I'm Not Done Travelling

Only 14 days left of this year. My goodness it's gone fast. I'm in the middle of my time here now, and if the rest it about to rush past at the same speed... well it's a bit frightening. I am so grateful to myself for being so sensible and deciding to stay for six months instead of four. I'd be in trouble having to go in three weeks. Many of the others are leaving soon, which is sad. In no time I will have turned from the newest waiter into the oldest one. The oldest and the wisest. (Wise my arse; sometimes I still have no idea what I'm doing, the only difference is I just do it.) It feels strange to picture myself back home. Lying on the sofa. Walking the dog. Seeing the people. Like nothing's changed, like I never was away. But I might as well quit thinking about it now, I'm still here! I've still got plenty of time to do plenty of things. This week we all have a lot of time off, because next week is going to be super busy. Tomorrow Yago and I are going to the Isle Of Wight. It'll be interesting to see the island again after two and a half years.

Now let me take you back a couple of weeks. One Saturday night after work I was sitting on my bed scrolling down Facebook when after seeing people's party-related statuses I suddenly realised what day it was. (This happens to me every weekend.) But this time it was different. It was Saturday and I'd be off on Sunday, and I thought WHY AM I NOT OUT? The thing is, unfortunately you don't get many chances to go out in the weekend unless, of course, you don't mind going to work after two hours of sleep or no sleep. The idea isn't exactly very tempting. People do it, though. I marched upstairs with the intention to knock on Marika or Jatta's door, but to my surprise I ran into Jatta in the corridor. She was on her way to ask me whether I'd like to go to Brighton with them, to have a night out. You can't just ignore such coincidence, can you? So we jumped on a double decker. I like sitting in the front of the upper floor even though every time the bus turns it looks like the vehicle is about to hit the street lights, traffic signs, and buildings. Even people. Exciting! We stayed in Brighton all night and took the first train back to Worthing. We had to wait on the station for over an hour, and it was freezing cold. We all almost fell asleep on the train, but somehow just when it stopped at our final destination my eyes opened and "Where are we??? In Worthing! OUT!". I was back in my room at 08:04, went to bed, and woke up at 4 o'clock in the afternoon. It sounds bad, but here it actually feels rather natural to sleep that late on a day off. To stay up almost till it gets light, and to get up when the sun is starting to set. Even on a normal day without the nightclub factor. Yeah, it messes up the whole routine but then again, what routine? One morning despite the fact I was off and could have slept long I got out to see the sunrise as  it was absolutely gorgeous the day before, and all I got to do was admire it through the window between serving customers. Well, all I can say is bloody clouds.

I can't remember what day it was anymore, but for it was a very sunny day I took a walk on the beach. The tide was low so I could walk quite far. I was listening to Christmas songs and it felt extremely strange. It could've as well been summer when I closed my eyes, the sun was so hot. I'm not kidding. And it doesn't look like winter anyway. Some people still go out in shorts (mad people they are, but still). You can actually find all kinds of interesting clothing combinations here. Like shorts and a winter coat. Or flip flops and a winter coat. That's my favourite actually. And what's the point in wearing a winter vest on the top of a t-shirt? Some things I'll never understand. But back to the beach — I found what I think was a dead shark! It's not what you're thinking right now. It's not a 10 feet tiger shark. It was little, about 1 foot, but very shall I say sharky. (I've spent endless hours watching nature documentaries when I was little so trust me, I know a shark when I see one.) There were also three people riding horses along the beach. The sound of the hooves against the wet sand was quite funny. Funny isn't the right word. I can't think of any good word to describe it. Hollow and smooth. Yeah it was both hollow and smooth. If you know what I mean. No? That's probably my bad.

Last Saturday I was at the Jools Holland Show in the Brighton Centre. I got the day off! Now I've seen KT live, she's really real. Though her appearance was only a brief one (I knew it would be, she played three songs) it was worth every penny. Otherwise the whole show was like a huge party full of middle-aged people who after a pint of beer got in a serious groove, got off their bums, and ran (yes, RAN) in front of the stage to twist with the other middle-aged people who'd done the same. I thought perhaps it's their only opportunity to ever dance since they're too old for clubbing. The only difference being the music was rhythm and blues, not dubstep. I was comfortable in my seat. Sitting. But it was fun to watch.

I've been really popular these last few days receiving parcels and cards all the time. Thank you!

Laura Marling - Not Done Traveling