Julia

On Wednesday, I waited at the busstop for my couchsurfer from Germany, Julia (who strangely sported a very funny Australian accent). After some mix-up with busstops, we finally found each other and our three-day adventure began. As one of my friends had invited us to go see a film with him and some mates, we dropped off Julia's bags and headed straight to town, grabbing a MacDonalds before starting the evening adventure, which eventually led us to the Wirral - the "other side of Liverpool", being, the part of Liverpool on the other side of the Mersey -, where I had never been before. The film was brilliant (go watch Inception!) and the company was very pleasant. We caught a bus home afterwards (after taking the train back under the river) and after the realisation I had forgotten to get the spare matrass out of the storage room, Julia made her bed on the couch and the first day came to an end.

On the second day, we decided to take a lazy day and went to Sefton Park, where we met some interesting creatures (more on that later) and where I got a very pleasant phone call (also more on that later). We then made ourselves some pasta and left the house again, this time to spend a very pleasant evening at a friend's house with a very chaotic, noisy, crowded and down-right delicious Balderdash (google it). Julia left early, I joined her an hour or so later and as we had managed to get the matrass out of the storage before we left and Julia was now sleeping in my room, we had a short chat before wishing each other good night.

On the third day, we left for the City Centre early in the morning (that is, 11am), as I had a job interview and Julia was going to spend the day exploring the city on her own. After spending our day separately, we met up again in the evening and set out for a final night on the town, meeting up with some other couchsurfers for a drink at the Peacock. Which was lovely. This morning I waved her goodbye as she left for the busstop (I was still in my pyjamas, shame oh shame) and that was the end of my first hosting experience, altogether a very pleasant one!

A lot of adventure

A lot has happened since my last blogpost. As I only have twenty minutes right now to check all my emails and write this post, I'll write a few important bullets and then write a bit more about it all later. So, here we go.

- I got a couchsurfer over, her name is Julia and she's really nice.
- I fed a squirrel and was then was attacked by them.
- I got to know my housemates better and they're all brilliant (Brenda, Mark, Matt and Wendy).
- I've been teaching Mark French, sort of. He's really good at it.
- I went shopping becauseeeeeee....
- I GOT A JOB!

More later. Love,
your Scousegirl.

Studio

Tonight I went to a 'community', being, a small group within the church in which likeminded people gather and spent an evening a week with each other and God. I joined the Arts-community, though I am still shopping around looking for other communities I might be interested to join. Tonight however, I joined Studio.

The outset was basically your average Christian gathering, with prayer, a short bible study and talking about what has been said and how that could be applied in your life. I really enjoyed it and some things really hit home, certainly as tonight was yet another confirmation of some thoughts which have been running through my mind for a while now. Anyway, the evening was very pleasant and I felt so at home, so very much like I belonged. This church is really giving me the sense of home which I felt when I first entered Ichtus Leuven, and I hope it will give me the same wonderful result, support and circle of friends. The people I have met so far certainly are really nice and though they all have different personalities, there is something in each of them which I really like. Quirkiness, humor, weirdness or just plain friendliness, each one of these people has a certain quality which just draws me towards them. I have been invited along to some more events and will do my very best to attend these and meet even more of these wonderful people.

On a side note, on Wednesday I'll be getting a couchsurfer from Germany over for two days, I am very excited about it and will tell you all about it once she's here/gone. Also, I have been jobhunting slightly today and have more or less decided I'll either look for work in a bar or restaurant around here or get a job at Tesco's, as both are conveniently located and not a bad pay. But more on that once I succeed in nailing a job or applying a little more.

Also went shopping today, very pleasant, explored the neighbourhood a little and found a lot of charity shops, in which I was sure to buy two books for a pound, a real bargain!

Now, off to bed, busy day tomorrow.

A new church

Tonight, I attended the evening service of Frontline, a non-denominational church whose motto is "Love God. Love life. Love people." Fitting into all these criteria, I decided I would give it a go and see what this church is all about. After a nice walk through Wavertree Athletics Centre park (and a little detour I made due to not knowing exactly where to find the church), I arrived in a big hall which strangely had no chairs set out. It turned out to be a little experiment they did, probably partially to safe themselves the work, but also to bring a more relaxed atmosphere to the service. And it did! Unlike other churches, where you sit down on a chair and are more or less bound to that seat, sitting on the ground made it much easier to make contact with other people, as there were no real boundaries between yourself and the others. The service itself was youthful and though I didn't really know any of the songs that were played, I sang along with all of them, largely because, well, let's be honest, the melodies used in Christian songs are not exactly hard to pick up. The sermon was quick and fierce, and afterwards there was tea and coffee, with a biscuit and even some pizza! I sat down with a little group in the sofas that were in the coffee corner and it was just lovely! Afterwards we went to pub and I realised that there were some really crazy people in the group, which I love! I had a real laugh and was invited to this art-community-thingy tomorrow, which I will be sure to attend.

I am so happy to have found this church in which I felt instantly comfortable, with fun, open, friendly people and a service in which everyone and everything can be theirselves and do their thing. Being in that church tonight made this whole move feel so right. After the room, the housemates, the shops, the friends, it was the final "yes" that I needed, the ultimate confirmation that I have at last found my home. Because tonight, for the first time in many years, I felt at home in a church, and that by itself is something of a miracle.

Wonderful News!

My dear friend Patrick told me about Megatrains, an affiliate of Megabus, which provides cheap trains all over the country. And guess what? The service also runs between London and Liverpool, which means that those wanting to come visit me who do not have enough funds to spend €100 on a trip, can now book it for €80 or less! It might not make an enormous difference, but every penny saved...

www.megatrains.co.uk (once on the website, choose train instead of bus by way of transportation)

My room

The door, with my coats and towels drying.

Next to the door, my bed and two bedside tables.

My wardrobe and Fox and Hare poster.


At the end of the bed, a small table which normally holds my laptop, and besides the bed, some drawers and my jewelery box, next to the curvy mirror (I was actually going to bring one of those to England, but luckily I didn't!)






Some more drawers with my magnetic memoboard on top.




Two large windows (the second one looks the same).


Some postcards and pictures hanging between my windows.


My beautiful mirror for which I am yet to find a way to hang above my desk.


Said desk and chair with bookcase and Fox and Hare calendar.








My central heating, some postcards on the wall and my temporary storage for my shoes and bags - a friend is bringing me a big basket from home in August.









The large windows let the sun stream in most of the day, making the blue walls light up and creating a very pleasant and fresh atmosphere. It might not be quite visible on the pictures, but between the bed and the windows, there is a lot of extra space. The room can easily hold an extra double bed, which is perfect for all the visiting friends who I am expecting over the course of the next two years!

Big bro for the win

It was good. It was very good. A big shout-out to Garf, who sadly doesn't read blogs, but will hopefully know exactly how grateful I am for the past two days.