After days of counting down her arrival, Charlotte Koppe (Christies mom) arrived to Brighton. She got a good seat sale, and obviously wanted to visit her daughter...and us too! We were all excited for the visit. A mom, someone from home, and someone to talk to and listen to our problems. Mom's are the best for that.
Her first impression of Brighton was a confused one. Knocking on the window of our flat because our bell is broken, and we were all very asleep. Thankfully, she finally got ahold of Christie on her phone. Oops.
Though jet lagged, she visited over coffee and brought presents. Christie purse, wallet, cards, and presents (me and stef got some too!) We also enjoyed seeing pictures of Jacob, Christies nephew. Cute lil guy.
During Charlottes visit, her and christie did a London tour, went to Stonehedge, cruise, and all the Brighton attractions. They even went to Harrolds. This was clearly a highlight by the look on their faces when they told us about the wonderment of the famous department store in London. One night Christie had to work, so me and Stef showed her the Lanes and took her for a pint of beer and fish and chips. Always a classic.
Christie and her mom also came to me and stef's work for lunch. Of course I didnt have the chance to serve them, because Lucas found them fabulous and enjoyed serving them. Popular ladies.
It was so nice having Charlotte here. Its so nice to have a mom around that cleaned, bought food for the fridge and loved to hear our worn out stories. She throughly enjoyed her trip and the time with her daughter. Me and Stef are a tad jealous, Maybe our mommies will come for a quickie visit?
So winter has hit in Brighton. Hard to tell...yes, it has chilled off. But where is the snow? Who would have thought I could miss the snow so much. Just doesnt feel right. Honestly, I would take the snow over this. Its frezzing! 5 celicus with frezzing rain and the wind that is lined with salt from the sea. You turn onto my street that leads straight to the sea.....I honestly had trouble walking. The wind was so intense, you could just hear the howling. All you from Lethbridge....the wind is way worse here. So be grateful for that...and the fact you have a car and dont actually have to stand outside and deal with it.
I get a kick out of, everytime I come into Giraffe grumbling about how cold it is they respond..."But your from Canada, Canadians dont get cold." In Canada I had a car and enough money to buy a nice winter jacket and ugg boots. Im frezzing!
Giraffe is good. I enjoy working there, and now that Ive been there for a bit Im making friends and things are coming to me easier. Thanks to my Aunt Leah, who sent me a wonderful list with slang words and what they equate to. It was very helpful. Its a small staff at Girafee, so you actually get to know who your working with...I like that. It amazes me that even half way across the world...servers complain about the same things, the kitchen people all have that certain personailty, managers always grumble about the same crap....Its no different.
However, serving British people is different. When they are seated you have to give them at least 5 min to look over the drinks. Any sooner, they will offensivly ask for more time due to the fact they havent read the entire drink menu yet. Then....its a coke and a water.
They are also offended about taking plates away before everyone is done there meal. And the bill? You have to wait to be asked. Its considered rushing to bring it any sooner. As you can probably imagine...I just stand there staring at them waiting and debating if its been to soon or not. Alas....Im sure Ill get a feel for it soon enough.
I've made up a bit of a game when it comes to my accent. At least 2 or 3 times a shift I am asked where Im from. Then I make them guess.....cold....no ...no...warmer....almost....you got it! So far I have gotten Canadian more then American. They usually say..." Yep, I knew it...I could tell it was a Canadian accent not American." Really? Because I cant. I would just assume they were from North America.
Surprisly, most know quite about Canada. Most even know where Calgary is. Impressive seeing I dont even know what the closest town is to Brighton. I dont even know if I could pick out Brighton on a map. I know, sad....work on your geography.
Although, being that I am Canadian...I ID people that buy alchol that look under 25. I kept getting alot of weird looks. Even " OMG I haven't been ID is SOOOO long" She's 23. Then I found out that you only have to be 16 to order a beer in a resturant. And they only ID people that look under 21. Wow, I look stupid. I dont ID anymore.
Another weird issue Im not used to is pregnant women ordering a beer or wine. Here is a beautifully dressed women who is visibly pregnant, with her husband and kids ordering a Corona. I kinda just looked at her funny till she repeated herself. I asked one of my co workers if thats common pratice. He just said, well ....I mean...she probably shouldnt...but ya they sometimes drink. She wasn't a trashy woman, and Ive seen 2 other women do it as well. Dont really know how I feel about that.
As well, I have met my first celebrity. Ross Noble. Hes a famous comedian over here. Obviously, Ive never heard of him. He came to Giraffe by himself. He was friendly enough and cause it was slow I chatted with him a bit. He asked where I was from....he lost. American he thought I was...nope. However, he told me when he was in Canada he went to a Blue Jays game. It was sponserd by KFC, and during half time they were throwing drumstick into the crowd. Wow. Trashy much Canada? I just kind of stared at him with embrassment that this is his impression of my country.
Later the bartender saw him and was clearly star stuck. Then all of my other co workers were in excitment. Clearly he is a big deal. I told the bartender to go get his autograph...but he was too shy. So I went over to Ross and said " So appartenly your a famous comedian, Sorry Ive never heard of you... Im from Canada" Haha he laughed and said he figured as much, but that he enjoyed talking to someone who didnt know who he was. Then I asked him to sign an autograph for the bartender. He wrote " Your a big scardy cat, getting a girl to do your dirty work. Cheers Ross Noble" Then I told him I would youtube him to see what he was all about. I did later that night....hes actually really good! Fun experience either way.
Me and the girls have been getting out more as well. The other night me and stef went to a Jazz club. It was a live band playing the craziest music. There was a dj, cello, guitar, violin and a girl scatting. It was like techno jazz. Still havent met my prince. There are alot of gay men here. *sigh*
Trisha's visa has gone through and she will be joining us in Brighton very soon. Our one room is so small me and Trish will be bunkbeddies...to be honest, we still need to measure it to make sure it would fit. Manana Manana. We are all very excited. We hope shes here for Christmas!
Today I heard about the tragedy in Lethbridge. I worked with Tabitha at Montanas. She was an amazingly beautiful girl. She had a great smile and a personality with spunk. I always loved working with her, I was always envious at how good she was behind the bar. Now her life has been taken away from her. She was so young. They were all so young. When Tess died I felt the same. So young, same age as me and gone in the blink of an eye. My thoughts are with her family and friends, so senseless. Makes you realize just how short life can be. Enjoy it while you can.
Our christmas plan will be fairly uneventful. Christie has to work but me and stef have Christmas off. We are going to attempt to cook a ham, stuffing, potatoes, and pumpkin pie. It has disaster written all over it. Thank god for chinesse take out....lets face it...you know it will end that way. While it may be a small and lonely christmas...we have eachother and wine. It cant be that bad. However, with Christmas approaching I find me really missing my family and friends back home. Like missing the Swiss Christmas party. And being there Christmas morning with my family, having coffee and wifesaver. Next year, cause this year were trying out a Brighton Christmas.
So to all of our friends and family back in Canada. We love you all, we miss you all. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
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