herne bay

A Week In Kent

Usually when I visit Kent, I describe each day, and what happened. But I don’t think I’m going to do that this time. No. In fact, I’m just going to cobble together the pieces that resound in my head as I type.

The most important task in coming down is meeting the people that made me who I am: those being my friends. I am glad to say I met a lot of those — some whom I was not expecting to see. Another important task is meeting members of my family, and I got to do that as well.

What I didn’t do so well was to be the perfect guest. I’m afraid I wasn’t — I became ill with some cold and managed to amass a collossal headache during the week and as such was probably a bit of a pest to my poor suffering hosts. Thankfully, Pete, Donna and Russell looked after me well.

That was the major disappointment: being ill. If I were better, I might have made better use of my time there, and been a bit more of a help and less of a hindrance.

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Update

It has now been far too long since I made a post. This is not indicative of the constant source of entertainment that is my life!

Last week I stayed in Kent – Herne Bay to be more precise, at my good old friend Pete’s house. Although it was an enjoyable stay as always, my time there was a little too short (again, as always). So many places to go, so many places to see, so many other things going on, in the end it feels like I didn’t do much at all.

I arrived on the Monday (just – nearly every form of public transport I used that day was late). Pete, Donna and I ‘did’ the seafront. This consisted of walking up and down the prom with chips and ice cream, with a healthy exchange of north-south banter. I did not see any kangaroos down there, unfortunately.

On Tuesday, I went to a revision lecture. It would seem that Pete takes everyone to his lectures. I got an overview of probability theory, of which I had mostly forgotten. Perhaps it was worthwhile that I went, though I cannot recall anything of substance from that hour. After that we wandered down to Canterbury City Centre and wandered in and out of shops. I bought Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence by Dream Theater for £6. We went to Whittards and had the best cup of tea ever. That evening we went back to Canterbury to enjoy the pubs and bars. We went to Origins, a bar located within the Darwin halls of residence at the University of Kent. That was quite good, but no cheaper than an ordinary bar in Newcastle… After an hour or two (I forget which) we moved onto the city centre. Six of us in one Ford Fiesta led to the inevitable muggins in the boot. Louis ensured the route involved speed bumps. That was interesting…

On Wednesday, Pete, Donna and I managed to traverse most of the North Kent coastline. We got to Whitstable, somehow. We were also surprised to hear many explosions around. On Thursday, we were meant to be playing cricket in the morning, but the county cricket people let us down. Instead we wandered off to Bluewater. Surprisingly, the extent of my expenditure did not extend to anything beyond a buffet meal at Pizza Hut. Was nice. I then used my charm and desperation to ask James to take me to my grandparents’ house for a quick visit. It was nice to see them, but I suspect it annoyed everyone involved to some degree that afternoon.

On Saturday, having arrived back the previous day, I went and got my brand spanking new glasses. They required some getting used to, but now they seem to be doing the job. Yesterday I got my hair cut for the first time in over two years. I quite like it. And I am reassured in that I am not the only one who can’t get my hair to do what I want with it.

I think that just about brings us up to date!

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Depressing Day

I’d just been reading Helen’s article In The News This Morning. It said that the 22nd January is the most depressing day of the year. Are you kidding?! Today’s exam was the only one I managed to finish. And if there were any I would be betting my entire student loan on getting the best mark, it would be that one. I couldn’t stop smiling afterwards! Shame that was the last one in some ways. But anyway, it does mean that I have the rest of the week to recuperate.

I got a text from Pete today, asking me down to see their new place in Herne Bay at Easter. He seemed to know that I was going to Japan (oddly… I guess word gets round fast) and so fitting it in might be a little more tricky than usual, but something else to look forward to!

Most depressing day of the year?!

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