~ ANNE! ~

And here I am in Belfast - again. I suppose at this point it just makes sense to move here, as I've spent a ridiculous amount of time here anyway. It will be good to hang out with John (despite the fact that he works some very strange hours at the hostel) and it's much cheaper to live here. I just hope I can find a job, because cheap or not it's difficult to live without money coming in! (Although to be honest I saved more than I expected to while in London, so I'm not doing too badly in general).

Speaking of London, I will clarify: I DO NOT hate London! It's a great city - to visit. I did kind of dislike living there (although Bethnal Green was actually pretty cool) but that's mostly because I've never been much of a city person. London is far too much city for me to handle for more than a few weeks. I will be back, though. I've planned to go back for the last weekend before I head to Canada - go out to my favorite places, hang out with the friends I FINALLY managed to make, and pack everything I stowed in the closet at 16 Thornaby House into bags to drag back home.

I was much sadder than I expected to leave. I think it's because things were finally starting to fall into place, socially. I started hanging out with Perrine, my temporary German flatmate's co-worker (I know, but that's how you meet people in London!). She's from Normandy and we got along pretty well. Emily, the other Canadian from work (who I forgive for being from Ontario) came over on my last night in London as well to "help me pack". This basically involved unpacking everything, exclaiming in disgust at my packing method (cramming things in where they fit), folding and rolling my stuff properly and repacking it. Reminded me, in fact, very much of Steph. It's great just to have some girls to talk to! It was very odd having an almost entirely male social group for the last few months.

So it was a very nice last night and I realised I will miss my flatmates (with one exception, of course - I hope I never see Creepy Dirk ever again). They're all pretty cool in their own way.

Rob: aka "Grandpa". The good ol' Southern boy demeanor is slowly but surely being replaced by an open-minded world traveller. He was the one who talked to me the most and never complained when we took over his room to watch tv. I seem to have added the phrase "hell yeah" to my vocabulary thanks to Rob. (Minus the drawl, though.)

Francis: Ah, the Quebecois. One of the most entertaining people I've ever met, and it wasn't just the accent! Even though every story began, "in my vill-age" or "at my father's manufactory". Francis has had more adventures in 20 years than anyone I've ever met, and will have more because he's not afraid of anything. Vocabulary picked up from Francis: "oh, perfect!".

Nicolas: the French of France, the one who had all the friends and always knew where to go on a Satuday night. Always teasing me for talking too fast, but was always willing to help out when I needed something. Big trouble when combined with Francis and alcohol, though. They're both completely mischevious. Did I mention they stole the England flag off the neighbor's balcony and draped it over Rob while he slept?

Tom: (or Doms, according to Francis, who also refers to me as "Ainge" for reasons known only to himself). Completely sporadic with no attention span at all, but a genuinely sweet person. Spent lots of long nights sitting on the kitchen counter discussing life with Tom. He also manages to be off-handedly generous at any opportunity - and he cleans the kitchen!

I feel like the last few months were definitely an uphill battle, but in the end I won. I got through living in London and I definitely managed to enjoy it.

So I guess we'll see how Belfast treats me! So far it doesn't look so promising - there seem to be tons of extra people living in the house (probably not paying rent). Seven in total, at last count, which is bit much for one bathroom! Also most of them speak Polish, which of course I don't speak a word of. Hmmmm... well, guess we'll see how it goes. Anyway, John is only over at the hostel, and he'll speak English with me...

Oh right, forgot to mention the BUNAC 4th of July cruise, which was pretty cool. A very bad picture of me, plus Rob (far right) and two Australians can be seen here (bottom row of pictures, second from the left). It would be really nice if I didn't close my eyes in EVERY SINGLE PICTURE! Anyway, I enjoyed seeing London from a different perspective, and the free ticket was a nice parting gift from BUNAC.