I arrived in Manchester, very tired, and was kindly collected and deposited home by my Uncle John. The next evening my parents arrived home. On the Saturday I went to visit Soo and Dave in Chester and had a bit too much to each and drink, but it was all very nice. It was weird being back in the UK, especially as the reason was so unexpected, and seeing some friendly faces helped. I went back home on the Sunday and began thinking about the speech that my mum asked me to give at the funeral for my Grandma. I still wasn't sleeping properly, usually waking up at around 4 or 5 in the morning, and on Monday morning, when I woke, I wrote the basis for the whole speech which I then finished off through the day.
The funeral was on the Tuesday. The church was full of family and friends which was really nice to see. I was very nervous about giving the speech on several levels; just doing it was one, but there is also the worry about content, what people would think, and all that. My mum had read it and thought it was good so I just had to get up and do it although by the end I was shaking and almost crying. It's something that I am glad to have done. Grandma meant a lot to me and I was happy that I was given the opportunity no matter how stressful it was at the time.
I didn't really do much on the Wednesday except go into Manchester to have a look at the bookshops. I got an email off David K suggesting we meet for lunch so I met him at the Earth cafe. It was good food, even if it was vegan... On Thursday my trip to Leeds began. I met Andy in the Angel for old times sake and then, slightly drunk, we went back to his house where we ate pizza and chatted. We all needed an early night, though, and I spent the next day reaquainting myself with my PS2 and reading comic books (thanks, Andy!).
I met Anthony in the Vic at 5pm. I'd remembered to email someone from my previous job at Education Leeds and so a few people I knew from then came along and said hello. Slowly my other friends started to arrive, as well as my sister and her boyfriend. Was thoroughly drunk by the time we left, which was only about 10:30 to give us time to get to an off-license before heading back to Anthony's and carrying on. Got to bed about 3.
After a few rough bits felt surprisingly ok on Saturday. Went to Hansa's, a very nice vegetarian restaurant in Leeds, with Mike, Cate, David and Amy. Ant came as well. Then back to Ant's where Dave and Dutch turned up to say hello. Got an early night, though.
Flew back on Monday with a rucksack of twiglets, marmite and dry roasted peanuts. Back at the school I was told that my boss had decided to hire a known heavy drinker and generally inappropriate teacher. Finally think Ann and I managed to convince him that no matter how desparate we are for teachers this would be a really bad idea.