Who would’ve thought? It figures…
Life has a nasty habit of giving you a right old kick up the backside. In my case, this happened about a week and a half ago.
It is summery. The weather is now seemingly more warm than it is tradtionally cold and wet, so – spurred on by this – I booked a short city break in the sprawling North East metropolis that is Newcastle. My parents had visited a few years previous, they told me it was well worth a visit. A big city in the vein of Manchester, it also boasts ‘Europe’s largest shopping centre’ The Metrocentre.
I booked the break while at work, fine tuning the details such as how long I was there and what train to catch. Exciting! I wasn’t planning on having a break this year, so a few days to get away would be great.
That same day, I was handed a letter from a member of the HR department. Due to budget cuts, my contract at the ILF would not be extended. The 26th of July will be my last day. Understandably, I was devastated. Here was a job I’d done my absolute best to make certain it was made permanent, only to be told those efforts had been in vain. I knew there was the very real possibility of me not being kept on beyond July, but that being said there was nothing to ready me for the “Ok, thanks, bye” method of delivering the news.
From the sublime to the ridiculous? Sod’s law that it all happened on the same day – like I was being punished for daring to enjoy myself? – to make matters worse both the hotel and the train journey were non-refundable. Perfect!
At this point, I came round to the thinking that a few days away might take my mind of things – so actually going with it all was still the plan, despite being blindsided by this. I left for Newcastle on Monday, and I’m certainly glad I went.
The city is huge, the architecture is amazing, and the weather – bar Tuesday’s washout – was perfect. Newcastle city centre is what happens when town planners get everything right. It wouldn’t be a city without a couple of eyesores, but they were kept to a minimum, Newcastle is definetly up there in the good-looking city stakes! Shopping is also well catered for. Not content with the sprawling Eldon Square having most of the High Street shops, the Metro Centre down the road in Gateshead is apparently Europe’s largest shopping centre. Taking a trip on there on Tuesday, I certainly believe that, it’s huge.
Problem with shops of course, is that once you’ve been down one High Street, you’ve been down them all. The Metro Centre just had them all lined up in a different order. Good job that I hadn’t planned my while trip in the North East around shopping… There was the coast, just a short 25 minute ride on the Metro. I’m incredibly envious to all the Geordies who have the beach on their doorsteps! It takes us two hours from Nottingham to get to the coast and what do we have when we get there? Skegness.
Newcastle has South Shields. Very Skegness like – in as much as it has a high street and Promenade – it’s a pleasant seaside town, everything you could want in one actually. A short hop across the Shields ferry and a ride on the Metro to Tynemouth, a seaside village that might be quieter then South Shields, but is a lot more prettier. You wouldn’t know Newcastle was just a few miles down the road. Again, envy overtakes me!
I also took time to see St. James Park. I never realised how close it is to the City Centre. It’d also be worth having a tour around the stadium to really grasp how big it is inside.
Before I left yesterday, I had a brief trip to Sunderland. Newcastle’s southernly sibling, suffers a bit in comparison but is still nevertheless a fine city. Yesterday was really rather warm, so I resisted the temptation to walk a great deal. I did see the football stadium however. The Stadium of Light is typical of the modern day stadia. Out of town ‘bowls’. It looks good and that, but doesn’t have the character the City Ground has.
The accent can’t go without a mention. I love the Geordie accent a while lot more than I realised. Whenever I heard it, it was the more broader speakers, so it sounded more cliche – like they were putting it on! All the words were there -’tab’ for cigarettes, ‘gan’ for going and my favourite ‘howay’. Always loved that word and especially when I heard Geordies use it in everyday speak.
Whenever I go away on a break, I attempt to fit in. I hate tourists and being touristy, but being in Newcastle there was one major flaw to that plan. The minute I opened my mouth, the untrained Geordie ear probably thought ‘another Yorkshire pudding’. 
The trip to the North East was brilliant. I’d go back, for sure. Being by myself though, I still kept dwelling on my impending job loss. But I’m increasingly coming round to the idea of unemployment – albeit temporary. I want to work, but with two more pay days to come (and £1200 still in the bank), I’m not in dire straits financially. I could finish early July and take the rest of the summer off. I could turn it all round to my advantage! The union are doing all they can to save my job, but I believe it’s a lost cause. With my altered way of thinking, it’s no longer the devastation it was last week.
Does my tale warrant inclusion on Alanis Morrisette’s Ironic song? “He booked a break in Newcastle, then was let go the same day”. No? 
