I arrived home on the Thursday before Christmas to a share house full of people and a crisp cold glass of bubbly; well, tis’ the season. Tonight we will have dinner with JB who is heading home for Christmas. Several bottles of champagne, loads of beer and some scrumptious Indian take away marked a perfect start to what would be a wonderful Christmas.
Adam's day ended much earlier than mine as he managed to find himself in a pub before 11am. Meanwhile I sat impatiently at my computer, watching the windows minutes saunter by. I managed to get away by 1:00 and headed out to brave the final Christmas shopping hours. After a fairly unsuccessful shopping venture I hopped back on the train with not much more than a headache to carry.
Friday December 22 was to be our last day of work before the Christmas break and we welcomed it enormously. For some reason the cold, damp, dark month of December seems to drag. Hmm… I wonder what they are doing in the warmth of the southern hempishere at the moment? Perhaps swimming or clutching a cold beer by the barbie.
We left very early Friday morning; we had six hours of driving ahead of us and the thought of bumper to bumper traffic was not at all appealing. Adam was feeling a little worse for wear and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t anxious about sitting next to him in the back of the car; if for no other reason than the alcohol that was seeping from his pores smelt wretched. Adam and Ben had proved highly entertaining the night before when they arrived home full to the brim with beer. Adam persisted to tell us all, over and over again, that ‘I’m drunk I know I am. I’m not ashamed to admit it’. This was just in case we had failed to notice.
Driving out of London was an incredible feeling; I knew that it would be over a week until I had to return to the chaotic city. The week a head was going to be seriously relaxing and I couldn’t wait. Sing-a-long Johnny Cash and mint Aero chocolate certainly hastened the car journey. Before we knew it we had arrived to the small seaside town that would kindly host us for Christmas.
We collected the keys for our house from a nearby town, managing some how to get lost in a town so minute it would seem impossible. The house was absolutely beautiful situated within a new modern complex of houses. It lay alongside an open field and a mere hundred meters from the rocky coastline. Although the English country side is not reminiscent of anything from home for some reason I instantly felt at home, I felt comfortable; I think it must have been the space, the openness, the coast. Sometimes London can feel very small, so many people so little room to move.
Sarah and Andrew drove to Newcastle to pick up some friends of theirs that would also be spending Christmas with us. Adam, Tavis and I went for a walk through the muddy field behind our house down to the beach.
To be continued...
