national express to manchester

I completely forgot about the Australia v Japan game today until NJ reminded me this morning while we were shopping in Leicester (Trace, he has his birthday stuff sorted. He's really happy.)

NJ left me at the bus stop close to two, when the bus left and the game started which – given I am in the right hemisphere to actually watch it in the day – is pretty bad timing on my behalf.

BUT... the bus had a forty-minute stop in Nottingham (that i didn't know about), so i went to the pub across the road which was showing the game on the big screen and pulled up a stool just in time for the second half. The bartender, Jay, informed me that we was robbed in the first half by a dubious call from the ref. Whatever. I like Japan, anyway.

Halfway through my first pint I started getting hassled by a local guy (by way of Jamaica), whose pick-up routine consisted of this:

Him: "Are you Aussie?"
Me: "Yeah."

Are you married?
No.

Do you want to be?
No.

Do you want to marry me, then?
No, thank you.

(Why men think a marriage proposal can ever make for good conversation, I'll never know.)

So he went away and I kept watching the game with Jay and then (let's call him) Jammy comes back and says, "My friends (he's sitting with three other drunk local heroes) want to know if you want to come and sit with us?" I said, "No thanks, I'm just watching the game and I've got to go and get back on a bus in a second" and then he says, "Well, you're very beautiful" and I said "Thanks, you too" and he goes away and I watch several more excruciatingly tense moments of football before Jammy comes back and says, "My friends want to know if you're a rich snob," and I said, "If i was a rich snob would I be catching the bus and drinking in here?" and he said, "No, i suppose not, love. Still, if yer change yer mind, I'll still marry yer."

Touching stuff. The worst part of all this is then I actually did have to go and get back on the bus so I missed the end of the game. I got NJ to text in the score, not hoping for much, so I was very surprised and happy when NJ called in the fact only TWO minutes later that Australia had scored two goals outta NOWHERE. Australia 2, Japan, 1. (It must be that Korean coach, James.) I asked NJ to let me know if Japan scored again 'cause the game hadn't quite finished but I never heard back from him, and then I got a message from Julius that said something weird but made me sure we had won. (i just looked at the herlad online and now know it was 3-0 - how the hell did that happen?)

Anyway, that's my game one story from the World Cup. We will probably be in London on Sunday for the next one against Brazil (although we are considering going to Germany). Hope you guys are enjoying the game, wherever this finds ya.

xx

PS I'm listening to Maximo Park in the spirit of heading north (we just passed Sheffield, which is where I think they are from) and the singer Paul still reminds me of you Danger Coolidge... not as tough though.

PPS No baby, yet.