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July 25 !!! Garden parties !!!I finish at 8pm when I'm working late shift's. By that time I'm the only one left except for 2 people from the International team. One of the guys gave me a lift home even thou I live only 1.5 miles away! When I came home all the doors were open and everyone was sitting in the back garden. We've got a new housemate, named Mark, and Caroline had some friends and her sister over. We share our garden with the boys next door. We all have the same landlord so if it comes to privet garden parties: the more the merrier. Everyone who has been following the weather reports over the past few weeks understands we can't do this every day, or week for that matter. Which is to bad because it's always good craic! Last night we had 2 Aussies, 1 Kiwi, 2 Irish girls, 1 Dutchy, 1 from Garforth and 1 from Newcastle and Matt wasn't even there and he's from all over the world, but mainly Hong Kong. Every "gang" has their own phrases. The running gag here is "OK... Ta", and we annoy the hell out of each other by quoting from "The Wedding Crashers". To be honest, I've never seen the whole movie, I was watching it one time when they decided they were to drunk to stay up and kicked me out! I'm still trying to steal it and watch the whole thing in one go. A couple of weeks ago Kiwi or Steve...N (I'm not allowed to say Steve. It has to be "Ste" or "Steven", so now he's called "Steve...N" just to annoy him). Anyway. A couple of weeks ago one of those "Cautious - Slippery when wet" signs appeared in our front garden. It had graffiti on it saying "OK... Ta". As cheeky as we are, we could not let that pass unnoticed. So... a few days later they had a sign in front of their door saying "OK... Ta, Wankers" (Mwahahahahahahaha *cough* *cough*). You'll never guess what I found in front of the front door this morning?! July 23 Saturday - Zaterdag - Samstag - Samedi - Sábado - Lördag - LørdagSaturday was the best ever! As you all know by now I had to work on Saturday... The evening started off pretty lame. Lying on the couch watching television, waiting for my show to start (Jekyll - BBC1). I went over to the shop to get some stuff when I met our next door Kiwi jogging down the street. He wanted to know if we (Caroline - my new house mate and me) were going out that night. When I got back to the house I received a text (smsje for the Dutchies among us) saying: "Goin dwn drnk nw cum?" so I sent back "I'm not sure what u just said but I'll be over in a sec". So I went upstairs and got changed and that's when I received the following text: "Going dwn leodis nw if u wana cme." (Leodis is a pub further up the street). After 3 pints, 1 game of pool, 3 games of darts and meeting 3 new people we were kicked out of Leodis as it was 11pm and the old folks have to go to bed. We ended up at no. 66, sent Steven and Adam on a quest of finding alcohol in the middle of the night. Two hours + 2 bottles of vodka heavier they found their way back to Green Lane. ASDA was closed and Tescos was closed (In the UK you've got 24h supermarkets) in the end they found a Indian shop with overprized alcohol. I went to bed at 4.30am, Caroline went to bed round 10am and the guys crawled into bed at 11am... ===================================== Sunday I had a sleep in, had a sandwich with egg, lettuce and tomato for lunch/breakfast and some leftovers from the day before. I watched my show I missed the night before (TV on Demand!), waited for my other favourite show to start (Dexter - FX). Got changed, remembered what our Kiwi was doing the day before... Jogging... which sounds like a bloody good idea when you've got nothing to do and you start making stupid jokes like "You're thin and I'm thick". So I went out running... Jaap called me right before "Dexter" started so I had to call him back. Normally I would turn off the TV to listen to people but "Jekyll" and "Dexter" are only on once a week so the rest of the world can wait! For everyone who doesn't know Jaap... Jaap is a friend from Holland who moved to Vancouver - Canada, we both know what it feels like to be so far away from people you grew up with and we can have normal "grown-up" conversations... in the middle of the night because of the time difference. This week I'm doing the late shift. Starts at 12.30pm and ends at 8pm. This means I can go to bed at decent hour and still have a sleep in! *** Our new house mate is going to move in today... He's really fit - and 19 years old - and very tall and we think he spends more time in front of the mirror than Caroline and me combined *** July 21 Feeling HOT! HOT! HOT!Working on Saturday. Nothing wrong with it. Everyone has to do it every now and then. In my company it's kinda weird, it's only me (from my team) and 2 from the international call centre. There could be one or two from other departments but only when we've got too much to do. Today the VRU (you know... the lovely woman telling you you've got "six.... ty people queuing in front of you") wasn't working as it should be so it's pretty busy for a Saturday. I'm the only one who's here to answer the phones so I feel a bit rushed. The good thing about working on a Saturday is you're off on a weekday! This week I was off on Thursday. One of the guys from the other side of the floor is leaving. He is going back to Australia. We had his leaving party the 19th in The Revolution Bar in Leeds (I'll add a link next time). I don't think I will ever understand why people give parties on any other day then Friday or Saturday.. Anyhow... I was wearing my new purple and blue and white shirt and my new red hair... The kind of look that makes guys turn around :) We had a few drinks in The Revolution Bar after which we went for a curry in Shabab (Currie restaurant)... Currie is interesting... It makes you feel interesting on the inside as well... The next day I was feeling somewhat tired... hmmm how come, I wonder... July 18 Meisjes, met rode haren...It's red alright... Not as red as it was whenever I lived in Belfast, but pretty close. I like the colour and today I'm wearing my green earrings my parents gave me for my B-day last year and a green pashmina which Francis gave me when we were in Amsterdam. I've been emailing with my mum about my brother. He's going to my old school and all these memories come bubbling to the surface. Years after the horrid experiance of classes lasting for 90 minutes and day's that start at 8.30am and and end at 5.30pm I found out I actually liked it. Now I just have to convince my brother and he'll be fine! July 17 It works!It works! It works! It works! My mum just confirmed it! Everything I send will be visible on my Space :D And now it's time for me to go home... true the rain and stuff :( Let's see...I really hope this is going to work... I've added another email address to the big list from which I can post stuff on my Space. I've written down the address and of course I left it at home :-S So that's the reason why I'm posting another "Let's see..." kind of story. After (trying to) keep(ing) a Space up-to-date for over a year I feel more connected to girls like Anne Frank and Bridget Jones. I've never been the kind of girl who kept diaries. I always wanted to cuz it is kind of glamorous, I just never continue. My diaries are time jumps and parallel slides. It was also to confronting, life is not that interesting when you have to tell someone else. I know the purpose of a diary is not someone else reading it, just confiding your deepest secrets to the paper. Not my cup of tea. I don't do deep secrets :D Hmm... deep! The weather is really freaky out here... One minute you have to get your diving gear out thanks to the rain and the next one you're the equivalent of a battered sausage because the sun is scorching your skin... and we're stuck in a building with a air conditioning with a mind of his own. It's quite challenging to dress to impress and keep in mind the climate changes inside the building. I would like to go home and go to bed (like that's gonna happen). Caroline (house mate) said we were going to dye my hair today... Red... Again... Just wait and see, I always get so nervous when it comes to dyeing my hair... what would the rest think about it, how will it look, what if it turns PINK?!?!?!?! To be continued.... July 16 SlussHi there,
I just wanted you all to know Francis and I broke up. Not because we don't love eachother but because of the differances. I miss him very much, but I know it will fade over time. I hope he will find a girl who can make him happy.
I've been going out again... 2 times :) The guys next door are pretty funny and my new housemate is pretty cool. I've moved room as well so now I can use my laptop in my room instead of in the living room which is kinda annoying.
My laptop was pretty F*cked but it's working again. Not as fast as I would like, that's the reason I haven't updated my space sooner.
Let me know how you're doing!
Kussz May 07 Holland Vol. 2Half past 11 in the evening I arrived in Dublin. So not yet Saturday the 28th of April, but still. After finding my suitcase on a converter belt that felt like it was a mile long I walked out into the waiting area to find my long lost love… That’s right! I found him :)
As I planned the holiday I take all the blame for the complicated traveling schedule. I know now (after being harassed repeatedly by friends and family) to keep things simple and not cheap. For every one who hasn’t noticed yet… I live in Leeds and Francis lives in Belfast. We met up in Dublin, to fly to Charleroi in Belgium and travel all the way up to Holland by train. At the time it seemed like the best thing to do. Now we all know better.
On Saturday morning at 6ish we had to get on the plane. By that time we had lost all sense of time and were happy to meet a couple of former colleagues from Belfast (Danny and Silvia) who happened to go the same direction.
The trip to Holland was… well… it was.
To hot for traveling and especially for us who weren’t dressed for the worm weather on the continent. Happy to see my boyfriend thou, who was surprised you could buy beer from the same vending machine as your normal soda…
Welcome to the Continent! Holland Vol. 1Friday the 27th of April was a day like any other.
I woke up, went to work. After work I got some stuff from Sainsbury’s and went to my appointment with the waxing lady. I’m never going to that place again, cuz it hurts and it costs money and your hairs are not even gone. Next time I’m going to stick to the razor.
Anyway, a normal day like any other.
After my visit to the torture chambers I went home and got my suitcase and called a taxi… I’m the biggest idiot on the planet! I found out I forgot my passport when I was almost at the airport. Luckily I was 3 and a half hour early so I could go home and back without missing my plane.
At the airport Francis’s mum called to wish me a good holiday… She’s very sweet!
The start of my Holiday! My flight from Leeds to Dublin to meet up with Francis so we can continue our journey together. April 24 Holiday3 more days and I’m going on holiday. I’m so looking forward to it, going home seeing my friends and family again. Celebrating Queens day. I have so many thing I want to see and do. Francis is coming too, he’s never been on the continent before. I’m not sure what is more exiting for him, meeting my family or going to Holland.
I told him my dad is just like me and my brothers are big and won’t hurt a fly… as long as he doesn’t get in their way :)
I shouldn’t tease him, but it’s so easy. He doesn’t know what to expect and every one speaks that crazy language that sounds like we all have a terrible throat disease. Lucky for him it’s not contagious. So even if he pulls it off to become fluent in Dutch, we will always hear he’s from the other side of the water. One of the reasons I’m so happy to go to Holland is because a lot of my friends were/are and getting pregnant. So when we/I can find the time I’ll be hopping by to say “hi” to the new member of the family.
My new job is going OK. I’m still learning, but that’s no problem. It is a grownup job which means I have to dress up and put my hair in a curl.
Anyhow… I’ll be seeing y’all next week. April 15 EasterHmmm… Cheerio’s with chocolate milk! My favourite :)
Let me tell you about Easter. Easter was whenever my dad had his B-day, it is also the time Jesus was crucified. For me it meant I had 2 extra day’s off. So I went back to Belfast :D I didn’t tell anyone except the people form work and Francis. And he told his housemate Oliver and his parents. My weekend in Belfast was meant to be all about cuddling and hugging and spending time with each other, something we don’t do that often due to the fact that we live 3000 km apart. The folder is called “Belfast 05-09 April 2007” so you can see what we did and what it was like. I had a lovely weekend…
Thank you Francis April 03 Home-sickI don’t get homesick a lot, not anymore anyway. The first three months after I left my parents house were a nightmare. But nowadays everything is ok. I found out it depends on certain situations whether or not something like being homesick hits you. Do you know when I get homesick? - When I’m waiting for the bus and the bus passes me, because I was standing on the wrong side of the road. - When I’m in a shop and they won’t accept my Postbank pinpas. - When I start a conversation with a housemate, and after ½ hour I find out they’re not listening because I speak Dutch. That’s when I get homesick. March 24 Run - Snow PatrolTo Francis
I'll sing it one last time for you
Then we really have to go You've been the only thing that's right In all I've done And I can barely look at you
But every single time I do I know we'll make it anywhere Away from here Light up, light up
As if you have a choice Even if you cannot hear my voice I'll be right beside you dear Louder louder
And we'll run for our lives I can hardly speak I understand Why you can't raise your voice to say To think I might not see those eyes
Makes it so hard not to cry And as we say our long goodbye I nearly do Light up, light up
As if you have a choice Even if you cannot hear my voice I'll be right beside you dear Louder louder
And we'll run for our lives I can hardly speak I understand Why you can't raise your voice to say Slower slower
We don't have time for that All I want is to find an easier way To get out of our little heads Have heart my dear We're bound to be afraid Even if it's just for a few days Making up for all this mess LeedsIn Here Looking Out Remember I told you Francis and I went to Leeds. It wasn’t just a holiday it was because I had a job interview. Two hours after the interview they called me to let me know I got the job. As this is a grown-up job I didn’t want to tell everyone about it, afraid it might backfire. The problem with this strategy is, and I realize that now, a lot of people didn’t knew I was leaving… Tuesday (when I had Spaces training) we had a sort of leaving party. It started out as a nightshift midweek drinking night and ended with a couple of Dutchies coming over. We forgot the camera therefore no pictures of me as a liquid nymph… A combination of Guinness, fairy wings, antenna’s and a magic wand :) Monday morning I came out of my last nightshift, I think I ate to much drop cuz my blood pressure was so high I couldn’t sleep. It might had something to do with the fact that it was going to be my last day with Francis as well. I stayed in bed for 2 hours before I continued packing. That night we decided to get a few beers and say goodbye to Seba and Balkie… Pictures up on my Space soon ;) Tuesday the 20th of March I took a plane at 20.00 O’clock from Belfast International to Leeds Bradford (1 hour delay, but we didn’t mind). I’m at the same B&B as we were in last time, I know where it is and I knew how to find it on the internet, which made everything a lot easier. Wednesday I met up with my new Landlady. A lovely woman. We had a chat for over and hour before she took me to the house to see the room. It’s on the second floor and has a creative way of handling space. I’ll post the pictures as soon as possible :) I’m moving in on Friday the 23rd of March. For everyone who doesn’t understand… I got a new job in Leeds. I used to live in Belfast which is in Northern Ireland. Leeds is in England in the Mid-West if I’m not mistaken, very close to Manchester. My boyfriend, Francis, is staying in Belfast. Next time I’m going to see him is in 5 weeks time when we’re going to Holland at the end of April. Today I’m doing completely nothing! I deserved it :) I’m watching TV and getting bored out of my scull. Everything is so different when you know no one is close enough to meet up. I just moved into my new room. I don’t need any exercise for the next few weeks. 2 stairs and a 28 kilo suite case. Tonight I’m going to buy a pillow and a duvet at one of the 24 hour Tesco’s. Never been in one of them after, what I would call it, closing time. Met the guy I’m sharing the bathroom with, he seems nice. He gave me the security key for the internet, but it’s not working yet. Bugger! I’m knackered, even though I haven’t done anything really. I’ve noticed everything is different form when I was going to Belfast. My feelings, my state of mind and my mood. I think I know what the reason is. I wanted to live in Belfast because of Belfast. Now I’ve moved to Leeds because of my new job. We’ll see what happens and Leeds seems to be a lovely place. (Don’t listen to the stories of people who have never been here) It feels a bit like home. More multicultural than Belfast, and the people are more rude :) I slept my first night in my new room. Without a pillow or a duvet. It was freezing cold. I was just to lazy to go to the 24 hour Tesco. So that’s what I did today. Now I’ve got a duvet and 2 pillows :D Went together with my new housemate Laura and tonight we’re going out… I finally got the internet up and running. I took my laptop downstairs and when I put it on it started to update the software! Funny thing. I haven’t been on the messenger yet. Just wanted to check my e-mails and update my Space before I spend the rest of the time on the messenger. I’ve been listening to this song “Run”. It’s by Snow Patrol, you know, the guys from Bangor. I miss Francis. |
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