GenesisDreams

The Morning After The Night Before

Guest Entry Michael and I woke up around 10am, got showered, dressed, marvelled at the glorious view outside our balcony window and headed downstairs. After a BBQ breakfast of eggs and bacon (you Aussies can cook anything on a BBQ!) Simon and Michael took me to see Surfers Paradise. We ordered a starbucks and sat on the beach soaking up the morning rays. The beach was phenomenal. It was miles upon miles of clear, pure, white sand and a sea of crisp electric blue lapping softly against the sand. We cleared up and drove home around 3pm to a lamb roast which Helen had rustled up for us. Tired, we went to bed. -Nikkie

Australia Zoo And The Glasshouse Mountains

Guest Entry We got up early today, as we had to check out by 11am, so by 10am we were heading for Australia Zoo. When we arrived, at 11am, the animal shows were beginning in the Crococeum. We saw the snakes, tigers, birds and crocodiles. The Zoo Keepers told us each a bit about the animals and then fed them, which for the birds was not very eventful but it was very impressive for the tigers and the crocodiles. We wandered around the zoo after the shows were over and saw a huge list of animals; snakes, birds, crocodiles, alligators, koalas and wombats (which was the first time I had ever seen one while getting to stroke all the kangaroos. It was awesome. At around 3pm we got back into the car and drove to the Glasshouse Mountains. We had to drive up really high up a long winding road and then could see all the mountains. The landscape is totally flat except for the volcanic plugs shooting out of the ground, which once were surrounded by sandstone but the sandstone eroded away and left the igneous plugs in weird and wonderful shapes. On our return to Brisbane we went over to Simon’s for another ‘quiet night in’ which ended at 2am after 3 bottles of wine, half a bottle of Bundenburg rum and lots of pizza! Damn you Simon! -Nikkie

The Last Day At The Beach

Guest Entry We got up early today to make the most of our last full day at the beach. We went to the same café as previously for breakfast and wandered to the beach. A full day of sunbathing later, we got showered and dressed and strolled into town for dinner. Again, we stopped at Starbucks and then decided against going for dinner and headed back, along the beach, to our hotel for a dinner of corn flakes! Both Michael and I had got ridiculously burned on our backs as we had run out of suncream and underestimated the power of the winter sun. Okay, so I had the excuse of being an ignorant foreigner but Michael was really annoyed he had forgotten how string the sun really is in winter. -Nikkie

A Truly Lazy Day

Guest Entry Today, I can truthfully say, we did nothing except read in the sun. We got up really late (about 10am) and went for breakfast at a local café and then headed to the beach. I went for a long run along the coastal road, which was the first run I have ever enjoyed! Dinner consisted of fish and chips from the local take-away and was eaten while lying in bed watching T.V. I don’t think I’ve ever done as little as we did today!

More Sunbathing

Guest Entry Today we woke up around 9am and walked straight to the beach for a day of lying in the sun. A couple of swims later Michael popped off to get me some lunch which was such a luxury. He’s so great. More sunbathing, reading and swimming was done till about 4pm again. After a short run we went back up to the room for a shower and to get changed to go out for a wander into the village and to grab some dinner in a local restaurant. We stopped off in the local Starbucks for a coffee by the beach and then went to the best restaurant in the village. It was called Casual Dining and had really good food and wine. We spent most of the evening in the restaurant and chatted the night away. -Nikkie

Alexandra Headlands

Guest Entry We drove up to Alexandra Headlands in a little over an hour. We checked into our apartment, which was on the beach. After dropping our things off in the apartment we strolled down to the beach for a swim and sunbathe. The beach is filled with soft golden sand and a massive expanse of Pacific Ocean. Much to my dismay, however, there were no shark nets to be seen! Although I swam I made sure I did not head out too far ensuring someone else was always further out to sea than I was. This meant that if the lifeguards called a shark warning I could quickly swim into shore! All my life I have said I would never visit Australia because of the poisonous animals and now that I have I had to swim. But, not being worried about the sharks was too big a step all in one holiday! – again, no laughing please, this is a serious issue of mine! All the lifeguards were voluntary which I thought was fantastic as they were manning the beach from 9am till 4pm every day and had been fully trained. We stayed till 4pm, went for a run along the beach and had a dinner of beans on toast. A perfect end to a perfect day! -Nikkie

Shifting, Lifting And Sorting

Guest Entry Today was spent again at Michael’s nana’s unit where more stuff was transported to various places with careful planning and ensuring we could get the maximum amount of stuff in Jeremy’s ute each trip we made. We caught the train this time to allow us a bit of a lie-in. The trains appear to be reliable as they run on schedule, but they reminded me of the trains in the film Batman Begins – very plain and indifferent. This seems weird but compared to those in Britain, which all belong to private companies and look different depending on the company you travel with, the Queensland trains are quite different. The train ride was enlightening - we talked about the differences in the education systems in England and Australia and although I think the kids probably learn more in Australia, maybe for the simple reason they have more respect, the systems are state controlled which I think is a strange way to organise education for the simple fact that if a child moves house from Queensland to the Northern territory they may be in a different year at school. Anyway, we visited Jeremy’s new house on the way to Helen’s place and it really shocked me how cheap houses are here. He is paying roughly the same amount as Jade and I per week and is getting a house almost three times the size! I’m seriously jealous! We dropped some furniture off at Jeremy’s place and continued to Helen’s flat where the rest got dropped off. Michael returned to his nana’s where he picked up the car and came home. We went to Simon’s local (The Regatta) for dinner. It was a trendy bar with a restaurant attached to the side of it, which made it huge. Dinner was lovely, again proof that either the Aussies (like every other nation) can make better food than the British, or that it’s just cheaper so people can afford to eat at nicer restaurants. I think it’s the former! We went back to Simon’s house to watch ‘The Ladykillers’ where I fell asleep and Michael carted me home. -Nikkie

Starbucks

Guest Entry Today was the first chance Michael and I had got to spend some time together since we arrived. We wandered into the city and immediately headed for the local Starbucks in the Queens Plaza (a newly build shipping mall containing Max Mara and Tiffany’s). It was nice to just sit and not have to worry about having to get home for anything and reminded me of the beginning of last semester at uni where we would go to Nottingham Starbucks on a Saturday morning and sit for hours just chatting. We met up with Simon later that morning and he took us to his work. He works in a really modern environment and I spent the morning learning about the complications of manufacturing computers. It was quite an experience for me to see massive machines producing tiny motherboards for computers. Michael and Simon spent a while fixing Ed’s computer and I went through Simons collection of 20,000 downloaded songs for any I wanted copying. I now posses almost double the amount of songs I had yesterday! -Nikkie

West End

Guest Entry I took myself into West End today while Michael and Helen were at work. Although some of the shops were good (it has a lot of charity shops) the atmosphere was slightly disconcerting. I now know that it is a major place for tramps to congregate and is seen as one of the aboriginal living areas of Brisbane which may explain all the funny looks all the Caucasians were getting! I bought the sixth Harry Potter book (Harry Potter and the half-blood prince) which I read for the remaining part of the day. I have been waiting, just like many others, for the next book to come out and it, like the prior ones, was fantastic so much so that I couldn’t put it down! I met Michael coming home from work and we went to see the Southbank Arts and Craft market. It was really cute, reminding me of French markets. The sun was setting and the market was full of people, which gave it a really lively atmosphere. We stopped off for a drink and then walked home. Michael went to bed at 6pm as he was feeling ill and tired. Hopefully he will feel better in the morning. -Nikkie

Boutiques In Paddington

Guest Entry Felt really awake for the first time this whole holiday, think I’m finally relaxed and over the jet lag! Got up and started work on my dissertation which was something I was determined to do while over here, the model student that I am (cough, cough)! I sunbathed for a bit, to enable me to bring the suntan back as proof of an awesome holiday! Kristy took me to an area of Brisbane called Paddington which is a student housing village but contains some boutiques and charity shops in close proximity – my idea of heaven! We wandered the shops for a while and I picked up a leather handbag for $2 from a charity shop which was located in an old village hall. It was most definitely the best second hand shop I had ever been into as it was in a beautifully old wooden building, all the clothes were organised so looked like an ordinary high street shop and it was the largest charity shop I’d ever been into. We stopped for a coffee in one of the places voted as having the best coffee in the city. It was a tiny little coffee house but the coffee was the best I’ve tasted at the same time as being fairly reasonably priced. That evening the family got together for a Chinese meal. It was lovely to have a chance to just chat over dinner. Although I have met Jeremy and Ed before it was only briefly on a night out in Nottingham in January 2005 when I was slightly preoccupied with ‘wooing’ Michael! The food was lovely and had a really great time with them all. -Nikkie

Cruising

Guest Entry Simon and Kristy both had the day off today so they took me driving around Brisbane. We covered over 200km and I saw so many things. They took me to both Michael’s schools (Bald Hills and St Paul’s), two of his old houses (Bald Hills and Cashmere), the places Simon and Michael used to play at as kids, Mount Nebo, Mount Cootha and Somerset dam. We stopped for a really nice lunch in a cute café at the top of Mount Cootha and then drove back through the city to their house. In the evening, we went for dinner with Simon’s dad and his partner, his sister and her little boy. The restaurant was called café Primavera and was set on the side of the road about 30 minutes out of the city. It was a classy place with good wine and yummy food. Conversation centred mainly around Simon and Michael as kids, which gave me a good impression as to what little boys get up to; throwing rocks at the neighbours, setting things on fire and building holes in unused quarries just to name a few! -Nikkie

A Seafood Experience

Guest Entry Helen took the day off work today to show me around. She drove me up to Redcliffe, another Brisbane suburb, but stopped at Chermside shopping centre (the popular hang out on a hot summers day) for a coffee. The shopping centre is huge for outside a city centre. Helen bought me lunch in a seafood restaurant called Morgans, which was situated right over the sea front. I had a Barracuda in breadcrumbs with a luscious salad, some chips and a glass of white wine. It was gorgeous. We headed home around 2pm and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. Another great day. -Nikkie

The Joys Of Drainpipe Jeans

Guest Entry Today, Monday, was the first day I was alone all day. Michael had to attend the first Microsoft course and Helen was at work. I took myself into Brisbane at 8am and in 4 hours I managed to find a pair of beautiful drainpipe jeans, which I have been wanting for ages. I love this place even more! I also spotted a pair of grey slouch boots for $190 (approximately £70) and bought a pair of smart summer suit trousers and a pair of smart shorts/three quarter length trousers with a turn up. In total I have spent around $200 on clothes, which equates to about £80. Again, this place is amazing. Since being here I have come to the conclusion that I would love to live here one day. Out of all the places I have been; France, Holland, Spain, Greece, Malta, America, Canada, Cuba and Turkey to name a few, Brisbane has definitely made an impression on me. I think it’s got something to do with the modern style, the lifestyle, the weather and the relaxed atmosphere created from outdoor living. The winter months are certainly nice and warm and although I have never experienced the oppressive heat that makes up the summer, the Australians’ seem fairly prepared to cope with it – air conditioning units everywhere and houses built on stilts to give good air circulation. One of the huge bonuses is the cost of living. Although this is relative to the average wage, if you saved in Britain for 5 years and immigrated to Australia you would immediately be put into the wealthy bracket. -Nikkie

Moving House

Guest Entry Today we went to visit Michael’s nana who had just moved from a bungalow to the nursing home due to a fall and consequent conclusions that she was unsafe to remain alone in a house. It was interesting to see what a nursing home looked like here in the land of excess space but each room is no bigger than those back in the U.K but there is a large block of land adjoined to it. I also met Michael’s auntie Marg and Uncle Eddie who are John’s parents. Everyone, again without fail, was so welcoming to me. The day’s events consisted of clearing out the bungalow and sorting through Michael’s boxed stuff. For me, it was great to see a fraction of each part of Michael’s life; cutie photos of him growing up and other bits and pieces, but I think he found it quite hard as his life in Australia ended up consisting of three medium sized boxes. Some stuff, mainly his birth certificate, school records and photos, he will bring back to England but a lot of it got thrown out as there was no longer a place to store it all. Jeremy took a massive cactus type plant back from the bungalow to his house in the ute but it was a serious task getting it there in the first place! Michael, Ed, Jeremy and I heaved it around the back getting spiked all over. It must have been an amusing sight though! Michael took me to see his old house in Sandgate, a large house set back from the road. It, or so I’ve heard, had a large swimming pool in the back garden which I get the impression is pretty standard in a house in Australia!! It is located about 10 minutes walk from the sea, which to me instantly makes it worth so much more. Maybe that’s just because I’ve never lived near the sea. He took me to Shawncliffe, which is a cute little village next to Sandgate. I say a village but both Sandgate and Shawncliffe are more like suburbs because they are directly next to each other, there is no long winding country road separating them like you would always see in Britain. Again, that’s probably because the suburbs are not nearly as old as the villages in Britain which began being small dwellings of certain clans of people before they became large enough to be called villages. Shawncliffe was very much like a British coastal village with the exception of the gloriously blue colour of the sea and the bright weather! The only thing that concerned me was the shark nets, or the lack of them on one side of the pier but their presence on the other side. The presence of vicious animals in Australia has put me off visiting it for as long as I can remember. So the obvious presence of sharks scared me and I was even reluctant to walk along the pier past those nets. Of course I realise that the pier isn’t going to collapse and that it’s as impossibility that a shark would clamber out of the sea onto the pier and eat me alive. But it was still scary! – no comments please, only a foreigner would understand! On our return to West End we promptly went to bed, exhausted from the day’s events. I proceeded to have nightmares about shark attacks! -Nikkie

New Farm Park And A Few Drinks Later

Guest Entry We’ve been here four days and the jet lag has finally ended. We got up incredibly early – 6.30am – to go to the Gunshop café with Helen for some breakfast. The food was divine and has a reputation as the best breakfast in the city. As with so many popular cafés here, this place was tiny (enough for about 50 people) and had people queuing to get in by 7.30am! I had French toast with strawberries and organic yogurt and a smoothie of orange, mango and banana, Michael had French toast with bacon and maple syrup, which sounded awful but tasted exquisite and Helen had salmon, scrambled eggs and toast, which was also fabulous. Michael had organised a BBQ in New Farm Park for the afternoon to catch up with all his friends. I was slightly unsure how a BBQ was going to be possible in the middle of a park, I thought maybe we would go and buy a couple of throw away BBQs but on the assurance of Michael that we wouldn’t be needing them I followed and soon found out – free electric BBQ’s strategically placed around the park. What a fantastic idea. You simply press a button and the BBQ heats up perfectly sufficiently for cooking food on it. Genius! On the eventual arrival of Michael’s friends we sat around drinking ice cold beer (kept cool in huge cool boxes, or Eskys). After the food and beer was gone, a game of touch rugby took off. The rules are pretty much the same as in England but the Aussies have an alternative called AFL. The tragedy of AFL is another story (sorry guys!) but simply this game is like a sane version of rugby without the violence. The rules are similar in that you have two teams but AFL contains 18 players in one team. They have to get the ball (slightly smaller than a rugby ball) to the other side of the pitch through kicking it, running with it and passing it (all of which can be done forwards) before kicking the ball through the goal (again which looks like a set of rugby posts and the goals are much like a rugby conversion). I just don’t understand what 18 players on a team could possibly be doing to warrant them all begin on the pitch at once! Maybe that’s just because I’m English! It was great fun to have a kick around with a ball again, something I haven’t done in so long. After a quick visit to Coffee Club for a snack we all went home for a power nap before heading out into town. Our night out was great. Eventually. I had to be driven back home to collect my passport, as the bouncers would not accept my driver’s licence. We ended up in a club called Birdie Num Nums (a bizarre name for a club) and had a great dance till around 2am when we headed home. The nightlife definitely lived up to Michael’s description of it; the partying till 5am, the dance music all night long and the scale of the places. Each bar/pub we visited were huge and most of them had a club associated with them, which had at least two different levels to them. -Nikkie

A Brisbane Virgin

Guest Entry Michael and Simon took me on a walking tour of Brisbane after a lazy morning recovering from the night before. It was a beautiful winter’s day and I burned my stomach in 10 minutes of sitting on the veranda – this is the life! Brisbane is phenomenal, truly beautiful. Everything is clean, shiny and brand new. We went through Queens Street Mall, which is not a shopping centre in English terms as it is outside! The whole city is set out so well, what with the incorporation of trees and new shiny buildings everywhere along with a man-made beach in Southbank, a good transport system (or so it seems) including a city cat, botanical gardens and a great night life. It seems like a great place to live as a young adult. As far as I can see this city has everything, and so much more, to offer young people. Sure, like any city it’s more expensive to live in but there is so much to do here. Out of the many places I’ve travelled to I think Hilversum (Holland), Vancover and Brisbane are the three I love the most. We walked past some new sky scrapers which had been transformed into apartment blocks, each with a balcony and a sensational view of the river. Alongside it was a jogging route, grass spacious enough to be classed as a park (in the centre of the city!), bars and clubs a few streets away and the fantastic weather to round it all off. -Nikkie

A Capital City? Hardly. – No Offence!

Guest Entry Michael’s working visa came through ok which is a relief. We flew out at 6am and travelled two hours on a plane to arrive at the capital city of Australia. I could fly to Amsterdam and back in that time! The scale of things here is just unreal. Canberra is a nice town. Just nice. It’s not a true capital city in the same way London is though. It was made the capital because Melbourne and Sydney fought over who would become capital of Australia and couldn’t decide. So rather than have a civil war over it, they settled on a place smack bang in the centre of the two. First impressions are that is incredibly quiet for a capital city, everything is more spacious and with less people in it the atmosphere is fairly relaxed. The women are so much taller than in Britain (mental note: stock up on trousers!) and everywhere you look the buildings are modern and clean. I guess that’s because the country is so much younger than Britain. The first European whose claim to having sighted and landed on Australia can be substantiated was a sea captain named Willem Janszoon (Jansz) in the ‘Duyfken’ (little dove). Janszoon set sail under the command of the Dutch East India Company to explore the south coast of New Guinea. We sat on sofas in the middle of the main shopping centre virtually all day. I blame the jet lag. But sofas randomly in a shopping centre? Very bizarre but rather classy. Overall, Canberra was a bit of a disappointment. Most Australians’ I have spoken too before and after the trip agree but I guess it serves its job as housing the federal government but it’s certainly not a real capital city compared to any I’ve ever been to. Our returning flights have changed as Michael’s course bookings got altered. The woman he was dealing with from the Microsoft course went off on annual leave without finishing booking him into the second one so we are now staying a whole extra week! This means we can have a week up the coast! Went to Simon and Kristy’s place for a quiet night after flying back into Brisbane at 6pm. So much for the quiet night. Take away seemed to energise us and once again, the beers came out, followed by wine, vodka and whiskey. Nine hours and way too many drinks later we finally got a taxi home and clambered into bed. -Nikkie

Sicky Pants

Guest Entry Michael was so sick today from the jet lag. I hardly suffered but we stayed in today because he was so ill. Hopefully he will be ok for tomorrow as we have to board another plane to Canberra. Simon, Kristy and Al came over for a while so they could all catch up on each others gossip. -Nikkie

The Land Down Under…

Guest Entry We arrived in Brisbane at 7pm local time on Tuesday night. After picking up some duty free and finally getting through passport control, customs and baggage reclaim we were met by Michael’s mum, brothers and best friend Simon. It was all rather overwhelming but everyone was so lovely and I felt at ease almost immediately. 20 minutes later we arrived at Helen’s ‘unit’ (apartment) and the Aussie lingo already started to baffle me! A quiet night in with everyone was just what we needed and we livened up after the beers began to flow in true Aussie style. The let lag had set in but we stayed awake till an appropriate bed time to try and reduce its grasp on us. As I slept most of the way on the last leg of the journey I didn’t suffer to badly but Michael…oh dear. -Nikkie

Leaving On A Jet Plane

Guest Entry Starbucks was the first place to be visited in Manchester airport as we both needed the caffeine fix – 5am is an early start even when you are off on an adventure! Fourteen hours later we arrived in Singapore airport. It’s now about 4am Greenwich Mean Time and I’m shattered, jet lagged like never before and have totally lot track of the current time or date we’ve travelled through so many time zones! One coffee and a shower later the batteries are recharged, maybe not to full but enough to cope with another 8 hour flight to Brisbane International Airport. -Nikkie

And The Packing Continues!

Guest Entry So I’m finally all packed and a bit more organised now after having three days to try and cut it down. I’m finally in Liverpool after Michael and I drove up in my car. It was a complicated trip up though, only took two and a half hours but I’m not sure I would find my way again, think I’ll stick to the trains in future. We are off to Geoff and Linda’s now for dinner and to pick up a suitcase large enough for Michael to bring all his stuff back from his nana’s flat. Geoff and Linda really are fantastic people; Michael’s lucky to have found such great work friends in such a short space of time. I am so excited and slightly apprehensive about meeting so many new people and remembering their names. It will be a real adventure though so I can’t wait. I’ve tried to imagine what Australia is actually like and other than watching neighbours and seeing films set in Australia I don’t have a clear picture in my head. Obviously the weather will be totally out of this world but it is winter over there at get moment so the average temperature according to Michael’s mum is around 22 degrees. I definitely think the weather will change the lifestyle though; there will be much more outdoor living which I could definitely get used to. I’m excited about the fashion differences too, but that always gets me excited no matter where I travel. The cost of living is apparently a lot cheaper, so I should get more stuff for less money! Woohoo. -Nikkie

Counting Down!

Friends - Fun - Travel Well I’m on the train down to Nottingham… again! Lately it seems like the only time I get to write entries is when I’m on the train. Train travel provides you with a kind of peaceful solitude that allows one time for reflection and contemplation. I’ve got a lot to reflect upon, and so much more to come that I need to contemplate. Three more sleeps to go before I am on my way home. It’s so exciting. I really can’t wait. I’ve finished work for the week. Got all my tasks done, and now I’m free! I’m going down to Nottingham to meet up with Nikkie, go out on the town, convince her to leave some shoes and handbags behind, and then we are going to pack up her car and drive up to Liverpool tomorrow. Things have gone so fast recently. Everything has come at once, and now I am rushed to finalise everything before I go away. I went to my cousins last night, had a few drinks and a nice dinner and talked about how jammy I am. I was also laden down with presents to bring back with me. Between all of Nikkie’s stuff and my cousin’s presents I barely have any room for anything of my own. I want to have lots of left over space too, because I plan on brining as much stuff as possible back over with me. I am coming home this trip, but I don’t know whether it is my home anymore. There is so little of me left there now, and there will be even less soon. I’ve started accumulating stuff, but it’s not in Brisbane, it’s in my flat in Liverpool. I’ve got furniture, plate sets and towel sets and bed linen. I’ve started painting the place, making it exactly how I (or rather we, as Nikkie has a big say in it) want it. It’s starting to feel like my very own place now; I’ve put my touch onto it. I’m becoming an adult, all grown up and responsible. I own bed linen! I mean come on! I’m earning a living, going on a business trip, organising my finances. It’s scary and yet exciting at the same time. Anyway enough rambling. This will probably be the last entry I post before I am over in Aus! Man I need to start getting organised. I haven’t even thought about packing yet!

And The Packing Begins

Guest Entry How am I ever going to fit all my stuff into one tiny suitcase?! Ok so it’s not so tiny after all but I have a lot of things to bring, especially now with Michael having lots of stuff to bring back from Brisbane. Well, I can have complete intensions to pack lightly but it’s so never going to happen! Only three more sleeps to go and I’m off to the other side of the world. I’m so excited, and I never had the desire to visit Australia, although I think that’s because everyone from the U.K. wants to travel the east coast and I hate following the crowd. Well crowd, here I come! -Nikkie

I'm Alright

Friends - General I was shocked by the terror attacks that occured today in London. I was safe up in Liverpool away from all the danger. Thanks to everyone who texted/rang/emailed me to make sure I was alright. I really appreciate the thought.

Coming Home

Friends - Personal - Travel - Work I started this blog more than two years ago. Boy I’ve come a long, long way since then. So I’ve been really busy these last couple of weeks. That’s not unusual. A lot has been happening at work. That’s not unusual either. There are some big changes in the works though, which has led to something unusual. So, to cut to the chase, and to let those of you know whom I haven’t contacted already, I’m flying back to Australia on July the 12th. I’m coming home. Though I don’t really know whether it is my home anymore. I’m not coming back to stay, that’s for sure. I’ve got a three week trip booked, and it’s predominately a business trip, the emphasis behind it coming from work rather than my desire to come back for a visit. I had originally not planned on coming back for a visit until Christmas time, but things have been steamrolling ahead at work, and that’s necessitated my early return. To explain in more detail; I’ve been promoted! I’ve been given a great opportunity, a great new job focus, and when my boss offered it to me I jumped at it. I can’t quite do what is being asked of me yet, so I’ve got to do some training first. Guess what, the training I need to do can be done in Brisbane! And it’s a damn sight cheaper than doing it in London as well! So I’m flying home on the company dime, to do two weeks of intensive training on the company dime, all while earning the company dime as if I were working as usual, and at the end of it I fly back to the UK to a new, better, job earning even more of the company dime than before! As Nikkie says, I am a jammy bastard ^_^ Speaking of Nikkie, she is coming with me! She has one more week of placement and then she starts summer holidays. I’ve explained to her that I’ll be working most of the time when I’m back home, that for me this isn’t a holiday as such, it’s part of my job, but she wouldn’t be talked out of coming. Not that I wanted to talk her out of coming. I can’t wait to introduce her to my mum, and all my friends, and show her where I grew up. I’m so totally in love with this girl that I want her to know everything about me, to meet everyone that is important to me, to share in these experiences with me. She is so excited !! ^_^ Things are going really well for me here. I’m in a fantastic job, I have a great flat, I’m going out with the most beautiful girl. I’m fit and well and happy and loving it all. I don’t think my friend will recognise me when I get home. Partly because Nikkie has had me out running with her, and physically I am much trimmer and more toned than before, but also I think my personality is a great deal different to how it was two years ago. It’s hard to describe, but I think it has to do mostly with my outlook on life, or rather more importantly, my outlook on myself. Don’t worry, I wont get all philosophical here, I just think that some of my friend will be shocked at the change in me. I can’t even begin to describe how excited I am to be coming home. This time next week will be my last sleep in the UK before I leave. There is so much to do before then, so much to organise, to work out, to plan for. Right now I don’t care about any of that, I’m just too excited! !!!!!! Written while listening to Alex Lloyd - Coming Home