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Ok here it goes. I finally have some time to let you in on where I've been living and working. I got to Plymouth on the 18th. I met my boss Stephen at the station. The train ride was supposed to be one of the best rides in Europe. I wasn't too impressed with it. If this was the best one I wonder what the others will be like. It was a sunny day in Plymouth. I was surprised to see that they actually have palm tree's. I thought this would be a sign of good weather, but its been dull and rainy probably three quarters of the time.
We would have gotten to the pub a lot sooner but we were stuck in a traffic jam of two horses. The roads here are single lane roads and are also very bendy. They are also completely enclosed by hedgerows, so there is really no place to go if you had to get out of the way real fast.
We finally got to the pub and I was surprised to see just how small it was. The web site made it seem like it was a really big pub with a restaurant and a bar area. The restaurant is actually only the size of about my living room back home.
When I got there I met some of the staff I'd be working with. The only other live in besides myself is a South African guy named Jimmy. His sister Michelle, also stayed at the pub until she got a place in town the other day. Jimmy goes to university in town and is the pub cook.
Him, his girlfriend Rebecca and Michelle are pretty much the core of he people I hang out with. We've gone into town for bar nights three or four times already. We also went for the Century Club last night. Jimmy and I made it but the girls quit around 80 in.
As for work its actually pretty easy. Because it's a bar I don't have to do much table service. The English I find are very picky with their drinks. They'll only have it in certain glasses and poured a certain way. They don't like any head on their beer so that you get a full pint.
There is big talk now about how the pub trade is going down hill. They're complaining that they're paying too much for beer and spirits. A beer costs about $3.90 canadian. Spirits are about $4.00 for a premium shot.
They don't have orange pop here they call it squash and its made with orange cordial and soda water. I'd say the biggest difference is they only drink flat beer, and its all pretty weak in comparison to our beer. The highest beer they have is about 4.2 percent. Stella is considered to be a very hard beer. They call it wife beater over here because it has a staggering content of 5.2 percent. The customers can either be really really nice or really stuffy stick up your ass brits.
I'm having a pretty good time here. It can get a little boring at times because after work most nights I'm the only one at the pub. I can see myself working here for a few months, then I want to try my luck in Scotland or Wales. There are a few people doing some under the table work in France for a few months in the summer picking grapes at a vineyard so that's another option. As with all travel its always up in the air. My next big landmark will be Dublin for St. Patrick's Day so thats all I care about at the moment.
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