Anya woke quite early. She couldn't afford to keep the room she was in. She had actually arranged to be staying with Jan, who she'd met a few days before but she didn't seem to be replying to her texts/calls from over the wknd, so she checked out the double room and went and checked in to a dorm room. She wasn't even too fussed that she hadn't gotten back to her. She was still in a sad mood about her friends all being gone so some familiar company would have been good but being in a dorm perked her up a little bit. Straight away she started talking to a lovely german girl.
Most of the day was just spent doing her washing and reading and then trying to catch up with her blog. Once again she had fallen behind with it. As she sat thinking about writing the parts when her friends had been with her, she had an idea to write it in 3rd person narrative so it was more like a story. And then when her friends went home, she would return to using 1st person...
...which I have rather enjoyed doing.
I really wasn't in the mood for much other than mooching around. Actually my pals had worn me out for the 3 weeks they had been there. I was used to leisurely deciding what to do on most mornings but as they were on holiday and didn't have the luxury of 'bumming around' that I did, it was all a bit more scheduled. Not that I minded one bit of course. Just explaining why I was tired! I made arrangements to meet someone for lunch the following day and went to bed.
Think right back to the very start of my journey. The very first flight to Bangkok on 26th June 2008. Well I sat next to a lovely couple - Deanna and Robert, who were from Melbourne. And still are. They told me to look them up when I got to Melbourne. So, 8 months on and i'm on a train on my way to Glen Waverley station, which is where Deanna said she would pick me up from. I wondered whether i'd recognise her. And she actually wondered the same. And we both did. It's funny what your memory tucks away. We sat on an 11 hour flight 8 months ago and recognised eachother straight away. I went to her house and we had some tea, and then went out for some lunch along with a few of her friends. And one of the friend's son who was a gorgeous little red-head. Very sweet. He laughed when I told him that 'dong' was the vietnemese money and then he asked me to open a chocolate for him so I taught him how to do it himself. Maybe a skill his mum didn't want her 6 yr old son to know just yet... Then back to Deanna and Robert's for some tea and then they very kindly drove me back to the nunnery. I had a really lovely day.
The next day I was still trying to get over this homesickness wall I was standing under. It was really getting to me. You must be wondering where the poem is. Well I thought about writing one but they're getting a bit samey now aren't they?? It probably would have gone something like:
I looked all around it hoping to see just a chink
But all saw was my family with every single blink
Yardi yardi yardi. It would have been pretty depressing.
So anyway I had some breakfast in the kitchen. I liked it in the nunnery. It was so homely. And there was free breakfast every morning. Cereal, toast, tea/coffee. Always a plus. And everyone sits round a huge table in the kitchen and has breakfast and chats about everything and anything. It was a pretty busy morning in the kitchen and as I walked along with my cereal, some guy, that i'd noticed just sitting in front of his laptop over the past couple of days, told me I had a hair in my bowl. It was somehow funny. I think my sense of humour has somewhat deteriorated. Anyway I took the last seat but then offered half of it to the hair man. As we chatted it became clear that he was northern. How do I always attract them?! But we got along, and it turned out he was going to be in Auckland a couple of days after I got there. And so was another girl at the table. So it was nice. And I was a little perkier already. Jan had gotten back to me the previous day but I'd told her I was now settled in my dorm. It was much better not to rely on someone anyway. And if I had gone to Jan's I would never had met David. The northerner. Actually he's from Nottingham but he lived in Manchester for a long time. And Hayleigh who is from Scotland.
I then went for a good few hours of wandering around town. Mainly looking in shops. And I just bought one t-shirt which was on sale. It cheered me up some more. And some sushi. A little more. And a bit of a prayer in the gorgeous Cathedral. A bit more. But even after managing to perk myself up a little, there was still a very strong want to just go home.
In the evening I tried to eat the last of what was in my food bag. So I had a sweet potato and tin of beans and polished off the digestives that me and Laura had dribbled over (not actually. We just simply love digestives don't we lau. Dipped in tea. Yes.) Then went to chill in the tv lounge where I sat and got to know David a bit more...
Name: David Meads
Age: 31
Occupation: Medical psychological researcher (or something of that effect)
Likes: Not much
Dislikes: Most things
Travelled to: SE Asia, Australia, about to go on to NZ and then S America.
We had a similar sense of humour and drank some tea and talked about our plans for NZ. Actually he talked a bit about his. I hadn't made any as yet other than getting my flight. When it got late I said goodbye, ordered him to write a poem about a cardigan that he'd bought and had gotten stolen the same day (stuff like that just seems to happen to David), arranged to meet a few days later, and then went off to sleep as I was leaving early to fly to NZ in the morning. I have to say, that I wasn't even that excited. I just wanted to go home.
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