Same old story, reloaded

 

Ah, the break is over. I’m not sure how I feel about this.

On the one hand, it’s great to get back into the daily grind, because I love being busy, but on the other hand lies the problem that I didn’t do enough work over the break, so now I’m going to be overwhelmed by it for the rest of the trimester. I don’t like the sound (or thought) of that, especially considering how I’ve got other things I’d rather do in my spare time than read my course texts and write essays… I’m going to give out my CV to several cafès in Wellington as soon as possible as well, so if I get a job that means less spare time and less study time. Eeek.

But hey! Let’s (always) look on the bright side of life. Maybe I worry too much? Today, the first thing that met me at uni was an A for the first project we did in Film101. Now that’s good news. But instead of celebrating, I spent the entire afternoon preparing the essay that’s due in on Friday, ‘cause apparently you can’t just write a philosophy essay like you can with most other essays. You have to understand the problem and actually state your own opinion, so instead of writing a draft today (which was the initial plan), I spent several hours just reading about public art and its purpose… When I felt like I was actually ready to write something, I realised that philosophy essays are written in a completely different style than what I’m used to, so I had to look up the guidelines online and read through them, which cut back another hour of my precious time. In the end I left the library without having written a single word for the essay itself, but I think I got all the basic preparation out of the way.

And did I mention that we had like 17 degrees outside today? It was pretty awesome.

I made my fabulous chicken and corn soup (with rice) tonight, it was better than ever, and it’s the first time in ages I actually cooked a proper meal that included meat. I’m so full at the moment. I’m feeling way too content and relaxed…

Flowers in Spring, Surprises in the Mail and Nothing in the Fridge

 

Today is the third day of spring. Yes, I do know that I’m a little behind (what’s so special about it being the third day? I should have done this on the first day of spring), but I have a tendency to refuse to go with the flow, so when “everyone” was going on about the arrival of spring a few days ago, I chose to ignore it. That’s just what I do.

 

Wellington was almost as good as it gets today. At least up until now. A southerly change is expected this afternoon, and judging by the thick clouds that have suddenly appeared, we can expect some nasty weather real soon. This morning (while the sun was still shining from a spotless sky) I went to Exodus, a gym in the city, to work out (I was given a 7-day trial a couple of days ago), but I didn’t feel too great, so after I’d walked all the way to the gym I decided to give it a miss. Instead, I went for a stroll in the city; I even ventured into the supermarket, which is a very dangerous place for me at the moment, considering I’ve got less than no money for another week. The prospect of being penniless for that long does not appeal to me (I miss having a steady income!), and I could see it happening already last Monday, so on Wednesday I went down to the headquarters of Mojo to inquire about barista training and potentially a job, and was told by the friendly staff to give them my CV, and they would get back to me. If I get a job with them, they provide the training for free.

When I got back from the city I checked our mailbox, and it’s usually quite boring unless I’m expecting something, and at the moment I’m not, so it was a lovely surprise when I opened the mailbox only to find a very interesting-looking envelope, which had my name on it! Upon closer inspection I found that it was from Sony Music NZ, one of my Twitter friends. A couple of weeks ago they gave me two tickets to the preview of Going the Distance – you know what I’m talking about. Excited as a 4-year old on Christmas Eve I ran up to my flat, and opened the envelope. It contained a CD – the Going the Distance soundtrack, in fact. Free stuff = a happy student.

I then proceeded to make lunch. And I was scared by how everything I’ve got in the fridge disappears at a much faster rate than I can afford. I reckon that by Sunday night I’ll be out of ham, cheese, salad, cucumber and eggs, and I can’t buy more of it until next Thursday. Le sigh. Plain toast and coffee it is, then.

Break on a budget

 

So.

 

I’m on holiday.

 

It’s the semester break. As I’m not doing any courses over summer this means that the first half of my first year as a university student is over. I had my only exam on 15 June, and since then I haven’t been doing much. Unless you count the flat rental company business, but that’s just something I got involved with to avoid dying of boredom. (OK that last bit was a lie, but sometimes I think to myself that considering that it’s me we’re talking about, it might as well have been true.)

Unlike many of my fellow students, I have already had a two-week break, and I know I shouldn’t be complaining at all, thinking about all those poor students who had their exam(s) only yesterday and will only get a two-week break in total. I get four weeks.

When my break started I was really excited about it. Really. I was supposed to be moving to Mt Victoria, spend lots of time outside and explore Wellington and hang out with people. So far I’ve accomplished two out of four things: I’ve been spending a lot of time outside, walking all around Wellington. However, after I’d walked around Central Wellington a couple of times, I realised how bad it was for my wallet, as it is so easy to fall into the trap of buying coffee/lunch/a snack at one of the hundreds of cafès while wandering about. So I decided to approach the idea in a different way. It was time to go back to being a tourist.

The first thing that came to my mind was that I still hadn’t seen the famous location used in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring where the four hobbits tumble down a hill and land on a forest path. It is conveniently located in the forest on Mt Victoria, so on a rainy and cold day I defiantly put on some warm clothes, packed a minimal lunch and set off. I despise looking like a tourist, but there’s no denying I must have strongly resembled one, when I made my way past Cuba Street and Courtenay Place dressed in wind-proof trousers and jacket, carrying a light backpack .

I eventually found the location in the forest (I think), snapped a few photos and started making my way back. Of course, it had been raining all the time, but as I was halfway home it stopped, and we didn’t get any more rain that day. It makes sense.

After that wee excursion, I have stuck to wandering about the city itself, mainly because I can’t think of any other ‘nature’ tracks around this area. So I’ve walked along the waterfront a couple of times, strutted through Lambton Quay and up and down The Terrace on several occasions, walked down Willis St (pretty much all of it), sat in Courtenay Place looking for Sir Ian McKellen and otherwise explored more or less every side street in the CBD. All the while trying not to be lured into spending all my money on the fantastic winter sale bargains.

Of course, it’s impossible not to buy anything when the shops sell most things for under half price, but after I went completely crazy once or twice, I decided that it was about time I imposed some ‘safety measures’ on my spending to avoid going broke. So what did I do? Well, for starters, I bought a ten-pack of noodles. That’s food for a week. Then I went and bought a pair of shoes. I think I’m pretty good at getting my priorities right.

I also decided that I’m not allowed to spend more than about $10-15 each day, and if I spend more than that in one day, it means that I don’t get to spend anything the next day. This seems to be working fairly well. Because I try not to spend any money, I spend a lot of time checking out various shops and supermarkets to compare prices on things I want and/or need. I’ve recently decided to make vegetable soup/stew a weekly meal (after I’ve killed the ten noodle packs, mind), so I wanted to compare prices of the various ingredients. First I went to New World, then I went to a place I’ve never been to before, which turned out to be an Asian supermarket. When I had walked past the fruit and vegetables that were placed at the front of the shop, it was like entering another world. I don’t think I would have been able to name or even identify a single product beyond the fruit stalls. It was glorious – so many weird things, it was simply amazing. Anyway, the Asian supermarket won – their prices were way lower than New World’s, thankfully. My wallet let out a sigh of relief.

So far I’ve been doing most things by myself. No, wait. Everything. I’ve been waiting for a couple of people to be in touch, and I’ve tried to arrange things with others, but no one seems to be keen, or they are busy. Hmph. But this Sunday I’m going to meet some of the All Whites players with a friend from Dunedin who’s in Wellington for the week. Yay, human contact at last.

Today was a wee cracker of a day in Wellington. Absolutely gorgeous. I spent about three hours walking around the city, and bought a loaf of white bread, European style, and some ham, and then I treated myself to a mochaccino at my favourite cafè in Lambton Quay. When I got home I made a late lunch, and I enjoyed every last crumble of it.

Now I’m just going to let some photos sum up the past week, as this blog entry is getting a wee bit long.