Finding My Rhythm on the Ship

I feel like, on the clinical side of things, I have started to hit my groove on the ship. I know the routines of the operating room, how the wards work, how they would like us to round on patients, and how they want us to consent for surgeries.

Last weeks OR staff.  Three operating rooms were running with a general surgery, orthopedic, and ophthalmology teams.

We had lots of accents in the general surgery room last week!  From left to right: OR nurses from Sweden, Australia, and Switzerland. Then the anesthesia team from Northern Ireland and Netherlands.  At the far-right is Dr. Shutt the other surgeon from the Island of Man. 

However, on the social side of things—the living life on the ship side—I am honestly a bit stressed out.

The thing is, the social side of the ship never quits.

At home, I am used to going to work and then going home. A few times a week, I might go out with friends for dinner or hang out with my neighbors on the back porch. Maybe I’ll run by my parents’ or sisters’ houses for a visit or pick up a niece from an activity. But there are starts and stops to those activities.

If I have had a long day, I can choose to go home, change into my PJs, sit on my couch, eat my dinner, and not talk to anyone else that day.

But here, you just can’t really do that.

You go to the dining room for all your meals, which is this weird little microcosm of people who have been on the ship for a long time and have their established cliques, mixed in with new people who are just trying to find their way—and a place to sit.

Honestly, it feels a lot like the middle school cafeteria.

I have tried to become braver about it. If I see a table with an open chair, I’ll just ask if I can sit down. But then there are days like yesterday. We had a really long day in the OR, followed by seeing our patients for the next day. I had a headache, my back hurt, and the idea of making small talk with strangers sounded absolutely exhausting.

But do you want to be the weird person who got their food and is sitting alone?

Not really.

The mornings are tough, too. I am not a morning person. I just want to get up, get my coffee, and not be bothered for a little while.

At home, my OR team knew that I would come in cranky and that it was probably best not to talk to me too much during the first case. By the second case, I was ready to go!

Here, I have to get up and go to the dining hall for breakfast. It is loud, everyone is yelling “GOOD MORNING!” to everyone else, and I am barely awake and absolutely not ready to engage with the day yet.

Then there are all the different things to do in the evenings on the ship. There are always activities happening, and you almost feel obligated to participate. But after a long day in the OR, sometimes you just want to put your feet up and read.

I would describe myself as an introverted extrovert. I have plenty of outgoing, social traits and can absolutely turn on my extroverted self when I am at work or at a gathering. I can be a social butterfly.

But it drains my batteries.  And then I need time to recover.

That is the part I am still figuring out. Living in a community on a ship means that there isn't always an obvious place to step away from the social side of life. At home, solitude is easy. I can close my front door, put on my pajamas, and disappear into my own little world for a while.

Here, everyone is just…there.

All the time.

But I recently found a posting for an activity that I thought was absolutely brilliant. It was called “Having Time Alone—Together.”

Once a week, one of the lounges is reserved for people who want to individually work in community, in silence. You can bring a book, your computer, a project—whatever you want—and just be around other people without actually having to be social.

Tonight, I am writing this blog alone in my cabin. But maybe later this week I will go there and write my next blog in the community of others, without the pressure of having to particularly socialize in that moment.

Honestly, I think that might be exactly what I need.

And I have also solved one of my other major problems:

Early breakfast!

I recently learned that two industrious teenagers onboard will deliver your breakfast to your room on Saturday mornings for the small price of just $2!!!

As my Welsh Fam girls know, I love a good breakfast delivery.

I will 100% be taking these girls up on their services starting this weekend.