Bangers and mash
I’m not quite sure what to blog about. Lot’s of things have been going on. I’m packing for my trip to England, of course. I’ll be gone for a minimum of 4 weeks, but its looking more like 6. *sigh* Its a little scary to get on a plane and then be totally at the mercy of my company as to when I come back. I am proud of myself for my packing skills though. It looks like I’m going to make it into one large suitcase and a duffle for random stuff. That’s incredible when you consider that one of the guys I’m traveling with is planning on bringing TWO bags and then shipping himself some extra things. What?! And I thought I was the girl.
So I’m a little bit nervous about being in a foreign country with only men for a month plus. I mean, they are all nice guys, but there’s nothing to do but drink beer at the hotel at night, and men and beer . Well, you know. I honestly don’t feel comfortable at all not having any other females around. My plan is to try to stick to myself as much as possible. I’m going to get up early, hit the gym, go to work, have a nice walk through the village before dinner, hit dinner at 6, then go read or chat with Ryan on the phone. I am going to try to travel on the weekends if there’s time, but I REALLY don’t feel comfortable going with guys on leisure trips. And if I did, it certainly wouldn’t be just one guy, I’d need a group. But then again, is it really safe for me to travel all alone?
I also have an issue with being so young. For those of you who don’t know me, you should know that I look like I’m about 18. If. This causes all sorts of problems when I travel for work. On one particularly pleasant trip to the UK, a nasty flight attendant refused to let me return to my seat in business class upstairs on the 747. Even when I produced a boarding pass, she didn’t believe me and snottily tramped up the stairs after me and walked me to my seat where my boss had to confirm that I was indeed in business class. Embarassing.
And then there’s how I’ll be treated at work. What will the British think when they see me come in and realize that I’m in a position of some authority? And to be completely honest, I AM really inexperienced at this job. I’m slightly panicked about whether or not I’ll be able to succeed over there. And I’m terrified that I’ll get there and I won’t be able to do anything because I dont know how.
But, with all the aprehension, I really am trying to take a positive view on the whole thing. I do have a possible trip to Ireland with Ryan to look forward to at the tail end of my trip. That would be so great. And, I think about what I was doing a month ago from now and it really doesn’t seem like it was THAT long ago. I will miss the dogs so much, and thinking about being away from Ryan for more than a few days breaks my heart. But it is only a month, right? And thank goodness for the Internet and email.
Over the next month or so I’ll post lots of pictures of things in England. I’ll show you Stonehenge (where I’m going to try to hit the summer solstice to see the crazies!), the little village Martock where my cute hotel is, my teeny hotel room, the pub in the hotel, Yeovil where my work will be, and then any travels I take.
