In that time, I have moved home, started a new job, begun my training as a carer, started attending a different chapel, with an entirely different congregation, and begun to experience living a more lonely life!
I now live in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, and work in a care home. The town is lovely, very middle class, and lacking in cheap shops! I am living twenty minutes' walk away from the town centre and have been there a couple of times, just to mooch around and use up my time. The charity shops here are excellent; I can imagine that I'll get some good buys here.
Moving home has been fun, although I still don't feel that my room ahs the full status of home. There are various things that I need such as shelves on my wall and hooks to hang things such as my dressing gown. That might sound silly, but actually it's not, because I still have a few boxes on the floor with things in that I have nowehere to put. One other thing that would make my room a home would be a bedside lamp. I currently only have a strip light, not in the slightest bit cosy. I am still looking for one: I might find one that I like the base of and which I could decorate ir change the shade of to make it more my own and make it easier to find! It would be nice to have a car though, so that I could carry all these things home. Hopefully I will get one by the end of the summer, when I have saved up enough money to buy and run one.
I thought it might interest you to see some pictures of my new room.
My room is very close to the main road, which used to prove a problem with sleeping, but now I am used to it. I am glad I have a table to out my sewing machine on! The curtains are rather ugly, so I will replace them soon too.
I am still really tired, as there is so much information to take in with a new job, and everything is new, which always tires you out. Hopefully my body will get used to working full time though, and the late nights or early mornings which shift work requires!
So far I have not really felt homesick, only slightly lonely on the first night I stayed here. That is a wonderful thing really, as I suppose it has helped me to settle in better. It is quite lonely living here though, as now my Dutch friend Mathilde has left us, I am the only one of my age around. I really wish I had the use of a car, so that I could easily go and see people! Anyway, enough grumbling.
I enjoy attending the chapel here. the congregation is very different to my one at home though. At home there are 22 of us, here there are about 100! It still hasn't quite sunk in that this is where I will be attending permanently yet. There are plenty of young people, who I met on my first day here at the Bible class BBQ. They all seem to be nice, and it is good that there are so many of them, something which I missed, or rather lacked at home.
Sorry that I have rambled so much here, hopefully you get a glimpse of my new life though!
Have a good weekend,
Hannah xo
