The Redhead Jumped Over the Pond (And the Dish Ran Away with the Spoon): First Few Days in Southampton

Hello everyone,
I haven't posted in a few days so I thought I'd update. The first few days have been a whirlwind. Liz and I have been out exploring the city pretty much every day.
Friday...
Haven't taken as many buses as we have just been walking around. Liz found out where she's been placed on Monday morning, so she aped out the bus route she'd need to take and we figured out a little bit. So we grabbed the bus to the city centre, and then once we found out what her next bus stop would be, we walked around West Quay. We bought bus passes for a week. Did you know there's 8 different bus companies operating in Southampton?! How do we know which to take?!?! Luckily, the pass we bought covers two of the companies-- Unilink and Bluestar. So after being around the city centre, we walked home and Liz led us back to the flat. Once we got home, I had a little bit of anxiety but I lay on my bed and breathed through it. (hey, I said I'd write about the good and the bad, right?) So that night, we decided to celebrate our first weekend in the UK. We first went to a pub close to the flat the "Sir Admiral Lucius Curtis." I ordered a new cooler-- WKD and it's blue! It was pretty good. Liz, being the outgoing person she is, started chatting up some girls and they gave us some suggestions for the city. Next, we walked up to "Turtle Bay" where as I waited at a table for Liz to order her drink, I saw her chatting with someone else. The guy invited us to the table with his friends (who were from all over!). Had a good chat with the guy, Tommy, I was sitting beside about the various swear words in England and what to watch out for. After having a drink with them, we walked more up the street and walked back down, stopping for gelato along the way... The last place we stopped at was "The Standing Order" Liz ordered for me.. we both thought it'd be a cooler but it was beer, so she drank it and her own. haha Then we walked home, getting a little lost along the way. Liz had be hopping a few fences along the way... ahh!

Saturday...
I still find myself sleeping later into the morning and not as tired at night... I've really gotta force myself to go to bed earlier. We had scheduled to meet with Mike (our landlord) at 1 to set up our bank accounts. Turns out, we found out as we pulled up to the bank, that it was closed.. (it had been open in the morning!) So instead, Mike drove us around to see where Liz's monday school will be. He didn't take the main roads as they were quite congested with many people leaving on cruise ships. By the time we made it back to the flat, I was feeling overwhelmed again. Just after I'd gotten to feeling like I could navigate a little bit around.. and then it felt like the rug had been pulled out from underneath me. I lay on the bed and came out to kitchen to find Liz getting ready to leave. I can't describe it, but somehow that set me over. I began to tear up and found it hard to catch my breath.. I'm sure she didn't know what to do with me! After she left and I couldn't catch my breath, I called my Auntie. It was about 2:40pm here, so morning for her but she talked me down. She insisted I get out, try a bus, take it to the mall and get my knitting supplies.. So I took her advice once we hung up. Caught the bus where Liz and I had caught it before and found myself very quickly at the city centre. I was the person who wore her sunglasses inside mostly because my eyes were still puffy and I did have moments of tearing up again when I felt overwhelmed. But, for the most part it was a positive trip. I went to a few different stores, got some salad in the food court (perhaps not the right terminology haha), and found the bus to get back. Though, I had a little questioning moments.. I knew how to get to the mall (so many different buses could have gotten me there) but my ticket was for route 8, did the return have to be on 8 as well.. And how do I know which route I wanted... Don't worry, I figured it out.. Any bus that's headed to Woolston is one that I can catch! I was texting Sarah at this point and I saw the 8 pulling away, but I wasn't in any rush so we chatted while I waited for the next bus.

Once I arrived home, Liz was already home and we caught up. She managed to find a guitar string for her guitar! We went on the search for recycling, garbage and laundry facilities... Found the recycling. On the way back in, knocked on the neighbours doors. Been told that it was like "Little Canada" with all of the Canadian Teachers but at this point, hadn't met anyone yet. We knocked and heard a muffled "come in."(Not sure who they were expecting haha). We met Hannah and Liz-- two maritimers who are here for the same reason we are :) We invited them to come up at some point later in the evening. We also knocked on the door half a floor below ours and met Jesse (also a maritimer). The three of them came over for a few drinks, and we enjoyed the company, sharing, and getting to know each other. It's comforting to know that other people are just as anxious as I am.

I started my pattern for this new knitting endeavour. This one is to make a snood... I've been told that is the right word but it sounds like something out of the Lorax... So, I've been messaging friend's at home telling them about my snood! haha I'll probably end up sending it home (if I can find the post office) to some unknowing recipient. haha Although I had wanted to get to bed at a decent time this evening, it was still about 1:30 AM before I closed my eyes... This really isn't helping my sleep schedule.

Sunday...
Woke up around 7 this morning but promptly fell back asleep. Hannah and Liz (and their friend Maggie) mentioned going to a church service this morning.. Who knows... maybe I'll be able to join them some week..I thought we had plans with the Landlord Mike to check out bikes and a market area (at least to my understanding) but he wasn't able to so Liz and I went back to bed.. Well, I watched a movie and did some knitting. Realized that I somehow kept adding stitches to my needles so I started again. I think I've got the hang of it now! Last night, we all made plans to go to the Coriander (an Indian food restaurant Liz wanted to try) for 1. So we met in the hallway and off we went. As we walked, could hear someone yelling, "girls! girls!"but no one knew the yelling was directed at us.. We don't know what the guy wanted.. Guess he found a good parking space and wanted to share??
The Cordiander had good food (my mouth felt like it was on fire!) but I probably wouldn't go back on my own accord as I'm not a huge fan of Indian food. But the company was good. Afterwards we split up, Liz (my roommate) and Jesse went into the city centre and Maggie, Hannah, Liz and I walked back to the flat, but not before stopping for a milkshake! They took me by the wall-- which used to be the city limits and we chatted along the way home. I spent a bit of town in their flat (interesting to see how differently they're set up!) and then came back up here to work some more on knitting and begin writing this addition to the blog.. Liz came home and we decided to go and get a few groceries at the Tesco (just down the street). We leisurely walked along and now we're back home. On the agenda tonight is a Skype with Laura, some dinner, and preparing to maybe get called in tomorrow for supply work (that's what is causing me the most anxiety... not knowing IF I'll get called in... and not having much time to figure out bus routes, etc). Aunt Marjorie's advice was to work on my knitting as it would take my mind off of things... She's quite smart!

Until next time,
Jenna