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