech food.  Let’s just say that the traditional food in the Czech Republic is a cardiologist’s nightmare, as it basically consists of pork, sausages, and beer…but man was it good.  A quick word on beer…the Czechs invented lager so everything I kept reading was how the Czech republic had the “best beer in Europe.”  As a result I was kind of envisioning Prague as the Milwaukee of Eastern Europe, but after my first sip I knew what all the fuss was about.  To be honest, I could probably do a whole blog on all of the different beers I am trying out here, but let’s just say that it was some of the best beer I have ever had and leave it at that. 

Christmas night, we had a great dinner in our hotel restaurant and then spent the evening on Skype with both of our families.  It was great to see everyone together and we were thankful to be part of it…even if it was just over the computer. 

Cathedral at Prague Castle

Sunday we watched the changing of the guard at the beautiful Prague castle.  Incidentally, the Prague castle was built in 870 AD and still acts as a base for the head of state, making it the oldest working castle in the world.  After that we wandered around the western side of the city where there were a lot less people and we found more reasonably priced art and Bohemian glass.  It was here where I even got to use some of the Czech phrases I had learned : )  Our last night was spent watching the Prague Symphony Orchestra playing the “Best of Mozart” in a beautiful music hall and then taking in the city at night one last time. Needless to say, when it came time to leave, we were both very sad.  Katie and I both agreed that Prague is a city where we would love to visit again someday.  We had relatively smooth travels home and were glad to have Tuesday off for the observation of Boxing Day in the UK.

Roasted Chestnuts?....Yes Please.

As we looked back on this weekend, Katie and I continue to be so grateful for these experiences.  We both walked away from this weekend knowing that it was yet another ‘once in a lifetime’ experience that we would never forget.  Although our families were in our thoughts, we continue to remind each other not to take these things for granted.  Prague was filled with a lot of those “moments” for us when we would look at each other and say “Is this really happening?”  If you can’t spend it with your family, at least you can spend it with the one you love the most in an amazing European city. 

ALF & Rainbow enjoying room service : )

To see the remainder of our pictures from Prague, click on the link below:

Link to Prague Slideshow

Merry Christmas from Prague !!!

Christmas Eve in the Old Town Square

Wishing all of our family and friends a very Merry Christmas.  We'll post more on this amazing city later.  Love you all !!!

The Holidays in Britain!

It’s Friday afternoon and John and I are both home.  Sad to say, John got the flu yesterday so he has been home sick :(  As it turns out the American flu shot does not prevent against European strands of the flu.  He’s taking a nap now, so hopefully he starts feeling better soon!  Poor guy!

Christmas Popper!

We have had some fun things happen over the past week or so leading up to Christmas.  We had two Christmas parties last week, one here in Truro and another in the coastal town of Falmouth.  The Christmas party in Truro was at a hotel and went really well.  I met a handful of John’s colleagues and we also had a sit-down, five-course dinner.   Each setting had a Christmas cracker (or holiday popper), which when pulled open, makes a popping sound.  The Christmas crackers are typically used on the table as a decoration and contain a fun surprise of candy, a small gift, toys, a written joke or a paper crown. 

Then last Friday night, we had a more formal Christmas party at a hotel in Falmouth.  It was definitely an escapade getting to the party!  We ran into a closed train line, a late bus, getting lost once we were in Falmouth and going to the wrong hotel!  By the time we got to the hotel we were worried about being those Americans who show up late to a dinner party.  Luckily for us, the dinner started an hour and a half late, so no one even realized we were running behind.  Whew!  Once we were there, we had a really nice time.  The hotel was gorgeous and we had a super nice dinner.  We did have to leave a bit early though, as we didn’t want to miss the last bus home.  There are definitely days I miss having a vehicle! 

Or as we call it, baking soda :-)

Once the Christmas parties were finished, we had a really nice and low-key weekend here in Truro.  We decided to make cookies and hot cider on Saturday and have somewhat of a Christmas weekend.  We had multiple laughs at the grocery store and at home trying to figure out recipes that had American measurements and ingredients and figuring out how they translated here.  We found out baking soda = bicarbonate of soda and Crisco = a stick of vegetable fat.  I also spent some time online figuring out how to convert some of the measurements (such as grams to cups)…..thank god for Google!!!!  The peanut butter blossom cookies (no Hershey kisses here, so tried chocolate buttons as a substitute) and hot cider both turned out really well, so worth the effort. 

It’s been great trying out some British Christmas traditions.  We have had mulled wine, mince pies, Christmas pudding and Christmas cake.  We have heard many references to “Father Christmas” (a.k.a. Santa) and about how popular pantomime is this time of year for children and their parents.  And we are looking forward to hearing the Queen’s yearly Christmas message on Christmas Day.  Even though we are lacking the cold and the snow, it has truly felt like the Christmas season here.

Our Charlie Brown 3-Foot Christmas Tree

If John is feeling better, we have tickets to see a Christmas concert at the cathedral here in Truro tomorrow.  Then next week is already Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!  We head to Bristol Wednesday night and then fly out to Prague early Thursday morning.  So we are definitely getting excited for our first big trip since moving here!  But more than anything, we are looking forward to spending Christmas Eve and Christmas Day together, while hopefully skyping and chatting with friends and family.