Jem Sullivan, a lad from Oz who developed an unfathomable love of Newcastle United from his native Australia decided to decant to Newcastle for a year back in the summer. He’s been on Tyneside six weeks and is immersing himself in our Black & White world. This is his second Blog for true faith: 

What an interesting six weeks its been! It feels like a long time since I last wrote something about Newcastle. It’s been a great time for me personally, I am starting to settle in well and truly, unfortunately every now and then I have to go and watch NUFC play! Gee just reading over this I’m noticing what a miserable sod I’ve become.

All things football aside, my time in Newcastle has been great. I’m now settled into a job in the town, as well as a new flat. I wanted to be set up as soon as I could when I arrived, the faster I get settled the easier things seem to get. My experience has been everything I thought it would be, and a little more. I’ve had a few big nights out in Newcastle, one thing that anyone will notice is that Geordies can drink. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen, even the Lasses drink me out two to one! Over the next 9 months I’m sure to build up some stamina, or things are going to get pretty embarrassing.

I’ve been working in a restaurant the past few weeks, and the Australian accent has proved to be a massive talking point, I might actually get some work done if I wasn’t constantly talking about where I’m from. People find it strange enough that there is an Australian in Newcastle (I’ve only met one other), and then they hear the reason I’m here and just about fall off their seat. It’s taken me a while to get used to the local accent, it was ridiculous at the start, on a few occasions it involved me asking people to point at the menu when they ordered, as their accent was absolutely incomprehensible, especially if they’d been drinking. I don’t know what it is, but as soon as Geordies have a few pints in them, their accent automatically becomes 10x stronger, and the slang really comes into it. Despite this, they’ve still got nothing on their Northern neighbours, the Glaswegians. I could write an entire blog on how hard they are to understand; I doubt they can understand one another!

I’ve managed to write this much all whist completely avoiding the topic of the football. I’ve witnessed the Man City and Crystal Palace game in the flesh, whilst watching the villa and saints games on TV. Two draws and two losses isn’t a great start, not for the team, the fans but more importantly not for the manager. The new players need more time to find their feet (particularly Cabella and Riviere), with De Jong out until January, these are going to be tough times, three points will be extremely difficult to come by during this period. I don’t believe Pardew has too many games left in him, if we don’t pick up maximum points in the next few rounds, then surely the club has to act. I’m already imagining the party in town if that muppet was to be fired.

More than anything, I’m in Newcastle for the experience over the next 8 months, the pre match day build up in the pub, my first away game (stoke in a few weeks!!) and all the other twists and turns that this season will take. I want to experience being here, and what it’s like. Meeting new people and sharing my experiences have been the best part of this extraordinary trip so far; it helps me understand just how much Newcastle United Football Club means to the people of this city.

Thank you to everyone who has read my blogs over the past few months, I’ll have another one for you in a few weeks.

JEM SULLIVAN 

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