On reflecting on what I’ve written below I seem to have drifted from what I had initially planned to write about but enjoy the almost ‘stream of consciousness/write what I’m thinking’ blog this time round.
A mate helping me out w/ the post
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Mid semester break has just ended, half down and half to go before exams kick off. I still haven’t had any big assignments or essays to do because they’ve all seem to have fallen on the same week… just my luck, eh.
Wellington will always be considered home and I love the city to bits. I’ve only been back to Wellington for two of the four long breaks and have been compiling a mental comparison of the two cities which I interchangeably and annoyingly call home. Seeing as Wellington and Auckland are the two most booming cities in the country, and I feel like I’ve gotten a general grasp on living in both now, I’ll be giving a comprehensive rundown in my next post– there’s a lot to share!
Snap of Welly– isn’t it fab
I really just wanted to share my recent trip back here to Auckland at the end of mid semester break because it was just a bit crazy. I had booked super cheap flights months in advance and I didn’t think much about a 9.45am flight being a hassle but my mum did that’s for sure– let’s not go into details but just imagine an outraged mother realising she’s having to wake up an hour before usual, plus traffic blah blah… Woke up in the morning to blasting winds and SNOW. If you’re unaware, snowing in Wellington is rare and it was awesome to see but changed quickly to sleet and hail. Getting onto the motorway was the biggest mission, rush-hour morning traffic as well as bad weather.
It’s snow I swear!
It was just a string of events really, just as I was getting out of the car the heaviest hail storm started up again and I tried hard to not to be swept away in the infamous Welly wind as I scuttled into the airport. Got to the gate lounge and it was completely full. As soon as I sat down, the fire evacuation alarm went off. It’s funny because it is the same siren and oh so familiar voice that has made me jump a few times already in the hall. So we went, streaming out the doors into the 4 degree weather.
EVACUATE THE BUILDING
Yay back inside fiiinally
Fun fun fun. Turns out I was in the wrong area of the gate lounge anyway so… got onto the plane half an hour later and my seat was the very last row in the corner. And just my luck when not one, but two babies appeared. One in front and one in the row next to me. It was also the first time I talked to someone for the whole time on the plane, a British guy off to do a presentation for a multi-million dollar deal. Off to the bus stop and outta the corner of my eye a lady’s luggage flipped onto the road. Helped her out and finally got to my stop and realised I had left MY luggage on the side of the road. So casually strolled back (real low key) to pick it up and act like it was intentional. Just to top it all off– fell asleep on the bus and hit my head which woke me up just before my stop :))
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Back to the embrace of the orange tower of Whitaker Place. Assimilating back to hall life is always probably the biggest hurdle. I know I always seem to come back to hall life but it is probably the biggest decision whether you’re moving cities or not. What I’ve noticed about living in Auckland and being from another city is actually how unstable your living situation feels, almost like you’re in limbo in all aspects of your life. You make new mates but also have all your mates from home and yes, you can try to be social with everyone but sometimes that is unrealistic. Just little things too, like having a free gym membership for this year in Auckland means I don’t when I’m in Welly; not having a stable part-time job and the uncertainty of one in the summer; access to your car etc. etc. the list goes on.
But then one of your new mates might have a yacht so…
I thought I’d touch on it now as moving away is something which you should consider in relation to your lifestyle and values. Starting to sound deep but pretty much comes down to pros and cons. Just something to ponder while I finish compiling my ultimate comparison for next time.
– Bryan