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Published: June 24th 2008
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Well yesterday I had the unusual experience of moving house while on holiday. Keely was moving out of her old apartment and into her new cottage and due to a change in plans the moving date coincided with my visit. We spent the morning shifting her belongings and then went out for lunch. Lunch proved to be an interesting event. We went to a sandwich bar and as I wasn't feeling particularly hungry I tried to order a cheese sandwich. However the simple cheese sandwich turned out to be something my american friends had never heard of. The waiter looked confused and asked if I meant a grilled cheese sandwich. When I said no he asked if that meant I only wanted the bread grilled, or I only wanted the cheese grilled. I tried to describe what I though was the relatively simple concept of sticking a slice of cheese between two bits of bread while my friends looked on in horror. Keely and Jen both tried to help out by suggesting I have various things added to the cheese or had variuos parts of the sandwich cooked. In the end the waiter finally seemed to understand and asked if I'd
like salad with it. I agreed to this and sat back to wait for my food while Jen informed me that I was completely weird and what I had ordered did not qualify as food. When the sandwich finally arrived it stood about 10 centemetres high and had every kind of salad chopped and diced and sprinkled with flavourings stuffed between two enormous bits of bread. I gave in and just sat and ate it.
We spent the afternoon at the new cottage arranging furniture and things. I met Keely's new roomate and then her dad and younger brother turned up - her dad to help her move her old couch and her brother to hinder their efforts. I found her brother to be a remarkably tall, confident and well spoken young man. I guessed his age at about 8 or 9 until I was told he was only 5. He had very definate opinions about everything and wasn't at all fazed by the lack of evidence or even common sense backing up his ideas. He told me I was very tall and then informed me that this was normal for English women as they eat a lot. He went
on to explain however that English men were all very short becasue they didn't eat breakfast. He also tried to convince me that I should travel with the Union Flag so I could put it up beside the American one at the front of the cottage so everyone knew I was there. I did try pointing out that only the Queen would do this but he wouldn't accept my arguements.
We returned to Jeely's old apartment in the evening and made use of the swimming pool. Keely's dad returned with drinks and crisps and pizza which we ate in the hot tub under the stars when we tired of 'swimming' (more accurately playing shark attack with Keely's brother).
Today we decided to relax after the move yesterday. Keely and I went to meet Erin at her house in the morning and eventually set off for the beach. We stopped to have pizza for lunch and then drove onto Salt Creek Beach. The beach was lovely. We relaxed in the sun for a while while Erin sketched the people around us - she is such a good artist. We finally headed into the sea and I found out just how
strong the waves are compared to Engliand. I stepped into the water, was hit by a large wave, fell over and was swepted up the beach where I finally stoppedin a soggy heap with seaweed tangled around my legs. Keely and erin refused to let go of my arms for a while after that until I got the hang of it all. We had great fun jumping in the waves and at one point borrowed a boogie board from some poor kid who was just walking past and watched anxiously until we returned it.
We eventually headed to the showers to try and clean ourselves up and get changed. I still ended up with my tankini full of sand and my hair tangled and matted with salt. Urgh!
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