Rockets, Wales, Druids And Urinators

I had such good intentions to write up my training weekend in Wales but I've been so busy this week that I've not had time until now. I'm helping to organise an event to mark the end of the Brighton Festival and that has taken up every minute of my time this week. It's fun though - I love organising events but they're very intrusive and take over your life!

The weekend went very well despite it being a wet start. I got a lift up with a guy who works in a different department. I'd met him a couple of times but until the (4 hour) car journey had no idea that he was a raging bigot and racist!

Oh yes, I got to hear all about how the Polish and other EU Nationals were coming over here and claiming benefits, how the homeless choose to live on the streets, how young girls get pregnant so they can get a council house, how the 'wrong people' were breeding, and how the thousands of dying children in the 3rd world were a result of natural selection and we shouldn't help them because their governments were corrupt. 

Now I've been described as a 'Daily Mail Reader' by friends because I think people should be held accountable for their actions. I believe there should be consequences for the things we do, and the 'poor me, not my fault, not my job', attitudes are simply not good enough. However his opinions were highly offensive and the journey was a nightmare. I got a lift back in another car to London then caught a train back home from there instead of returning with him.

We had to partake in Team Building exercises which I'm not usually very keen on. This time however we got to have a go at archery and the tasks were a bit more cerebral. Working out how to protect an egg in a rocket that was going to be shot up as high as a house for instance. It turns out I am a crack shot at firing a gun - I was good at the axe-throwing we did on an adventure day last year, but I was so good at firing an air rifle I won a prize. Incredible - I have a useless talent!

Luckily I also managed to get a room to share with just one other girl. She is also very sensible and boring so I got some sleep - I had also bought earplugs which helped! The 3 girls in the room a couple of doors down however were rudely woken in the night by the sound of some bloke pissing in their waste paper basket. They made a noise and he ran off - although nobody knew where to! I would not have been happy about that I can tell you...

The weather picked up on the second day and we could see the hills and valleys near us more clearly. We took a lovely walk to a little nearby pub and 38 of us piled in for dinner. I took myself back to the Youth Hostel at sunset as there were no street lights and I didn't fancy the walk in the dark. I think only 3 cars passed me on the way back it was that quiet.

Another highlight for me apart from the shooting and the lone stroll back was getting up at 6.30 and sitting outside on my own in the quiet. All I could hear were birds signing, the occasional cock crowing, and the sound of the wind. I never get up that early here and it was brilliant. It's never that quiet here either (cars, seagulls, the railway line, people) so I really appreciated it.

On the Sunday we went to the Green Man site and the Druids blessed the festival and asked for good weather. The bloke without the hat is Arthur Pendragon - a bit of an eccentric who thinks he's a reincarnation of King Arthur (like you do) he was a bit stand-offish actually but it was an interesting thing to see and take part in the Pagan ritual. The festival site is very beautiful but it was weird to see it so empty with no tents and stages!

So all in all a pretty good weekend. Wales is beautiful and it was really good to catch up with the managers of the festival departments, but I'm glad I bought my ear plugs, and even gladder that nobody pissed in my room.