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January 31 January updateThis isn't even my blog at the moment, I just momentarily stumbled on a computer that actually had msn on it. In case you didn't know, I'm at the bottom of China at the moment, on the border with Laos, Vietnam etc, and it's very nice and tropical. Tianjin is 2000 miles away, heh. Here's a general overview of my January:
1. Plenty of sleeper trains, sleeper busses, etc., and about 5 days on the road.
2. Two migraines from lack of sleep.
3. I can almost play pool now. And I've aquired a taste for beer.
4. I've seen jungles.
5. Hostels of various desirability, ranging from the Hotel From Hell in Zhang Jia Jie (minus 20 degrees indoors, no running water) to the plush little number in Yangshuo (two words: bath tub).
6. I cycled 40 miles yesterday, and my bum hurts. Not that I'm becoming healthy or anything, there were plenty of fag breaks I can tell you.
7. I've been eating Western food every day. This is my break from China, y'see. I DON'T WANT TO GO BACK TO TIANJIN
November 09 AhemStill alive, still lovin it. Despite 20 minutes of homesickness since I came here (it was the other night when we were talking about mash potato...) this is turning out to be the happiest year of my life.
BECCA. EMAIL ME.
Toodaloo xx August 22 Last night in PlymouthI had a good day today, all my family are making a big thing about me going away even though it's just another year of university. Not that I'm complaining though :D
I saw my grandad and auntie today, and we went for a drive on the moors. When we got back we had Domino's pizzas for tea because it was sort of a special occasion. Tomorrow we will have pasties for dinner and talk in janner accents, before I bid the Westcountry my final farewell.
My last night in England will be spent in a smoking room in a travel lodge close to Heathrow. So my next entry will probably be written in China.
I will have a new mobile number when I get there but will be emailing everyone soon to let them know.
I feel like I should be writing something momentous but can't really think of anything... I know, I'll write some goodbyes. Only in most cases it will be more 'see you in a year's time!'. Even though most of them will never read this, here goes...
Twin and twin in-law: Don't get married or pop any sprogs until I get back.
Big sister: Dieuw!
Parents: Don't go scritching when I go, because then I'll feel guilty about it for the whole time I'm away.
Becca: Thank you for being with me through some hard times and feeding me tuna melt. And for showing me some good nights out. Have fun with your halls experience.
Gemma: I know when someone's sound when I want to get to know them rather than being scared of them, and you are one of those people. I wish we'd met earlier on in the year :(
Nikki: Ditto. Have fun in your new house with your weird new flatmate.
Sylwia and Ula: We had a lot of fun together and I have a lot of good memories. They've moved the smoking section of the mezz bar now, it almost feels like sacriledge after the amount of time we spent there.
Jian: See you in Ningbo. And you're coming with me to Beijing so we can do lunch together, just so I can say I've done it :)
Joelle: You were the best flatmate and a constant companion to bitch with. Hope you're OK in your new house...
David: Thanks for providing something resembling a social life in Plymouth, which as we both know is no mean feat. I can't believe you almost became a Christian! Lucky escape there... PS Don't break up with Abby again.
Well I think that's everyone, all the other important people are the ones coming with me. I won't forget you if you don't forget me.
And I'm not scared anymore, I'm ready to go now.
July 18 Worst. Train journey. Ever.I reckon you can tell a lot about a place from its train station. London train stations are so big that they have their own currency and national flag, and are as well-equipped as any given shopping mall. Leeds station, with its ultra-modern chrome decor and surrounding tall buildings, impressed me so much that it had me texting 'omg leeds is so cool lol' to my dad on my first night at university. Even Plymouth has its own nifty little WH Smith's and one of those snack shops you always get, selling Proper Cornish Pasties which look and taste like they've been stamped on.
Now as you may already know, Worle is the vibrant economic centre of the prosperous county of Somerset, and as such its station is endowed with not only a footbridge but also a desolate-looking bus shelter type thing with some benches inside. With added platform art including a crudely-drawn bong on the wall. (Despite all these big-budget features, it has since entered my famous list of places I hate, second only to Exeter.) It was here that I found myself in the sub-Saharan heat of 2pm this afternoon, rolling a fag and wondering if there were toilet facilities in the surrounding bushes.
I was on my way back from Leamington Spa, where I'd been staying with Hippy Auntie Estelle, her toy boy Tris, the two sisters and my twin in law. I had quite a good time considering we couldn't use her internet (it was pay-by-minute...does that even exist anymore?) and that her TV was almost permanently covered with a blanket (she reckons it sucks in energy). In the end I resorted to reading books and conversing with relatives. It was OK actually. One night we went to see Pirates of the Carribean II and I had a perma-grin on my face all the way through cause I was having so much fun. Another night we went to a festival in Coventry where we lolled in the back stage tent and went wandering around looking at the stalls. But this morning it was time to go home again.
I started my journey relatively optimistically, hopping on the first train to Birmingham. But after that it all went downhill. Travelling is not fun in 33 degrees centigrade. The train dawdled along, stopping in the middle of nowhere every now and then, with the voice on the tannoy informing us that the tracks were too hot again. Every single train was delayed, some were cancelled. Said voice failed to explain why the air conditioning wasn't working.
I can't remember how I managed to find myself in Worle of all places but I think it had something to do with me getting the wrong train, one which started in Cheltenham Spa and ended up zig-zagging back and forth between Weston Super Mare and Weston Something Else. In the end another train came, and the ticket inspector glared at my ticket suspiciously. Where did that train take me? Back to Weston Super Mare.
Two trains later, the air was starting to get a bit cooler and I was homeward bound. And now, once again, I'm back where I belong, to continue my hibernation.
Seven hours to travel 200 miles. Worst. Train journey. Ever. I'll never be the same again. My mouth is so dry, my eyes are shattered, I have the hollow expression of a soldier returning from the Nam. I am constantly on edge; even quiet noises make me jump. I have seen far too much for my tender years.
I'm off to have some therapy for my post traumatic stress disorder and a week-long bath. July 08 London (again)Since I last wrote in here I've visited London twice more. The first time I went to see Becca and Gemma. We all slept in Becca's large comfortable house, ate posh food, smoked on Clapham Common and got very sunburnt. That was in the weekend. The second time was last night till this afternoon, when I went to get my Chinese visa sorted out. This time I slept in a dingy student halls of residence in West Hampstead (an area which only has ONE cashpoint, don't you know), ate takeaways, and spent a disproportionate amount of time wandering around getting very tired and lost. I hate West Hampstead with a passion. I particularly hate Kidderpore Avenue which is miles away from the shops which in turn are miles away from cash machines. But I have my visa now. It's basically a sticker that they slapped onto one of the pages of my passport. It has a picture of the Great Wall on it and my name. So it's one less thing to worry about really and I'm happy. I am sick of London though. So big and far away. After admiring my visa for a bit I went to Canary Warf to have my lunch (OK, so I just wanted an excuse to sit at the front on the Docklands Light Railway). There was the two minute silence for 7/7, but when it happened I was standing at the tube stop so there wasn't a great deal of conversation going on anyway. Other than my shenannigans in the capital then I haven't really been up to much. I'll salvage a social life when I get around to it. I do have good news though, I have got myself a job for August. Something to do with libraries I think. It pays £6-£7 an hour which is loads to me. In the meantime I have to revise for my chinese exams which I have to take as soon as I get into China. I don't remember sod all. Tomorrow I am going to a barbecue with my mum over at my cousins' house, who are on The Cornish Side of the Family. Word has it that there will be a French student there, but apparently he's not very fit. My mum keeps hinting at me to brush up on my French, I think she wants her family to hear me talk all foreign. Unfortunately it's been 7 months since I last had a conversation in French, so she might be a bit disappointed. OK I'm knackered so I'm off to bed... |
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