It's Friday and thank God as they say. You know what this particular Friday means? It means the last day at work for me for four months. Today at 5 o'clock I leave the office behind and enter the world of the impoverished unemployed. Fool according to my Dad (did I mention before that I love you Pa?), fearless according to others. Do I feel at all nervous or concerned? No, not really. How about excited? The question I am asked a lot lately is am I excited. Well let me think. Actually no. I am too busy to be excited and besides I tend to launch into the unknown with an open mind, a blank page on which to write...few expectations. That way I am open to opportunities as they present and also to surprises. Expect the unexpected and be surprised and delighted. Or maybe it is just that my mind is enough like a cat or a child that I am unable to extrapolate into the future to see the consequences to feel afraid. Don't worry Mum I promise not to speak to any strangers whatsoever while I'm in Melbourne. I will ask first to see their crudentials and request two referees before entering into any form of conversation.
Actually I know two people in Melbourne and have a friend of my sister's to stay with for the first little while until I find my feet. It is also surprising how many people have said to me 'you should get in touch with so-and-so while you're there. They're a kiwi living in Oz'. Kiwi solidarity! I appreciate the offer everyone, really I do but at this rate I am in danger of spending four months in Melbourne socialising with Kiwis! I might as well just stay at home. I will keep the friends of friends list with me just in case but part of why I am off to do this in a city other than my home is to separate myself from that six degree thing that happens in a small town like Auckland. There are a lot of pleasant distractions when you know lots of people but it is not very helpful when it comes to knuckling down to the business of writing.
T'other thing that I have been hearing a bit too much for my liking is that people seem to think I won't be coming back. Hmmm, what am I supposed to understand by that? You don't want me back? Heaven forbid, I know that you all love me really but why do people think that just because I feel the need to take a wee break from my hometown, that it means I don't love it anymore. Ballgowns aren't much use in small towns, my friend Mr Greg Johnson wrote but ballgowns are useful anywhere on the right person. I love Auckland, it is my home, where my heart is because Auckland (apart from being crappy in the winter) is a beautiful places and it contains all the people I love the most in this world. Friends, family, fond memories, of course I will return to the town that has captured my heart but as they say, absence makes the heart etc...and rekindles the love. Set me free Auckland and when I return to you it will be with affection afresh and a heart better placed. We all need to take a break from time to time to step back and appreciate how good life is.
Actually I know two people in Melbourne and have a friend of my sister's to stay with for the first little while until I find my feet. It is also surprising how many people have said to me 'you should get in touch with so-and-so while you're there. They're a kiwi living in Oz'. Kiwi solidarity! I appreciate the offer everyone, really I do but at this rate I am in danger of spending four months in Melbourne socialising with Kiwis! I might as well just stay at home. I will keep the friends of friends list with me just in case but part of why I am off to do this in a city other than my home is to separate myself from that six degree thing that happens in a small town like Auckland. There are a lot of pleasant distractions when you know lots of people but it is not very helpful when it comes to knuckling down to the business of writing.
T'other thing that I have been hearing a bit too much for my liking is that people seem to think I won't be coming back. Hmmm, what am I supposed to understand by that? You don't want me back? Heaven forbid, I know that you all love me really but why do people think that just because I feel the need to take a wee break from my hometown, that it means I don't love it anymore. Ballgowns aren't much use in small towns, my friend Mr Greg Johnson wrote but ballgowns are useful anywhere on the right person. I love Auckland, it is my home, where my heart is because Auckland (apart from being crappy in the winter) is a beautiful places and it contains all the people I love the most in this world. Friends, family, fond memories, of course I will return to the town that has captured my heart but as they say, absence makes the heart etc...and rekindles the love. Set me free Auckland and when I return to you it will be with affection afresh and a heart better placed. We all need to take a break from time to time to step back and appreciate how good life is.
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