Reality Sets In

After five weeks, the joyride finally ended. Last week I had my first serious assignment due, a 2500-word essay for my Maori language class. Naturally, I started it at the last possible minute and then spent the vast majority of Tuesday through Thursday nights writing it. After my weekend backpacking trip (which deserves its own post) I finished it up Monday afternoon, three hours before the due date.

After over a month of never having to worry about school, constant new experiences, and mainly just hanging out and doing fun things, it was something of a shock to transition to a regular school schedule. I didn't see the Arcadia kids not in my flat all week -- the first weeks here, we'd hang out about every night, if not more. I didn't go do things in the city in the afternoons and evenings, I didn't cook. It had been over three months since I'd needed that school focused mindset.

This week isn't as busy, though I do have two more papers I need to write before Easter break, which is the last week of April. The semester seems to be flying by -- we're already about a third of the way through classes, which is hard to believe. Of course, I can't complain too much about my work. I'm still free the entirety of every weekend, necessary to satisfy my travel bug. And the lack of other extracurriculars has allowed me to branch out and try some different things: I'm currently enrolled in hour-a-week singing and dancing lessons through the recreation center here, which are quite fun and, I'd say, definitely helpful. The singing is just super basic "Singing for Absolute Beginners;" the dancing is Ceroc, which is done to popular music and apparently quite popular in Britain. Both are fun, low-intensity, and only meet five times, so it's really easy to do. After spring break I'm already signed up for three more: Basic Bar Skills, Beginning Guitar, and salsa dancing. I'm considering Swedish massage as well. It's one of the great things of being abroad: with no other commitments, I'm able to do things that I would always like to do at Yale but tend to get pushed to the back of the queue.

Life has definitely settled down, though maybe too much. In the beginning of this whole experience, I had gotten used to never knowing what the next day would bring (a trip to the beach? exploring downtown? a group dinner? an earthquake?), going places and doing things on impulse, and generally always having some novelty to keep me entertained. Having a set schedule -- though not as set as at Yale, for sure -- and a routine has made life less exciting, and I'm into the ups and downs of a typical semester. On the other hand, I'm can only say I'm incredibly spoiled when I going on backpacking or adventure trips every weekend, strolling around Dunedin a few times a week, cooking at home, and taking singing and dancing classes make life seems less interesting. It's just less novel -- the high, extended as it was by the goings-on in Christchurch, has finally started to wear off. Reality has begun to set in, but it is my goal to make sure it doesn't move in permanently.