Here we go again...

Got another interview today.

I feel I've got a good chance at getting this job, I've got plenty of experience as it's just a job in a grocery store. Not my dream job but at least it's something to help me pay the bills and to get some experience while I try to find out what my dream job might be.

Wish me luck!

Manchester

A friend and I made plans to meet up in Manchester and catch up yesterday, by coincidence it was actually exactly one year to the date since the last time we saw each other! Since we were meeting up after he finished work I decided to go to Manchester a few hours earlier to get the most out of my train ticket there, and of course to see a new city.

It was raining most of the day unfortunately so I didn't walk around as much as I had planned, but at least it's close enough to Chesterfield that I can go back. Krishan, my friend, did say when I met up with him later that it pretty much always rains in Manchester though so I guess next time I will ave to remember to bring my umbrella. At least I didn't do any shopping even though I went into a lot of stores to get out of the rain.

To get out of the rain I also went inside the Manchester Art Gallery. It's free admittance but they do have a collection box by the entrance for a 3GBP donation, or more. I like going in art galleries, I'm not a big art buff and I don't know much about art but I just like looking at the pictures. I find it so impressive that paintings that are several hundred years old can look like photographs simply because of the painting style. I like seeing old paintings with people in beautiful clothing, and it's interesting to see how the painting style has changed through the years. I do prefer art where you can see what it's supposed to be, I don't get the whole white canvas with a yellow line on it type style, and I like the pictures with hidden things in it, like when you look at a painting for a while and then suddenly realize there's a cat hiding in a dark corner or something, or when you can make out shapes in a picture in different shades of blue.

If you are able to get to Manchester before the 26th of May I would definitely recommend going to the art gallery. They have an exhibition on by Raqib Shaw which is really good. When you see the pictures from a distance they are just pretty with strong colours and sparkly bits, but then you get close enough to see what the pictures actually are and you notice that a lot of the pictures are actually quite disturbing, sexual and morbid, might not sound like a good exhibition to some of you but it was really interesting and I wouldn't mind going back. 

Manchester has got free shuttle buses in the town centre, it does three different routes so it's possible to see a lot of the city just by getting on one of those for a bit. I got on one of them just to kill some time before I met up with Krishan, one problem with it though is that the stops isn't announced before you get to them. I know it's not a tourist bus but it would still be nice to know where you can get off to get where without having to pay attention to the map and when to press the stop button.

When Krishan finished work we had dinner and a little wander around the city, it was really nice to catch up with him, hopefully it won't be a year until the next time we meet up again!

I have to admit that when I first got off the train at Manchester I got a little overwhelmed, I'm not a big city girl, I prefer smaller places. There were so many people everywhere and I was all on my own, I actually got a little scared for a minute, but then I haven't really heard the best things about Manchester; loads of crime and violence and I think that was the main problem, I've been to loads of big cities before and I've been fine. I find it's better not to know too much about a place before you go, especially negative things. 

I'd love to go back to Manchester and see more of it, I will have to try to go on a day it's actually sunny though so I can get some better pictures instead of getting raindrops on my camera lens.

What do you recommend seeing in Manchester?

Liverpool

My friend Nicky and I went to Liverpool last Saturday. I've been wanting to go there for years, although by the sounds of it it didn't use to be a very nice place back in the day.

I liked Liverpool, I wish I had a job and that we'd gone for the weekend as it would have been great for shopping. There was still loads to see though and Nicky and I decided to get one of those double decker tourist buses around the city. I'm very glad we did as we got to see much more going round on that than we would have just walking around.

We saw two cathedrals. One is old and apparently the biggest one in the UK and the other was very modern. We didn't like the modern one, not very pretty, I guess it's because when we hear the word cathedral we do kind of imagine a certain type of building, usually an old one.

We finished the day off by getting Krispy Kreme doughnuts and going up the Radio City tower, it was a nice day so the view was great. I don't think a lot of people know that you can go to the top of the tower as there was hardly anyone there, the price isn't too bad either, we got a 10% discount because of the tourist bus ticket and it only cost 4.50GBP.

I would love to go back to Liverpool, maybe get the train or a different coach so that I have more time there, or stay for a weekend. There seems to be a lot to do there like the Beatles Experience and the different museums and art galleries, and of course shopping.

Have you been to Liverpool? What would you recommend seeing there?

No luck

Well, I did not get a call back from the job I had been on an interview for on Monday so I didn't get the job. I'm disappointed but not very surprised after the rubbish interview.

Oh well, it's all experience and now I know a little bit more about what I need to remember to say in an interview. 

One interview down...

Had an interview today. For a job in a place where I really want to work. I was actually trying to get a job there last time I lived in Chesterfield as well. Fingers crossed that I get the job, but I doubt it. The interview did not go well, in my eyes anyway. I guess everyone feels like that after an interview... There is so much I can think of now that I could have said or out of the things I did say I could have worded differently.

I will hear back from them by the end of tomorrow if I get the job.

Oh well, fingers crossed, and if I don't get it, at least my first interview for this year is over for now and I've learnt from it.

It's all coming together...

My friend Joe and I got the house we applied for. With all the hassle and time you'd think we were buying it but no, we are just renting.

The last few days have gone to receive and assemble furniture as the house is unfurnished, I still haven't assembled my bedroom furniture. I feel the rooms people will actually see are more important (Has to look nice for the house-warming ). The living room, kitchen and bathroom are fairly finished now, I'm just waiting for a washing machine, I need to do laundry! Hopefully I'll get some energy to sort my bedroom out soon. I actually had to buy an air mattress as they were unable to deliver my mattress for another 3 weeks!

The house is filled with cardboard and I just found out that we can't put the cardboard in the green bin, it has to go in a small box inside the blue bin! As if! Hopefully I can just put it all in the blue bin and instead put the glass in the little box and they will take it next time. They emptied the bins today of course so I have to wait another 2 weeks to find out if they will empty it or not!

At the moment we have no internet in the house. Joe's account will apparently take 16 days to transfer. But at least we have a working TV. It's nice to be close to town as well, I can walk to the store and market to do my shopping and to the library to use the internet.

So far I'm happy with the house. The kitchen is a decent size. We have a living room, dining room and three bedrooms, we did think about getting someone else to share with us as well and take the last room but then we decided it's nice to have a guest room. My friend Nicky can stay over after a night out and friends and family from Norway can come and visit.

I've also got a job interview for Monday! I'm very happy about it as it's up at the hospital, I was trying to get a job there last time I lived in Chesterfield as well. Now I'm just hoping I get the job!

Wish me luck!

Alton Towers

Big, fast, scary rides. People screaming their lungs off. Adrenaline running high.

A lot of people love this. I am not one of those people.

I have never been a fan of big rides, I think the first proper roller coaster I got on was in Disney World a few weeks ago! But I've been wanting to go on them for a long time, it looks like people have so much fun on them! So when Nicky asked me to go to Alton Towers with her last Saturday I did, I also did warn her that she would probably have to force me to go on the rides.

We were both surprised at how quiet the park was while we were there, I think the longest we had to queue was maybe 10 minutes!

As soon as we got inside the park we went on Air. This ride was okay actually, it was a nice start. You get tipped forward on your belly so it's almost as if you're flying. It looks like you're very close to the ground and you get turned around so that you're looking up at the sky at some points. We were going to go on it a second time before we left but it started raining and we didn't really feel like getting the rain in our faces.

After Air we went on Nemesis... And it really is my Nemesis! Nicky couldn't stop laughing for about 10 minutes after we got off just because of how pale I'd gone! Not a ride I'd want to go on again. Apparently it's the world's first floor-less roller coaster, and at least I can say I've done it!

The funny thing about Alton Towers is that in some places it looks like you're just in a big garden, had it not been for the screams you could easily forget you're in an amusement park.

I refused to go on Oblivion and Rita, Nicky did say it was probably for the best that I didn't go on Oblivion, it would have scared me to death apparently. I did however go on Th13teen, which wasn't too bad, there is two small drops but they are over before you have time to get too scared.

I also went on The Runaway Mine Train, twice! Hex was another ride I didn't mind going on, I got really dizzy from it though so I couldn't go on it again, but that's one I'd actually recommend.

As well as the rides above we went on Duel, you shoot a little lights, I won! And Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, you take a boat ride through the story and then you get on the glass elevator, which was funny. There was also a new feature: The Sanctuary. You have to walk through a dark maze, holding on to the shoulders of the person in front of you, which of course led to a lot of stepping on each other's heels. There are people jumping out at you, shouting or whispering in your ear... Neither Nicky or I liked it very much. We don't like being shouted at. We also got a stamp on our hand when we went in there, which I don't understand the meaning of...

Alton Towers is REALLY expensive! Normally 50GBP but we had a 2-for-1 ticket so we only paid 25GBP each, which is still a lot of money. I did feel bad that I didn't want to go on rides over and over again since Nicky loves it, especially since the queues were so short, but my headache that I got after the first two rides and the upset feeling tummy that only got worse as the day progressed begged me to stop.

I had more fun than I though I would, considering I don't like rides, but I don't think I'd pay to go back. If I did go back I'd probably just be a bag-holder and photographer for someone else. Or I'd just wander around the garden, I like the garden.

There is absolutely NO WAY I'm going back next month to go on The Smiler!! It looks terrifying!

(I can't believe I didn't actually take a picture of any of the big rides!)

Robin Hood Inn Circular

I went on another walk today, I found this walk on the visit Chesterfield webpage as well. It was a very windy day today, I almost felt like I was going to fly away at some point! But it was a warm day, and with the exception of a little shower that lasted 10 minutes the weather was perfect. The walk is about 7km and it took me 1hour 50 minutes. I walked at a fairly leisurely pace and stopped to take a few pictures along the way.

The starting point is an Inn in the middle of nowhere on the way to Baslow, and since it's a circular walk this is of course also the finish point. The walk was really nice. I would recommend maybe getting a better map than the one on the webpage, but the one on the webpage works, I didn't feel like I was about to get lost at any point like I did on my last walk.

The walk is also really easy, a nice walk for someone that doesn't want any steep inclines. I do suggest wearing proper walking boots though, you go through a marsh at one point and also it's quite muddy in places, my trainers got rather dirty!

I had to walk through a field with highland cows, it was fun as I've never seen them that close before but at the same time I couldn't help but get a little worried when I saw the horns on those things!!

You pass a monument on the walk and if you want you can then head down to Baslow, finish the walk there or just have a bit to eat before getting back on the trail, I decided to just continue, I was a bit worried that if I went to Baslow I probably wouldn't get back on the trail, I'd just finish the walk there.

I would really like to do this walk again, I'd probably manage it without a map because it was so easy, although I'd still bring one just in case. When I finished the walk I also noticed that I could have just crossed the road and continued to Chatsworth, so that might be worth doing one day I feel like going for a very long walk.

From Baslow to Bakewell via Chatsworth

I am knackered!

I decided to go for a walk today while also exploring places nearby that I haven't seen. I used the Visit Chesterfield website and found something called car free walks. This of course suits me perfectly since I don't have a car! There were quite a few walks on the page but in the end I decided in the Baslow to Bakewell walk. I have been to Bakewell and Chatsworth before but I figured actually walking there would be a completely different thing.

Baslow is a very small place, I didn't really explore it that much, I just wanted to get started on my walk. I also think I would prefer exploring places with someone, that way you get to see it through their eyes as well as your own. Anyway. It's a small place with lots of old buildings. On the directions I had gotten from the website it said that there would be a sign pointing towards Chatsworth, it's a very small sign so I almost walked straight past it!

The walk from Baslow to Chatsworth is actually very short, it's through a very nice park that's been made to look just like regular fields, filled with sheep and everything! A lot of other people were walking there was well, many who were probably heading to Chatsworth for the day but also some people that were just out for a walk in the nice weather.

I have been to Chatsworth before so I didn't go inside the house or the gardens behind it, but I did walk up to the hunter's tower on top of the hill. I have never bee there before but I've wanted to since the first time I went to Chatsworth. I have gotten fairly out of shape. The climb up wasn't really bad at all, a little steep but not for long, but I did have to sit down once I got to the top. The tower is private property so you can't go inside it, but the view from the hill is nice anyway. I wish it hadn't been misty but the view was still beautiful.

From the hunting tower at Chatsworth I walked to Edensor (pronounced Enzor), a little village very close to Chatsworth, I didn't even realize it was there! The walk there was short but it went over a small hill where I got a nice view of the house, even if it was misty. I even saw some deer there! And when going down the hill on the other side I got a very nice view of Edensor. I think it's probably the smallest village I've seen so far!

From Edensor there wasn't any more villages or anything to see besides sheep and the beautiful landscape, which was enough of course. I didn't have a signal on my phone at all and I have to admit it was really nice to just walk over fields and through forests without thinking about checking my phone or anything. I met quite a few other people on the walk, and I'm kind of glad; the directions I had with me weren't really perfect so it was nice to be able to see which direction other people headed to and came from. At one point I had to make a choice between two routes, I chose the easier one as I wasn't sure how good the grip on my winter boots would be on the other route, that was the only part of the route where I didn't meet anyone else seems everyone else took the more difficult route.

Once I got to Bakewell I had some time before I had to catch the bus back to Chesterfield so I had a little wander about. I realized I didn't recognize much of it since the last time I was there so it was kind of fun to explore it again. I wish I had worn some better shoes for walking though as my feet hurt too much to explore Bakewell too much.

I'm surprised at how cheap the bus tickets to Baslow (2.30GBP) and from Bakewell (3GBP) was, I got a day out for just over 5quid! Add bottled water for my walk and dinner and I still spent less than 10GBP today! I will have to go on some more walks now while I've got the time to do it. At least I'm spending my money on getting fresh air and exercise instead of on something silly I don't need.

This is part of why I wanted to move to the UK for so long: The old buildings and villages and the countryside. 

Lots and lots of recipes!

I've been sitting at the library the last couple of days reading about exercise, which lead me to read about healthy eating which in turn of course led me to just "regular" eating. And it gave me an idea for this blog.

Once I (hopefully) get the house I can have themed weeks, food-wise. I can have an Indian week, Italian week, vegan week, soup week, the list goes on... During the themed week I will try to post at least one recipe every day to do with that weeks theme.

Hopefully this will make me try foods I may not have thought about trying earlier, and also eat proper meals instead of just doing something quick like fried eggs or something.

It will have to wait a few weeks though as I would like to have a proper kitchen to cook in and a fridge to store the food in.

I already have a long list of themes for my cooking, but if you have any ideas feel free to let me know!

Some people..!

I've been staying with my friend Joe the last couple of weeks while we wait for the credit report to go through on the house we applied for, such a hassle just to let a property! You'd think we were buying it!

Like I said; I've been staying with Joe, until today that is. His landlord kicked me out!

His landlord knew I was staying there, we weren't hiding it from him or anything, he'd actually talked to me a week or so ago.

Then yesterday the toilet got clogged and the landlord is blaming it on me! Saying I probably put tampons in there or something! Er. No. I'm not that stupid! I haven't even had my period since I came over anyway!

But the landlord got in a foul mood about it. He seems to me to be one of those people that once he gets angry he lets it out on everyone else. He'd already told Joe a week ago that he has to be out by June or July as he's selling the property, which is fair enough. But then now he wants Joe out as soon as possible as well, he even threatened to change the locks!

Because I'm meeting with the letting company for the house a week from Monday I decided to just get a cheap B&B until then and I luckily managed to find one that was even close to town. I REALLY hope we get the house now, so does Joe of course. He doesn't want to stay in a place with a bipolar landlord.

By the time the landlord showed up to talk to Joe this afternoon he had calmed down and he let Joe stay in the flat until he finds somewhere new, and he's not changing the locks (until he goes off again next week or something anyway).

It's annoying  though. I'm glad I saved up so much money before I came over so that I can actually afford to stay at a B&B for a week. I just hope we get the house so I don't have to stay longer! I didn't think it would take this long to get the house in the first place, I seem to remember that last time I lived here it just took a few days to get everything sorted and for me to get the keys to a place when I moved somewhere.

Gods, forces, luck, fate... whatever is or isn't out there; PLEASE let us get this house!