I’m lying on my floor amongst two suitcases, an over 46kg swarm of clothes and a few childhood mementoes (I had to google how to spell that one) that should have really been thrown out years before today, and I have come to the decision I am in a packing rut.
This is the longest I have been away from Wellington, and I’m not really sure what to expect. I know the line for Betty’s will still be unrealistically long, and I know there will be freshers enjoying Mt Vic Chippery on the boatsheds. I know there will be significantly less students in my classes by the second week, and I know people will still drink til they’re paralytic like they’re back on second floor. These are the things I know.
But there’s so much still that I don’t know.
The days are getting shorter, the nights are getting colder, the evening swims have ended along with the day hikes and weekend campouts. I feel like I’m genuinely mourning the loss of summer. Every year I say it’s the best summer ever, but this year it truly was.
I wrote a list of things I learnt.
- Sunscreen is your friend. “Oh I just burn but then it turns brown the next day.” Melanoma doesn’t agree. And you have the added fun of trying to ease your yoga pants over your pink (and really fucking sore) butt for the next week. Lather up, you’ll love yourself (and your funky tan lines) for it later.
- You might accidentally end up dating someone. And believe me, I mean totally unplanned accident. You’re great friends, and get along super and he even will buy you a Mac Demarco CD (which you now don’t actually mind after spending your evening commutes listening to Salad Days), but sometimes friends should really just stay friends.
- I’ve used the word friends a lot. Love your pals. Call in sick and drive for hours to watch the sunset. This is living.
- The ocean is a beautiful place. Learn to love that feeling of having no idea what’s beneath you. Put your head under. Dive under, jump under, whatever. It’s the best feeling in the world.
- You don’t need to drink every weekend. I’ve learnt this the hard way this summer, but you can count on the fact that The Royal will be exactly the same as it was last week. Same people, same music, same $5 vodka and waters. Don’t fall into a rut. Especially not an alcohol related rut – that’s a bad rut.
- Not everything is going to go the way you imagined forever. That sounds stupid and it’s obviously a given, but everyone is on their own individual path. Relationships with people, be it boyfriends or best friends, both begin and end so there’s really no use in crying when it’s over.
- You’re a student. You’re probably working a shitty job. I did. I was overworked, under appreciated, and treated like an absolute dumbass for two and a half months. On the bright side, you will learn how to make a really good soy mochaccino and you will make friends with the cool french girl. (She doesn’t speak much English but she will ask you where she can buy ‘ze gud weed’).
- Money is but a means to an end. Spend it, save it, don’t worry about it. As long as you’re enjoying every second of it, (and paying what you’re legally committed to; rent, bills, taxes, idk) then who the fuck cares.
- Live honestly and truly to yourself. We’re getting into the lame shit here. This summer I have ultimately realised it is up to me, and only me to decide how I live each and every day. I can choose how I react to a situation, and I can choose to live of my own accord. They say everything happens for a reason, and I guess you could go so far as to say that reason is you.
- The world is a really cool place. Go and see it. And by see it I mean really see it. Explore it. It’s pretty rad.
And I guess from here the year really begins.
