So it begins

Routine

Published Date : August 2, 2000

I’ve settled into a routine at work now.  I get along with all of the students really well and have been sharing a room with Evelyn from Germany.  I’m making a point of trying to do something or go somewhere on my days off now.  I’m going to be more than ready to leave once my three months are up here.  I love the area, but the job doesn’t exactly keep me engaged.

This week, I have Saturday afternoon and all day Sunday off, so I’m going to cross to the other coast and visit York.  It’s only a 3-hour train trip, so why not?  I’ll catch the 1630 train from Windermere and get into York at about 1930.  That will leave me all day Sunday to look around.

I’ve also made a decision on the Australia SWAP idea…I’m going to wait until after I finish off school, then head down under for an extended working holiday.  In the meantime I’ve pretty much sorted out the rest of my trip in the UK. I’ll see as much of Scotland as I can while I’m there, then try to hit Ireland and Wales just before I go home.  All depending how much money I can save of course ��

I really don’t want to work tonight, but not much I can do about it.  C’est la vie.

York

Published Date : August 7, 2000

Rainy day in York

I had an absolute blast in York!  It’s a beautiful city and I definitely needed more than one day there.  I managed to squeeze a hell of a lot into that one day though.  I decided to start with the hop-on/hop-off bus tour.  Those things are great.  They run every 10-15 minutes and they go to all the major tourist sites.  They’re excellent for orienting yourself in a new city,

I started at Clifford’s Tower, the only remaining part of the castle built by Henry VIII.  Next it was off to the York Dungeon, a very spooky place.  It’s very interesting too – a chance to learn about the gloomier side of York’s history.  One of the guys working there asked me out to dinner as well, so that pretty much made my day.  I couldn’t tell you what he looked like though because he was in full costume.

Next on the agenda was the Jorvik Viking Centre.  It wasn’t quite what I was expecting, but it was still quite neat.  I liked how they made it all smell authentic as well as just looking it.  A quick break for lunch in a little café and I was off to Castle Museum.  This place was amazing.  Most of the displays in it were from the private collection of a rich and eccentric old man, and they turned it into an incredible museum.  They even brought an entire street indoors.  Every brick and every storefront is an original.  The era was Edwardian if I remember correctly.

From there I was off to York Minster itself.  It’s the largest gothic cathedral in Europe – you could fit both Notre Dame and Westminster Abbey inside it.  I climbed up to the top of the tower while I was there.  It was 275 very narrow spiral steps to the top, but the view was worth it.  Unfortunately, like the Eiffel Tower, people like to jump off it, so the top is completely fenced and has CCTV surveillance.

York Minster

Time for a dinner break then I finished off my day with a Ghost Tour of the city.  We were led around from building to building and told an interesting tale or ghost story about each of them.  It was a nice touch to the whole day

Afterwards it was a half hour walk back to my hostel – a very spooky walk after just completing a ghost tour!  I stayed in the YHA, which was very nice, but it’s in the middle of nowhere really.  My roommates were all friendly enough.  I shared with an Aussie, a Malaysian and a Korean, but as seems to be typical with backpacking, I didn’t get their names.

While I was in the hostel, I also happened to notice a sign advertising a fund-raising trip to Nepal.  A 6-day, 100km trek through the Himalayas.  The timing for it is perfect as well.  I’ll have to look into the details a bit more, but I’m very interested.  I’ll have to give Natalia a shout over this one too and see if she’s interested.  But seeing it’s the HIMALAYAS, I don’t think I’ll have to twist her arm.

Making plans

Published Date : August 14, 2000

Not much new in the last week.  I went into Kendal to do some rock climbing at the indoor gym and checked out the castle ruins while I was in town – made a day of it.

I’m planning on making Carlisle my next trip.  It’s only a couple of hours on the bus, so I can do it in one day.  I think I can also head up to Hadrian’s Wall from there too.  I’m also looking at Manchester and Liverpool for possible trips as well, but we’ll have to see how it goes.

I heard back about the Nepal Fund-Raising Trek and I would have to raise £2000 in sponsorship funds plus pay £250.  It’s definitely the cheapest way I would get there, but I doubt I’ll be able to raise the money.  I did find an adventure company that does treks in the Everest region of Nepal, so I’m going to contact them for more info.  Either way, I’m keeping my fitness up just in case an opportunity presents itself.  I’ve been going jogging, hiking or climbing almost every afternoon.  In fact I’m sitting on top of Helm Crag at this exact moment, looking out over Sour Milk Ghyll.  I really enjoy the hikes around Grasmere, although it’s bloody cold right now.

What else has happened?  I got a letter from Mum today.  That was a nice surprise.  Apparently, I’ve got one coming from Grandma too.  I’ve not yet felt homesick at all on this trip.  While I definitely miss my family, I’m loving the freedom and independence to come and go as I please with nobody to answer to but myself.

Playing the extravert

Published Date : August 19, 2000

The last few days we’ve been spending some very entertaining evenings down in the pub after work.  I’ve been getting to know Kim (Scottish) a lot better recently and we get on really well.  That’s a good thing because over the next couple of weeks everybody is leaving.  There’s a major changing of the guard with staff as the locals all go back to school.

I’ve been thinking about my future a lot over the last couple of days as well.  I’ve known that I don’t really want to go back to college, but I haven’t had any other options…kinda the reason for this trip – to get my head screwed on.  I’ve been considering going back into languages a lot lately.  I’ve always enjoyed them, and working as a translator would be pretty cool.  Last night was a perfect example of what’s brought about the idea.  I was down at the pub with Evelyn (German), Catherine (English), David and Marie (Quebec) and a couple of the Spanish staff from one of the other guest houses.  We spent the whole night bouncing between languages, and it was just so much fun.  I’ve had formal training in French and German. Spanish I’ve just had a lot of exposure to from my friends in high school studying it, but I’m not even close to fluent in any of them.  But thanks to the miracle that is beer we were all conversing in four languages for most of the night.  Very fun!

Anyway, I’m considering looking into a couple of the universities over here.  I would use languages a lot more here than at home, and since I have the option of staying here permanently, I might as well explore it.

Other exciting news is that I’ve finally applied for my NIN and NHS coverage.  Mumsy will be so pleased.  Oh, and I’ve decided to cut my hair really short, just for fun!