Because I have to and can!
So here comes the long awaited entry about last week, fully wireless, tax-free and in colour! I'm posting this because I'd promised I would and, well, people kept poking me. Shame on you people! Give a guy some rest. I'm busy enough playing all these games alright? =)
Reason I am posting this at about 2 am is simply because I can. Am home alone, parents are on vacation still and brother has to work tonight, means I can stay up as long as I want without anyone nagging. Not that I'll stay up very long anyway, but I could if I wanted to. It counts.
Now for my very exciting report of last week. For those of you who did not know it yet (those who don't know me at all), I visited someone last week. Someone I only knew online before, but who turned out to be even cooler IRL. We had agreed that I'd come visit her many months earlier, somewhere around October 2006 I think. For me it kept seeming very unreal, even as it drew closer and closer - it would involve me going on vacation alone for the first time, traveling by plane for the first time and meeting an online friend for the first time. All in all very exciting and kind of stressful. I really had no idea what to expect - would everything go smoothly on the airport? How would flying be? What if we wouldn't like each other IRL?
All of these worries turned out to be unfounded as the week progressed. At the airport everything did go smoothly, apart from the fact some guy found it necessary to search me. Luckily I'd left my explosives and guns back home. Waiting for the plane to leave was pretty relaxed, as I had my music and a book with me to kill time. When we finally got in the plane and up in the air, I realized that, as everyone had tried to tell me before, the takeoff is by far the most interesting part of the flight. It was odd for a few moments, but once we were up it got rather dull and I could once again rejoice over the fact I'd brought a book.
We landed in rain, which would about set the trend for the weather for the entire week. While I waited for my bag I got a bit nervous about whether I'd be able to find Ceri (no, that's not her real name, it's a nickname) at all. Turned out all I had to do was follow the signs that said 'exit'. Fairly easy for an experienced adventurer such as myself. I found the way out (hidden behind a few open doors) and met up with Ceri and her dad. Of course it was slightly odd to meet someone I'd only known online for over a year, but nevertheless I didn't feel the slightest bit uncomfortable. We got along well from the beginning, and the car trip to her home already saw some randomness.
Once we got home I was introduced to her mom and brother, who were very nice as well, making me wonder if it was all some kind of trap. You never know, of course. When I however could not detect any deadly traps in or around the bed they'd put up for me, I started to accept that this might actually turn out better than I'd dared hope. That day did not see many other activities. I contacted some people over MSN to tell them I'd gotten over safely, and enjoyed food that was strangely enough extremely edible!
Monday I was introduced to the most important places in the town, being the place where Ceri's mother worked, the place where her brother pretended to work, and the place where people bought beer and lost their wallets. About her brother's job: I want a job like that. As far as I could tell it involves watching movies all day, unless a lost customer might accidentally drop by, in which case said customer is to be dealt with as fast as possible to enable a swift return to watching movies. It also involves getting paid more than I get paid on my job, which involves a lot more actual work. Here's some room for improvement, Universe!
The rest of the day passed pretty uneventfully. The next day Ceri and her dad took me to see a lot of water and an old church, which looked very nice and was apparently the tourist-attraction of the town. Didn't spend much time there as I'm not much of a church-goer, but got one or two nice pictures of it anyway. It was also dry for a while, which was generally considered a very shocking event.
On Wednesday morning Ceri had to work, so I figured I'd just stay home and do nothing. Heh, that didn't work out. Her father invited me for a trip up the hill behind the house and, happy in the knowledge I'd actually do something and perhaps see something of the environment in the meanwhile, I agreed.
It started raining when we were nearly at the top, after about twenty to thirty minutes of walking. By that time the valley below was also almost completely shrouded with mist, so taking pictures wasn't really what it could have been. Either way, I signed the guest book and enjoyed the misty view for a while. We decided to take another way back, which would be longer but also easier. It was longer indeed, I guess it took us at least an hour. It also rained all the time. This made the sand very muddy and the rocks very slippery, and soaked me up to the point where you simply don't care anymore about more water coming down. We've all been there, right?
When we finally got back home I quickly changed into some dry clothes, ate some chocolate and crawled back to the computer. Ceri's shift ended at 3:30 PM, and that evening she, I and her brother went to the cinema and watched Transformers. It was a funny, cool and spectacular movie, and I really enjoyed watching it, even though I'd never seen anything about Transformers before. :)
I think, though I'm not sure, that it was that evening that Ceri introduced me to Tekken on the Playstation. A pretty awesome game indeed, with lots of odd fighting moves and beating each other up going on. Not something that could keep one occupied for an entire day though, but cool enough to play a bit every now and then. Later that night Ceri and I talked until about 3:15 AM. This quite proves how easy I found it to talk with her, and of course simply how cool she is. Nobody else I know would have allowed me to keep them awake for that long. It was really nice talking like that, it was.
Thursday I came out of bed at around noon, and later that afternoon Ceri took me along to the place where she earns her money. It wasn't as boring as I had feared, mainly because we talked a bit, and built odd towers out of stuff. When she had actual work to do (which was quite often and at very irregular intervals) I'd have the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy to read, so no problems there either. I even managed to help a bit by translating a few words. Most people after that were able to properly express themselves though, quite a disappointment. It was nevertheless fun to see Ceri struggling with the counter machine thingy. Heh.
Eventually the shift ended at 11 pm and we got picked up and driven back home. Enjoyed some scrambled eggs with bread and too much salt, and went to bed not much later.
Friday was also a very interesting day as we went bowling, something I had not done in many years. It showed. I think I ended on last place two of the three rounds, and on the second-last place once. Oh well, it was fun anyway, and that's what it's about (I keep telling myself :P). Had ice cream afterward which made everything better, and picked up Half-Life 2: Episode One, which I couldn't find back home but stumbled across in a shop here.
Saturday was the day when we didn't have anything left to do, and so we didn't do much. Mostly hung around a bit. That evening we watched two awesome movies though, Hot Shots and the sequel, Hot Shots 2. Both are exactly the kind of random I love so much, and made for a very good evening. However, I could not put away the knowledge I'd have to leave the next day - too early in my opinion. I kept Ceri awake with my talking for a bit longer again that evening, and she managed to make me feel a lot better. I was a lot more calm when I went to sleep.
The next morning was mainly spent wrapping up some things, gathering items and wandering around the house aimlessly. After a quick photo-shoot we got in the car and headed for the airport. During the trip I stared out the window and listened to music. We were ahead on schedule, so we stopped in a famous park with famous statues for cheesecake and a drink. Then we continued on our way.
It was busy at the airport, had to wait longer than the first time. After some final hugs, handshakes and a pat on the head for Ceri I maneuvred through the security checks. Nobody found it necessary to search me this time, so I could safely get on with my journey. Finding and boarding the plane was easy, and the flight back home wasn't extremely interesting.
All in all there can be no doubt that the trip was a succes. It exceeded all my expectations, and Ceri and her family are very kind, generous, hospitable and cool people. I had a great week, and I hope that I'll return some day to check if it's still just as nice there. =)
I'm hereby ending this LJ entry. It's now about 3:30 AM, which is rather later than I had planned. Maybe I shouldn't play Runescape while writing an entry next time. Anyway, everyone can stop poking me to write this now. For pictures you can visit the Inverloch Forums, and in there the Pictures thread. :P I'm too lazy to go find the link right now. Sleep well all, and see you tomorrow! =)
~Sleaw
Edit: Here's the link to the specific post: http://www.seraph-inn.com/forums/index.php?s=&showtopic=483&view=findpost&p=424240 Enjoy!
Reason I am posting this at about 2 am is simply because I can. Am home alone, parents are on vacation still and brother has to work tonight, means I can stay up as long as I want without anyone nagging. Not that I'll stay up very long anyway, but I could if I wanted to. It counts.
Now for my very exciting report of last week. For those of you who did not know it yet (those who don't know me at all), I visited someone last week. Someone I only knew online before, but who turned out to be even cooler IRL. We had agreed that I'd come visit her many months earlier, somewhere around October 2006 I think. For me it kept seeming very unreal, even as it drew closer and closer - it would involve me going on vacation alone for the first time, traveling by plane for the first time and meeting an online friend for the first time. All in all very exciting and kind of stressful. I really had no idea what to expect - would everything go smoothly on the airport? How would flying be? What if we wouldn't like each other IRL?
All of these worries turned out to be unfounded as the week progressed. At the airport everything did go smoothly, apart from the fact some guy found it necessary to search me. Luckily I'd left my explosives and guns back home. Waiting for the plane to leave was pretty relaxed, as I had my music and a book with me to kill time. When we finally got in the plane and up in the air, I realized that, as everyone had tried to tell me before, the takeoff is by far the most interesting part of the flight. It was odd for a few moments, but once we were up it got rather dull and I could once again rejoice over the fact I'd brought a book.
We landed in rain, which would about set the trend for the weather for the entire week. While I waited for my bag I got a bit nervous about whether I'd be able to find Ceri (no, that's not her real name, it's a nickname) at all. Turned out all I had to do was follow the signs that said 'exit'. Fairly easy for an experienced adventurer such as myself. I found the way out (hidden behind a few open doors) and met up with Ceri and her dad. Of course it was slightly odd to meet someone I'd only known online for over a year, but nevertheless I didn't feel the slightest bit uncomfortable. We got along well from the beginning, and the car trip to her home already saw some randomness.
Once we got home I was introduced to her mom and brother, who were very nice as well, making me wonder if it was all some kind of trap. You never know, of course. When I however could not detect any deadly traps in or around the bed they'd put up for me, I started to accept that this might actually turn out better than I'd dared hope. That day did not see many other activities. I contacted some people over MSN to tell them I'd gotten over safely, and enjoyed food that was strangely enough extremely edible!
Monday I was introduced to the most important places in the town, being the place where Ceri's mother worked, the place where her brother pretended to work, and the place where people bought beer and lost their wallets. About her brother's job: I want a job like that. As far as I could tell it involves watching movies all day, unless a lost customer might accidentally drop by, in which case said customer is to be dealt with as fast as possible to enable a swift return to watching movies. It also involves getting paid more than I get paid on my job, which involves a lot more actual work. Here's some room for improvement, Universe!
The rest of the day passed pretty uneventfully. The next day Ceri and her dad took me to see a lot of water and an old church, which looked very nice and was apparently the tourist-attraction of the town. Didn't spend much time there as I'm not much of a church-goer, but got one or two nice pictures of it anyway. It was also dry for a while, which was generally considered a very shocking event.
On Wednesday morning Ceri had to work, so I figured I'd just stay home and do nothing. Heh, that didn't work out. Her father invited me for a trip up the hill behind the house and, happy in the knowledge I'd actually do something and perhaps see something of the environment in the meanwhile, I agreed.
It started raining when we were nearly at the top, after about twenty to thirty minutes of walking. By that time the valley below was also almost completely shrouded with mist, so taking pictures wasn't really what it could have been. Either way, I signed the guest book and enjoyed the misty view for a while. We decided to take another way back, which would be longer but also easier. It was longer indeed, I guess it took us at least an hour. It also rained all the time. This made the sand very muddy and the rocks very slippery, and soaked me up to the point where you simply don't care anymore about more water coming down. We've all been there, right?
When we finally got back home I quickly changed into some dry clothes, ate some chocolate and crawled back to the computer. Ceri's shift ended at 3:30 PM, and that evening she, I and her brother went to the cinema and watched Transformers. It was a funny, cool and spectacular movie, and I really enjoyed watching it, even though I'd never seen anything about Transformers before. :)
I think, though I'm not sure, that it was that evening that Ceri introduced me to Tekken on the Playstation. A pretty awesome game indeed, with lots of odd fighting moves and beating each other up going on. Not something that could keep one occupied for an entire day though, but cool enough to play a bit every now and then. Later that night Ceri and I talked until about 3:15 AM. This quite proves how easy I found it to talk with her, and of course simply how cool she is. Nobody else I know would have allowed me to keep them awake for that long. It was really nice talking like that, it was.
Thursday I came out of bed at around noon, and later that afternoon Ceri took me along to the place where she earns her money. It wasn't as boring as I had feared, mainly because we talked a bit, and built odd towers out of stuff. When she had actual work to do (which was quite often and at very irregular intervals) I'd have the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy to read, so no problems there either. I even managed to help a bit by translating a few words. Most people after that were able to properly express themselves though, quite a disappointment. It was nevertheless fun to see Ceri struggling with the counter machine thingy. Heh.
Eventually the shift ended at 11 pm and we got picked up and driven back home. Enjoyed some scrambled eggs with bread and too much salt, and went to bed not much later.
Friday was also a very interesting day as we went bowling, something I had not done in many years. It showed. I think I ended on last place two of the three rounds, and on the second-last place once. Oh well, it was fun anyway, and that's what it's about (I keep telling myself :P). Had ice cream afterward which made everything better, and picked up Half-Life 2: Episode One, which I couldn't find back home but stumbled across in a shop here.
Saturday was the day when we didn't have anything left to do, and so we didn't do much. Mostly hung around a bit. That evening we watched two awesome movies though, Hot Shots and the sequel, Hot Shots 2. Both are exactly the kind of random I love so much, and made for a very good evening. However, I could not put away the knowledge I'd have to leave the next day - too early in my opinion. I kept Ceri awake with my talking for a bit longer again that evening, and she managed to make me feel a lot better. I was a lot more calm when I went to sleep.
The next morning was mainly spent wrapping up some things, gathering items and wandering around the house aimlessly. After a quick photo-shoot we got in the car and headed for the airport. During the trip I stared out the window and listened to music. We were ahead on schedule, so we stopped in a famous park with famous statues for cheesecake and a drink. Then we continued on our way.
It was busy at the airport, had to wait longer than the first time. After some final hugs, handshakes and a pat on the head for Ceri I maneuvred through the security checks. Nobody found it necessary to search me this time, so I could safely get on with my journey. Finding and boarding the plane was easy, and the flight back home wasn't extremely interesting.
All in all there can be no doubt that the trip was a succes. It exceeded all my expectations, and Ceri and her family are very kind, generous, hospitable and cool people. I had a great week, and I hope that I'll return some day to check if it's still just as nice there. =)
I'm hereby ending this LJ entry. It's now about 3:30 AM, which is rather later than I had planned. Maybe I shouldn't play Runescape while writing an entry next time. Anyway, everyone can stop poking me to write this now. For pictures you can visit the Inverloch Forums, and in there the Pictures thread. :P I'm too lazy to go find the link right now. Sleep well all, and see you tomorrow! =)
~Sleaw
Edit: Here's the link to the specific post: http://www.seraph-inn.com/forums/index.php?s=&showtopic=483&view=findpost&p=424240 Enjoy!