Graduation!

No, no. Not me. My graduation is still two years away.

I just witnessed a batch of graduates parade down Lambton Quay here in Wellington. Led by a kilt-clad, bagpipe-playing orchestra, they walked in groups according to their area of study. So you had, amongst others, education, humanities and social studies, law, science … and my memory fails. Jesus, I study at Vic, and I don’t even know what else they offer.

The reason I went into town to watch is that one of my friends is one of the graduates today. He was in the science group. I have seen the same progression down Lambton Quay once before, earlier this year, but that was a pure co-incidence.

Seeing the students in their graduation outfits, complete with the hat with the tassel, makes me want to be a graduate so bad. I met up with my friend last night, and he told me how it all works. Apparently they really do the whole ‘throw-their-hats-in-the-air’ thing which, for some reason, I assumed was only the case with American graduations.

It’ll be interesting to see when (if it happens at all) I become a graduate. At the moment the plan is to complete my bachelor’s degree, and that’s it. Which means that if I pass all my courses, I’ll be a graduate in more or less two years to the day. Exciting.

However, if my desire to learn even more is stronger than my desire to graduate in two years’ time, then I’ll do at least another year at uni, which is likely to be a one year course in screenwriting (you can tell that I’ve already thought about this).

At the moment I can’t possibly imagine leaving Wellington, but who knows how I might feel after another two years here. It’s a fantastic place, and I love so many people here, but if I’m no closer to starting a career here once I’m ready to graduate, then there’s nothing to keep me here, really.

Wellington is absolutely abuzz today. I’m currently sitting in my favourite cafe in Lambton Quay, enjoying a lunch consisting of a mocha and a bowl of fries, typing away on my wee netbook.

I heart cafe offices.

Graduation time is an amazing time, because the city is full of all the students who have returned for their graduation, as well as their families.

That is what I look forward to the most about graduation, to be honest. Getting my family down here to watch me graduate, and celebrate with me. The best thing about putting off graduation is, for me, that it leaves more time for my family to save up money for the huge trip down from Norway – it’s not as if they’ll be coming down for just a weekend, plus they have to pay for six people, if everyone is coming…

Right, better finish off my fries now. I’ve taken up a table for three all by myself for more than half an hour, and the place is packed. I’m sure the staff would be shooting me dirty glances right about now if they weren’t so nice in this place.

Move along

Life

is

so

darn

sweeeet.

The last 24 hours have been rather amazing. Last night out on town was ah-mazing. Today was AMAZING. One word for it? Yeah, amazing.

Also, I now have beers in my fridge. Fuck yeah. Speights, at that. I am one VERY happy girl. AND a bottle of wine. AND a bottle of gin. Does life seriously get any better??

Oh, yeah – it was supposed to be raining all day today. Instead it’s been sunny for most of the day. Someone is definitely on my side.

I have a newfound love for Australians and football players. And cafès in Wellington. (That last one was a lie – I’ve always loved the cafès in Wellington.)

Now to cook dinner. Then I’m having a movie night with my bud. Rock on, world.

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.

 

The Miracle

Guess who’s got a ‘coffee date’ tomorrow at 1pm? With a boy? You’re right, that’d be me. And I’m so excited it’s ridiculous. It’s amazing what a brief night out on the town can bring you. Finally, a decent bloke who was kind, interesting, funny, etc, and he invited me out for a coffee. It’s been a long time since I was this excited about a Tuesday.

Hurry up, Monday, go away.

10 Facts

…about Wellington.

1. It’s really not that windy here. Windy? Yes. Extremely? Nah.

2. There’s a saying in New Zealand that the further south you get the friendlier people become. This, as well as the city’s position on the North Island, has caused some people to claim that Wellingtonians are not that friendly. This is not true. Let’s face it, the entire country is rather far south, hence people all over the country are friendly.

3. The hills in Wellington are not that bad. Yes, there are some steep sections, but keep in mind that the steepest street in the world is located in Dunedin, not Wellington.

4. The airport. Yes, that’s right. It’s a scary location, and windy, but after several arrivals to it, and as many departures, I can with my hand on my heart say that I was only afraid that we were going to crash into the ocean once.

5. It might be nicknamed Wellywood, but I haven’t seen a single Hollywood movie star or film director yet.

6. There IS always something happening in Wellington. Seriously. Walk down the street, and you’ll find something for you.

7. Te Papa, the country’s national museum, which is located at the waterfront in Wellington, is actually THE coolest museum ever.

8. The city is famous for its high ratio of cafes/people, which is great for a coffee enthusiast like myself. So far, my favourite is Caffe Astoria in Lambton Quay (the fanciest area, I reckon).

9. It is really compact. I have walked from ‘corner to corner’ of the city several times, in one day. Great for shopping without having a car.

10. The buses DO run on time. Beat that!