Best of Both Worlds

Hey Fam,

It is mad to think we are already half way through Semester 2. Just a few days ago I was travelling home after Course’s and Career’s Day and had serious Déjà vu when I realised I had been doing the exact same thing a year earlier with my Mum as a year 13. Looking back that day probably made me choose Auckland and so far I have had no regrets so I must’ve made the right choice.

On numerous occasions this year I have concurred with different people that our lives at uni are completely different to our lives back home. Very much a ‘Hannah Montana’ situation, so this blog is a look at some of the differences between my life in Auckland and my life at home in Central Hawke’s Bay.

1. In Auckland you can walk down the street with a hundred others and recognise nobody. At home you can’t go to the supermarket without seeing your old teacher, your sisters ex-boyfriend and a few other people you don’t wanna make small talk with.
2. In Auckland I spend up to 20 minutes a day in the lift (Floor 14 life). At home there are no buildings with more than one storey.
   

   Every floor 14 resident’s worst nightmare

3. In Auckland I eat at 5.30pm. At home it’s more like 8.30pm. If you miss a meal in the hall you have to wait it out till the next one, whereas at home the pantry is always open.
4. In Auckland all my friends are people I met this year. At home I have known most of my friends for a decent portion of my life.
5. In Auckland I live with 442 other people. At home I live with 6.
6. In Auckland the shops are a 10 minute walk away and I walk everywhere. At home they’re a 30 minute drive and you can’t Uber.
7. In Auckland parking is a fortune, traffic is a daily nightmare and the public transport is a mission. At home parking is free, tractors are the only reason for a minor traffic hold up and public transport doesn’t exist.
   

   Took me awhile to get used this

8. In Auckland McDonalds is a regular stop on the way back from a night out. At home we don’t have a McDonalds (which is a good thing).
9. In Auckland most of the people I encounter are my age. At home I am reminded that people actually get older and have children.
10. In Auckland I have lectures with 600 others. At home that’s the size of my whole high school.
11. In Auckland I have been out for Indian, Japanese, Italian, Korean and Mexican food. At home we only have one Indian and one Chinese takeaway’s.
12. In Auckland you can barely see the stars. At home you can’t miss them.
13. In Auckland the motorway has 4 lanes each way and there are traffic lights for pedestrians. At home there are no traffic lights for cars, let alone pedestrians.
14. In Auckland you can always hear the traffic or people or a helicopter. At home it’s pretty much silent except for the occasional dog barking or maybe a cow mooing.
15. In Auckland most working people wear a suit and tie or the latest labels. At home gumboots are standard.
16. In Auckland every other corner has a homeless person on it. At home there is one guy who is homeless and everybody knows him.
17. In Auckland there are concerts, festivals and events every other week. At home the best artist who has ever come to town was probably like Stan Walker.

Anyway’s, the list goes on but you get the picture. (I’ll stop at 17 because it’ll annoy those people with OCD, you know the ones who have to have the volume on numbers ending in 0 or 5.)

But although my life sometimes feels like it’s split, my personality definitely isn’t. I don’t have to put on a wig when I ‘Chill it out, take it slow’ or ‘Rock out the show’ so I really do get the ‘Best of Both Worlds.’

Till next time, stay fabulous

-A