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
Maple xo
