Aeroplane
The end of my holiday came as a 20-odd meter walk to the boarding gate, stopping three times to turn around and have a final wave goodbye at Nikki.
Writing this I am on the plane (yup-pie) back to Cape Town after a wonderful week staying at Nikki's. We haven't seen each other since January and probably won't again until December. It was great to see her again and, although we didn't go out as much as last time, I got to meet a few of her friends and also meet up again with a couple of old friends of mine who were lost to Gauteng.
It got me bad, leaving this time. Last time was hard: we had literally just started going out, but this time we had the weight of a passed long wait, and of a coming long wait, on us.
My holiday is now, as far as I am concerned, officially over. Tomorrow I have to start packing and go shopping again for provisions to help me survive the initial shock of my (hopefully) final pre-graduate semester. Sunday is going to be more packing, driving and then, finally, unpacking.
Asked, am I ready to start the new semester, I had to admit that I am not as much ready as I was earlier in the holiday. At the beginning I had to grind my teeth at the lack of having anything “productive” to do. Eventually I found some things to keep my interest, finished or lost interest in them and then went up to Johannesburg which was the highlight of the whole endeavour. Because of that, I guess I started to relax for the first time. I had been vegging and unwinding a lot leading up to the trip, but this was what a holiday should be.
Again Johannesburg offered me a strange combination of caution and hospitality. Having once heard that a poll showed that Cape Town was the second or third most unfriendly major city in South Africa, I couldn't believe it and just dismissed the piece of useless trivia. But the general degree of service (with a smile) up in Joburg seemed almost alien to me. So, the question stands: do you prefer friendly people in a dangerous and crime-ridden place or slightly less friendly people in a slightly safer place? Of course that is not what determines a home (except for some of the chicken-runners), but it helps. The truth is that I wanted to go home, because home is home and that won't change. But I also wanted to stay, even if just for a little longer... alas, the holiday has been stretched as far as it could (except if you are my brother).
What did strike me about Johannesburg is how impersonal many of the homes are. Almost all houses are surrounded by 2m high walls and many times this wall is very close or part of the actual house itself. This means that you can't stand back, look at the front of your house and take a deep and satisfying breath as you look at your home. This is in contrast to my house which still has an open yard.
The Transvaal, also, is too weird for me: it’s cold in the winter but only rains in the summer. This goes against all what I know about seasons. In winter it should be cold and it should rain (or snow). In summer, it should be warm and there should be clear skies.
Having been apart for so long, and then together for only such a short period, meant Nikki and I mostly spent our time together and passed the time with pleasantries. We did talk about some of the issues that laid heavy on me, but the majority of it all still hasn't been resolved. Knowing you only have a day or two left before another six month gap, you don't want to step on the other person's toes. Long distance relationships suck.
I was well taken care of and I want to thank Nikki for everything she did for me. I wish I could have stayed longer. Have an awesome semester, Nikki, and I hope all your upcoming hard work will really pay off in the end. See you on the other side! Bye babes.
PS The redone website is so very nearly finished it brings tears to my eyes. The biggest jobs left still are to complete the commenting functionality (which isn't very urgent, apparently :-P ) and to convert the “Blogger” posts into the format I'll use. That is going to take some time, so scratch what I said previously about it maybe going up at the end of the holiday.
Writing this I am on the plane (yup-pie) back to Cape Town after a wonderful week staying at Nikki's. We haven't seen each other since January and probably won't again until December. It was great to see her again and, although we didn't go out as much as last time, I got to meet a few of her friends and also meet up again with a couple of old friends of mine who were lost to Gauteng.
It got me bad, leaving this time. Last time was hard: we had literally just started going out, but this time we had the weight of a passed long wait, and of a coming long wait, on us.
My holiday is now, as far as I am concerned, officially over. Tomorrow I have to start packing and go shopping again for provisions to help me survive the initial shock of my (hopefully) final pre-graduate semester. Sunday is going to be more packing, driving and then, finally, unpacking.
Asked, am I ready to start the new semester, I had to admit that I am not as much ready as I was earlier in the holiday. At the beginning I had to grind my teeth at the lack of having anything “productive” to do. Eventually I found some things to keep my interest, finished or lost interest in them and then went up to Johannesburg which was the highlight of the whole endeavour. Because of that, I guess I started to relax for the first time. I had been vegging and unwinding a lot leading up to the trip, but this was what a holiday should be.
Again Johannesburg offered me a strange combination of caution and hospitality. Having once heard that a poll showed that Cape Town was the second or third most unfriendly major city in South Africa, I couldn't believe it and just dismissed the piece of useless trivia. But the general degree of service (with a smile) up in Joburg seemed almost alien to me. So, the question stands: do you prefer friendly people in a dangerous and crime-ridden place or slightly less friendly people in a slightly safer place? Of course that is not what determines a home (except for some of the chicken-runners), but it helps. The truth is that I wanted to go home, because home is home and that won't change. But I also wanted to stay, even if just for a little longer... alas, the holiday has been stretched as far as it could (except if you are my brother).
What did strike me about Johannesburg is how impersonal many of the homes are. Almost all houses are surrounded by 2m high walls and many times this wall is very close or part of the actual house itself. This means that you can't stand back, look at the front of your house and take a deep and satisfying breath as you look at your home. This is in contrast to my house which still has an open yard.
The Transvaal, also, is too weird for me: it’s cold in the winter but only rains in the summer. This goes against all what I know about seasons. In winter it should be cold and it should rain (or snow). In summer, it should be warm and there should be clear skies.
Having been apart for so long, and then together for only such a short period, meant Nikki and I mostly spent our time together and passed the time with pleasantries. We did talk about some of the issues that laid heavy on me, but the majority of it all still hasn't been resolved. Knowing you only have a day or two left before another six month gap, you don't want to step on the other person's toes. Long distance relationships suck.
I was well taken care of and I want to thank Nikki for everything she did for me. I wish I could have stayed longer. Have an awesome semester, Nikki, and I hope all your upcoming hard work will really pay off in the end. See you on the other side! Bye babes.
PS The redone website is so very nearly finished it brings tears to my eyes. The biggest jobs left still are to complete the commenting functionality (which isn't very urgent, apparently :-P ) and to convert the “Blogger” posts into the format I'll use. That is going to take some time, so scratch what I said previously about it maybe going up at the end of the holiday.
posted by phantom-99w at 22:20
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