I’ve done a lot of not studying. That’s not to say I’m not studying at all, but a good chunk of my days have been filled with a bunch of outings and events. It’s this illusion that Auckland creates, an environment where there are always things for you to do.
∞
Just as the hunger was starting to hit on a late afternoon, I wandered into the common room to find a rager of an auction or bingo of sorts. “Fifty-nine.” “I got sixty!” “Ugh, it says you can’t leave a single seat between booked ones.” …so not bingo then. Turns out everyone was booking seats to The Phantom of the Opera. Naturally, I turned and ran right back into my room.
To get my computer and book my own seat, of course.
The Civic is fancy. I’m talking crazy attention to detail on the walls, bathrooms, handrails and ceilings– fancy. Sweltering in pants and a long-sleeve shirt, I bit my tongue as the sign screamed “$5 ice-cream.” I’ve been in a student mindset where some money actually = no money and that = can’t afford anything. Yeah, I’m not exactly a mathematics major.
From the moment I stepped into the theatre, my jaw dropped and pretty much remained there right until the final applause. There were stars on the ceiling. Actual stars. Well, close enough. The walls weren’t really walls in The Civic, it seemed like the buildings of Aladdin’s Agrabah had been glued onto them and doused in gold and metallic paint. It was a whole new world. A dazzling place I never knew… Oh, and the musical itself wasn’t too bad either.
I had to awkwardly crop these photos cause they were actually square Instagram rejects. Oops.
You can kinda see the stars…
I miss dancing. Not the awkward fist pumping in the club dancing, but the hip-hop variant. I didn’t really know how I felt when Grace on my floor suggested we go for a class at The Palace. The Palace. Home to the Royal Family. To Parris Goebel. To the dancers of the Biebs’ ‘Sorry’ video. A $6 return bus fare and $15 class fee later (so much for my student mindset), we sat on the couch slightly intimidated as streams of very fit individuals came in for this advanced class. Half of ’em were little kids, which was the truly intimidating part.
It had been quite a few years since being in that environment and it really fuelled my love of dance again. It was the perfect Tuesday night wind down after my busiest day at uni.
∞
A few other noteworthy adventures include:
Shadows. The student bar on campus which is pretty hard to avoid if you’re of age. We went for MAALA and it was a really chill time to experience Shadows. As well as the gig, there was also a pirate costume party on the other side of the bar so we were pretty confused before we went in.
A friend had twisted my arm into getting me to join Debating Society. I wasn’t too convinced until I went to their show debate. It was pretty epic. And hilarious. And there was pizza. Note: You quickly realise uni events always have the incentive of free pizza.
To wrap up the week, a night on the town– starting with a foam party. We definitely had to go back to the hall and change clothes before going out again. Tip #3: Foam doesn’t taste very nice. Avoid getting it in your mouth, if you can. (I was pretty unsuccessful.)
– Bryan