Rarr

Even the thought of doing a new blog entry over the last couple of weeks (fuck, it’s been AGES, just read my last one ha) has been terrifying! My days are like a big mush into one, I have absolutely no idea what I was up to this time last week, even the weekend requires some thought, but I suppose I have to start somewhere!

I do vaguely remember the Saturday after I finished my last entry actually. I woke up STILL with no voice, bought some sort of herbal throat gargle stuff, but ended up drinking it not gargling it (ha, whoops). Somehow got through 95% of the bottle and went to work feeling a little out of it, but, with a tiny bit of voice! Even now I can remember how freaking amazing that felt. I have never appreciated my voice so much, ever.

I’m staying in a place called the “Barmy Badger Backpackers” (even typing it is embarrassing) but despite the name it’s actually quite cool. Most of the people that are here have been so for months (like, even 6+ months) and at first I couldn’t fathom why anyone would want to spend that much time in a hostel, but I’m now in my third week here ha...

One big plus of staying put is the fact I broke the handle off my big suitcase getting onto the tube. Argh, complete and utter nightmare! You’d have to experience dragging that shit around to really understand I think, I can’t even put into words how god damn annoying that hour or so was.

And I have a massive cupboard here and draws etc, and we have our own bathroom off our room (I share with 5 other people; it really, really does not feel like that though? Again, you’d probably have to experience to believe it) so maybe the reason I’m still here is through sheer laziness of packing all my stuff up again. It’s also quite a small place though so you get to know everyone quite well. There are lotssss of NZers and Australians and a few French and Spanish. It’s fun though, there are always people to hang out with but it’s easy to get away as well. I can walk to work too! (I don’t think many people in London can say that) which is beyond amazing as me and London buses do not mix.

Work is one big hell hole at the moment. I am SO glad I’m leaving in June!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It’s always been a bit up and down, like, some days are fun, some days are shit, but whatever that’s pretty normal. However, at the moment it’s getting progressively worse and it’s not because of the work side of things it’s the people there, argh.

The head chef (who I FINALLY learnt is Belgian, but sometimes he pretends to be French?) has always been a bit of a dick to me, and two Saturdays ago I’d had enough so I interrupted him during one of his “FOR FUCKS SAKE MAN, you’re so SHIT, why do you take so FUCKING long to get into the kitchen when I ring the bell” rants and was like “Why do you have to take everything out on me?” (Or words to that extent) and he was like “Maybe it’s because I like you too much darling” (or some shit) and I just looked at him like “What the faaark” and walked off.

Then when he finished his shift he kept hovering around the bar asking me why I don’t have a boyfriend etc, to which I replied I didn’t want one and he finally pissed off. Unfortunately that put a massive damper on what was otherwise an awesome night as Tim and I were doing a function upstairs and we each got a forty pound tip (!!!!!!!!!!) from the man who organised the party for his wife or someone, who happened to be a DEAD ringer for Mark from Peep Show (If you don’t know what I’m talking about PLEASE watch Peep Show ha) Then I missioned my way to Bethnal Green, ended up on Oxford St eating a bagel from one of the most famous bagel shops in London (apparently) at 5am, knowing full well I had work at midday, after meeting a bunch of cool people from NZ (there are no cool English people, by the way)

So unfortunately that Sunday is still very fresh in my mind as it was so horrible. I wasn’t as ridiculously tired as I deserved to be which was ONE good thing, but we were severely understaffed and I was’ meant’ to be in two functions and being sole operator of the main bar downstairs all at once? Sweet. I also had chef (Gilles) hovering around continually asking me to go have a drink with him after work. I caved (pinnacle moment in why work SUCKS so bad now, will never cave to do anything I really don’t want to do EVER again)

I figured at the time I’d have one beer with him, be a bitch then go home which is usually easy enough to achieve. But he kept buying beer after beer after beer and sitting there rabbiting on about himself (SUCH a drag, my god) I quite genuinely disagreed with everything he had to say about anything, but that didn’t seem to matter as he still decided it was a good idea to lunge across the table and do his best to bite my tongue off, gag. It was disgusting. I kept being like no, no, no, no this is not what I want, at all. But he kept trying his luck. I FINALLY got away, refused to give him my number, thinking surely he’d realise I DID NOT LIKE HIM AT ALL.

Apparently that wasn’t the case though. He went home and broke up with his girlfriend (!!!!!!!!!!!) Which I got to hear all about two days later (fortunately, I wasn’t working again until the Wednesday)

I avoided him like the plague at work, and he got my number off someone else (urgh) and kept texting me like “Why did you look so upset, blah blah blah” 

I think he has selective shit English and when he doesn’t like what someone tells him he pretends not to get it.

So work was all a little tense and awkward last week, but nothing I couldn’t handle. I thought he’d got the message well and truly and got over it, but no such luck.

On Sunday night it was Enrique’s leaving drinks, and everyone was at work (I was actually working, along with one of the managers, no one else was) drinking. They were supposedly moving on early but they just never did and ended up staying until close. Then they were off to some salsa bar not far away and told me to join afterwards.

I wasn’t going to because I was tired and didn’t have a change of clothes or anything, but realised I hadn’t said goodbye to Enrique so figured I’d at least do that. When I got there one of the other chefs (who has a partner, and a baby) started buying me tons of drinks, then Conor started, and everyone was like “ooooh bit of a home wrecker are we?” Um, no. I didn’t ASK people to buy me drinks ffs. Then Enrique was like “Oh all the guys love you at work, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah” I DON’T CARE.

So anyway, nothing else that happened that night is worth going into. Gilles wasn’t there but must’ve heard about the night the next day at work (I was off, thankfully, SO hung over my god) as this is when the texting began. At first it was all “woe is me, I broke up with my girlfriend for you” etc. And I was like “I told you nothing was ever going to happen, I didn’t ask you to break up with your girlfriend, I’m sorry but I can’t do anything about it” and he kept going and going like “You say you don’t like me, but people change, maybe you need to learn to take a risk, maybe I need to learn to lighten up” etc. FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK. Persistence is NOT the key in situations like that, why do people not get that!

I had work on Tuesday, which is generally pretty quiet so it was just Conor and I at the bar, and the chefs, obviously, in the kitchen. And Gilles kept being like “Oooh you’ve got one of your boyfriends behind the bar and the other one in the kitchen” I THOUGHT he was joking, but I’ve come to the conclusion that that man is incapable of doing so.

Last night was the absolute killer. I can tell everyone at work gossips about me ALL the time, but I don’t really care all that much as that’s just what people are like. It was ridiculously busy as there was a Chelsea game on (yuck) but it was fine as there was a lot to do and time was flying. Then after having staff food I felt so ridiculously ill and kept running upstairs to the bathroom to spew. Everyone caught on and my manager was like “If you throw up one more time you’re going home”. And I did. So I went home.

Checked my phone while walking down the road to see an inbox full of abusive texts from Gilles, oh joy. He’d gotten into arguments with SO many people at work that night. Not me, actually, just everyone else. But apparently everything is my fault.

He told me he never wants to see my face again and I have no respect for him and he’s going to check the roster and make sure he never has to work with me again (good luck with that Gilles, we’re both full time workers you dumb fuck) and that I was a big part of the reason he’s leaving (I sure hope he does, I’d be doing everyone a favour if that was the case) etc etc.

Ignore is my new policy, which I did. So yes, already dreading work tomorrow.

At least my spewing has ceased, and I have a trip to Tate Modern to look forward to this afternoon. I still feel like a walking zombie (I also never sleep, I’m not sure why, I’m lucky if I get three hours a night at the moment. Then I have a night like last night and just completely crash. Really not healthy) but sitting around inside is lame so I want to get out and about and hang out with a fellow New Zealander in London ha.

Oh and now I have one of the girls in my room trying to set me up with one of the French guys in the hostel. No thanks.

As I said to Lucy I want to die my hair a heinous colour, but I think I’ll take it one step further and just shave my head so I look like a scary dyke that no one would want to go near with a barge pole.

Yeah, that should put people off.

But, London is actually awesome! I went to Tower Hill with some hostel peeps the other day, the marathon was on which we totally forgot about but I suppose that was kind of cool to see a bit of a section of. We walked over the Bridge, went to a market there, and walked past a castle whose name escapes me. I forgot my camera, as I do, but someone else was taking photos so they may or may not end up on face book at some point in time?

I’ve also been to Hyde Park lots because the weather has been amazing! Sunny, and hot and summery, it’s fantastic.

So basically I figured I better end on a positive note.

J