Day 2. Don’t worry, there won’t be one of these every day! I just have some time on my hands and stuff on my mind. It’ll slow down and ease off soon, promise! This one may seem a bit bitty and random stream of conscience-y, but, hey, sorry, you get what you’re given. I’m afraid. *shrug*

It’s a very odd sensation, sitting in the Cyb@study on this ship. Normally the computers face fore and aft, but here they face into the ship. It’s very disorientating, because you’re not facing in the direction that the ship is moving! I’m probably not explaining it very well, but, trust me, it’s an odd sensation.

Snow in the South East. 40cm yesterday. Another 20 today. We are really pegging it at the moment, trying to stay ahead of the weather, which is going to move south and chase us. Last night I took a photo of the Lido (swimming pool) deck under snow. Very odd sensation, seeing the sunloungers covered in snow. Trez odd indeed.

Slept well last night, despite Force 7/8 winds. Down to 4/5 today, which is much more than copeable with.

Walked a mile today round the deck after lunch – mum did a third of a mile with me. It was a bit blowy but it was good to clear the cobwebs. The inside of the ship is very warm and stuffy (to compensate for it being apparently somewhat parky out) and I’ve been feeling quite headachey as a result, so the fresh air was very enjoyable, even if I did get a little numb in places! Took some photos of the distant rain/ snow clouds while we walked. Just hope they stay distant!

Apart from a couple of sprogs – one about 5 years old and the other about 9-ish (who I’m pretty sure should be in a school somewhere, even if it is closed by snow today)- I seem to be the youngest person on the ship by about forty years. It’s very weird. The average age on worldies is always high, but this is ridiculous. I’m hoping a few more youngish will materialise over the next couple of days. Went to the nightclub last night. Just me, the DJ and the waiters. The DJ is seriously depressed. He’s quitting in Athens, and is counting down the days. He says that no one comes to dance EVER. Even at Christmas! It’s like spending time with Marvin. I keep expecting him to say “Life? Don’t talk to me about life”. I’m hoping that someone more cheery replaces him! He’s probably a very nice bloke when he’s not so depressed!

Went to Spanish class today – figured I’d skip French… although the teacher is the same for both and is half French and half Uruguayan, so I chatted to her in French later. The Spanish class was PACKED. It’ll be interesting to see how many come back tomorrow, as there is a fairly high drop-off rate usually. Part of me is reassured to be going back to the beginning, but part of me is worried that I’m not going to learn much in a class of over 40… I learned how to spell my name (which isn’t as silly as it sounds, honest) but the rest was recap for me. You know, ‘my name is’, ‘I’m from England’. That sort of stuff. It’s conversational content, designed for immediate use, which is good, cos we’ll be in Barcelona in a couple of days! I’m guessing we won’t be fluent by then though… The Spanish teacher is leaving in Hong Kong and we get someone else until Singapore 2. After that, no Spanish at all, but we get an Italian teacher. I’m wondering if it might be a bit confusing to start Italian straightaway. Have to give that one a bit of thought… No rush to decide though, let’s face it. Irritatingly, the Spanish class currently clashes with the art class, which is a bit of a tough choice to have to make. I may yet switch, I dunno. Or they may change the class time or location or put in another class for non-beginners at a different time. It’s all going to be a bit in flux for a few days, I think.

I have bumped into a couple of familiar faces so far, one nice, one not so. In fact, she sat at our table at lunch and it wasn’t until after she’d gone that I could point out to mum that she was the rudest person we’d ever met and she’d made me cry on Oriana some years ago. She just randomly insults people. She’s obsessed with being thin and just tells people how fat they are, even if they aren’t especially. Friends of hers, complete strangers, anybody. She’s an absolute cow. And frankly, being 82 is no excuse for bad manners. Luckily she held her tongue today, although she told her friend she should go to the gym with her because she’s fat. If she’d said anything to me, it could have got very nasty very quickly. Personally, if one of my friends spoke to me like that, I’d chuck them over the side and be done with it, but, hey, whatever floats your ship, so to speak. If you want her as a friend, that’s your lookout, but I’m staying well away from her, thank you very much. Horrible old bag.

Here endeth the disorganised ramblings of the day.