Pumpkin Donuts and Country Music

Its just past 8pm at night, and i'm sitting in my little Butlins accomodation waiting for work in a couple hours. Its a fairly chilly night, and smells a bit like fall outside.. I've been thinking about home, and how I missed Thanksgiving, and will be missing mom and dads birthdays this month. It makes me sad, knowing I won't be driving around in my jeep watching the beautiful leaves change colour, listening to country music and having all of the october Tim Hortons goodies. There will be no trick or treating, decorating the house with all of moms halloween stuff or bobbing for apples. No hot tub or bonfire nights with friends. No home made apple fritters, or mom dressing up as Little Red Riding Hood. For some reason, this time of year just makes me think about how much has changed in my life in less than a year. I can't believe I've made it all the way here by myself and held one of the coolest jobs in all of England, a Redcoat. In less than a year, i've became a DJ for adult weekends, and family venues as well, i've met thousands of families and help create family memories. I've been to London countless times, seen a castle or two and explored the local areas. But whats next? Well with November just around the corner, our contracts are nearing the end. November is all adult weekends and only about 7 Reds are kept on to work them, as we aren't needed as much. The work we do over adult weekends are main gate, check in, selling VIP wristbands, Bingo, Karoke, working doors of headphone party, and lastly, my favorite, DJing. I really hope I get kept on over November so I can continue DJing as i've DJd almost every night of every adult break since summer finished. If i'm not kept on, im not 100% sure what I will do, as I don't really have the option to go home. We are aloud to live on site for free, so I'll maybe just travel a bit. Fingers crossed they keep me though.

 

I'm always doing new things at work, the past couple of weeks there have been some adult weekends and not overly busy family midweeks. I had halloween training and we were taught how to make slime, mine was purple, very cool. We made little spell books to make with the kids, and lastly, were somewhat taught how to carve pumpkins. This was weird for me, because i've been carving pumpkins for as long as I can remember, every year with my family. Halloween just isn't as big over here as it is in Canada. Halloween is one of my favorite times of the year.. haunted houses, horror movies, bobbing for apples, carving pumpkins, trick or treating, dressing up.. its magical. I can't wait to get closer to the time and see all of the kids really get into the spirit! Last night I DJ'd center stage all by myself which went a lot better then i thought it would, so i'm really proud of myself. Center Stage is our biggest venue at Butlins and has all of our big shows, like the Michael Jackson tributes, Glee, Big Red Beach Party, Story of Soul, Lazytown and tons of other stuff. Definitely a really cool opportunity to DJ such an important venue on resort. I also DJd the headphone party on this past adult break with Bird, it was a really good time, and we went out after. It was a really good night DJing and a quality night out with the team! This Friday we have another team building day and we are all going to Thorpe park, its an amusement park and for anyone thats seen the show the inbetweeners its on that. I hope to god it doesn't rain as thats all that happens in England. Apparently itll be cold that day but it shouldn't rain.. fingers crossed.

Matt and I have booked off some time in November to go on holiday but its the biggest pain in the ass to actually book one and match up flights and everything. Hopefully by the end of the week we will have something, or we might just book one last minute. In January, we will both be coming back home for two weeks. I can't wait for him to meet everyone, see the Falls and get to know where i'm from. He makes me so happy, and it'll just be the icing on the cake for him to come home. It will be strange being away from home for my birthday and christmas, but I will be with Matt, which will make it a bit easier. Today i'm missing home a bit. It was hard being away for Thanksgiving as we always have the family get together in October for that and all the birthdays. I've missed so many country concerts, especially the ones that I always go to with my Dad. Listening to country here, I just get hassled and the room mates think its crap. I just don't care though, I love it, and it reminds me of home. I'm trying to turn Matt into a country boy, slowly but surely, itll happen! Living here is the coolest thing, to think at 18, i've moved away from home, and not once called asking for money. I feel like i've grown up so much over the past couple of months. Although most of my friends back home are in University and college, I feel like i'm having more of a true life experience. So while everyone back home is studying for midterms coming up shortly, I'll just be in Bognor DJing and running around a dancefloor with kids, watching a Michael Jackson tribute. I'm so blessed and lucky to be living the life I live. Although I missed Thanksgiving this year, I am so thankful for my loving family, amazing friends both canadian and british, the best boyfriend anyone could ask for, the most unique life experience job, and a healthy, happy state of mind. As much as I miss my jeep, Tim Hortons, family, country music and believe it or not, Port Colborne.. I know that this is one of the best experiences i'm going to have in my life, and when it comes to an end, ill just be wishing to come back. I'm living the dream, and just waiting for someone to pinch me and wake me up.. until then, I'll just be on this side of the pond...

Your country girl,
Maple xo

End of Peak!

Alrighty, I think I have kept everyone back home waiting long enough. What have I been up to for the past couple months? Well to start off from where I left off on my last blog, It was Josh's birthday. For his birthday we all got a little mini bus to take us to another city near by. There was quite a few of the entertainment team together, as well as some old redcoats for last year I think. It was really cool meeting some of the other team and talking about their experiences and what is different now. When we got to Portsmouth, we went straight to the casino. Keeping in mind this was my first ever legal casino experience, I was really excited. We were in there for an hour or so probably and I was loving the roulette table, eventually moving onto Black Jack, as those are pretty much the only games I fully knew how to play. I walked away up 130 pounds. It was fantastic! Everyone else lost, or was only up about 20 quid. I was quite proud of myself. Then we headed to a club called Tiger Tiger, I started to get a bit of a headache, only had a couple drinks. This club was two floors and had tons of different rooms with different themes. One of the rooms was oldschool dance music, with a light up dancefloor, another room was all uptodate club RnB, the club itself was actually pretty cool. I believe it was around two in the morning that we all gathered up and headed to get a kebab. This is pretty standard on a night out. While waiting in line, Ellen kept telling everyone else that I was "just jet legged"... i've been in England for months now.. I'm no longer jet legged. It was pretty funny. We all got our food, then got back on the bus and made our way back to the bubble. It was a really good night out, haven't had a night like that in a while!

The adult weekend was Disco Inferno, and I DJd the headphone party. It was amazing!! That was my first adult break DJing, and it was absolutely unreal. That same weekend was a team building weekend. Everyone went to the park just outside of the resort and we had a bit of a sports day, as well as a picnic, it was a really good, chilled out day to get to know the team better, and not worry about work. With just a few weeks left before going into peak, which is the six weeks of summer that the kids are out of school and Butlins is at its busiest time, I went to Kent to meet Matts family. I went from the Monday to the Friday, and was quite nervous to go and meet them. To me it felt like quite a big step, but was excited. When we got there, I met his step dad first, who was really friendly, then went back to his beautiful house to meet his mom and brothers. And of course, Benson and Chica, his dogs. Everyone was really nice and welcoming, and his house was very 'homie'. It was a really good week away from the bubble and the first time i've felt at home since i've been in England. We went out for a couple meals, spent the day at Dover Castle, and then a day out shopping as well. Dover Castle is ontop of a huge hill over looking the water,with gorgeous views from the castle and a very interesting history behind the castle walls. We took quite a few pictures whilst walking the castle grounds too. I bought the best strawberry wine i've ever had... Since then i've been trying to find something close to it, so if anyone knows of any good strawberry wine, let me know!! We took the train back to the bubble and then it was time for peak to start.

Peak started on July 19th, and our work schedule was sort of a 'Week A & B'.. Most of my summer consisted of Teen activities, cheerleading for wrestling, teaching Fencing, assisting animal adventures, bingo and my favourite, DJing. Theres been no adult weekends for me to DJ, but I've been DJing the late night venues about three to four times a week, which has been really cool. I've expanded my genres and music knowledge tons! I've still not played any country, other than 5,6,7,8 by Steps and Cotten Eyed Joe, as thats the most i'm aloud.. I guess ill have to wait til I ever get a chance to DJ in Canada for some country music! During Cheerleading, there have been some Canadians that have come over to do wrestling, its nice to be able to speak to someone that sounds the same as me, and talk about places that we've both been. I do love a good old canadian accent. Theres been some really nice americans here as well... Although everyone thinks I hate americans, I don't. I have no issues with Americans, I'm just not one. I'm proud to be Canadian, so please refrain from asking me what state i'm from or calling me a Yank. To be fair, most team on resort know that I'm Canadian as my nickname is Canada and Maple. Maple is mainly just a Matt thing, majority of others just call me Canada. Including guests and children. Chloe my old room mate has moved back in, and likes calling me a Yank all the time. Not to worry, as she is from Liverpool, I even the score by calling her a Manc (a person from Manchester), she finds that offensive, I think its hilarious. What isn't funny, is when we are out together and Matt calls us the Manc and the Yank... Not cute! I can teach up to 120 kids fencing every week, as there are one club Red (9-12) session on a weekend, and a midweek, and one VIP (13-17) on a weekend and a midweek. Fencing is more fun than you'd think, if you ever get the opportunity to learn, take it! Bingo has made me more confident on a microphone. Since the last time we spoke, I had just done Bingo for the first time, and I was sworn at by a group of old women on a hen party. Things have improved! I've not been cursed at, and everyone has been really nice, my accent is generally liked by most guests I think, and i've had a lot of feedback. I also do the introductions on the mic for animal adventures and kids like hearing a different voice. As i've been improving, I was put in to DJ a family venue. That was very challenging for me, and it didn't go off very well the first time. My big hearted team had a bit of a break in the value chain, and weren't very supportive, making my night even more challenging and stressful, however, my redcoat team was very supportive and quite a few came in and made sure I was okay, as well as assissting the show and venue. I've done a family venue twice now, and knowing where I needed to improve, made my second time so much better! It went off with only a few technical issues, completely out of my control, and the rest of the night was really good. Good music, good shows, good redcoats, made for a good evening. That venue isn't open when we are out of peak, so I can't imagine myself doing family venues for a while now anyways! Phew. Near the end of peak, my parents came over to see me for the week! It was really nice, as I hadn't seen them in quite a few months, and was getting caught up in all the bubble drama, as well as being quite negative. Seeing them kind of grounded me again, and reminded me why i'm hear and what my goals are. Since they've going home, i've turned things around, I'm feeling more positive then ever, and looking forward to new challenges coming my way. While they were down, we went to Arundel castle, no surprise there as my dad loves going to castles. Went out for a couple meals, saw the 'Big Red Beach Party' Redcoat show of 2012, and did a couple other things. They met Matt which I know he was nervous about, but it went really well. They loved him, and he ended up spending quite a bit of time with them while I was at work. They got to see me DJ Jaks at night which was really cool. I think I needed to see them as I was somewhat homesick, but I just needed a hug and a bit of advice.. more importantly a kick in the ass to remind me why i'm here. They've gone home now, and I will hopefully see them again in January when I go back to Canada. Fingers crossed, thats the plan. Then I'm hoping to come back to England for another year, as my visa will run out February 2014.

 

The past six weeks have been busy with a full resort of over 5000 people every week. It had its ups and downs, challenges and tons of new experiences. I've met so many people of all ages, become quite close with some people on my team and learned a lot about myself. I've eased up on my drinking aswell, believe it or not!! My first few months were quite the alcoholic binge, but don't get me wrong, had the time of my life.. Now since being with Matt, i've managed to save up a bit of money to go on holiday with at the end of the year hopefully. Gemma, the Red that I was really close with at the beginning, as moved on to a new experience in her life, and was quite sad to see her go. Its crazy how in such a small amount of time you become so close to the people around you, people that just a few months ago would have been complete strangers, now some I know when I come back to England in the years to come, I'll meet up with, and it'll be like I never left. After leaving home, i've drifted massively with most of my friends, and I'm not all that sad about it. As you grow up and move on to new experiences, you lose really close friends, but you gain new ones, and over a good amount of time, you'll have a small handful of really close friends that no matter what, will be there for you. I've got an amazing and supportive family, a hilarious group of good friends back home, as well as a couple for life that i'm working with right now. Not to forget Matt, who has been there for my good and bad days, cheering me up no matter what for the past 5 months. I'm very lucky to be able to be in another country living out my dreams. So to everyone back home, I'm happy, healthy, and am continously looking forward to my newest adventure. I promise to stay ontop of my blogs more often, as there was quite a big gap between this and the last! Ill speak to you sooner rather than later...

Lots of love,
Maple xo

Leicester Square

This past adult weekend I started my shift on Gold Reception. This is for returning guests or upgraded ones i'm pretty sure. It has never been busy when i've worked here before but it was myself, another red and someone from guest services. So the three of us just spent the two hours checking people into their accoms and talking about the bubble, boyfriends, the usual stuff. It started raining a bit, and I had to work main gate. I love working main gate because of the team there. Its resort safety and Reds on check in days and its a lot of fun. Apart from the fact that bus loads of 30 already drunk men are hitting on you and making disgusting actions through the window. Its probably my favorite detail on adult breaks. Later that night I worked the silent disco, headphone party. Its usually lots of fun but by the end of it I was just tired and a bit fed up. The people on resort are all piss drunk by about 10pm, and the disco starts shortly after. I don't think anyone in there is ever sober actually, except for the team working. When I walked through to pick up extra headphones, one of the guys grabbed my butt. I turned around and told him to not touch me. I was clearly not kidding and he clearly didn't care. Once I turned around to walk away, he grabbed me again. This time I went straight to the doors where the contractors work. The contractors are a ton of resort safety that are brought in just for the adult breaks as we don't have a big enough team. He told me that he had to warn the guy first and that he couldn't just kick him out. I found that frustrating because I don't think its right for men to come onto resort and harass team just because they are drunk. But that is the nature of these weekends sometimes.
Saturday I worked Bingo. Bingo in England is different from Canada though. The bingo cards here are just numbers and they play for full house (all the numbers) not lines or squares like back home. I have yet to be on a microphone since being here as i'm somewhat nervous about my accent and how it will be taken. I get called American constantly and have to repeat myself at times. I went on the mic during Bingo and a table of about 20 women were just really rude. For no reason, they weren't drunk, and didn't need to be, but were anyways. Its bad enough when the men hit on and harass you, but its just plain annoying when the women are rude too. I just smiled anyways and let it go, as I can't really do much else. I worked this detail with Tiffany which was good, and then we both did karoke later that night. This was a first as well. Everyone that sang was drunk and it was pretty funny. The venue it was in wasn't busy at all, but that's probably because the Chelsea football game was on, and Brits love football like fat kids love cake. It was a good time and finished early as well which was nice. There was a huge hen party and three of the woman were dressed up in the outfits at the very end of Mamma Mia, during the credits. They sang super trouper and danced the routine as well. Anytime I hear Abba it instantly reminds me of Dad. He would have loved it! Once it finished, I went out for a few drinks with the team and ended up in Burger King at the end of it, clear signs of a good night.
Sunday and Monday I had off with Matt. So we went to London. We didn't really have any set plans of what we wanted to do, just time out of the bubble together. He worked midnight until eight in the morning, had a quick nap, and then we went to the train station. We got to london around four or five o clock and then walked around until we found a hotel. We stayed at the Premier Inn which are apparently everywhere in England, British version of Best Western. It had only been open six days and was in the center of Leicester Square. It was perfect. The room was purple and white and everything was fresh and clean. The location couldn't have been any better, one tube stop away from covent gardens, right next to the cinema and tons of restaurants. We dropped our bag off at the hotel, then headed off to walk around a bit. We had dinner at Bella Italia and it was delicious. Little garlic breads, then spicy shrimp pasta. With, of course, wine. It was perfect. After a bit more walking around, and through covent garden where there was a man playing his guitar on a cobble stone road with a crowd gathered. It couldn't have been any better. We ended the night watching American Pie the Reunion which was hilarious! Then went back to the hotel after a long day. The next morning we did a bit of shopping, walked all over the place, past Buckingham Palace and stopped in St. James Park for a bit. I'm from a small town in Canada but I love the big city lifestyle, not to forget that I'm a country girl too though. Matt doesn't enjoy being in downtown London for long periods of time, so we went to the park so he could relax a bit, as the whole weekend had been mainly about me, he deserved some time too. When we were walking around, we found this store that sold only Australian, New Zealand and Canadian things! It was amazing. It had fruit loops; maple syrup; tootsie rolls; quaker oats oatmeal; french vanilla timmies; so many things! Matt got me a box of Dad's Cookies, and got himself a tootsie roll as I wouldn't share with him the last one that I had sent to me from Canada. Just a few spots over from the store, was a pub called the Maple Leaf. Unfortunately it was under construction, im hoping to have Canada Day off though, so I can go back for it! How cool would that be?! In this same block was T.G.I.Fridays. Matt has never been so thats where we went for lunch. I had too massive Bahama Mama's, they were unbelievable, and a chicken salad which was delicious. Matt ordered a burger because it "challenged" him. The menu read something along the lines of "Can you handle it?" and of course he felt the need to then be manly and accept. Regardless, I think he enjoyed it. After this we did a bit more wandering, then made our way to Victoria Station to head home. I fell asleep on the train back, and had an early night once home in the bubble. It was an absolutely amazing weekend and couldn't have gone any better than it did. After being so home sick, and not feeling well, Matt went above and beyond to make me feel better. I honestly feel like the luckiest girl in the world. So happy to have him.
On another good note, I am DJing for the first time tomorrow night in Hotshots, as well as the following night. Then I have Friday off where I'm going to take a party bus to a casino and then a club in another town for one of the Reds birthdays. Followed by an adult weekend of DJing Jaks on Saturday and Sunday with my best girl, Gemma. Things are looking up again. Good days and bad days but overall loving it!

Rough Week, Fresh Start

Another adult weekend has passed, and being a Red, I didn't have to work too much. I was on main gate for a few hours to check the guests in, and then I had the night off. Saturday and Sunday was spent in the conference center training. I am now a fully qualified fencing coach. I can teach fencing anywhere in the world. It was a really fun course and something I had never done before. I can't wait until we start it here in our activities. Only seven reds are qualified to teach it, and then sports coaches can as well. The sessions are only an hour in length and are for ages 9-17, so it'll be interesting to see how much we can teach in such a short time. I only went out the Saturday night of the adult weekend and didn't stay out too late, as I had training early the next day.
We are now into another family week and its fairly busy. This past week has been a bit frustrating for me. My last two room mates moved out and the accom was an absolute mess. I spent one of my mornings cleaning it all up and organizing it the way I wanted for when Ella moved in. Ella moved in one of the nights that I was at work, with help from some of the guys. Its good to have just the two of us in here. We have started painting and moved all of her stuff over. Its starting to look really good, but not even closed to finished yet. We haven't heard of anyone else moving in just yet, but there is redcoat auditions this weekend so im sure we will have some new roomies soon.
Being here is worse than highschool sometimes in the sense of rumours and drama. I try to avoid the drama but the maturity level of the team is quite low at times. Another rumor went around about me this week, and I just didn't stand for it. I confronted the person and kicked off. I'm so sick of hearing new things about me every week that aren't even remotely true. So this past week has been me stressed out with the accom, rumours, having a cold, and to top it all off... Sunday was mothers day in Canada.
My family just bought a cottage back home, and on Sunday had everyone go there for a BBQ. Sunday in England was spent finishing my course, feeling sick, dealing with rumours, and wanting to cry. My dad phoned me so I could speak to everyone and it was really nice, but I didn't mention anything about how I was feeling as I didn't want to ruin the day for them back home. It was really difficult and I wish I could have been home for it.
A few days have gone by and I was feeling even worse mentally and physically. Finally yesterday I had a day off, and just broke down. Everyone I am close with here is going home this weekend to be with their families as its an adult break and we aren't really needed. Ella's dad came to pick her up and was wall papering her room. I spoke to him and he just reminded me of my dad. Im happy for everyone that they can go home and be with their families, but it was just too difficult yesterday for me. So I went into my room and had a break down. Ella was there for me, and so was Louis. I absolutely love being here, and my job and all the bits that come with it, but when you have a bad week, there is few people to turn to. I walked around teamlines to see if there was someone to talk to, which made me realize, there are few people here that actually care all that much. I went to Birds accom and we went and had Burger King with her boyfriend. We just talked it all out and it made me feel a bit better. Then I went and saw Gemma and she was comforting as well. Matt was working the whole night so I was left to deal with it on my own. He has been there whenever i've felt homesick even though he hasn't always known when im down.
I was never the type of person to get home sick, especially because I enjoy being here. Just having bad days here can easily get you into a lonely state of mind. I guess you don't really know what you have until its gone. I miss my family a lot and wish they could be here, but this is all part of growing up and doing what I want to do. I chose to come here and i'm glad I did. I've become closer to my family I think and i've made some amazing friends. This has been a rough week, but today is a new day, and I'm going to start fresh.

Gators in London

I was planning on going to London with Matt last week, but because we live in England, the weather was supposed to be miserable that day, so we passed on it, and went to Chichester instead. It ended up being a gorgeous day out, and was nice to leave the bubble. We walked through the town, did a bit of shopping, and went to the famous nandos. Everyone here has an obsession with this restaurant. It is mainly meals with some sort of chicken and you can choose the level of hotness. I went with Hot because I like things spicy and most british foods are very bland anyways, so I figured it wouldn't be too bad. Nothing Franks Red Hot couldn't have prepared me for. I was wrong! Half way through my wrap I was near tears at the table. Matt found this funny, my tongue and lips were burning for at least another hour after leaving. When walking through the town, there was a guy singing and playing guitar so we sat down to listen for a bit. A few songs in, and he sang Free Falling. There really isn't a day that goes by that Neil doesn't cross my mind. It was a small reminder from him, knowing hes always with me. He was the cherry on top of my perfect sundae.

At some point during the week, Matt and I went on a double date with another redcoat and resort safety. This would be Paul and Gemma. At first I was unsure about Paul, as I am quite protective of Gemma. Shes my babygirl, and my one of my closest friends here. She is Butlins tallest female redcoat, and an amazing DJ. Her siblings are lovely and I can't wait until she takes me home with her so I can spend time with her family. We went to a cute little spot in town and had a good laugh out. It was nice to not really be with a large group of ents. I loved the double date, and knowing Gemma, she'll be pushing for another one.

Friday was the start of the football weekend, and as i have nothing nice to say, i will say nothing at all.

I spent all day Saturday with my future room mate Ella, shopping for stuff for our accom. It was a really nice day out for some bonding and we found the cutest stuff for our accom. We are quite similar in tastes, and although not too loud, definitely has a funny side. I enjoy her company and know that we don't have to go out and do a ton of stuff, we can just sit in a chat for hours. Shes a good friend to have here and im looking forward to seeing where it goes. Saturday night, Matt and I were going to go for dinner, but the Beachcomber was packed so we ended up ordering pizza, having a drink in center stage, then going home and watching a bit of Harry Potter. It was a nice night in, as it doesn't matter where we go, I just like being around him.

Sunday morning, I woke up, got ready and headed off to the train station. The weather was rainy and cold, as to be expected of typical british weather. I was on my way to London. Michelle Presse and Chris Madronich, two very good canadian friends of mine that I went to school with back home, were in London, so we all met up. Michelles sister Nicole was there as well. Michelle has spent almost a year in Italy as an au pair, and wanted to come and see London. Her sister just arrived in Italy to be an au pair as well, so they came together. Chris landed in London about a week or so ago to try and find work over here, maybe do an internship. London should take about an hour and a half from Bognor, on a good day. Sunday, is never a good day to travel in England. Trains are delayed, or cancelled or not running, or any other excuse to make Sunday a miserable day of travel. I got to the train station and found out I now had to wait 45 minutes for my train. Once on it, I had to get off at the next station and wait even longer for the next one. I was headed to London Victoria, when I needed to go to London Bridge. So i hopped off, ran platforms and got on the right train.. Shortly after being on this one, I got a phone call from Michelle saying she wanted to meet at Westminster Abbey.. "no problem". This meant I had to switch back onto the original train that I was on!!! Sitting next to me was an older gentlemen who I asked for a bit of help, as he seemed to be more local than tourist looking in my opinion. I ended up spending about an hour or so travelling with him. He is a 43-year old mounty policeman. The day before, he worked in Wembley stadium on a horse for crowd control of the venue filled with 100,000 fans. So crazy. Really nice guy, and he pointed me in the right direction. When I finally met up with the girls and Chris, we did a bit of walking around, went to a pub to grab some food. Then I couldn't help myself, I had to show them a real british shopping experience. Thats right, Primark. Primark in London was absolutely manic. I've never seen anything like it. Two floors of messy chaos!! We did a bit of shopping, then went our separate ways, as I knew I had a long journey ahead of me to get home. It was really nice seeing them, and I love going to London, so it was definitely a good day. The bad thing about London though, is the people. Its like all of the assholes of England, reside in London. Any person I talked to, was just miserable and rude. And god forbid you made any eye contact with people in Primark.. you would've been stabbed. On the train home, I sat with a guy named Ed. He recently graduated from the university of Chichester (town near bognor) with a French & Anthropology degree. He was coming home from a weekend in London for one of his friends birthdays. The day before, he saw Rupert Grint in a cafe in London... yes that is Ron Weasley! SO JEALOUS. He was a really funny guy, and good company to have on the somewhat long journey home. Matt picked me up from the train station with his friend Wick. She used to work safety and her boyfriend, who also worked with them, was down for the night. They are some of Matts closest friends, so we all went for a drink when I was back. It ended up being a really funny night, and I learned that I can outdrink Matt with jager. Well done Canada. ;) This morning I was treated with a breakfast sandwhich for taking care of him being drunk. Not a bad way to start my morning. I got to work main gate today with him which was fun as well. Im working Centre Stage tonight with about seven redcoats so it should be a really good time. Well thats it for now, until next time xo.

The Butlins Bubble

Its almost 3 months now that i've been here, and I have met some pretty amazing people. In Butlins, it's like we have our own world. Its a mix of Big Brother, Jersey Shore and your first year of college. It is also known as 'the bubble'. About 500 team members live on site, and we are the bubble. Everyone is switching rooms, dating eachother, and out drinking a lot, its just a different world. In the real world, couples wouldn't move in together as quick as they do here, rumours spread like wildfire, and we all live off of microwave meals or team diner for two quid. Most people live with the same team that they work with, but not everyone. There are different style accommodations to live in. I live in a four share. In my room it should be me and another girl, then across the hall lives two girls, and we all share a washroom, and open kitchen / living room. Other accoms are the same style, but only shared between two people. Then there is the 'couples accom' which is one bedroom for two people, and a shared bathroom and kitchen / living room. Lastly there is singles. One washroom and kitchen shared between a few people, no living room, but everyone in that accom has their own bedroom which they don't have to share. Since I have been here, lots of the reds have moved around. I switched accoms shortly after coming here, into the one that I am currently in. I lived with Chloe, but she moved into a couples accom with her boyfriend. So i have my own room, which is nice and big, until they move in someone new. In my accom I have two other girls, who are moving out into their own accom. So another red is planning on moving in with me. I'm currently in the midst of painting and re doing the accom so its how I like it, before they move in other people with me. Its strange because back home, I never really cared if my room was a mess, or if I let dishes pile up a little bit in the kitchen, I would just put it off and do it later. Here, its not like that at all! Now that I basically live on my own, my room is almost always tidy, and the kitchen makes me cringe if its not clean. If the living room has stuff lying all over the place, it stresses me out! I never used to be like this, but the bubble has changed me. Talk about growing up fast! Making mama proud for sure!

There is currently around 30 redcoats on the team. They are in need of more, so i'm assuming in the next few weeks we will get some newbies. All of the reds had to audition to get their job, and fight for it with 100s of other hopefuls. I would say everyone has some sort of talent. Singing, dancing and hosting are the most popular. The entertainment team is full of outgoing, loud, and unique characters. Of all of the Butlins, Bognor Regis has the tallest female red, and the shortest, the youngest redcoat & only canadian (yours truly), two magicians, a Guiness Worlds Record adjudicator, many singers and dancers, and a whole ton of characters. Not only is there 30 reds, but there is also Billy the bear, Butlins main man, and his scottish girlfriend Bonnie Bear. Then the skyline gang which is made up of Mimi, Candi, Pip, Bud, Sprout, Dude and their dog Rainbow. Dino and Darwin are two dinosaurs that are best friends and like hanging out at the Shoreline hotel a lot. Barney, BJ & Baby Bop; Angelina Ballerina; Fireman Sam and Naughty Norman Price; Pingu; Bob, Wendy & Spud; Ludo another big green dinosaur, and lastly Cedric the seagul. My job has given me the opportunity to hang out with the characters I grew up watching on tv, and allow me to meet the most amazing people.

Other teams here are Splash, which are the lifeguards that work in the water park. Then there is the Sports Coaches & Leisure so all of the people that work with the kids on football, archery, the rock climbing wall, stuff like that. Fun fair team which is indoor, outdoor, and a lot of them work overtime in Safety. Resort safety, which is security, they work the venues at night, overlook the resort and work the gates. Then there is the restaurants like Papa Johns, Bar Rosso, and the Beachcomber. There is also Bars, which work Center, Reds, Hotshots and Jaks. Those are all of the different teams that I have become friends with so far! All together we make `one big hearted team`.

For an update on whats been new with me,just lots of work, and i`m always doing something new in details. For example, I was a cheerleader at a wrestling show last Saturday. I went out with the bad team, at first I was really nervous about doing it, but by the end, its become my new favorite shift! Last week I took part in the `Best of British Garden Party`which was a family sports day basically and everyone was split up into the four different countries: Wales, England, Ireland and my team, Scotland. It was alot of fun as I got to participate, characters came out, and it was the first day of it, so it was all trial and error. Last night I did party dances on stage with Billy and Bonnie which was a first, and was absolutely adorable! In Center Stage we have had around eight reds going on stage instead of just the regular three for party dances, creating WOW moments for families. Its such a good laugh having all of us on stage, stuff like that is why I love being a redcoat.

A few weeks ago, Butlins hosted a Special Needs Hockey Tournament. Of all the places in England, Butlins Bognor is where they stayed. It was a Canadian team, and I was so happy all week! Canadians were everywhere, we were taking over bognor!! Brianna, a friend from home, was one of the coaches and it was amazing to see her. She was my first and only friend from home that i`ve seen so far. I was working while they were down but fortunately in between shifts and after work I went out with them. Made a new friend named Cody, hes 18 and his uncle played on the team. He was down to party so I took him out at night on resort to show him how we do it at Butlins. His first night out he ended up being escorted from the Shoreline hotel to his room because he passed out in the washrooms. I found this out from security the next day, because he was so drunk he didn`t even remember! To say the least, I know he enjoyed his time in England. Brianna brought me stuff from my mom which included a teddy bear that I now sleep with, chocolates, tootsie rolls which you can`t buy in England, and last but not least, TIM HORTONS. Thank god for that!!! To the brits reading this, Tim Hortons is the Canadian version of Costa or Starbucks. To the canadians reading this, moving to a country without Tim Hortons is harder than you`d think!! The Canadians all left and then it was an adult weekend. I went out on the Friday night, nothing out of the ordinary there, but then sat out the Saturday and Sunday. Just wasn`t feeling it, and needed to chill out and have a relaxed weekend. So I did some painting, walked around town, watched movies, played Black Ops and hung out with Matt the whole weekend.

We are back onto regular breaks now but because schools in, its mainly young families with tots, and grandparents. Not as full, so its not too hectic. This weekend coming up is the Footballers weekend. Its 3 days that Butlins hosts all of these football (soccer) dads and sons. Im a bit nervous about this one because apparently its a nightmare of a weekend. I work in Center stage until one in the morning on Friday by myself, but then I have Saturday off which isn`t too bad. Once we get through this weekend, the next three in a row are all adult weekends. Should be a good time and I probably won`t have to work too much so I want to do a bit of travelling.

Tomorrow I am off to London as long as the weather is half decent, with Matt. For those back home that have yet to see facebook, I am now in a relationship. To answer the basic questions i`ve already been asked.. No, he is not a redcoat, hes resort safety, a few years older than me, tall and yes, he is british. Things are going really good here. I love my job, my accom is coming along, and I have a great guy that I get to see all the time. I`m a very happy and lucky girl. Sorry it took so long for an update, but this is whats going on, on my side of the pond!

Ministry of Sound & Minehead

Its been about two weeks now since my last post, so i've got quite a bit to update on. To start, the past two weekends have been adult weekends, the first being 'School Reunion' and the second was 'Icons Weekend'. I have had most of the adult weekends off, so School Reunion was the first one I had to work for. We don't wear our Redcoat uniform for the adult weekends, as the adults tend to make fun of, or harass us for it. Instead, we wear our casual grey track pants, and a red zip up sweater that says 'Events Team' on it. We don't swan the Skyline and we aren't out half as much as we are during regular family breaks. Billy the bear doesn't make any appearances, nor do the rest of the characters we have. We mainly work the reception and check in, and then work the doors for some of the venues. This is the best time for training for new shows and stuff like that, as barely any Reds actually work this weekend.

Friday and Saturday night, I worked at the Silent Disco. We hand out the headphones, explain how it all works, and send them into our sports bar, Hotshots. Friday night it wasn't too busy so the four of us working the doors got to have our headphones on and dance around the whole night. I worked with two out of my three roomies, and my old room mate too. We finished at about 130 in the morning. So we went home, got changed and went out to party for the night. It was weird because although it was around 2am by the time we even got to the bar, it just felt like 10 oclock, tons of energy, and the start to a good night! We started in Center Stage, by this time there were no more shows or acts going on, it was just a live DJ. Tons of people in costumes filled this venue, and kept the party going. After a good amount of drinks, and some dancing, we headed down to Reds. Reds isn't normally a busy venue, but that night it was packed. Full dance floor, bars were busy, it was a good time. We partied until about 5am when they did last orders at the bar. Made it into our accommodation just before 6am. I would say that was one of my best nights in England, until the night after. I slept in that day until about noon probably, as I didn't have work again until late that night for another night of the Silent Disco. Saturday night in Reds was 'The Ministry of Sound', this is an unreal DJ that has a sweet stage set up and the act is well known in England. Because of the Ministry of Sound, and Center Stage with its live DJ and shows, we all figured that the Silent Disco would be a dead venue. In the Skyline to start the night off for the guests, the skyline stage has a DJ there until about 10 or 11pm I think. So as our venue opened up, that DJ was just finishing, and the shows up in Center and Reds were just starting. From the beginning of our night until the very end, we were lined up out the door, and jam packed inside. It was crazy! So many people were coming into the venue, we didn't have enough headsets, and unfortunately didn't get to enjoy listening to the two different DJs. It was still a good night, and we finished up around 2 in the morning. After work, we went home, got ready and went to Reds to see the Ministry of Sound. It was busier than the night before and the DJ was unreal. We stayed out until at least 5 or 6 in the morning. It was a messy but fun night as always. I absolutely love the adult weekends, they are the best time to let loose and have a good night out with the team, as most people are off. Unfortunately that weekend was a big one for training as there are a ton of new shows starting up. So not too many Reds were out. Still a good time none the less. 

After that adult weekend, we were back on family breaks for the midweek. It was really quiet for both midweeks as school is in, so its mainly young parents and tots. Its good because we get to bond with the kids, and see the same faces over and over, helps to add sparkle to each families holiday. The next weekend was the adult Icons weekend. I decided to take a holiday from the 'Butlins Bubble' and go to Minehead for the weekend. It wasn't really planned, I just decided a few days before that I would go by myself because I had the whole weekend off. It should have been about a four hour journey from Bognor to Minehead.. it ended up taking SEVEN hours. Seven whole hours alone.. on a bus, train, car, subway, and foot. It was quite the adventure. Bryn & Louis walked with me from Butlins to the Bognor train station. Two minutes before my train was supposed to come, I was told that it was cancelled so I had to take a different one and get off at the next stop to change over. So i got on the train, and found another person going to London, so we stuck together for the traip. His name was Damion, really nice guy, and would have been lost without him. On the train for about 10 minutes, then at that station had to get off and wait 30 minutes for another train.. Repeated this for 3 stations. At this point, I should have turned around knowing that it was going to be one hell of a trip to get to Minehead. After a few hours, I was near London.. Then a voice on the train said that we were no longer going to London Victoria.. but London Bridge instead. Without a choice, I had to get off at the Bridge and then take the Subway to figure out how to get to Paddington Station. To get another train to Taunton. By this time, the sun has set, it is no longer warm outside, and I am standing alone in the London Bridge Underground in hightops, jean shorts, a leather jacket, animal print headband, and a huge animal print luggage bag. Not to mention I had diamond aviators on. The only person that would have stood out more than me would be someone dressed as Wheres Waldo. I looked like I was heading to L.A., not Minehead. I figured out which platform to be on, but to make sure I was in the right place, asked a girl that looked nice.. she replied in an Australian accent, "I'm lost too". Just perfect! Now there are two foreigners lost in the London underground. A nice young guy, also lost, came up to us to ask for help, which of course we couldn't give. Instead, we all got on the tube together and figured out where we were supposed to go. Cracked open a beer, had a few laughs, and enjoyed the short London Underground journey. Once we all split up, I made my way to get onto my last train of the day. It was a straight two hour journey to Taunton, where Nancy picked me up and then we drove to Minehead from there. Arrived around midnight, got changed, and hit the pub. It was absolutely dead, but i got to see friends that I haven't seen in six years! It was so weird, but such a good laugh. The next day myself and a few of the girls took a bus to taunton for some shopping then headed back to Minehead for another night of drinks and a fun. Started at the Hairy Dog, had a few drinks, saw some friends from the night before, then we all headed to another bar. This one was much busier Saturday night! Saw a ton more people that I knew and stayed out til about 4 in the morning. The next day, had some troubles about getting back to the train station, but with Ellie and Calums help, sorted myself out. It was only about a 5 hour journey home which I was really happy about.

This brings us to this past week. It was an average week, did the same old stuff, had some party dance training and got our new uniforms. We have our redcoat which is just a little bit different from last years. We now wear black pants, a white tucked in top, and black heels. We also have a black dress to wear for some details. In a few more weeks we will get our casual uniforms, but for now we just wear our old ones. My first time up on stage was last night. I did my party dances and only messed up once. It was so nervewracking getting on stage in Centre as it seems so busy, with a full dance floor of kids looking up at you to follow your steps. When I only messed up once, it was a huge relief as everyone messes up when they are on stage. Today I have spent a lot of time on activities as I will hopefully become an activities Red instead of just a general Red. Activites consists of doing arts and crafts with the Get Busy: 5-8's, stage school, circus skills and arts with Club Red: 9-12s, and stuff with the VIPs: teens. Its a lot of fun because we get one to one time with kids and get to know them better on a personal level, instead of just sitting with them when shows are on. Its really awesome. They become your friend for that week and when they come back, they ask about you, get your autograph and pictures with you. Mini Celebrity? Hell ya. As it's easter weekend, we are full house and every venue is busy. I don't think a single Red had the day off today. Its one of our busiest times of the year, and this weekend / upcoming week are a small taste of what summer will be like. Its really exciting and I'm always doing something new. I have second guessed myself a couple times over the past few weeks, as to whether or not I made the right choice in coming to England, by myself to be a Redcoat. Last night, my boss said to me that he took a risk in hiring me, as I wasn't hired like most reds are with the unique interview and audition process, but that he is very happy with the Redcoat I am and to keep up the good work. Its a confidence boost that was needed, and I am really happy and proud of myself and my choices. People have asked me how I deal with being away from home, and if I miss my family and friends. Of course I do. There isn't a single day that goes by that I don't think of my old room mate (nana), or my parents. When I see the younger kids, it reminds me of Jonny and Julia, who I cannot wait to see again. I wasn't the best big sister with my siblings before, and this job has completely changed me and how I am with kids. I miss them to death, you don't really know what you have until its gone. I wish they could be here to enjoy the Butlins experience, this British Disneyland would be heaven for the two of them. It would be really awesome if my older brother came over and saw what I did, its such a unique place, and I would love to hear what he thought of how I am as a Red. I wish my friends could be here because I know they would love it as much as I do, and would love the people I hang around with. I don't want to go home anytime soon, but I would love if my family could just come and share all of this with me. So to mom and dad reading this, I love you to bits, and can't wait to see you. XOXO

They're 2, They're 4. They're 6, They're 8

Since we've spoken last, i've done quite a bit of stuff! I spent my Wednesday morning with Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends. It was a great show, and even better, i've had his theme song stuck in my head all week.. "They're two they're four they're six they're eight, Shunting trucks and hauling freight, red and green and brown and blue, they're the really useful crew! All with different roles to play, Round tidmouths or far away, Down the hills and round the bends, Thomas and friends!" After starting my day with Thomas, I then got to spend some time with Ludo! Ludo is the big green dinosaur, in the new Butlins advert. Thursday I had a 'Big Art Attack' with kids 5-8. We traced our hands and got to decorate them with sparkles, tissues, markers, anything messy really. Then we put them all together to make a big art attack. I love doing these sessions because you get a lot of one on one time with the kids, and they become your friend for the week. Its amazing how you can make their day by just coloring a picture with them. Its pretty sweet. Later that day after a few other details, I spent some time in the Puppet Castle, on a jungle adventure! It was pretty awesome! Friday I hung out with Pingu for a bit, then said good bye to all of the families, as it was time for the adult weekend to begin!

Friday afternoon I was on reception again, checking in the parties, and then off to three hours of 'Road Map'. This is part of Butlins training that we do, helping us understand the culture and ways of not only Butlins, but of being a Red. After training I was off until Sunday morning. Friday night we started off at one of the other accommodations playing party games and then heading out to Center Stage. The accom was packed and it was a really great night out with the other reds. Saturday morning started off with a hangover, but I was up and ready for some shopping with my british mama. We went to portsmouth which is just about a 30 minute drive and it is a cute little town with a mall and lots of shops. It was a really good way to start my day. Unfortunately I only had about 3 hours sleep to last me until Sunday. Saturday night was one of the other Reds birthdays, so we went to her accom for predrinks. By the time we left the accom, after many rounds of "we like to drink with canada", I didn't last too long at Center. I was ready to go home, so in my heels walking down the stairs with Louis, I wiped out. Tumbling down a few steps in my heels, and hitting my ribs off the banister. At the time, I laughed it off, got to main floor, took off the heels and walked home. Sunday morning I woke up with a bruise on my left ribs, and my left leg from my knee down to my ankle is bright blue. My right ankle is somewhat swollen and it is in a serious amount of pain. My training on Sunday went from about 1130-4, and then I spent the rest of my night relaxing and watching friends, as I literally had no energy left in me. Monday morning all of the adults left, and it was the beginning of another family week. Because school is in now, it tends to be a lot of younger kids and the resort is only about half full. I worked reception and then Center Stage which is always a good time. Center Stage's show was Lazy Town which I got to see for the first time, and then I took a picture with Stephanie, Sportakus and Robbie Rotten. It was really good. Tuesday I spent the day on activities with my room mate, Chloe. It was so much fun as the activity sessions were small and we had a lot of one to one time with the same kids. It was really sweet. This brings us to today. So far I have hung out with Dino and Darwin which are two little Dinosaurs. One is green, and the other is orange. They are best friends that were born at Butlins. Im now off to swan the skyline, and then tonight I am in Center to watch Street life and Festival. Have a fabulous day! xo

Circus is Over!

Another amazing weekend at Butlins. The theme for this weekend was clowns.. not to my personal excitement. I struggle with the idea of thousands of people fully dressed up in weird unmatching suits, neon coloured hair, awkwardly large shoes, painted faces and odd props. The whole thing just freaks me out. My weekend began on Friday working reception in the Skyline. For two hours, guests come to me with their information and booking number, I find their name and give them the keys to the room. While doing this, clowns that had already checked in, were surrounding the area. I met a really nice clown, who told me he was the only American clown in the resort. He thought that I was american as well, which offended me slightly, as I am Canadian, and apparently no one can tell the difference. Most of the families that checked in, didn't actually know that it was a clown weekend, and to no surprise, most of the kids were absolutely terrified. Friday night, I worked in 'the Zone' with Nathan, another red. There ended up being about 6 kids that showed up, aged 13-17. We spent a few hours playing on the Wii, Xbox, watching music videos, and playing pool. Then I had the rest of my night off. Lucky for me, I had all of Saturday off, so I stayed far away from the Skyline and avoided clowns at all cost. Sunday I worked a lot of the kids club type activities. I had stage school in the zone where I learned how to spin plates, played some games with younger kids, and taught them a dance with Tiffany, another red. There was a clown parade in town so that is where all the clowns went, even though it poured down rain. Monday, everyone left, and a new crop of families moved onto resort. I worked the main gate for a few hours and met a bunch of new resort safety guys. Then I spent some time with Billy the Bear, then swanned the Skyline. I worked in Center Stage that night as well, and it wasn't too busy. Today I watched 'Little Big Club' with Pingo's fun fitness, Bob the builder in Sunflower Valley, and Barney too! I'm now off for a few hours until I go into the Skyline tonight for Tots Disco.

After work tonight, a bunch of the reds are going to Hatters I believe. This is one of the bars in town which when busy turns into a good night out with cheap drinks. This week the resort isn't too full so it gives more of an opportunity to bond with families, and make a difference in their kids vacations. We can add 'sparkle'. Friday all of the families will head home, and then its another adult weekend. This one is Soul & Motown. On Saturday its one of the girls birthdays so we are all going out in fancy dress I think. Should be another good night. I don't work much this weekend, but I do have activities training, so hopefully I can move into being an Activities Red soon! Since I have a few hours off now, Im going to watch 'The Little Rascals' and enjoy a cup of tea. As always, everything here is great, loving life!

Keep Calm & Drink Wine

Well.. where to begin? My first week of work went amazingly well, full of families, everything was crazy busy and I learned a ton of new things. We shut down for a few days and I had the opportunity to learn some of the party dances. It was alot to take in and still busy, even though resort was closed. While being shut, its pretty much reds bonding time, so I got to know alot of my coworkers better. The past weekend we opened for an adult weekend. I think we have these once every 6 weeks or so. This theme was the 70's. Basically groups of the same sex come to Butlins for a weekend of binge drinking, hen parties, and getting rowdy. They check in, and hit the bar. By the time Center Stage opens at night, everyone is pissed, and in the strangest outfits. The 70's attracts a bit of an older crowd, but 20's to 30's come too cause its a cheap weekend to get together and get drunk. I lucked out and only had to work reception on Friday, checked some guests in, and had the weekend off, to experience everything it had to offer. It was outrageous and you would have to be here to be able to understand how ridiculous it gets. Sunday, everyone checked out and we were closed again for the week. When resort is closed, they open up one of the bars for us. Jak's is just music and drinks, Hotshots has bowling, and pool. Predrinks are almost always at L9 which is another accommodation. And if no one wants to hit one of our bars, then we will either go to Sheiks (or vision nightclub) which is right on the pier, or Ground Zero (club lush?) which is just in town a bit. It has basically been a two week party, non stop. I've gotten to know tons of people and had amazing times drinking with everyone. I don't think i've ever drank so much wine, and played so many games of 'never have i ever'. I've picked up the nickname 'Canada' and i'm rarely called Carlie anymore. I'm good with this, as long as no ones calling me a yankee.  My Butlins experience is like a University experience but instead of exams and essays, there are kids clubs and arts and crafts. Best time of my life.

After the adult weekend, I packed my bags up, and moved two rows forward. I now live with 3 other girls and I love it! My room has white walls with phrases written in black. I have a big wardrobe and 'Keep Calm' boxes for my tshirts. The washroom is tons of bright colors and the living area has red accents with brown couches and dark cream colored walls. I'm really enjoying my new accom and everything else that is happening. The one downfall about being here, is the rumors. Its like i'm back in highschool, but worse! There are about 500 staff that live on resort, and rumors spread like wildfire here. I've had a handfull go around about me but ive tried to sort them all out, as none of them have an ounce of truth. Luckily, the people I work with have backed me up and made me feel better. No matter where I am there will always be rumors, some people need to just mind their own business. On a positive note, I had a meeting with my boss about my probation, and I am now officially a redcoat! She had tons of good things to say about me, and now I can breathe easy that I got the job. It would have been an expensive flight home. All of entertainments team are getting sweaters made up for us. They will be any color we want, say our name or nickname, and then a phrase. I am getting a white sweater, with red writing, and "Baby Canada" on the back. As I am the youngest Redcoat, and the only Canadian to ever be a Red. Love it!!!

The resort opens up again today for the clown weekend. Yes, that is correct.. Over 3000 international clowns will be walking here for the next 3 days. I am not overly excited about this. I work reception in a little bit, and then at night I am on the silent disco. A silent disco is one of the bars opened up with no music playing.. everyone wears headsets and they have 2 different stations with different songs. Everyone is dancing to different songs, and its entertaining as hell. I have also signed up for DJ'ing so hopefully i'll be trained on that soon too. We get new uniforms in a few weeks I think, as right now we are wearing last years which are the white skirts, retro style. I actually really like them, but the new ones are nice as well. I have tomorrow off to do a bit of laundry and practice my party dances. I am so glad that we are opening up again because my liver can't handle anymore partying!! I need a break, and my bank account needs to have more coming in then going out. Sorry this was such a long update, I'm going to try and update it at least once a week from now on.

So to everyone back home, this has been one of the most amazing months of my life.. I'm more than happy and can't wait for whatever is about to happen next. xox

The Beginning

The past few days have been the start to February half term. After my first couple of training days, the resort opened and now it is fully booked, with people everywhere. It is amazing how many activities, and venues they have open and running at the same time. There are 36 redcoats, and once you are walking around its hard to not see one of us somewhere in uniform. I have signed over 10 autographs, which is sweet!!! Being a red is like a mini celebrity on resort, its the coolest thing. I got to walk around with Titan, who is a massive robot that interacts with his audience. I got to watch the Skyline Gang, Barney and Pingus shows, walk around with Cedric (the seagul) and Ludo (the dinosaur) to welcome guests at front gate. I spent an afternoon with Billy and Bonnie (his girlfriend) as well as Angelina the ballerina and Fireman Sam. I worked in Reds (home of the redcoats) a couple nights, which was great because I get to interact with the families, and dance with all the kids. I watched a magic show with them, then last night I saw the Pink tribute, followed by Take That, which was unreal! Such amazing shows! Upstairs in Center Stage was Lazy Town followed by the Lady Gaga tribute, and both venues were full! The environment is so positive and energetic, there is always stuff going on. Its a british Disneyland. Once off, we are aloud to use any of the venues we want and we get discounts on some of them too.

My accommodations definitely need some work. My roommate, Zoe and I are probably going to paint next week and buy some stuff to make it feel more like home. She lives just a short 30 minute drive away, and I've already met her family. All really  nice people. Then my other roommate has her own room right now, and she is from Hungary. She's a bit shy, but friendly as well.

Saturday was Dads last night in England so we went to Sarah and Shauns (my british parents basically) for a meal. It was another great night and I was obviously sad to see him go. I wish I could have all the people from home, come here and experience everything that Butlins and England has to offer. Ive been given such an amazing opportunity. Today is my very first day off, which I have spent so far sleeping in, and typing this. I have laundry that needs to be done, and then when Zoes off we are heading into town together to pick up some groceries, bed sheets, slippers, all that fun stuff. I better get up to shower and eat something, so have a fabulous day, and thanks for reading. xx

Life in Bognor

So its been a few days, and I have been exploring the town and soaking up british culture. I spent a day around town, walking down the beach, seeing the high street, doing some groceries, the regular stuff. I love my town, its really cute and has everything you need. It even has SUBWAY! Went in to it today and had a moment, almost wanted to cry. I loved it, its my home away from home. Im being a little bit too sentimental i think, but it was great. Some things were different, they have quavers, my favorite british chips, and they have some indian style subs, as well as ketchup as a sauce. Uhm, who the hell puts ketchup on a sub... and what sub are they putting that on?! They had another sauce called 'Brown Sauce'... no thank you? There was no hot peppers, just jalapenos, and they had corn pieces as well. It was definitely a british version of my regular work back home. I set up my banking today at Barclays and the guy that set me up was super nice and really friendly, which is comforting that I can go back and speak with him whenever I have an issue. When I went into the grocery store, I bought myself a bottle of Cider, for the canadians reading that, its just old apple cider basically that has now turned to alcohal. To me, it just tastes like sweetened apple flavor beer, its alright, but not my favorite yet. When I purchased it, I was ID'd.. believe it or not! So I handed him my candian drivers licenses, and he had to have 3 people look at it, to make sure it wasn't fake.. Like can you not hear me? I have a very canadian accent, hope this doesn't happen when im at the bar!! Whilst in town, Dad bought me an adorable Pink phone which i absolutely love, and already have contacts?! Sweeet!

Yesterday I spent the day in London with dad, and I met his best man (from his wedding years ago)! He was great, a little outrageous, really funny, good guy. He has his own flat in london, and im so jealous! It has a gorgeous fire place, 2 floors, a huge back yard, and its very old, I think he said its from 1892 or something. I told him if he sells, im buying. Its nice to have more connections as I now have a place to stay whenever I want to go to London, which is just a short hour and a half from where I live now. It was a really good trip with Dad, and we did all your average touristy stuff like taking pictures with big ben, the london eye, standing inside a phone booth and visiting Buckingham Palace.

Today, I did my banking, had my subway fix, then came to Butlins to finally start my new journey. After filling out all of my information and signing the x's, I moved along to get my uniform, the fabulous red coat. We all have to wear last years uniform for the first two weeks, until our new stuff comes in, which is actually really nice! Last years is a long white pleated skirt for girls, a white collared shirt, underneath a bright red blazer. It is very old school and is supposed to mimick the original red coat uniform from back in the first days of Butlins. The new uniform is a pretty little black dress underneath the bright red blazer. Both are very sharp, but different looks. After setting myself up with a uniform, I moved along to see my housing. Most of the staff that work at Butlins, not just the Reds, are housed on resort. We live in rows of old guest accomodations. They are old and beaten down, but livable and unique. I have an open living room and kitchen, which i share with two girls. We are only aloud to have a microwave pretty much, as they don't trust us with much else.. We have two little fridges, a TV and a toaster, which I'm not sure they we are even aloud to have. There are two rough looking red couches, and a small table to eat at. An old tv and some blank, cream colored walls. Three of us share one bathroom, which could definitely use some work. I share a room with another redcoat who just moved in today, her name is Zoe, and as I type this in the living room, shes sleeping already, its about 1 am here and i've just come in from the bar. My other room mate has her own bedroom, and she is in house keeping I believe.. Shes eastern european and has a son.. I don't remember her name, but she seems really nice and quiet. Right now I can hear someone snoring.. I really hope its not my room mate, cause I can't handle that, so I guess we will just have to see in the morning.. hahahaha.

When I got my welcome package I was given 6 free drink coupons to be used in Butlins. Currently we are closed to guests this week and are open on Friday onward for Englands 'half term', I guess this would be the Canadian 'March Break'. When the resort is closed, because there are so many workers living here (about 500), they open the bar for us so we all have a place to go. Its really quite cool, its like our own little village of people that all have something in common, Butlins. I met some other red coats today, and went out to the bar with Tiffany. She is a really nice girl and we had a good night. She introduced me to the people she knew, and I met others as well. Played some pool, had some drinks and called it a night at midnight when they closed. Tomorrow morning is my first day of training with something called 'Road Maps'. I start at 9am tomorrow, so I best be heading to bed now. Hope you all feel updated enough. The next few days will be quite interesting I believe, so stay tuned.

Cheers. xx

The First Legal Evening

Warning: Plenty of JD's & coke, and 2am british time, on no sleep since I left Canada. Read with caution.

Currently, there is a video of Dad and I dancing to Footloose drunk, playing on the tv from someones cell phone. Tonight was absolutely outrageous! It started off at the main entertainment center in Butlins, and rounds of drinks for everyone. It is an adult weekend, meaning no kids, and lots of alcohal. The general feel is bachelor and bachelorette parties aka hen & stag parties. Not only is everyone drunk, they are all dressed up, its an outrageous version of Halloween. There are groups of flight attendents, wheres waldos, farmers, pilots, hippies, pacmans & ghosts, so many different outfits. They had a cover band start and it was fantastic, tons of good music and drinks for everyone. We were in the VIP section, and nearly no waiting on drinks. Then when the cover band was done, we went to the tent, and watched karoke, which was hilarious as well. Three drunk blokes sang the last song which was 'Dont stop Believin' by Journey. Made me think of home. Then we headed to a 'Silent Disco'. My reaction to this was 'what the hell is a silent disco?!' We walk in and are greeted by Redcoats. They gave us each a set of headphones. When you walk in, there is no music, and your headset plays two different setlists. So without the headphones on, it just looks like people drunkenly dancing in silence to very different beats. When you put the headset on, it all makes sense. It was absolutely hilarious and a great time! I don't even think we have anything like that in Canada. After this bar, we headed back to center stage for Belinda Carlisle. The lead singer of the Go Gos. She is now 54 years old, and my Dad is absolutely in love with her. He saw her when he was just 18 years old, and has loved her since. He had to get as close as he could, so he was front row singing and dancing to every song she sang. It was a great night of drinking, and dancing and soaking up some british culture. Tonight was my first night of legal drinking, and I absolutely used that opportunity. I'm off to bed so my body can maybe attempt to realize what country it is in. Tomorrow i'm going to go around Bognor Regis, the town and check things out. I move into my housing and train in just a few short days. I'm so happy with my decision to come here, and im so happy Dad came with me for the first week. Sweet dreams! xox

Fabulous Flight

As I sit here, on my flight to England, only three hours in, I can't help but look around and notice all the people around me. Where are they from? Where are they going? When they land.. is that home? Are the married or single? Are they flying here for a wedding or perhaps a funeral? The girl sitting next to me, is here with her boyfriend, I believe that he is Canadian, and she is definitely british. She moved to Canada 12 years ago, after she graduated from an Art School in England. She fell in love with Canada, and her boyfriend, and now has her own business there. She is going back home to visit her parents and brother. When she asked what I was doing, I gave her the details. Moving here for 2 years, with a British Working Visa, to live my dream of being a Red Coat at the famous Butlins resort. I have never seen a stranger so excited. She knew exactly what my job was, and was excited for me to start my journey. I lucked out, and got a good airplane buddy to sit next to.

Although, Im not quite sure why flights trigger this curiousity in me. It could be such a simple occasion. You go to an airport, show your passport a few times, flash a boarding pass to the odd attendant, pass through security basically naked, god forbid you have a belt on, then sit at the airport bar, enjoying your last canadian rum and coke, and board your flight. Once on, you awkwardly shuffle down an aisle made for people Size 8 or thinner.. hoping to God when you find your seat that it is A) window or aisle, B) not next to someone that smells like they were just at the gym for 4 hours. Now you are told to keep your seat in the upright position and turn off your cell phones, laptops, and what little connection of the rest of the world / entertainment you have with you. Then sit uncomfortably with a stranger basically on your lap, as you barely pay attention to the safety procedures. Count your blessings that you aren't in the emergency door aisle. Sorry ma'am but I don't feel like saving this whole airplane from dying because I don't know how to evacuate this S.O.B.. After this, they put on a Brad Pitt movie about Baseball, and you can share this tv with the other 24 people in your surrounding area. Should you not want to partake in this film, you can switch between channel 3, 7, 8, & 10. 3 being brutally painful french music, 7 is some good ol' country.. until they play a french country song? Uhmmmm, no thanks? 8 will give you the Macarena to start, then Hakuna Matata, followed by 'A Dream is a Wish your heart makes', just your basic Disney hits. Lastly, 10 is soothing piano, followed by opera. Lucky for me, my laptop is sitting at just about 2 hours battery life left.. I'm sitting on this plane for at least another 5. Now as I type this, the person sitting behind me is I guess attempting to give me a lower back massage.. if not, hes just being a straight up pain in my ass. Also, two seats over a man is snoring like its his day job. I have all of 6 inches for leg room, and elbow space? Ya right.

As this flight is coming from Canada, I get to enjoy the bilingual experience, with every sentence in english, it is followed by French. The flight attendants I'm guessing are native French speakers, because they all gossip amongst the aisles in French. Not to mention they are bitchy.. I can't imagine being a flight attendant is a difficult job, the least you could do is be friendly. I'd like to now move onto what I like to call 'Airplane Ass'. Urban dictionary that, it is a real term. This plane smells so goddam awful. Apparently when you are so high up in the air, gas gets released.. When I read that, I just laughed to myself and thought it was gross.. Now being in an airplane, I legitimately want to puke.. It smells SO BAD. Like what the hell.. go to the washroom, you nasty bunch of animals.

On a good note, I am sitting next to dad, enjoy an international glass of vino, and laughing together at how awful our 'myspace style' pictures are, and "people watching" the flight attendent rocking the frosted tips.. NSYNC, are you missing a member? I just finished my book 'The Five People You Meet In Heaven'. It is a great read and recommend it to anyone really. My favorite part, is when Eddie meets his fourth person in heaven, his wife Marguerite. As they are discussing their past, and how Eddie has been since she passed away, Marguerite tries to comfort him. She says, "Lost love is still love, Eddie. It takes a different form, thats all. You can't see their smile, or bring them food or tousle their hair or move them around a dance floor. But when those senses weaken, another heightens. Memory. Memory becomes your partner. You nurture it. You hold it. You dance with it. Life has to end, love doesnt." I feel that this goes well with me leaving. I am leaving so many friends and family behind, I will be gone for a few years, but although you won't see me everyday, we have the good memories that were made, to last forever. I tried to leave on positive notes with everyone in my life, and I feel as though I did exactly that. My last few days in Canada were spent with my amazing room mate, my co workers, my family, my friends, all good people. I had the best going away party I could have asked for, and found it quite difficult to say good bye to people. Although its not good bye, its just see ya later.

Its almost 11pm Canadian time, and I'm sitting here wide awake, as most people surrounding me are now falling asleep. My old subway shop, is closing in just about an hour.. and its probably dead slow, leaving whoever working, to their lonely thoughts, and awful radio station. Once closed, I would have headed over to the other subway to see Dustin and Tyler until they closed shop at 2am. Instead, I'm sitting here, en route to an experience of a lifetime.. Am I sad? Yes. I have truly enjoyed the last few months in my life, and although my nights were repetitive, I still loved them. I loved the people I was with, and the simplicity of sitting at H. H. Knoll. talking for hours, knowing I had to go home, but would rather stay out until 4am with someone more important than my sleep that night. Am I happy? Absolutely. Although sad to leave good people, I am so excited that in just a few short hours, I will be back in England for the first time in years, pursuing my life goals. This is crazy, and I can't wait.

While driving to the airport, my favorite song came on the radio. We're Here for a Good Time, by Trooper. That was the end of my sadness. I'm here for a good time, not a long time, and I'm going to have a good time, cause the sun can't shine everyday. I have 3 hours and 44 minutes left of my flight, and its getting a bit rocky. So i'm going to grab my paper bag, and enjoy whats left of this flight.

New Chapter

"Every new beginning comes from some other beginnings end."

It is so strange to me.. its almost not real. In just two short days, I will be leaving my small town for who knows how many years. I feel like I have waited forever for this moment to come. This is my university or college, this is my world of work, this is my next step in life. I am finally moving on, and growing up. It is the end of a chapter, a turning of the page, to start something completely new. People have asked me how my parents feel about me leaving.. Its hard to say. I assume they feel like most parents do when they send their kids off into the big bad world. Scared, nervous, excited, happy, sad, anxious. I know that my parents have raised me with good morals and life lessons, I also know that they have good faith that I will use what they have taught me and make good choices. But like any parent would be, they are scared or nervous for what I will have to face on my own. The decisions I will make without asking them first, or the people that I will meet, the unfamiliar faces that they won't know. When people ask how I am feeling about leaving, if I'm excited or nervous.. its hard to say. Depends on my mood that day really. But to generalize.. I am the most excited I've been for anything in my life, I've worked hard and done what I had to do to get this experience to happen. I'm nervous that I won't be liked.. I do not know a single soul that will be working with me as a 'Red Coat' and I am worried that I might not be liked. I will absolutely stick out like a sore thumb, with my canadian accent, ridiculous amount of plaid shirts, and of course, my cowboy hat. I'm sad that I am leaving my family, two years will go by fast, for sure.. But not seeing my mom or dad, going to Toronto to visit Nicholas, or watching my younger siblings grow over the next two years, will be very difficult. I feel as though I am at a great place in my life, I have a full time job, a good circle of friends, a fabulous room mate, and a loving family. Which makes me sad again, because I am ending this chapter of my life, with good hopes that my next chapter will be just as happy. I know that the people who mean most in my life, will put the effort in to stay in touch while I'm gone.. but no matter what, when I come home, things will be different. People will move on, relationships will change. You can never step in the same river twice, so I will just have to hope for the best.

I have said most of my goodbyes to people, and I just have one last, big get together with a bunch of family and friends on Thursday. It will be good to see everyone one last time before I leave, then I'm on my flight the next night. Dad is coming with me for the first 10 days, to set me up and visit some friends. It will be a longgggg day of travelling. I am taking an overnight flight on Friday night, arriving on Saturday morning. Unfortunately my working visa doesn't allow me to be in England until February 5th. Yup, you are reading that correctly.. I cannot be in England until Sunday. I can't wait to sit in the airport for 18 hours, (I am not kidding at all), until it becomes Sunday. My 12 hour day of travelling, just jumped to a full 26. Then once I am finally allowed to step on British land, my journey will begin.

For those of you who don't know what I am about to spend the next few years doing.. just go to www.butlins.com I will be working and living at that resort. I am known as a 'Red Coat'.. which essentially is a host to the resort. Doing things from the entertainment shows at night, or the kids activities during the day. I won't have time to update the blog before I leave, so wish my luck, and you'll all hear from me on the other side.

Stay tuned, coming up next.. Europe.

Plan B

As this time of year rolls around again, people graduating highschool are choosing if and which university or college they will go to. Some will chose Brock or Niagara to stay close to home, some 12b to stay even closer, some the world of work, because mama ain't payin' those bills anymore, some europe because the land of wine and pasta beats Port, and some will just struggle with making a decision at all. At the young age of 17 & 18, we can at times feel so mature, and wise, yet so undecisive and childish. How are we supposed to choose what career we want to go into for the rest of our lives, when half of us can't even vote or drink. Some will choose college because their parents will foot the bill on there 2 years of alcohal binging blackout nights and failure. Some will choose university because they busted their ass in highschool for that 97.2 average and they have wanted nothing more than to study 'earth and planetary sciences'. Some will go back to 12b, or 'victory lap' because nothing beats another year of overly priced cafetaria foods, skipping class to play speed in the library, losing at OFSAA and talking grade 11 chemistry. Some will choose work because they don't know what they want to do yet, but they know it doesn't involve another year of highschool, and they need to start saving because real life is expensive.

For those of you nearing graduating, the end of 12b, your first year of real work, or the end of your european working visa, please don't stress. Yes, your parents might have graduated highschool, gone to university, and have been an accountant for the past 40 years of their life, but that doesn't mean that you have to do that to. Who says you need to go into school right away? Why don't you go out and do what YOU want to do? If you aren't ready for school, then don't go. If you feel that you are ready, and you go but it doesn't work out.. thats okay too. We are only kids, the best time to make mistakes is now. We have many years to learn and fix them. If you don't get into the 'school of your dreams', maybe thats because there will be better opportunities in other places, maybe just not the opportunities you were thinking of.

When I graduated highschool, I knew without a doubt in my mind, that there was no way in hell I was going back for another year of it. I loved my highschool years, it came with many parties, lessons, boys, drama, ups & downs, committees, dances, detentions, awards, all of your typical highschool stuff. But after 4 years, I had had enough. People said that it was going to be the best four years of my life. To the people that feel that way, I'm sorry. If those are the best four years of your life, you either didn't go to lakeshore, or life just didn't get any better for you. For me, life has already been better since highschool, and it will only continue too. I chose to go into work to save up money so I could backpack and travel through Europe. Working 2-3 jobs, was not me living my dream, it was me understanding that sometimes it takes a little bit of hard work to get to your dream. Europe. This was my dream. This is my dream. And this is also, my future.

I wish that you make choices with comfort and ease. Have comfort in knowing that you are not alone, so many other people are struggling with the same things that you are. Reach out your hand, and someone will help. No one can make the choice for you, that would be too easy. Your becoming and adult now, and with that comes choices. Not every choice you choose will be right, but you have to learn somehow. Just know that if plan A doesn't work out, remember there are 25 other letters in the alphabet.

Parallel Lines

Parallel lines have a lot in common, but they never meet.. Ever. You might think that's sad, but every other pair of lines meets once and then drifts apart forever. This situation makes me think of life and the people you meet in life. How sometimes we wish we could be with someone forever and other times we wish we had never met a person in the first place. Parallel lines represent all of the people in your life that you could have met, but just never did for whatever reason, wrong timing, wasn't meant to be, anything. Other lines, help to show that we only have people in our lives for a certain amount of time, just crossing paths. No one can live forever, and not everyone you meet in your life, will be there until the end. Some people are just there for the good times, a drink at the bar, or a birthday party; others are there through work at a seasonal retail store, or bussing tables at a busy hotel; some are family, your parents, siblings, cousins; some you met through highschool, sports teams, lunch tables, business class, relay for life committee, etc. No one will be there forever, and with each person, comes a lesson, (or many). Your parents raised you with good morals and many lessons on life, your teachers taught you about specific subjects, but some did more than just your textbook lessons, your friends show you how to have a good time, and your boyfriend teaches you trust... With each person comes a new lesson.
Unfortunately sometimes this is hard to see. Sometimes when someone hurts you, it isn't the lesson in life that you see, it is just the pain and heartache, and wishing that things could go back to how they were, perhaps never having met that person. Parallel lines. Some fights are not fixable, sometimes you need to just be happy with the good times you had with that person, take the lesson learned and move on.
Enjoy your friends that are there for a good time, don't be upset that they won't be there forever, just be happy for the time you have with them. Appreciate the lessons your family has taught you, because without those, you wouldn't be the person you are today. And last but not least, remember that not everyone is meant to stay in your life forever, some are just there long enough to teach you a lesson you needed to learn.

Why I Hate Religion, but Love Jesus

I was on facebook, and came across a video called 'Why I hate religion, but love Jesus'. As I have said in the past, I am not a religious person, and struggle with the idea of God. There are many reasons for this, and some are highlighted in this poem. I am amazed at how well-written and passionately spoken this guy is about how he feels about Jesus. Whether you read the bible, pray before sleep, attend church on Sundays, or wear a cross... whether you drink, smoke & sin, break the law, or just don't care.. im asking you to read this, and really think about what he has to say. Doesn't matter if you agree with it, but it's a very interesting view on religion & Jesus.

"What if I told you, Jesus came to abolish religion?

What if I told you getting you to vote republican, really wasn’t his mission?

Because republican doesn’t automatically mean Christian,

And just because you call some people blind, doesn’t automatically give you vision.

If religion is so great, why has it started so many wars?

Why does it build huge churches, but fails to feed the poor?

Tells single moms God doesn’t love them if they’ve ever been divorced

Yet God in the Old Testament actually calls the religious people whores

Religion preaches grace, but another thing they practice,

Tend to ridicule Gods people, they did it to John the Baptist,

Cant fix their problems, so they try to mask it,

Not realizing that’s just like sprayin perfume on a casket

Because the problem with religion is that it never gets to the core,

It’s just behavior modification, like a long list of chores.

Let’s dress up the outside, make things look nice and neat,

Its funny that’s what they do to mummies, while the corpse rots underneath,

Now I ain’t judging I’m just saying be careful of putting on a fake look,

Because there’s a problem if people only know that you’re a Christian by that little section on your Facebook.

In every other aspect of life you know that logics unworthy

Its like saying you play for the lakers just because you bought a jersey

But see I played this game too; no one seemed to be on to me,

I was acting like church kid, while addicted to pornography.

I’d go to church on Sunday, but on saturday getting faded,

Acting as if I was simply created to have sex and get wasted.

Spend my whole life putting on this façade of neatness,

But now that I know Jesus, I boast in my weakness.

If grace is water, then the church should be an ocean,

Cuz its not a museum for good people, it’s a hospital for the broken

I no longer have to hide my failures I don’t have to hide my sin,

Because my salvation doesn’t depend on me, it depends on him.

because when I was Gods enemy and certainly not a fan,

God looked down on me and said, “I want that man!”

Which is so different from religious people, and why Jesus called em fools

Don’t you see hes so much better than just following some rules?

Now let me clarify, I love the church, I love the bible, and I believe in sin

But my question, is if Jesus were here today, would your church let Him in?

Remember He was called a drunkard and a glutton by “religious men”

The Son of God not supported self-righteousness, not now, not then.

Now back to the topic, one thing I think is vital to mention,

How Jesus and religion are on opposite spectrums,

One is the work of God one is a man made invention,

One is the cure and one is the infection.

Because Religion says do, Jesus says done.

Religion says slave, Jesus says son,

Religion puts you in shackles but Jesus sets you free.

Religion makes you blind, but Jesus lets you see.

This is what makes religion and Jesus two different clans,

Religion is man searching for God, but Christianity is God searching for man.

Which is why salvation is freely mine, forgiveness is my own,

Not based on my efforts, but Christ’s obedience alone.

Because he took the crown of thorns, and blood that dripped down his face

He took what we all deserved, that’s why we call it grace.

While being murdered he yelled “father forgive them, they know not what they do”,

Because when he was dangling on that cross, he was thinking of you

He paid for all your sin, and then buried it in the tomb,

Which is why im kneeling at the cross now saying come on there’s room

So know I hate religion, in fact I literally resent it,

Because when Jesus cried It is finished, I believe He meant it."

Well, Amen to that!

3 Weeks Until The Big Move!

Ok folks.. this is it, the reason I made this blog in the first place! As most of you reading this already know, I am very interested in travelling the world and learning about new customs and cultures. The reason I started writing this blog was to keep friends and family back home updated on all of my experiences whilst I am travelling. I ended up starting the blog before I even left my little ol' town of Port Colborne. Finally, after all the years that I have waited, my dreams are coming true. A little over a month ago, I got my dream job of working in England at a resort called 'Butlins'. I am an official Red Coat. Two days ago, I found out that I got my visa, which allows me to work in the UK for up to two years. I am booking my flight shortly, and im planning on leaving February 3rd, then starting work on February 10th. I can't believe how fast this is approaching, and how in a month from now, I will be working in a whole new country. I am so excited, words just can't show. For those looking at your calenders.. yes you are seeing that correctly, I am out of here in just over three weeks.. This gives me just enough time to pack up everything in my life into either boxes, or my two luggage pieces.. moving to a country for two years, and I have TWO BAGS TO PACK THAT INTO. Are you f'real? Yeah right.. I doubt this is going to work out. Ill keep you posted.

I don't know a whole lot about the experience I am going into, but thats part of the excitement. I don't know how many other redcoats work in Butlins; who my room mate / mates will be; if i will be liked; how challenging my job will be; the nightlife in bognor; my paycheck.. so many unknowns, but im just so excited that I am not to worried about any of those.  I am thrilled that I can now tell people about my goals and what I am going to be doing for the next few years of my life, because I have had to keep it quiet for a long time due to my jobs. If I didn't get my visa, or the job itself, but I had quit at my current job, then I would have been S.O.L.. Now that I have a job & a visa, I told my Sandwhich boss that I am moving, and gave them three weeks notice. Yup, I'm pretty much working til a few days before my flight. There are so many people I want to see, say bye too, get updates on, finish any unfinished business, but I'm not sure that three weeks will do the trick. I guess only time will tell, and the people that really want to see me before I go, will make the time, so it should all work out. So any friends reading this, give me a message on facebook or text me if you'd like to grab coffee before I go. As for everyone else, stay tuned.. my blogs about to get interesting.