Monday, May 30, 2005
monster dancing in the park
(sorry I accidentally managed to publish the last post twice!)
so, only a week in Notts but done heaps already and already done quite a bit, nice to know I am here for at least a month cos means I can get stuck in to some projects and things. Moved into the flat that amazingly produced itself right when I needed somewhere to stay - its a terranced house which means its part of a long line of 2 story brick flats all joined in a line with a door right on the footpath and a square of 'garden' out the back (think coro street or any other British series). Its nice though, sharing it with someone else till she migrates to Scotland for a couple of months. Its also in the perfect location - best fruit and vege and general supplies in the area right round the corner, as well as a great chippie and samosa shop (lots of Indian and Pakistani people live here, there are about 6 sari shops nearby too!), then the social centre where I hang out is about 2 minutes away, along with the vegan bakery and organics shop! Its also 15 mins to get into the centre of town. Lovely.
I'm trainning up to help run the bar at the social centre, like cleaning the lines and restocking and all the other duties as well as pulling pints when the bar opens thurs/fri/sat nights. Have done 2 shifts already, great way to meet the locals!
Also helped with 'veggies' the vegan catering gang here that have a fine reputation in Notts for scrummy food! They were at the Green Festival on Sunday - so chopped lots of onions on Saturday!! And yes, another Green Festival! Seem to be doing a tour of them! this one yesterday was alot smaller than Newcastle but still fun and groovy, I helped at the Veggies/Sumac stall, funny giving out info and talking to people like I've been here forever!
Then I had my first paid job in the UK - got to dress up as a blue monster from outerspace, whom together with my pal the purple monster collected children up to do monster dancing with us! The people who do this as a funded job play the violin and guitar and call out the dances, so we just play along and hold the kids hands and try and keep things going smoothly... which didn't always work, the older ones try and pull your mask off and make trouble and the younger ones can't keep up and fall over! Still, lots of fun and a great work-out! And got £10 for it!
Also hunting for more work of the paid variety while I'm here, but sure it won't be nearly as interesting as that.
People are often asking where I'm from and its true NZ has a wonderful reputation over here, and met heaps of people who have been over and loved it etc. My accent sometimes causes problems, the most common one when I say my name - "Cle-ear?" they say, "hmm how do you spell that?"... "oh! Cla-air!" so now I often say my name in an English accent to avoid confusion!
Oh, and we had a really hot day on friday - 25 degrees and really sticky muggy heat - first real summer day over here after a long winter, it was lovely except when you are in a stuffy bar and the dishwasher is right next to you! Won't rub it in how warm it is here though.. :)
love and all things fabulous
xxx
so, only a week in Notts but done heaps already and already done quite a bit, nice to know I am here for at least a month cos means I can get stuck in to some projects and things. Moved into the flat that amazingly produced itself right when I needed somewhere to stay - its a terranced house which means its part of a long line of 2 story brick flats all joined in a line with a door right on the footpath and a square of 'garden' out the back (think coro street or any other British series). Its nice though, sharing it with someone else till she migrates to Scotland for a couple of months. Its also in the perfect location - best fruit and vege and general supplies in the area right round the corner, as well as a great chippie and samosa shop (lots of Indian and Pakistani people live here, there are about 6 sari shops nearby too!), then the social centre where I hang out is about 2 minutes away, along with the vegan bakery and organics shop! Its also 15 mins to get into the centre of town. Lovely.
I'm trainning up to help run the bar at the social centre, like cleaning the lines and restocking and all the other duties as well as pulling pints when the bar opens thurs/fri/sat nights. Have done 2 shifts already, great way to meet the locals!
Also helped with 'veggies' the vegan catering gang here that have a fine reputation in Notts for scrummy food! They were at the Green Festival on Sunday - so chopped lots of onions on Saturday!! And yes, another Green Festival! Seem to be doing a tour of them! this one yesterday was alot smaller than Newcastle but still fun and groovy, I helped at the Veggies/Sumac stall, funny giving out info and talking to people like I've been here forever!
Then I had my first paid job in the UK - got to dress up as a blue monster from outerspace, whom together with my pal the purple monster collected children up to do monster dancing with us! The people who do this as a funded job play the violin and guitar and call out the dances, so we just play along and hold the kids hands and try and keep things going smoothly... which didn't always work, the older ones try and pull your mask off and make trouble and the younger ones can't keep up and fall over! Still, lots of fun and a great work-out! And got £10 for it!
Also hunting for more work of the paid variety while I'm here, but sure it won't be nearly as interesting as that.
People are often asking where I'm from and its true NZ has a wonderful reputation over here, and met heaps of people who have been over and loved it etc. My accent sometimes causes problems, the most common one when I say my name - "Cle-ear?" they say, "hmm how do you spell that?"... "oh! Cla-air!" so now I often say my name in an English accent to avoid confusion!
Oh, and we had a really hot day on friday - 25 degrees and really sticky muggy heat - first real summer day over here after a long winter, it was lovely except when you are in a stuffy bar and the dishwasher is right next to you! Won't rub it in how warm it is here though.. :)
love and all things fabulous
xxx
# posted by claire @ 2:49 PM 
