Food for Thought

If you know me you know that I like to eat, actually, love to eat, but I love good food, not just any old thing.  At this "resort" in Minehead, England, we are served three rather large meals a day.  The problem is that the meals consist of potatoes, pasta, more potatoes, and some sort of meat.  The canteen where we eat has three or four stations where you can choose your meals, but when the choices are the ones just mentioned, you can't exactly enjoy a "good meal".  I'm sure I'm gaining weight as I do eat in that place, but really, the food is not the best.  Even the "heatlhy options" station I frequent has a ton of starches, etc.  I've done my best to try and balance meals, but there isn't much I can do otherwise.

That's why today was so nice.  I had a second day off from this teaching camp and so I got up this morning and went for a run along the beach.  I think I may have done 2-3 miles.  Not much but I'll tell you, I felt SO much better when I finished.  I've been talking about running all week but only today got the time.  I work from about 7 am to 11pm each day.  I'm pretty much a slave here as my contract still hasn't been sent to EF headquarters so I'm volunteering for these long hours!  Anyway, back to the food!  After my run I did some laundry and while I waited I ran into the Spar to grab a granola bar and something to drink.  Funny how something that simple (the choice of what I really wanted) made me happy.  I grabbed a chocolate milk (I know-not healthy but I need dairy) and a granola bar and waited for my clothes to finish.  After all that I got ready and walked into Minehead to a pub to grab lunch and work on a project I'm completing for the Palmetto Project grant I took place in back home.  I should say that I walked into three places who claimed to have wifi before finding this pub, The Duke of Wellington, that actually allowed me to get on the internet.  I worked diligently and then ordered myself some lunch and a beer to go with it.  I had a lovely ham and cheddar panini and a pint of Carlsburg.  Again, I know it's not the healthiest choice, but good food is really what I'm on a kick about, not just the stuff for rabbits, although I'd die for a good salad. 

After my pint I was feeling a bit tired so I headed back to my room for a nap and when I woke up I felt pretty refreshed, although you don't really sleep here as the 500 Spanish, Russian, French and Norwegian kids run around screaming outside your room constantly.  Also, the killer seagulls squawk like nothing you've ever heard before (see the picture about the danger of seagulls).  Anyway, I woke up and accomplished quite a bit of my lesson plan on abolitionists of slavery.  I think the plan's a pretty good one so far.  Found some amazing resources (newspaper clippings from Frederick Douglass's The North Star, etc.)  I realized it was 8 o'clock though and I hadn't eaten dinner so I fixed a cup of tea hoping that would help but unfortunately it didn't hold me over so I headed up to the Skyline (main pavilion of Butlins "Resort"). 

In the Skyline you have your choice of fish n' chips, Pizza Hut, Burger King, and a few other little coffee shop type places.  I really considered walking back to the place I had lunch, but it's a good 20 minute walk and it's getting chilly outside.  I opted for Burger King thinking I could get a chicken sandwich that would at least hold me over until morning when I get to go back to the canteen for an exciting breakfast of baked beans, potatoes (surprise, surprise), tomatoes, eggs (which you should know I don't eat), toast or cereal.  It amazes me how some people pile all of the previous items together.  It makes me sick actually. 

So, I'm here at Burger King, which I would never say has offered me any type of good meal, but satisfying in the fact that it fills me up.  Unfortunately tonight's was by far the worst Burger King experience I've ever had.  The food was disgusting and it cost me about 32 pence less than my meal (including my beer) at lunch.  I should have braved the cold for the walk back to town. 

I'll tell you what I'm looking forward to, besides getting away from this place and the pathetic excuse for teaching that takes place here (I'm not bitter, just telling it like it is).  I am ready to be in my little kitchen in my little studio with the friends I hope to make enjoying a good, home cooked meal with vegetables and other fresh items.  I'm looking forward to a good glass of red wine.  I miss supper club so much, so I hope to at least get a few people together to start a little one here (and it will have to be little as my house only seats two at a table for now).

I've got to tell you one more thing before I head back to my room.  I have to tell you about the "party" EF threw for the leaders last night.  I greatly appreciate the effort in getting us together so we could enjoy some time together sans children, but here's what I walked in to.  A room which had been the pool and gym here but has been "converted" into the EF lounge...a.k.a. an empty space with bean bags and a few chairs.  We all sat on the bean bags in the middle of the floor and sat chatting while one of the leaders tried to find an Ipod so we'd have some music.  There were two tables that had been brought in and on top of them sat a few cases of beer and cider, two bottles of wine, two boxes of wine, and a few bottles of liquor beside some diet Coke and lemonade.  Here's the part I love.  The drinks, all of them, were in their original packing sitting out at room temperature.  There was no ice in site.  I realize that Europeans don't use ice like we do, but I've never seen anything like this.  I drank two vodka and lemonades (at room temp. remember) before the Spanish (God bless them) came in with a bag of ice!!  I had two whole cubes in my drink and it made a world of difference.  I didn't stay out long, as exciting as the party was (ha), but it was fun while I was there. 

So here's some food for thought...you may want to question me if in the future I refer to anything you do as "interesting".  I've used that word here a lot this week.  I've described the food as interesting, the location of Butlins as interesting, the party as interesting.  It's become my nice way of saying things are strange.  I'm sure there will be even more interesting things happening this week. 

I may sound like it's awful here, but it's not all that bad I suppose, and with anything I do this year, I'm going to take it as an experience and learn from it.  I am trying to see the good in things and in people.  No matter what, I'm appreciative of the opportunity. I may also learn to appreciate things back home even more!