Canterbury Tales II
In a half-hearted effort to make sure that this site doesn't become solely a report on re-enactment, this is an update on everything that's happened in the month since Katya and I have been in Canterbury.
Canterbury has remained largely the same since last time I lived here and I can still find my way around reasonably well. The main difference is that now the Cathedral is covered in scaffolding and the grounds are a construction zone. They are doing some much-needed repairs on pretty much the whole thing, so it's unlikely that I'll be around to see the final project. It's estimated to be finished in 2020 but who has that kind of foresight. The rest of the city remains idealistic and gorgeous, I can't wait for my family to come visit me here so they can see why I love it so much.
I am now a job-stealing immigrant! I got what I would consider to be a dream job, working as a tour guide at the tourist attraction The Canterbury Tales. So I am in a medieval costume telling people a bunch of things about Chaucer and the 14th century, and I get paid to do it! The tour itself starts with a guide, and then you go through with an audio guide to listen to 5 of the Canterbury Tales; the Knights Tale, the Miller's Tale, the Wife of Bath's Tale, The Nun's Priest's Tale, and finally the Pardoner's Tale. Out of those, I like the Pardoner's Tale the best, but out of all of them, I still think I like the Friar's Tale.
Katya got a job as well, working at a hotel restaurant. They have a piano in their front room and when there are no customers I've been allowed to play it! My lack of sheet music and practice definitely shows, but it's fun to be able to play, even for a bit. I am still looking around at other pub jobs just to make up the hours. This effort has convinced me that test shifts are just ways to get free labour since everyone seems to already know if they're going to hire you or not before you even step through the door, especially when they don't even bother with the semblance of an interview. - Update: I now have another job in a pub called The Shakespeare. My CV is starting to look like a reading list, but seeking employment in literature-related establishments has proven profitable. Also, the person working there confirmed my suspicions: trial shifts are technically illegal and just a scam for free labour.
We are still in our temporary house until July 1st, and there are a few things that I am very much looking forward to: being able to stand up in the shower, having my own room, being able to buy more than one meal worth of food at a time, eating at a table, being able to put things away instead of just on the floor - the finer things in life.
I've had a bunch of quick little catch ups with friends. We met up with Cecilia and Richard for dinner one night at their place, along with having some amazing drinks at an old dockyard brewery where Cecilia works. I met up with Abigail at the Chocolate Cafe, had a lovely chat there and the pastor at Vineyard church even recognized me, which was impressive considering it's been 2 years.
ØC practices every Tuesday night and after that we all go to the Punch Tavern, which has a deal on Tuesdays that you can get 2 pizzas and a bottle of wine for 15 quid. So for the last 4 weeks now, Katya and I have gotten a pizza each, which lasts us a day or two, and then stashed the wine for later. We may need a wine cellar at our new place if this keeps up. Katya has found the one pizza that she gets ever week, I'm still making my way through the list, with a few unpleasant experiments - duck and hoisin pizza was not a good idea.
We also finally have shields of our own that are about half the weight of the ones we were borrowing. We went into West Gate Gardens to paint them, and got a few looks and comments. One group of guys asked if we were painting alien space ships and a group of older Brits jokingly accused us of coming over here and "stealing our history since you don't have any of your own."
Other than that it's just been little every day things. We went to Folkstone to walk around the beach and very quickly ended up just picking up tons of plastic. A library had a talk from the British Museum on sword hilts, which was fascinating, I've stopped in the Cathedral a few times for services or just to wander around the cloisters, and all in all it just feels good to be back.
