Living in Brighton, where Kraft doesn't exist.

Over a month ago I published two blog posts that explained how I made it from sunny Southern California all the way to Brighton, Surrey, UK. What I could do is say that this is the third installment of that blog series, but at this point that would be like saying this is Half Life 2 - Episode 3 instead of just calling it Half-Life 3. And I'm not gonna be like Valve and just put it off until its 5 years later and all we want is to SEE GORDAN FREEMAN'S CROWBAR AGAIN AND NOTHING ELSE.

Wow. Sorry about that. I imagine none of you know what that was all about. If you do, thanks for being a video game nerd. Moving on.

I'm currently in full writing mode, which doesn't happen often. Got sweats on, cup of tea next to me (thanks UK), and tonight's random music is Bob Marley. So if this blog starts getting a little weird, it's just the music.

The Royal Pavilion is one of the nice places to see in Brighton

England - it's the place where people love to drink tea and football carries an entirely different meaning. I figure I should start with the day I got off the plane, which happened to be September 11th. I walked through customs, which was a fun experience in itself. When I showed the customs officer my VISA to work in the UK he asked me what kind of VISA it was because he'd never seen it before. As usual, all I needed to do was mention some type of cool attraction he'd been to that Merlin owned and I was stamped through. Instead of taking the tube into London and a train to Brighton, I tried looking at the bus depot first to see if there was something more direct into Brighton, and luckily for me there was. The bus only took two hours from Heathrow to my hotel right next to Brighton's beach.



Before you all start saying things like: "Oh, from one beach to another Nick!" or "You're life is so hard!" keep in mind that Brighton's beach consists of stones and pebbles, one operational pier, and one pier that's burnt down not once, but twice (and the rumor is that the other pier did it). As I found out later that afternoon, the water in the English channel is COLD, and I don't mean "stop your complaining and put your head under to get used to it" cold, I mean put on your full body wetsuit because the water is 50 degrees.

Ever wondered what a twice burnt down pier looks like?

My first three days in Brighton were primarily spent looking for a place to live. Any moment I could spare I was on the computer contacting every flat that was listed within my price range, which kept growing every day. Brighton isn't a very big city, but people commute in from other locations around the city. Problem is, quite a few people drive from outside the city, as the busses take a long time. I toured a few places, one was too far away, one had over 15 people trying to get the lease, and one was literally right next to my hotel, only a 15-20 minute walk from work. Price was a little steep and I would be living with a 45 year old woman, but I was living in a safe place 5 minute walk from the city center (or centre if you're feeling European) with someone who knew a lot about Brighton. More pros than cons, and I quickly moved in after four nights in the hotel.

During this time, I was also starting my new job at the Brighton SEA LIFE Aquarium, which happens to be the oldest operating aquarium in the world. My first week of work was really positive - I was working at what was easily the smallest attraction I've worked at so far which creates a sense of everyone working together to solve problems. The first three weeks was all about learning as much about everything as I possibly could. I'm the Entertainments Manager at SEA LIFE, which means I'm in charge of all educational aspects of the attraction - talks, conservation, interaction with staff. It's easily the most challenging job I've had with Merlin thus far and has certainly come with a bit of trial by fire, but as with any other challenge, I do my best to meet it with 100% of my effort. I've learned a ton more than I ever figured I'd learn about fish, turtles, and other sea creatures. I help feed giant sea turtles almost every day, and I lobby our curator to let me snorkel with the sharks almost on a daily basis.

On one of my first days on the job I was told that the attraction needed large scale renovations, large enough to potentially close the center over winter. I wasn't sure what to think of this really at first - I'm here for six months trying to learn how to become a good entertainments manager, how can I do that if I have no one to manage? A couple weeks later it was confirmed that we would close on October 31st and hopefully open again in late February. I've got plenty of tasks to complete while we are shut, and I'm hoping it will be a positive thing in the end. I'll have an opportunity to create real change in Brighton - almost like opening a new attraction, which is something I'd be quite interested in for the future.

London Eye by night.

All things work aside - living in Brighton is certainly different than California, Wisconsin, or New York City. First all - I haven't driven a car in two months now. Bear in mind, after driving about 45 hours in a week before I left this hasn't been all a bad thing, but it does present its own specific challenges. There are a lot of theme parks and attractions in the UK, and I can't just hop in a car and drive to them on my days off, it takes more planning. The good news is that the UK has a really great rail system, and I only happen to be a 57 minute train ride from London where you can get a train literally anywhere but America. So far I've been to a couple of theme parks, and had a trip around London, not bad for two months over here.

I can't say I have extensive travel plans for the rest of my stay here, but I can confirm that I'll be spending christmas with the one and only Natalie Hunter in Paris, France and the UK. It's hard to believe that I've been here almost two months already and it's less than two months until we'll be meeting each other outside of Heathrow to start our holiday together. It's also hard to believe that I'm spending one of my favorite holidays in Paris with Natalie Hunter. Let's just say I'm really hoping these next two months go by quickly so I can go ice skating on the Eiffel Tower and listen to christmas music by the fire.

I really do like Brighton. It's a city that's small enough to travel around on my bike (Big shout out to Gumtree.co.uk, England's Craigslist for the cheap bike) and has quite a bit to do. Brighton Pier is a tourist trap, but features a few roller coasters. While I don't doubt that the coasters themselves are safe, the fact that they are are many large steel structures sitting on a 120 year old pier that shakes when it's windy out, I rode them once I don't really feel the need to ride them again. There are countless pubs and shops to explore here as well. One thing Brighton is "famous" for is the Laines, which are windy narrow streets that could never fit a car through them lined with shops, cafes, and restaurants. You can find anything from Warhammer to fine Jewelry in the Laines, and its pretty easy to get lost if you don't know where you are going. Let's just say while most of America is laid out in a Grid, Brighton is laid out however the fisherman in the early 1800s damn well pleased for it to be laid out.

THINGS THE UK DOES RIGHT
-Hard Cider

Is that a horde of Zombies? Crap - why did I come to Brighton?

-Sunday Roasts
-Flapjacks
-For the most part, their sense of humor
-Zombies

THINGS THEY COULD DO BETTER
-Have buffalo wings
-Spelling - why would I spell color "colour?"
-Mexican food. You don't wanna know how it tastes here.
-Airtime on their roller coasters.
-Make the left shift key on the keyboard bigger. It's impossible to hit with my pinkie finger.

For anyone who was keeping track, 6 out of the 10 things on that list are food related. Kraft macaroni and cheese doesn't exist here, which is pretty disappointing to be sure. I have found alternatives, but let's just say that I eat more pasta packets than I want to mention. They are cheap, and living in the UK is expensive. Like, more expensive than it was to live in New York, which is pretty lame.

After just under two months of living in another country, I can say that I've adjusted to life over in the UK pretty well. If this was the first stop on my little Merlin Tour I think I would have had a hard time. This isn't like studying abroad where you are surrounded by other people going through the same experiences in a program designed for it. It's showing up in a new country and figuring everything out yourself. Things could really have been a lot worse - Skype is a godsend as a cheap alternative to contacting people back home. And the people I work with are closer to my age than anywhere I've worked before, which means a bit more socialization (yeah, I spelled it with a Z, so what England!) in Brighton itself. That doesn't mean I don't miss the hell out of the people back home. Wisconsin is still my home, and I always felt like I could book a plane for not a ton of money to get back there for a long weekend if I wanted. That's tougher here - travel takes longer and it's way more expensive, so there is no going home for six months. Luckily I have some really great people who are coming to visit me (in addition to Natalie my parents and sister will be here in January to visit the UK and Ireland, right - I'm going to Ireland! Kiss the Blarney Stone!) and I really appreciate them coming to see me.

It's safe to say that I'm really trying to invest most of my time here in work - trying to get the most out of this experience that I can take back with me to make myself all the more marketable when my program ends in March. Once March rolls around it'll be up to me to secure a job in Merlin myself. Obviously I plan on starting that search quite a bit earlier and will have the support of the people I've worked with already, but all things considered - I'm already excited to find a place to live for longer than six months. I'm excited to potentially be starting the next chapter of my life after this year and a half has changed so much for me. I can't wait to be with Natalie once she graduates. I also can't wait to hopefully reconnect with the people I've lost a bit of touch with since graduation. Speaking to someone once a month on Facebook isn't exactly what I'd consider the best case scenario for a friendship, and I hope it doesn't have to stay that way.

Some people have disappeared entirely - I hope we can get past whatever has separated us and watch the Brewers on opening day (with or without Prince Fielder) because life is just too short.

Every time I move it teaches me to appreciate everything I already have - the UK is no exception, infact it's an even bigger reminder about all the good things I've got. Family - Friends -Girlfriend - Bdubbs - Playstation.

If you're still reading this far you've probably already realized that the Bob Marley ended a long time ago and all sense of organization in this post was lost when Billy Joel started playing in his wake. Currently its New York State of Mind (the slow version), which is one of my favorite songs. I would like you to know that I miss all of you dearly, and if it were up to me I'd be teleporting to Eau Claire or Milwaukee or Carlsbad tonight. I'd be judging Bradley next weekend and reconnecting with those who have lost that contact in the last 18 months - and I'm not saying that to whine that life here is terrible, because it isn't, and I'm doing just fine with or without Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. It's what one of my biggest role models said to me in May when I first heard that I might be moving abroad - "If you have the chance to live abroad for a set amount of time - do it, because it will help you appreciate where you grew up all the more."

He was right. I like being here, I like learning to live in new places because I think it helps me grow as a person, but it's Wisconsin.