Sisters in the city

On Thursday, I was taken to lunch by the two Leeds Co-Chairs of the Sister Cities of Louisville project. Sylvia Bruton and Diane Bailey-Boulet. Two fascinating women in their own right, it was interesting to hear about their connections to Leeds, and the idea of sister cities and their thoughts on how we can develop the relatively new relationship between Leeds and Louisville. Diane in particular, does a great impression of her father, a Yorkshireman, talking about teaching French in Sheffield many years ago. And the sometimes challenging attitudes parents had towards internationalising their kids; "why does he need to speak French when he's coming to work in' factory wi' me."

I know the "twin towns' phenomena had its routes in the post-war desire to make closer connections between different places and to foster stronger international bonds at more personal levels. I wonder if the time has come to have a 21st century refresh of those ambitions. In an increasingly global, increasingly accessible communications age, have we lost sight of that desire to actually experience and understand other cultures? The 21 year old woman who served me in the mobile phone shop said: "oh i've lived here my whole life, I could never go to Europe, I don't know anyone there". And don't get me wrong, it's hard to be "foreign". I've done it and survived it in places much more different to me than Louisville - but there is still that feeling of shame when you have absolutely no idea what someone is on about. (Biscuits? With my boiled egg!?; Half and half or creamer? Er, no thanks, just some milk in my coffee please.)

I'm staying in the same hotel as many of the Congressional Medal of Honour holders, whose convention is in town this weekend. And when I'm in the lift they never fail to ask me where I'm from and what I'm doing here. And it truly is amazing the impact that a non-American accent has on them. (Admittedly, I am starting to sound more and more like Mary Poppins as I ramp it up a notch or two, for fear of sounding like I'm taking the mic in imitating the gorgeous Kentucky drawl). But it reminds me, that even though most of the industrialised Western cities house people from all different backgrounds, we don't all get to feel that delicious sense of freedom of being "foreign" ourselves. And I think it's something everyone should get to do, at least once in our lives. If for no other reason, at least to see where your own accent ends up.