Written Earlier Today:
I’m typing this entry while sitting in my first hostel ever, but I won’t post it until tomorrow, when the experience is over just so I don’t give anyone heart attacks. I’m in Brighton for just one day and one night because I wanted to see it. I knew I wouldn’t feel exactly at home here because it’s known for being a party city. But it’s worse than I expected. I saw the things I wanted to see in all of two hours, and I am so ready to leave. It’s raining so I can’t enjoy sitting out on the pebble beach. And the worse of it all is my hostel room. I thought I had managed to book myself into all-female rooms for every hostel, but apparently I wasn’t able to do so for this room.
I am in an co-ed room with eight beds: seven smelly guys who all know each other and myself. Oh and I thought there were lockers in hostels where you can lock up your stuff. Well, these lockers are about three feet by one foot...not nearly enough space to lock up much of anything. So I don’t really want to just leave my stuff here, but I obviously can’t carry it with me (because it’s SO heavy; I have WAY too much stuff because of living and working in London and then carrying most of my stuff with me) and I don’t want to just sit around in this room forever. Although on a rainy day in Brighton, I don’t really care. 
I saw the Brighton Pier, which was amusing. You can play arcade games and I think you can do a little gambling too and you can go on rides like a merry-go-round. There’s a wide variety of unhealthy food, like the kind you’d find at the state fair. And of course there are quite a few bars and clubs which I’m sure will be ‘hopping’ tonight. I also saw the Royal Pavilion (Eastern-inspired ‘party’ palace made by King George IV) from the outside. I didn’t tour it because I’ve toured so many palaces and castles lately, and I just wasn’t in the mood to pay 6.50 pounds for something that would probably be fine but not amazing. I went to the Brighton Museum, which was free. That was enjoyable. They had an exhibit of interior design throughout the ages and another one of fashion. It was a bit different from the ‘typical’ museum, and it was pretty interesting. Earlier in the day, it was nice enough to sit out on the beach, so I did that while I was eating my lunch of Chinese chicken noodles.
Okay, well it looks my seven guy roommates are finally getting out of bed. It’s almost 3:30 in the afternoon. At least they’ll be gone for a while and I can be left in peace. Maybe I should try to take a nap now and then go out later (because I do intend to get a drink tonight because that’s what Brighton is known for), and then if I get very little sleep tonight (due to loud and obnoxious roommates), it won’t be such a big deal. Although I should count my eggs before they’re hatched; the guys aren’t out the door yet.
I just really hope that the next hostel experience is better. I’m pretty sure I should be with all women next, which isn’t any guarantee of anything, of course. But at least it won’t be so weird! Plus being in Oxford instead of Brighton will hopefully mean a better crowd. I wish I would have paid twice as much money to be able to stay in cheap hotels instead. And I really wish someone was with me because this might even be a little bit fun—even if it’s ridiculous—if I had someone else with me. And I also wish I wouldn’t have booked everything ahead of time. In some ways, that was a good idea so thing so that I wouldn’t be freaking out about if I could find a place to stay. But then if I wouldn’t be stuck in stupid situations like this one. I mean, this is only for a night, but what about some of the other hostels? What if I don’t like my Bristol hostel and I’m stuck there for four nights? Oh well, I guess I’ll deal with that when I have to. For now, I just have to survive this. (The guys are now attempting to make themselves smell better by spraying massive amounts of cologne everywhere.)
Well, I guess this trip will be an interesting experience, if nothing else.
Now:
I'm now writing from a hotel room now. I was talking with my parents on the phone and I was saying how I thought I could handle this hostel situation for just one night, etc. At that point, I figured the guys would go out to drink around 9:00 and be out until 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning. While I was on the phone (around 9:00), I went back to the room to see if it was empty and I could maybe read or something and get a few moments' peace. I didn't even go in because I heard loud music playing. Suddenly it dawned on me that they might not go OUT to drink, but they might drink until the wee hours of the morning in the room. So in addition to the complete awkwardness of rooming with seven guys, I might literally get no sleep. So I decided to try to find a hotel room. I'm now staying in the Queen's Hotel in a family suite because that was all they had available. It's worth it though to not be in a place where I felt completely awful.
I double-checked my bookings at other hostels, and they all specifically say that I will be in all-female dorms, so that should be a lot better. Plus they are all a part of the Youth Hostel Association, so they might be held to a little different standards--although there was really nothing wrong with the hostel itself in Brighton; it was just the people I was with. Although when I came back to get my stuff, they were in the early stages of drunkenness (the friendly stages), so they were suddenly a lot more charming than they had been earlier that afternoon (when they hadn't talked to me at all...not that I made an effort either; I was too shocked). I told them that I had a 'family emergency' and had to leave earlier than expected...not entirely true. But they were really nice, and one guy even offered to carry my bag for me and everything. They may have guessed the true reason why I was leaving. But I had an extra doughnut that I had bought earlier and didn't want to eat in the slightest, so I asked if any of them wanted it. One guy was like, 'Sure, I'm the fatty of the group [he wasn't]; I'll eat anything!'So anyways, I am now going to enjoy my night in peace and quiet. I probably won't get another one of those for a couple of weeks.
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