DynaVox

so i get up at 7:30 this morning, three-quarters of an hour later than i usually have to get up on weekdays. i get dressed, rush a quick breakfast, and my mom drops me to the place im doing work experience - 15 minutes early on my first day and no idea where im supposed to go. so i go inside, sit down in reception and wait awkwardly for about 15 minutes while employees pass me and wonder who the heck i am. then eventually a receptionist arrives and makes me put on a name tag saying im a visitor, and i sit awkwardly around for another 15 minutes while everyone who passes pretends they're not trying to read my name tag. then eventually at 9:15 the person who's supposed to be in charge of me for the week comes in - by this time i've lost count of the number of times i've said "im doing work experience, im supposed to talk to Claire James". anyway, she then shows me around a bit and sits me down at a desk on my own and says she'll come back for me in a few minutes. 20 minutes later she comes back and brings me to a room where im to spend the rest of the day - listening in on a demonstration of how to use those little computers that talk for people who cant speak, called the 'DynaVox series 5' (im doing work experience with Speech and Language therapists).

we break for coffee at 11 and everyone goes to the cafeteria - where the only thing to do is talk and drink tea and coffee - but i dont drink tea or coffee - so i sit around awkwardly for another 20 minutes. then we go back to the demonstration, break for lunch (more sitting around awkwardly, as my mom has made me bring a roll for my lunch, and there's not much messier to try and eat than a really crispy roll), and then back to the demonstration. it finally finishes at around 4pm, but im not supposed to finish work till 4:30 and there's no sign of Claire, so i just follow one of the other SLTs around for a while. she actually quite nice, and to be honest she's not that much older than me, so it's not too bad.

then finally at 4:30 i leave and go to the bus stop. i dont actually know when the next bus is coming, and its starting to rain, so im hoping i dont have to wait half an hour in the freezing cold. luckily, a bus comes along in about 5 minutes, so i hop on. this bus only brings me into town, though, so i have to get a different bus once i get there that almost goes straight past my house. for once, my luck holds, and im able to catch the bus that leaves at 5pm. however, about halfway through the journey, a drunken old man gets onto the bus. i try to push my bag out onto the seat to make it seem like there's no room, but its too late. i can smell the whiskey from his breath. who gets drunk by 5 in the evening, seriously?! i grab my bag onto my lap and look out the window, hoping he wont talk to me. it doesnt work. he's practically asking for my life story - what's my name, was i at school, what to i want to be when i grow up? i try to be as polite as possible while mumbling the simplest but not neccessarily true answers. i dont want to ignore incase he gets violent, so i smile nervously whenever he talks directly to me and try not to look at him. his name is Paddy, apparently. i get a bit more nervous when he tells me i have a nice smile, and asks where i live and how tall i am. i mumble inaudiably, but he seems to hear me and carries on talking away. at this stage we are nearing my town, and the bus is starting to empty, but he still hasnt gotten off. there's a woman sitting in front of me, and despite her bleached platinum hair and orange face, she still looks like the kind of person who would help me if Paddy gave any trouble. the old ladies opposite us, on the other hand, look more likely to blame it on me. but then, the nice-looking blonde woman gets off, and so do the old ladies. Paddy still stays on. im staring to get quite nervous at this point, as i dont want to have to ask him to move when my stop comes, and i start getting paranoid that he'll try to follow me home or something. but finally, to my relief, he gets off at the stop just before mine. i feel my wrists unclench, i didnt even realise they had been balled up. i start to relax again, until i get off the bus and realise i left my keys at home this morning! i pray that the spare key will still be in the shed, but as usual, its not. so i spend the next 20 minutes sitting outside in the rain with my dogs, waiting for my mom to come home.

so that was my wonderful first day of work experience. tomorrow im going to a disabled pre-school and we're going swimming....! wish me luck!
xxx