Hey everyone! So I'm absolutely a slacker, and have FINALLY found the time to create a travel blog...2 weeks and 1 day after I left the states. Thankfully I have some pretty fun stuff to report, and of course while i'm homesick there are a couple things i've done that were pretty awesome, and did make me happy to be in London.
Well, I guess first off to let everyone know, I'm for sure FOR SURE not spending a year here. There are a lot of reasons, but let's state the obvious: money. It's disgusting how much i've already gone through in the short time i've been here. I realized that unless I want to spend all my savings, I needed to reevaluate how much time i'm spending here, and why I chose to come over in the first place. Anyways, that said: when I decided I was going to shorten my stay, I chose NOT to work while i'm here either. Lots of reasons of course, but waitressing is RIDICULOUS here. I would be making shit, most people don't tip, and at one restaurant I went to, they charged a 12.5% service charge, that you only got to keep 4% of!!! How ridiculous is that? Not only that, but waitresses here have to work double shifts, so that means I would be working from around 10 or 11 in the morning to 10 or 11 at night, with a 2 hour break around 3. But to afford an apartment in London, you have to live in the outskirts of the city, so it's not like I could ride the tube home and veg at all. I would have to stay at the restaurant the whole time. Awful. And I started to think: hm...12 hours at a restaurant 5 or 6 days a week, not making hardly any money...when am I going to have time to do what I wanted to do while I was here? Which, for those of you who don't know, i'm trying to do a graphic travelogue of my adventures here. So I decided to forsake making money for doing art: which is pretty much what i'll be doing the rest of my life anyways! Woo hoo!
I'm definitely excited about my choice, and i'm going to travel for the time i'm here now. My last day at the hostel is sunday (my birthday!) and then on monday? Where are you going Melinda? Well, funny you should ask. I have no idea yet. I'll keep you guys posted. It's SO cold here though, that I kind of want to fly to Greece or southern Italy or something. I actually snowed the other day. BRRRR!
The hostel i'm staying in is AMAZING. 95% of the people are Aussies, and they're all just fun-loving, free spirits, so they're really great to be around, although I miss everyone at home. Last night a huge group of us went to the roller disco. Yes. The roller disco. Just like the ones in the 70s. We all decided to dress up, so everyone put on their tightest, brightest clothes and got ready to fall on their asses. Let me tell you something too. Drunk roller skating? Just as hard as it sounds. It was a far cry from the days at Oaks Park, i'll tell you that. I wore my badass tiger swimsuits over tights with leg warmers and a tutu. Oh yes...we got some weird looks on the Tube. I'll give y'all some more later...I have to go get in my costume for tonight! HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
