I think so…
This isn’t just some stupid idea I’ve got, even though you might think I’m stupid for going ahead with it. Me, I’m dead excited and dead serious about what this is…
I took a gap year before uni to spend time abroad, basically. I study languages and planned to spend this whole year in France working and living, French style. If you didn’t know you can certainly make a good guess that this didn’t end up happening. I couldn’t manage to get anything sorted (stupid Disneyland not replying to my application innit).
So anyway after I finished college in July I planned to spend a lot of time sorting this year out. I didn’t want to spend it doing nothing cos a) that’s boring and b) when people ask me what I did in my gap year I don’t want to have to say “oh… nothing much”. That was the plan for the summer: to sort out this year. But did it happen? Nah. Why? Cos I met someone who I wanted to spend all my time with. It was awesome! Summer was amazing and I didn’t (and still don’t) care that I didn’t manage to find a job in France for the year. I guess I changed my mind.
Skip forward to end of August when I decided to start working full-time in boring old Halifax to earn some money and fund… something. So through various contacts I landed myself a well-paid (and not too boring) job at the Halifax Bank, where I’m currently working til Xmas. I do like it, and I was considering extending my contract until Easter next year. Until yesterday.
Nobody likes Monday mornings. When I was at my desk yesterday I got a text from Elaine, my old languages teacher at college, asking how I was and if I fancied a chat to ring her. I was going to ring her on my lunch break but forgot. All afternoon I sat infront of my screen with nothing to do, but thinking, “what am I doing?”. I’m eighteen, on my gap year, and I’m doing a job that requires very little skill. Okay so it’s good pay, but seriously, anyone can arrange meetings and type up notes. Working in an office compiling spreadsheets about banking is not for me. I have chosen to study languages because I love them, I’m good at them and I find them so interesting. I want a job which uses these skills I have. I’m not right bothered for now, cos this one’s only temporary, but it makes me feel weird to think about if I was working there for the rest of my life. I just couldn’t.
I felt especially bad about it, because Elaine was (is) the best teacher in the world. She helped me sooo much with my French and German that I can’t even begin to describe it. I had often talked with her my plans of spending the gap year abroad doing some ace languagey work and getting all proper fluent. I felt bad because here I was, sitting in an office and letting my languages deteriorate. After all her work and efforts, I was letting my knowledge go to waste.
This is about when I decided.
I’m working here til Xmas, saving up all the money, and then I’m going to Europe. This is The Plan.
So I have about 10 weeks left there. This is enough time to earn the money I need, and then after Xmas my contract will have expired and I’m not renewing it. I want to take a few weeks in January to relax and wind down, then end of January/start of February, I will leave.
These next few weeks I will work on details. I will buy myself a European railcard and I will roughly plan where I want to go and in which order. Definitely need to Paris and Berlin again, but I want to just go everywhere. I want to spend a lot of time in Germany as I’ve only been there twice. I would like to say hi to Uka in Belgium and since Terry’s in Switzerland these days I might see if I can get to see him again there.
I’m excited. It will be scary to do this all by myself, but I can do it. This is what I really want to do. It will cost a lot, but on the other hand… I can get some really good photos! Haha.
