advance, australia fair

Boy am I tired this morning.
Last night I couldn't wait to post this blog and now I'm tired as hell and want to lay my head down on my deak and snooze. I just haven't been getting enough hours of sleep, for one reason or another. I think a lot of it has to do with that the springs are popping out of my mattress and digging into me, so finding a comfortable position to sleep in is kinda difficult. that, and i keep watching TV episodes on my laptop instead of actively trying to get shuteye. I keep thinking it it'll lull me to sleep but I think it actually prevents me from sleeping. Sad.

So yesterday...
I had slightly--and when i say slightly I really mean slightly--more work to do at Benenden. So I didn't completely do other things all day, and yet still about 92% of the day was spent reading stories and spec scripts on fanfiction.net, and putting my 2c (pence, now?) worth in--just like how I used to waste time in high school.

On lunch break I got 2 pieces of good news. One, HSBC was able to take all my info over the phone for my bank account, to expedite the process when I came in later. And two, Bridge did manage to get me the 8-week receptionist job at the same place I'm at now, Benenden. Jamie my consultant at Bridge is actually a really cool guy, and always calls and asks how I'm doing etc. An HR rep from Benenden came to speak to me in the afternoon and introduced me to the new people I'd be working with. They're doing reception and customer service, so they're more friendly than the IT lot. Still, Brits are Brits I guess, and I have to remind myself of that every time I feel a little taken aback that they're acting "cold" to me.

After work I went to HSBC to open a checking account. I discover that they can only give me the Basic Bank Account, the lowest of the low. They told me it was because the letterhead on my proof of address letter is not "official", because it was printed off the same printer the letter itself was printed on (it's not stationery), and I guess anyone could just print the Micklegate House letterhead. So my debit card can only be used to draw money out--I can't debit anything onto it. I guess I'll just count myself lucky to have an account at all, becuase without one I ain't gettin no paycheck.

Dinnertime and beyond...
So I'm trying this new thing of NOT spending the equivalent of $25/day on food. I went to Budgens (small convenience/grocery store by where I live) and got dinner for £1.32. Of course, in the US you could get more than a can of chicken soup and a tiny baguette for that much money, but well, this is Britain. And the soup was good.

There is a girl staying in my room at the hostel whom I've gotten to know pretty well over the past few days. Her name is April and shes from Australia (there are TONS of Aussies in the hostel and everywhere else here!). She has been giving me all this job-searching advice, because she was a recruiter for 5 years and knows the system very well. She's looking for jobs too, but is more demanding than me and will most likely leave for better prospects in Edinburgh on Monday. She's been traveling and working for the last 6 months and is going to go right on doing so--her next major stopping point is Canada. She lives in hostels and loves it; she was the one who inspired me to stay at the hostel I'm at now.

We ran into each other at dinner, and also ran into two more Aussies who are looking for work here, and we all decided that it would be fun to go on one of York's famed Ghost Walks that evening.

Be sure to bring your death certificate...

Since York is a really old city--it was Celt, then it was the Roman garrison town of Eboracum, then the Viking city of Jorvik--naturally it has a lot of haunted history. There are 3 or 4 ghost walk tours you can choose from, and they seriously happen every night "whatever the weather." We opted for the one departing from York Minster. Now you have to understand it's an outdoor tour, it's 20-something degrees outside (not really sure, haven't figuerd out how to convert yet), pitch black...so I guess it's a good atmosphere for a ghost story tour.

The tour guide was this older guy with longish white hair and glasses, British to the core, and dressed in Dickens-type clothing, complete with shawl, top hat and cane (think Ebenezer Scrooge). I thought it would be hokey, but this guy was really really talented, amazing deep voice (he says in the summers he gets groups of up to 150 and has to project to all of them) and gave just the right mixture of chilling stories and jokes. You could really tell he loves doing these tours. And some of the stories were really, really creepy. My favorite was the story of the plague house opposite the minster where the entire family died except for one little girl, two or three years old. When the men came to board up the house, they saw the little girl, and for fear of catching the plague from her they boarded up the house with her still inside. For some tiem later people on the street could see her rapping from her window, the one that wasnt boarded up because it was too high, but they also saw the red cross on the door and kept walking. She eventually died of course, and proceeded to haunt the house: people who lived in there later heard crying noises, moaning, etc. Eight years ago a family moved in there, and their young son got the room where the girl used to look out from. And one night not too long after moving in, the mom was tucking the son in when he said "Mum, don't let the little girl sit on my bed again tonight." That kind of stuff freaks me out!

...And there were various other tales of that ilk. It was really fun. The three Aussies and I walked home. They fell to talking about Australia and I found out it was Australia Day the next day (today), and all the Aussies are gonna invade the pubs and get pissed (to them, "pissed" means completely trashed). We went for hot chocolate in the kitchen where we met a girl from Montreal and we started talking about traveling to Canada, and skiing, and scuba diving, and what "Yabo" Aussies are. They're the stereotypical ones that say "fair dinkum" and "crikey" and stuff like that--the true Steve Irwins. They're like Southern hicks in America.

So...
I think that's all there is to say for now. Bridge has thankfully gotten my bank info, and they will get my tax forms etc. tomorrow, and hopefully my HSBC card arrives in the mail by this time next week.

Feelin aiiight today for the most part. I wish it wasn't so cold--well, I wish I had better clothing for the cold. I have a shopping list which includes:

laundry detergent
bounce (or whatever they have here)
lip balm
flip flops (yeah good luck with that. might have to take my chances...)
tights
notebook
face wash
thermal gloves
cheap wine

which means I go to M&S, Boots, and Budgens. It's all good--gotta drop off tax forms and junk to Bridge anyway.

Right I'm sure that really concerns you.

So like I said, doin good. Sometimes memories of home or CA pop into my head and I get a little tug at the ol' heartstrings. Things get better every day but you're never really going to stop missing home or the people there. You just hope they are the same and don't forget you eaither (you hear that? talkin to YOU!!) haha.

read and comment, my good people