A holiday it is and was supposed to be today but I'm currently stuck in my quaint little and rather cosy room with lecture notes, tutorial questions to be completed, and a multitude of chapters to be read from thick text books.
What can I say or reflect on ANZAC Day other than that it's a public holiday and it's the first time in my life that I actually get a day off to commemorate this day or that I am obliged to do in this country? In any case, I haven't done anything worthy of admitting that I did commemorate this special day but let's have the obligatory prayer of silence at least.
...
There it's done. Or at least my part is.
I promise that I'll go visit the memorial park next year when I have a better appreciation for this day and it's meaning and all.
All the stories that I've been regaling about for the past weeks have momentarily subsided and come to a bland standstill with finals creeping up my back and into my head to eat me up and spit me out from the insides. It feels more like I'm back home now where I wake up, eat, study, complete assignments as much as I can before I retreat and copy other people's work, bum around, and pretty much not do anything substantially productive for the most of the weeks leading up to the exams. It actually feels regretfully comfortable and oddly nice.
In about two months time I'll be safely back in my own room and house and with family and friends. Can't believe that I could be so excited about that, even more so than the days leading up to the day that I would be coming here. I suppose it's the anticipation of looking forward to see if anything back home has changed or have I changed and whether things around me have improved or degraded. It's more of a reflection period than anything else I expect. And it would also truly be the first time that I'd be travelling to an international airport and boarding a plane by my lonesome with some 30 kilos of luggage and food to take back home as per requested by the family and additional gifts to friends.
The green stuff aka money is quickly being liquidated and converted into material things for which I actually don't really need but I comfort myself and justify the buys that I will use them and that they will come in useful one day. Or two. Then there's the previously mentioned presents to be bought for friends and family so there goes another dent added to my purse strings.
Imagine if I was actually living by myself in an apartment or with another person or two, I'd be even more strapped and tighter about cash than Vassi is particular about polishing the silverware and ensuring that the IH logos on the plates and cups face the same way when they're stacked up and arranged on the tray. Seriously.
Anyway, life is becoming a tad more comfortable now and I've managed to assimilate myself within the IH way of doing things and life as it is here. It's time for my daily hot shower and then dinner. I hope I won't be forced to toss my fourth bowl of soup down the drain again as I had done on three previous consecutive occassions.
