The next stop on my American trip was Ocean City in Maryland, where I had a prearranged job working at Trimper's Rides of Ocean City. After spending 7 hours on a bus I was glad to finally see the Ocean City sign, however when I arrived I was completely lost and hadn't really planned how I was actually going to get to Trimpers. It turns out there was yet another bus, so armed with my massive pink suitcase I arrived, met my new employers and moved into my new apartment, well if you can call it an apartment. At my apartment I was greeted by my new roommate, Aimee who was the only one not working at the time, so we wandered around Ocean City. Ocean City can only be described as a more tacky and obviously Americanised version of Blackpool, full of arcades, fast food places and of course the beach. Once everyone finished work we stayed up pretty much all night drinking and chatting which turns out to be a regular occurrence here, and by regular I mean daily. The next day I went into the office at 4pm, as was arranged the previous day and I filled out my tax form and got given yet another day off so casually went to the beach. However, the next day I was not so lucky, I had to start work. I was allocated the position of a Ticket Seller, and given my 'attractive' uniform, an orange and yellow T-shirt and brown shorts (picture to follow). After conquering the confusion of 1 ticket being 50 cents so having to work out how much people have to pay for three people to ride the rollercoaster that is 8 tickets, its 12 dollars if you can't work it out, I eventually caught the hang of it. The job itself is very straightforward and I have now got used to it and can work out what people want when just handing me a 20 dollar bill without saying a word, however the worst part about the job are the long hours during the times that nothing really happens, to solve the boredom I have begun reading books as well as hoping for rain and therefore an early finish, I am never normally this lucky. My life at the moment pretty much revolves around work, I am working at least 10 hours a day, 6 days a week, after work we spend the time relaxing in the flats, or on a Wednesday going to the Employees night at a bar owned by one of the bosses. Before work, I occasionally squeeze in a bit of beach time.

There are two exciting parts to my week, the first is receiving my pay check every Saturday and the second is my day off each Tuesday. My first day off we (myself and my roommate Alex) decided it was time for some much needed retail therapy and as I considered myself to be rich, as I had just been paid 130 dollars, we set off for Rehoboth Beach in Delaware an hour's drive away where there is a tax free shopping outlet. After neglecting to actually check the bus times we arrive over 2 hours after leaving and after paying for a ridiculously expensive taxi, but it was so worth it. It can only be described as shopping heaven; they had an Abercrombie & Fitch, Hollister, Guess, Aeropostale store and many more, all with clothes cheaper than what you would pay in the traditional stores. We are joined later but some of the others and all head back to Ocean City with less money and lots of bags of shopping. I bought a pair of jeans (yes finally - I haven't worn jeans in at least 3 years) from Abercrombie and a pair of gorgeous Steve Madden shoes (I have a weakness for shoes, but what girl doesn't). When we return, we take full advantage of one of the perks of our job, riding the rides for free, going on Freak Out, which is in the shape of a claw and swings from side to side, the dodgems and various other rides. Since then I have ridden the rides countless times, including last Friday when I was lucky enough to finish early. On Friday I rode this ride called the Zipper, all I can say is never again, this ride literally swings, spins and throws you around in every way possible, I have never felt as sick as I did after that ride. Later that night I got caught in the heaviest rainstorm I have ever seen; these raindrops were massive and I was drenched from being out in the rain for approximately two minutes. My next Tuesday off is in fact today, this morning we went on a family trip to Walmart, which got the group rather excited, yes the constant working has really driven us all that crazy. We then caught the bus to further up Ocean City and went to play Mini Golf in the rival company to Trimpers, Jolly Roger. It was a Jungle themed golf course with waterfalls and plastic elephants and a lions, the inner child in me was extremely excited. We have just got back and will be getting dressed up and going out for dinner tonight, we are all looking forward to getting dressed up and being able to relax and enjoy a nice meal instead of just grabbing whatever we can in our half hour breaks. That's all for now, will update you all again soon and will of course upload pictures.