Caughting up on Pictures

Brighter Days in Brighton

It was three weeks ago we went trotting down Queens way, with 19kg backpacks, haggered messes, looking for a hostel in Hove. Seems like months ago. Now were trotting to a different pace, living life with a completely different mindset. Settling in, nesting, integrating ourselves into the UK.
Now that ALL of us have jobs, were getting into a routine. Its nice to be honest. Spontanous, adventures, globe trotting has been fun. But, I do believe my body apperciates the good nights rest.

Our jobs are lovely. Stef is loving Pho, shes moving up the server ranks fast. Constantly being apperciated for her incentive and charming service. Plus they love her. However, I have never met anyone who hasnt instantly fallen in love with her.

Christie as well is loving her place of employment. Her graceful personality works well in fine dining. Due to her hard work, shes getting some of the best hours and tips. Her co-workers also love her witty charm. Just last night, we went ice skating with her some of her fellow employees.

The ice rink is at the Royal Pavillion, this huge Taj Mahol looking castle in the heart of Brighton. Not as large as a Canadian rink, but an amazing view of the towering icon. Some of her new friends have never been on ice before. Coming from Bolviaria and the Dominican Republic, I understand the reason. Interesting to watch an adult learn to skate for the first time. Some wine and cheer, couple falls on the ice, it was a lovely Christmas activity that makes a girl feel kinda homesick. Great time nonetheless.

Giraffe is a job that was well worth the stress of unemployment. The small staff, teamworking, fast paced atmosphere is right up my alley. I love it. The tips are nice as well, not much, only 10 - 15pounds per shift....either way...more then I was expecting. After work, most of the staff enjoy a beer and a good chat. I can already tell Im going to make some good friends here. Especially Lucas, the polish gay manager who is full of life and enjoys my humor. Reminds me of my good polish friend Kasia from Swiss. Only the male version of her.

With more security in income, we've been able to enjoy some Brighton nightlife. Fortunatly, our friends from upstairs are kind enough to show us around. The clubs are pretty pumping....young though. Im sure we'll find our favorite spot soon enough though.

Its been amazing having friends the flat above. Especially when they have wifi and lend us their password. BOO YAH! Now our flat is complete with internet connection. Makes skyping with the parents more enjoyable. Not having to sit at starbucks with shotty wifi, yelling over the back ground noise with eveyone looking at you funny.

We have also acomplsihed orientating ourselves around Brighton. We know were to buy groceries, banking, get to work and even the quickest way to the seafront. Really starting to feel like a local.

On my day off, I went exploring. The Brighton pier is a famous staple of Sussex history. Seen from almost any part of the seafront. The pier is open all year round, offering everything from arcade games to fish and chips with beer to amusement rides. Lively place, even at the end of November.
Just next to the pier is the ferris wheel. Large and beautiful, I imagine the view from on top is breathtaking. Price wise it is out of the budget for now....one day though.

My favorite part is the birds. Overlooking the pier, you get a wonderful view of the waves crashing against the pebble shoreline. Above, is hundreds of sparrows that are grouped together flying back and forth to the movement of the sea. It was such a unquie experience. I have no clue as to what the purpose was behind these sparrows....but I did enjoy the opportunity to watch.

Trisha, (Stefs sister) skyped last night with wonderful news. Her papers are in the process and after one last appointment she will be able to join us in a couple of weeks. She will be bunking with me. Litterally....the room is tight so to fit two beds were getting a bunk bed. I do love a bunk bed slumber party! It will be nice to have another girl in the house...someone with new stories. Just dont tell our landlord, we didnt mention the extra body. Oops.

Last night, we came to vastly apperciate technology as we know it today. After a Bad Boy 2 movie session, facebook blew up with news of the looming fire coming towards Lethbridge. We were able to facebook friends, strem Country 95.5 for local news, even skype my family to see that everything and everyone was ok. Being so far from home, its horrible to hear that your hometown is in danger. However, technology is so amazing....I knew about the fire before my mother.

Skype is by far my lifesaver. Being able to see and talk face to face with my family eases the pain of being away. As well, its good to catch up with old friends. This morning us girls were lucky enough to meet Cheryl and Jess baby boy Ethan. After months of Wing Wednesdays, watching Cheryl grow this precious child....we got to meet him. Not quite as good as being able to hold him....but its better then nothing. It was also amazing to see that Cheryl, while a new mom....looked incredible. I have bags under my eyes, and shes a model....even though it was 6 in the morning at the time! Motherhood agrees with this lady.

Life in Brighton is filled with new experiences and new friends. We made the right choice moving here and making it our home. As well, Christie's mom is coming this Friday. It will be nice to have a mom around. Till next time, Cheers.

Well....this is awkward.

With most new countries we have visited. The wording is different. Easy enough, theres a million other
words to use to get your point across. Some discovered so far.

Apartment = Flat

Bathroom = Toilet

Pint of Beer = Large Cider

Man = Bloke (love that one, now I just need to find myself one)

Bullshit = Bullocks

and the:

You ok?
The first time I heard that I was in the midst of handing out my resumes for the second time and on the verge of tears over unemployed frustration. I gave the Starbucks man a quizzical look and open my mouth to tell him " Of course Im not ok! I dont have a job, Im broke as a joke, my feet hurt from these boots and Im sleeping on the floor cause I dont have a mattress!"Thankfully, before I could speak he asked me what I'd like to order.

After a couple more similar situations, Ive come to realize this is the British " Hey, How are ya?" However, when your brain's been wired to interpurt such a comment as a form of concern.....it makes you feel awkward. You first instint is defense...."Im fine, why do you ask? Does it look like Im not fine?" Instead, I just smile and nod. I dont really know how to respond apportiatly.

I mean, how does the squence go? Further research needs to be done.

Next Issue. The Language. We don't speak the language. Yes we both speak english, but I do believe I could understand spanish better then Im picking up on this language. How in the world will we ever be able to understand the mumble? Who knew it could be so difficult.

To add to the distress of communication, the art of conversation in Britian also demands advanced learning. Eye contact. I never realized how important it could be. It acknowledges the person you wish to speak to, and provides a sense of interest in that person. Here its not used to the same extent.

Often times, (as I discovered my first day of work) they do the pass by mumble. As they walk by they do not look at you, say something to you the exact moment they pass you, and expect you to follow them. Well, picture me standing there looking ahead as the manager walks by. Then he stops, turns around and taps me on the shoulder to follow him. Sadly, there were many times with everyone that happened.

Rude? I was thinking that at first. But they all do it to each other. Of course, they all speak British so they actually understand what it is the person is saying. I dont.

Unfortunatly, due to the language barrier....I come off as an idiot. Sorry, can you repeat that? What would you like me to do? What did you just say? Everytime with a confused look on my face.

I thought, maybe Im just not concentrating enough. So know Ive taken to looking intently at their mouth and squinting....because when your squinting people know your seriously listening. I think Im just coming off as the weird new girl. Alas, if only there were a class I could take to understand the language.

Another issue, which I am sure is a famous concern for most newcomers.....the wrong side of the road. Naively, I did believe this would not affect me....its not like im going to be driving. Did not consider crossing the road. I keep looking the opposite direction of oncoming traffic. That, and I hate waiting for the green man to walk. See how this could be dangerous?

This may be more of a Brighton thing then a Britian thing but......Seagulls? After my incident with the Seagull in Monte Carlo (Ya, it was me) I hate the filthy things. But they are everywhere and loved. You see tons of people feeding them....like they are cute little creatures. Gross. Brightons football team is even called Seagulls. Wow, real aggressive.

It honestly feels like I am re-wiring my brain to live in Britian. Changelling and exciting, also frustrating. But thats part of the fun right? Being somewhere new and different. Being the newcomer to this Royal land. I promise to keep you all updated on my awkward attempts to intigrate into this society. Lets face it, graceful....I am not.

Things are Starting to Come Together

Its amazing how up to date you can stay on the blog when your unemployed. I feel more productive then ever. To bad I dont get paid for it.

Alrighty....15 days living in Brighton. What have we accomplished?

After eight days of sleeping on the floor and sharing the couch as a bed. We have mattress'. We have slept in ALOT of hostels, but even the worst bed was a throne compared to our sleeping arrangment.
Went to the YMCA in hove. And got a huge dinosaur tv for 25 pounds. Even picks up FIVE channels! What lucky girls we are. However British tv is hard to follow. The accent mixed with the mumble is tough to understand. Can we write off the tv as research?

Bought some dishes from the Pound Store. Yep, thats right...cheap and only a pound. Thats going to take some getting used to...Pound, not Dollar. We have lovely penguin plastic dishes. And I found a Belle mug. *sigh* lucky!

After some terrifying days and creative ideas about what I will do if I cant get a job. I finally joined the working world again. Giraffe. Chain resturant, fast paced, fun filled character who are emplyed there ( I just know we will get along!) and they love to pride themselves on friendly happy servers. Sounds like Swiss eh? Just my kind of place!! I might even get some tips!!! Heres to hoping.

Set up our utility bills. Still have no idea if its a set price, when to pay it, or where to pay it. We'll figure that out later. I think its an accomplishment that would could understand the representative enough to set it up.

Got a bank account. No money in there....but the fact I dont have to walk inside HSBC ever again...makes me estatic!

Met the neighbors the flat above us. Three young boys that are going to school part time, living off their parents money, and play alot of video games. Shy, but they invited us up to their flat for a drink. Super nice boys....we are waiting for the right time to ask for their wifi password. Fingers crossed!

Even though money is tight, we went out looking for friends. We are STRAVED for conversation. Last night, me and stef had an entire conversation with the guy that sold us our yogurt at the supermarket.
Nice guy, his birthday is tomm and he turns 50. I know....sad. Unfortunatly, the night while fun.....did not make us any friends. But the music was pumping. Is there such a thing as online friend sites that set you up with new friends in your area? Like, friendsforlife.co.uk?

Either way, through the stress, fears, and tears...its been nice to have each other. Can't imagine doing all this alone.

At First You Dont Succed.....Trial, Trial Again.

So, as we soon discovered...a trial run is when you go to a place and do an entire shift for free. Instead of an interview, they just throw you in there and see how you do. Then from there, decide if they want to hire you. Terrifying.

Christies up first. Black Lion. Nice pub, close to our place....lots of different kinds of beer. Nervous, we walked her to work and wished her luck. After work, she explained how different the drinks are in the UK then Canada. Even pouring them is different, with different measurement for the head and mixes to go in them. As well, all the beers are different....expect for the odd Bud or Corona.

On top of that, British people mumble. You can hardle understand them, even though their speaking english. Its going to take awhile to get used to that. Also, there is no such thing as table service. Everyone comes up to the bar for their drinks and to order food. So you are expected to make drinks, run food, clear tables, clean....everything. Everyone is everywhere. Very different.

After, they told Christie that they could give her part time till she was fully trained enough to do full time. Obviously, Christie didnt throughly enjoy the job even though the people were friendly. Then, as luck would have it....she got a call for an interview and the place she was hoping would call. The Little Bay. After sitting down with the owner, she knew she would love it. Easy going, resturant (table service!!!), and a really kind man.....she got the job. She would start training right away....no silly trial.

Christie didnt have the same luck with the Body shop. After a quick introduction, they handed her a product and sent her into the lions den. While Christie did an amazing job, faking it till you make it, (especially with no training at all) they called her into the office, sat her down....and said " If we call you, great. If we dont, thanks for coming in" Curt and Rude. She was to good for that place anyways.

Stef was next for her trial at PHO. A vietnamesse resturant. Stef rocked it. She was busing tables, expoing food, running drinks, taking orders. Even with the tricky words, she faked it and sold those sauces like no ones business. After her trial, she was nervous....but it was silly. Next morning they offer her a job, with a shift that night.

Two girls with jobs, one to go.

My turn. Font, a bar in the lanes of Brighton. Huge, cheap drinks and a popular place to go. Now, I didnt have much bar experience to begin with and after Christies experience I was nervous. However, after a quick introduction they gave me a card and said go help customers. Well, I did the best I could. I was slow but holding my own. When I wasnt helping customers I was busy clearing tables, doing dishes and helping run food. I kept busy. After, they said they would call me the next day.

They never called till Saturday. And on saturday, the manager says he wants to do ANOTHER trial (remeber no pay) on Friday, depending how that goes then maybe he will give me a job. I cant wait another 6 days without a job, and a maybe employment. Looks like Im back at square one.

Over the Sunday and Monday I handed out all together over 50 resumes. Im exhausted. And the harrassing from the girls about me being an unemployed bum are getting old. I need a job!!

I had an interview today for a resturant, and an interview tomm for a pub. And if all else fails....FONT. However, I really hope I dont have to resort to working there. So, for all that take pity on me....keep your fingers crossed I get a job. Canadian funds are suffering.

However, while we havent had much time to see Brighton. We are really enjoying our apartment. Were nesting. Staying in, drinking tea...enjoying a TV we bought for 20 pounds. Second hand. After so much go go go the last 70 days...I like doing nothing. That and we cant afford to do anything, so it works. Settling is the hardest. But were doing alright.

So Much to Do.....Where do we Begin?

Lets face it. We have done no research into Brighton, how to find jobs in the UK or even how you go about getting a flat. To be honest, the entire backpacking trip it was the furthest thing from our minds. We will figure it out... later.

So, important things first. Find Job. Find Flat. Well....it cant be that hard. Has to be similar to Canada......right?

Nah, of course not. That makes life to easy.

The first day, we asked the receptionist where the city centre is. Queens way, perfect...we know where that is. Were half way there. 21 resumes later and aching feet...we waited for a call. We all mostly went to coffee shops, pubs and resturants, and a few retail. That night all three of us got calls for trial runs. Chrisitie at the Black Loin and Body Shop, Stef at Pho and me at Font.

What does a trial run mean? We would soon find out.

With trial runs set for later in the week. (And jobs we assumed...so naive.) We decided to focus on flats.

Gumtree. The craigs list of the UK. Perfect....we found some places and made a few calls. We got one call to view a flat. 980 a month, two bedrooms, and 2 min walk from the English Channel. Brillant.

We go to meet Sarah who was doing this sale privatly. The place is just off of Kings way, so we didnt have any problem finding it. Once inside, we knew we HAD to get this place. It is beautiful and spacious. Comes with two couches, coffee table, tv stand, night stand, dishwasher, laundry, drawers and two closets. It far surpasses what we thought we would live in.

Sarah, who is a sweetheart....sits us down to have a chat.

Sarah: So do you girls have work?

Us: Not excatly, but we have trial runs....we just got here a couple of days ago

Sarah: O...do you have a contract with them? How do you plan to make an income?

This is the point we knew we would really have to sell ourselves to her to get the place. We explained that we have worked really hard to get her, we have reserve funds from Canada, we love the place and would treat it with the upmost respect. She tells us, if we would be willing to pay the deposit and 6 months upfront....it might work. We agree.....although to be honest we didnt know if we had the funds. She told us there was more people looking at the place and she would let us know.

Off to HSBC to figure out how to get the funds together. I wont even get into the HSBC drama. I hate HSBC. I cant wait to move banks....remeber our HSBC experience in London? It was similar to that.

With the knowledge we could get the funds together......and when I say get the funds together....I mean BARELY. We waited for the call. Sarah calls just after three and announces shes going to give us the place! We asked her about the other people and she remarked " They were ok, but you girls were so much nicer!" Go Canada!

The next day we signed the contracts, did a walk threw of the apartment, handed over 7105 pounds and got the keys. We now have a home. And no money. So this is what broke and unemployed feels like.

Moving was pretty easy. We unpacked our backpacks. Took up one drawer and 5 hangers. Dont have alot of stuff to fill just yet. But we found a poundland, (dollar store...holla!) so we have the basics.

Spending that first night together, huddled on the couches, (we dont have mattresses yet) and not having to stay in a hostel....was the best feeling. This is ours.

Volume Two of our European Adventures

November 5, 2011. After 70 days of backpacking we have finally made it to Brighton. This is to become our new home, our life for the next year. As well, today is our last travel day....which is about as exciting as moving to Brighton. Of course, it would not be an easy travel day. Why would it be easy....better to make life interesting.

Three different trains, couple crappy directions and an exhausted crew....we made it. The directions to our Hostel were pretty easy to follow. Head down Queens way, turn right on Kings way and your there. Little did we know it would be an hour walk.

Though, it was for the best. Our first impression of Brighton. Walking down Queens way on a saturday night....it was pumping with young people our age. Turning onto Kings way, the smell of the sea invirates you, you realize your walking along the famous English Channel. Gorgous boardwalk leading into colorful pebble beach which streams into wide open seas as far as the eye can see. I could get used to this. Walking along, nervous we might be heading the wrong way...we stopped to discuss where we are. Along come a friendly gentleman, then another who see were lost and helps us out. He goes into a hotel to get directions, loooks on the GPS on his phone, and walks us half way to make sure we get there ok. If the people are all like him, we are most certainly in the right place.

Checking into our hostel, which is in Hove...not Brighton. We already knew it wouldnt be great. Running low on funds, with no jobs...we booked the cheapest place we could find. In a 20 person dorm. Not great. It was ok, till the next day. Me and stef went for coffee, came back to find an 58 year old man sitting on one of the dorm beds with his pant half off in his boxers.

I already know this isnt going to go well. Turn the cornor and there Christie with the classic terrified look. Without a word I turn around and book us a private room for a couple extra pounds. After 70 days of backpacking, sometimes no words are needed.

It was for the best. Our gut feelings have never lead us astray. This man is at the top for creepest people we've met. He had it all: asking if he could stay with us, asking me to be his girlfriend, offering to teach us astrology, playing techno music far to loud, hes Slovac, and telling Christie she must be sick because she eats cheese. Classy guy.

Equipped with a private room, resumes (CV's as they call them here) and a new life ahead....we started the week of endless errands.