Packing

Je me suis reveillee en sursaut en pensant "Ah! Faut que je fasse le menage de la cour! vite!' J'ai remplis 5-6 gros sacs noirs de dechets et de bouteilles. Sal et Dan m'ont beaucoup aide a ranger, nettoyer, j'ai completement vide ma chambre et je leur ai laisse toute sortes d'affaires de douche et de la bouffe. je suis allee fermer mon compte de banque, et quand j'ai realise que Seb avait ma carte memoire de camera j'ai pense "Shoots.... more farewells... i thought I was done crying!!!"
So I want to Magdelene Bridge one last time to get my memory card and say bye to a few people. Annnd then some more farewells at Silver Bridge to give back the not-waterproof canopy. Vero and Andrew picked me up around 3pm and the last people I said bye to were Sal and Dan. Man I'm going to miss them! They were like brothers and sisters to me (sometimes even parents...). Well, I'll go to to Australia sometime, for their wedding!

Saturday night was relaxing, we had dinner with Eric and Alex and talked all night and I spent my last night at my sister's house.

i heart Brighton

Last weekend, gotta love the nice sunny weather!
Let's spend some time with family. We went to Li and Stu's house in Brighton and spent the whole afternoon downtown, to check out the sea and a few pubs. I had the best lasagna in the world back at their place and then we left to go out again, and I must say I had an amazing night! We did a lot of walking, we even stopped by the beach so I could dip my feet in the ocean. The weather was perfect, the sky was starry and Stu was funny. We didn't come home too late because tomorrow is the flight to Canadia...

DA BBQ IN DA BACKYARD

Wow.
I got up to start cleaning in my room, started packing, bought some last-minute food for the BBQ and left. For the last time, I went punting on the River Cam, with Lizzie, Amy, Nick on a stick and Olivia. The weather was PERFECT! It was one of my best days in my whole life! We had picnic on the punt, and right from the start, I jumped the Mathematical Bridge. it wasn't too hard, there's a lot of wooden railing and the others were careful not too punt away too fast. What I didn't know is that the hiring manager, Tony, was watching from Silver Bridge. Woops!

On s'est rendus jusqu'au bout de la riviere et en passant sous Magdalene bridge, evidemment, pour la derniere fois, je me suis fais vider 3-4 verres d'eau glacee sur la tete. Je me suis levee brusquement, et Nick yavait qu'a me donner une petite pousse pour que je tombe en bas du bateau. C'etait frette! M'semble que j'suis dans la riviere souvent ces temps-ci! On a punte presque 2 heures. En revenant, j'ai saute Trinity Bridge. It's the tradition! I had to! And I did a good job as well! je suis pas mal fiere de moi, y faut beaucoup de force pour grimper le pont. C'est comme de l'escalade. Ya au moins trois tours sur la riviere, dont Kate et Nic, qui se sont arretes pour regarder et applaudir. Yay!

After that last punting trip (*sigh*) I was hanging around the steps at Silver Bridge, I just couldn't leave. I don't WANT to go home! And there Tony walked out of the office and I knew what was left for me to do. I got a cup of ice cold water and emptied it down his back. And now I can go home. i surprised maria and Sal sticking papers all over the walls that said "Blame Canada" with polar bears, mooses, beavers and Prime ministers. Canadian flags everywhere and a banner that sayd "Goodby Julie we'll miss you" and "Bon voyage". Awww! I started setting up the canopy with Ondrej and Dan, and when it suddenly started to rain, we relaised the canopy wasn't waterproof at all. So Dan had to drive quickly to buy two giant blue tarps that we managed to hang up with rope, the way my dad would set up a tent after forgetting the poles. it wasn't superb, but it was dry.
People started showing up, at 7:30, Nickie, Pete the manager, and so on, and I put my short white dress on over jeans. Lovely. The first ones helped out getting the food outside, emptying the water that was accumulating on the blue tarps, setting up the radio and speakers just out the window of the main floor housemate. His room was turned into the music room. Then Pete tried to push the tarp up, thinking the water would fall to the side in the backyard. It fell all over the speakers, in and out the window, and all over me. At least a bucketfull. Ice cold. Wouah! He sincerely felt bad. I gave away pictures, Becks got me a present (see pictures). People started writing all over my touting board that Sal managed to find in my suitcase. Then there was brazilian Phil and Dan taking care of the BBQ, Phil brought shrimps and chicken wings and fish and it smelled sooo good!

J'ai mange comme une porche, tout le monde mangeait et buvait et tout d'un coup, Sal, son amie Jenna et son chum Russell sont arrives avec deux DJ. Ah ben j'en revenais pas les 2 gars se sont installes en 10 minutes pis yont parti la musique full blast dans la cour, jusqu'a 1h du matin. Par ce temps la, le monde manquait de biere et de bouffe, yont commence a fouiller dans la cuisine... et tout d'un coup la police arrive. Plainte de bruit. C'est pas surprenant, on avait de la musique super forte dans un petit cartier avec une cinquantaine de petites maisons toutes collees. En general c'etait une super belle soiree, yen a 3-4 qui m'ont fait verser une larme. Tom, Nick, Becks, Marcello, Sal, Amy... yen a plus que ca meme, c'est du monde qui vont vraiment vraiment me manquer. On est restes dans la cuisine jusqu'a 4h du matin, et c'etait un enorme degat dans la cour. Dernier soir a Cambridge, derniere nuit dans ma maison crasseuse...

Even with the rain and the police and the loud DJs, it was a MEMORABLE party.

LAST DAY AT WORK

It's the final countdoooown! Tananaaaaa-naaaaa! Tanana-ta-ta!
I don't want to go to work. It's too cold to get thrown in...
I went to work from 9:30 to 2:00 and got sent home because there was absolutely NO business and most of the people who really wanted to throw me in the river left before me. SO, I was dry when I left. Went shopping for a top, didn't buy anything, and for some tape to put up the 2nd half of the canopy. I went back to Magdelene Bridge to say hi to Heather and got thrown off the bridge. Yes, off the bridge! Seb and Oli stole my backpack and cellphone and dragged me all the way up the bridge, and I was screaming and kicking because I actually didn't want to go in. Well, it was cold.
Apres m'etre lavee, frottee, desinfectee (la riviere est sale) j'ai prepare de la "dip mexicaine" et une grosse salade au macaroni. Amy et Lizzie sont venues chez mois se preparer pour la soiree, je me suis deguisee en Genie avec mon bikini top England/Canada, Amy etait un Gnome et Lizzie etait une ... um... Gorgeous Girl? Ouin. Pickerel + B-Bar + Fez, tout le monde buvait, tout le monde souriait pis tous les garcons avaient des droles de chapeaux. On a danse toute la soiree a Fez Club, et meme si c'etait un peu vide, on a danse jusqu'a ce que ca ferme. Come on. It's my last night out in Cambridge! AND It's someone's birthday! On a fini au Trailer of Life pour des bons burgers graisseux. Yum!

2 more days of work...

Still rainy, but I still did 5 tours. Why do people want to go punting in the rain? What’s wrong with them? I worked 11-7 and all day long, we were pretending it was each other’s birthdays to get some tip. It worked for those I said Happy Birthday to. But it never seemed to work for me… In the afternoon, I wished Julien a happy birthday, on the river, and then on the same our Sam wished ME a happy birthday! So my group got confused and I said: “Um… yes mine was yesterday and Julien’s is next week. But tomorrow’s my last day and I'm leaving so… um… yeah I told him early.”
J’ai fais de la bicyclette dans la pluie pour revenir à la maison, avec Nick, et on avait tous les deux des gros parapluies de Scudamore’s. C’est pas super efficace amis y pleuvait tellement que j’aurais été trempée de la tête au pieds. (J’étais juste trempée à moitié.) J’ai magasiné pour le BBQ avec Sal et Dan, dans leur nouvelle voiture, et j’ai pogné des paquets de 24 pains hamburg à 1,75 £. Pas pire, hein ? Après ma grosse épicerie, j’ai soupé tard et Amy est passée chez moi pour jaser et planifier le jeudi soir et le vendredi.
Jeudi soir: Chris’ birthday, boys dress up in funny hats, blazers, shorts and ties, girls dress up as something that starts with G. Vendredi: day off to go bridge jumping and have some picnic on a punt, with her and Nick + my BBQ. Good way to finish my crazy English Summer of 2006.Dan said a prayer for me to have a good day on Friday... "Dear God. Please let it be sunny for Little Julie's goodbye party."

Six jours avant le Canada...

J’ai encore développé des photos ce matin, encore des close-up à 2 personnes, et j’ai super hâte de les donner au monde. Inviter le monde à mon BBQ, prendre leurs emails, leur imprimer des photos.... ça me prépare à partir. J’ai travaillé 10 à 7 à la température était pas pire. J’espère qu’elle sera comme ça vendredi !
After work, I found Sal and Dan in the kitchen, and we started planning the BBQ some more. Ondrej brought a Scuds tent to the house, and just as I was saying thanks & bye, Sal’s friend said he might actually bring… a DJ! Wouldn’t that be awesome? I can’t wait! Planning parties is so much fun, maybe I should be a wedding planner later on…

I can play pool! But just when no one’s watching.

Once again, I was woken up by the rain, and got up to go to work anyways… On the way there, I stopped at Snappy Snaps to develop a dozen pictures in a few minutes, mostly of friends and me to give away at the BBQ, and a few for the wall of fame-shame, in the Magdelene Bridge hut. There are already a lot of funny pictures (unfortunately all covered in dirty comments) and I added six. After 50 minutes of work I was sent home, because “it’s gonna piss down rain”. WELL, the weather was perfectly fine for most of the day!
J’ai fini par aller faire un petit peu de magasinage, j’ai essayé de metre d’autres photos sur Picasaweb à CB2 (sans succès, y font exprès pour nous empêcher « d’uploader » trop, de nos ordis à l’internet.) Je fini tranquillement la bouffe que j’ai dans l’armoire... de la soupe en canne, tsé. Et je me suis vite rendue à WT’s avec Amy, Nick et Carl. À WT’s, on joue aux billards. J’ai joué pour la première fois et j’ai réussi à rentrer 3 boules dans les trous. Woot, woot! Après un boute, Lizzie nous a rejoint avec un chandail à manches longues... et je lui ai ouvert ma garde-robe avant qu’on sorte à Fez Club !

Lovely Sunday with Kat and Roy

J’ai volé les deux BBQ de la cour des voisins, et j’ai du travail à faire. Sont tous les deux crottés comme el’diable, plein de feuilles mortes et de rouille. J’ai magasiné pour un cadre pour la peinture que j’ai fais. 14x16, c’est un gros cadre quand tu te promènes en bicyclette! J’ai rencontré Andrew, Vero et les parents au restorant The Loch Fyne, un resto de poissons et fruits de mer. J’leur ai donné mon cadeau, on a bien mangé et guess what....We went punting!
Surprise, surprise... we can’t help it! We can’t stay away from the river. So we went on a self-hire and I gave Andrew’s parents a silly tour. I had some pizza at home and went to Spanish Phil’s backyard party. About 30 people showed up, and it was tight. I can’t imagine how tight it’ll be in MY crappy backyard… I talked with Pete the manager and he said I could borrow a Scuds canopy for the backyard (yes!!!). Cycled back home with my two favourite polish sisters, Dominica and Kasia.

1 jour a Londres

We got up late, and instead of sightseeing like I did 2 years ago with the family, we went shopping! And I bought a short white dress to wear with jeans, and Sal bought the black one. We walked around, I saw a few things from outside (Thames, Big Ben, London Eye, Westminster Abbey). We then took the train to a dodgy area where all pubs were packed, at 4pm, because of the Arsenals game (football…). We sat outside the pub for 2 hours, talking with Joe’s friends and meeting new people. All the boys were wearing the Arsenals T-shirt. I thought it was funny that the main sponsor of the team (Fly Emerates?) is written a LOT bigger than the team itself, on the T-shirt.
On a pris pas mal de temps à retourner chez Joe pour prendre nos sacs, et se rendre à King’s Cross Station. On a fini par prendre le train à 9h50 et arriver à la maison à 11h00. Le Jaffa Net Cafe ferme à 11h, d’habitude. Mais ils l’ont fermé vers minuit, juste pour Sal pis moi. On s’est assise on a relaxé un peu, regardé nos photos, bu du thé et pris un shisha. Ça relaxe, pis ça sent bon. Je peux dire que j’ai passé une belle journée à Londres, pis que j’y retournerai dans quelques années.

1 night in London

Vendredi 18
Packing for London tonight! Juste assez de suff pour un soir chez Joe, l’amie de Sal. J’ai seulement travaillé 2heures, j’ai fais qu’un seul tour, et Pete m’a renvoyé à la maison, disant qu’il allait pleuvoir à boire debout. En effet, moins d’une heure après, alors que je me promenais dans un magasin d’art, il a commencé à pleuvoir soudainement super fort. When it’s pouring rain, I can’t help but thinking about everyone working on the river... and laugh.
It’s a really good thing I got more than half the day off, because I realised I had a lot of stuff to do before London. Laundry, shopping, stealing a hat from the Scudamore’s office on Jesus Lane, painting a sign for the BBQ, in the kitchen, etc. Me and Sal had some beer and crisps on the train to King’s Cross Station, and we took the Jubilee Line to Joe’s neighbourhood. People complain about it a lot but I still think the London Underground is an amazing achievement… Check out the funny song on the net: London Underground. After getting ready at Joe’s place, we left for the city-centre and found a bar we liked in Soho, around 11pm. Can’t remember the name of the pub… Anyways we had a wonderful time, took a lot of pictures, went to bed at 4.

Nachooooooooooo Libre!

Silver Bridge again, still new people every day. I did two tours out of four in the rain, and I only got 8 pounds tip… Mostly on the sunny tours. Weird. I should do like Jonti and complain, “I’m SO wet! It’s pissing down rain! I’m soaked!” and he gets tip! Andrew called to know if I wanted to see Nacho Libre at the movie theatre with him, and Pete the manager was kind enough to let me go around 5:30. You bet I’ll go!! I love Jack Black, he’s a genius. So Nacho Libre is about these little orphans and how Ignacio (jack black) wants to go wrestling to win money for the orphanage. I wasn’t expecting much, so turns out I laughed the whole time. And the highlight of the movie, of course is when Ignacio sings a song he wrote for Sister Incarnacion.
Après le film, j’ai raidis mes cheveux chez irish Kate the great, et on s’est rendus à B-Bar. TOUT l’monde était là ! Et pas mal tout le monde était d’accord pour qu’on aille n’importe ou sauf Life (chaque jeudi c’est bbar et life). Les filles prenaient des photos, et pour la première fois, j’ai pris une photos avec la band, pis avec le beau pianiste. Juste avant qu’y ferment B-bar, j’suis allée jouer un peu de piano, dans ma bulle, pis en 2 minutes j’avais une dizaine de personnes autour de moi en train de chanter du Disney. (geeks!) I didn’t touch a piano in 3 months ½! Feels good… Tout le monde est allé à Fez Club après, mais ça valait définitivement pas 6 pounds pour du TECHNO...

J’ai travaillé à Silver Bridge encore... All my favorites (or almost) work at the other end…. I miss you guys! Everytime I do a U-turn at Magdelene Bridge and I see them all on the brid, I feel like stopping there. Why do I love them so much? And THEN they throw a glass of water all over me as I come out from under the bridge… J’ai fini autour de 5h, je retourne de plus en plus souvent à la maison à des heures raisonnables ! Yay ! J’ai pas de bouffe dans maison…. Faut que j’trouve le temps de faire l’épicerie… J’ai passé la journée à donner des petits papiers au monde pour qui viennent à mon BBQ, pis ya va avoir pas mal de monde. Yé ben mieux pas pleuvoir parce que Julie sera pas contente !

Poor Dan...

5 tours at Silver Bridge today, I still enjoy pushing a lot but my left shoulder hurts, and my arms are getting bigger since May. I don’t fit in my long-sleeved shirts anymore! I have so many punting freak problems all over... Pis j’ai de la corne au boute des doigts. I had a talk with Pete the manager who worked for Scud’s for 9 years and he believes I’ll come back... Honestly, I’ve been telling everyone that it’s a ONE summer thing… and that I want to see Canada and the rest of Europe and South America… And then he tells me “Everybody does more than one season, you’ll be back!” Will I?
On a eu un petit peu de pluie aujourd’hui. Quand j’suis revenue à la maison, Sal était déprimée. Elle est allée voir un concert avec Dan, à Londres, et vers la fin du concert, un twit dans la foule a décidé que Dan était trop grand à son goût et lui a donné un méchant coup de poing dans face. Y s’est retrouvé à l’hôpital, une coupure d’un pouce de long sur la lèvre, quelques points de suture. Y ont jamais trouvé le gars. Some people juste don’t think... Alors le nouveau nickname à Dan the Man, c’est Dan the freak. (Y a la face toute enflée)Me and Sal are going to London next Saturday! Woot, woot! Got a little to do list for London. I wasn’t too tired tonight so I did some more painting: A white bikini top. English flag on the right, maple leaf on the left. It’s hot!

13 days left...

Une longue journée à Magdelene Bridge cette semaine ! (4 autres journées à Silver Bridge ? Pourtant, c’est ici qu’ils ont la plupart des pushers comme moi... Alors je serai la seule pusher à Silver S) C’était pas mal occupé et j’ai fais tours. Whew !
J’pense que j’avais TEASE ME d’écris dans l’front, à matin, parce qu’on a détaché et poussé mon bateau au moins 4-5 fois pendant que je l’installais. Heureusement que la riviere est petite, pour que je puisse me repousser contre l’autre rive. Un des bons mobilers, Max, est maintenant avec Scudamore’s. He turned to the dark side!
I started inviting everyone to my goodbye party (BBQ and inauguration of the backyard). It’ll be awesome! Gotta find a BBQ, though… Only 13 days left? I really feel like I was doing the countdown for England last week! Time is going by too fast and I can’t stop it! Tonight I met up with Kasia and Bettu @ the Regal weatherspoon, then Ta Bouche and finally Fez Club for some techno. Ew.

Do you know the way to Granchester?

Get up late, do the laundry, no rush… I cycled to Magdelene Bridge for a little hello to Becks and Kate cuz I don’t see them anymore! I added all the songs from “NOW that’s what I call music 64” to the laptop and realised I don’t know half the songs. I definitely bought it for the 10-12 songs out of 43 that I do know, and that I heard a lot on the radio. I did a little bit of Painting? I almost finished the painting for Andrew’s parents.
J’ai soupé chez Amie avec Rosie et Nic et après un super repas supposément dernière minute, on est allés à .... you can guess... Sunday night.... Granchester! Eh ouais, on est parties de la station vers 9h15 pour rattraper l’autre punt parti vers 8h45. On a fait super vite, étant sur un petit self-hire. On oublie combien c’est léger et rapide à force de faire des visites à 12 personnes contre le vent ! On avait pas de guitare, mais on avait des brownies, du fromage pis de la beer ! Ma caméra est encore brisée, alors c’est les girlz qui prennent des photos.