A Quick Jaunt to Callais...

I came to the BUNAC office today in London for my orientation and discovered that I do not have the correct stamp in my passport to work in Britain for the next 6 months. This is because my flight came in through Dublin, so there is no customs between these two countries. So, I have to exit the country and re-enter in order to get the correct stamp in my passport. This made me feel very nervous and frantic at first, but BUNAC gave me this great sheet about different ways to get to Callais, France, which sounds like the easiest and cheapest way to leave the country. I take a bus down to Dover and then take a ferry across to Callais. I'll probably make a day trip of it, because it sounds like it will take about 4 1/2 hours just to get to Callais. I will have to leave pretty early in the morning to make it back at night. I hope to spend a couple of hours looking around the town as well, since I've never been to Callais before. I just hope I don't get lost and manage to figure everything out. It's so much scarier doing all of this stuff by myself.

I haven't really met anyone here yet, so I'm feeling kind of lonely. However, I am feeling more optimistic about being in London. I am going to see some of the sights today, so I'm excited about exploring the city. Plus, I have the phone number of a friend of a friend with whom to get together, so I was thinking about calling him this weekend when he's off of work. He sounds very nice. I feel like anyone right now is a lifeline. That's how desperate I am for human contact. There seems like a lot of guys in my hostel, especially on my floor. I have only seen one other girl on my floor so far, which made me feel a little nervous while taking a shower this morning. The pipes were so old, I was getting this small trickle down on my head which took forever to warm up to a lukewarm heat. I am contemplating taking a "shower" in my sink in my bedroom every other morning, because it was not a pleasant experience. At least no one else was in the showering room with me. There's three showers in there altogether, although one has the lock broken off of it, so I don't really want to use that one.

Today feels much colder and cloudier. I definitely feel as if it is autumn. BUNAC has some neat excursions that I am looking at doing. This one that sounds reallly cool at the end of September is for the weekend, and it takes us to this 14th century castle in England, where we have a dinner and get to dress up in renaissance dress which is provided for us, and we have a tour of the castle and grounds and everything. However, it costs £126, so I am not sure yet if I will be able to do it. It probably depends on if I have a job by then. If I do, I will definitely sign up for the weekend. I appreciate all of your prayers for me while I'm here!