Two weeks of holiday and I am done…

I am going to start my blog with a very important tip. Mid Semester break does not mean entirely that you are free from the responsibilities of Uni, so STUDY. I’m looking down the barrel of two tests and a couple of assignments needing to be done and I am all of a sudden wondering what in the world I got up to the past two weeks, conveniently forgetting to study for the most part of it. Yes, one was very blessed to spent some time in my hometown of Upper Hutt, seeing the capital city on a daily basis it seems and falling back in love with the city I left behind. Not the kind of love that makes me regret leaving, more like an appreciation for the place I left behind that is still moving and changing even when I am not there to be a part of it. Though this was enjoyable my break did not start so kindly.

Thanks to one illusive Cyclone Cooke closing the University for the majority of the final day of the term I found myself not having to sit a test, this was somewhat a relief but at the same time I just wanted to get the test over with and move on. My flight was delayed for about an hour but due to me trying to see whether I could beat the cyclone home I found myself sitting in Auckland airport for about 7 hours. This was one of the most stressful and exhausting days I can probably recount as it just dragged like you wouldn’t believe. To add to all this yours truly also decided it would be a great idea to leave my laptop (the only thing I had space for in my carryon for study stuff) on the plane under the seat. Love your work Callum. I did get it back after the weekend so that was fine but it definitely made the Easter weekend a bit annoying.

 

On the bright side being able to make it home meant and only people who end up in the halls will be able to appreciate this. Great food. Went out for dinner the first day back. Had a birthday potluck dinner in the weekend with all this nice food including Lamb on a spit, honestly words cannot describe how amazing this was. It was weird not having fixed meal times or having Breakfast and Lunch ready for you to just come and eat. It was good to even cook again, I used to cook all the time when I was at home and that is something simple that I did miss. Driving was another thing, I hadn’t driven since I moved up to Auckland and going back to my car at home was the best feeling ever. I forgot what it was like to just be able to go anywhere you wanted, when you wanted because you have your own vehicle to take you places. These on top of many things like getting to see my family and friends again were all things that made this trip definitely worthwhile. Coming back I got to settle back into the hall life, went to the Auckland Zoo (honestly recommend you visit), commemorated Anzac day by attending the Dawn Service at the War Museum which was awe inspiring and got to meet a cute little addition to my Aunty and Uncle’s clan in the form of a small puppy named Chester.

You definitely see people differently when you return home, seeing friends who are studying or working and seeing how their lives are getting on and how they’ve changed is interesting. People always would say to me before I left “Oh you’re going to come back so different” and I never believed them, surely I couldn’t change that much? I’m still me, but I’ve grown. Adapted to a new way of life in a new city with new people, I guess one cannot help but change. This is normal apparently, you don’t really think about it too much when you are in High School because the concept of being apart from your friends is quite foreign but it is not something to be feared but celebrated and embraced.

Things are starting to get a little bit intimidating as although we still have half the semester to go, in reality it is only about 5 weeks worth of classes before we get stuck right in for our final exams for this semester then we are done. Half the year gone just like that. Now not to lie I am kind of freaking out, I haven’t had too many tests or assignments already so I don’t have any results from classes to see how I’m doing, I will get them quite close to exam time which on one hand can be good but the anticipation is killer. So the next few weeks are really going to show me how I am doing and hopefully give me some confidence heading into the finals next month. For now I must put my head down and get back to it.

Thank you for reading my blog, in the coming weeks I will be addressing more things to do specifically with my courses as we near exam time so stay tuned for that.

Hakuna Matata