Merry Christmas everyone! Sorry I haven't updated, the problem with coming home a week beofre Christmas is that everything becomes an insane rush to get all the shopping done and the cards written and so on in time for the Big Day.
This year was the first Christmas I remember that I wasn't roped into reading in church or playing endless carols oor anything. I also went to midnight mass, so I didn't go to any of the morning services. We also had the big dinner at my grandparents house so there was no rushing around trying to finish all the preparations and stuff. Which makes this the easiest Christmas I have ever had. Seriously, I slept late on Christmas day!
The day itself was the usual blend of family togetherness and family dysfunction that I associate with any of the big holidays. I got a lot of soap and a few books. One is a really awesome one on wildlife photography that tells you all about the technical aspects of the photographs as well as the 'inspiration' and all that. I wish I'd had it before the trip! I also met an old friend of my grandparents who they met on a bus tour through Namibia before I was born. He's German but has lived in America for a really long time (the accent is unbelievable!) and has amazing pictures of hummingbirds that he showed me. He's travelled all over the world and he mapped out the perfect 3 week tour around the western part of America and now I'm dying to go!
Other than Christmas I've been spending a lot of time alone, just thinking and arbing. I watched a lot of TV for a bit but that got boring so now I'm spending a large part of my days just driving around. thinking is getting unpleasant, I've got too many unsolved problems, like the very minor 'what do I do with my life?' thing. I've been ok with just carrying on as long as I'm having fun, but I'm scared to go back to wits. I remember what honours did to me and I never want that again. It also hit me the other day that I have a lot of fun, but is that really enough to build a career and someday support myself? Scary stuff!
This year was the first Christmas I remember that I wasn't roped into reading in church or playing endless carols oor anything. I also went to midnight mass, so I didn't go to any of the morning services. We also had the big dinner at my grandparents house so there was no rushing around trying to finish all the preparations and stuff. Which makes this the easiest Christmas I have ever had. Seriously, I slept late on Christmas day!
The day itself was the usual blend of family togetherness and family dysfunction that I associate with any of the big holidays. I got a lot of soap and a few books. One is a really awesome one on wildlife photography that tells you all about the technical aspects of the photographs as well as the 'inspiration' and all that. I wish I'd had it before the trip! I also met an old friend of my grandparents who they met on a bus tour through Namibia before I was born. He's German but has lived in America for a really long time (the accent is unbelievable!) and has amazing pictures of hummingbirds that he showed me. He's travelled all over the world and he mapped out the perfect 3 week tour around the western part of America and now I'm dying to go!
Other than Christmas I've been spending a lot of time alone, just thinking and arbing. I watched a lot of TV for a bit but that got boring so now I'm spending a large part of my days just driving around. thinking is getting unpleasant, I've got too many unsolved problems, like the very minor 'what do I do with my life?' thing. I've been ok with just carrying on as long as I'm having fun, but I'm scared to go back to wits. I remember what honours did to me and I never want that again. It also hit me the other day that I have a lot of fun, but is that really enough to build a career and someday support myself? Scary stuff!
I've also been trying to spend time with all the friends I've been neglecting all year because of work and Wits and so on. It's harder than I thought: they're either away or working most of the time and when I do spend time with them it's really awkwad like we haven't got anything to tlak about anymore. It's getting a lot better though. Tonight about 8 of us went to movies (we saw 'Flushed Away' it's SO funny!) and had a great time, and now I ahve a lot of plans with them which is really nice. I've also been doing a lot of housework. My family has gone into a 'Clean the House!' frenzy and my brother got a lot of gardening tools for Christmas so I get roped into helping him rake leaves and sweep and stuff a lot. If I object I get the 'This time next year you won't have a brother anymore!' speech. And there I was thinking I was getting a sister. Oh well.
I worked at the Sunninghill branch this afternoon, that was a lot of fun too. It's in a tiny little centre that's mostly closed off for renovations and I had a lot of memories of working at the old petshop in Illovo before I was moved to Paulshof - almost no customers. It was nice, I wouldn't mind working there more often, partly because it's next door to a Spar and I got Mango juice which is incredible! I also managed to watch two whole movies during my shift - 'Lady in the Water' which was awesome. Not quite up to the standard of M. Night Shymalan's other movies but I did enjoy it. I think what threw me was the way that the director had a biggish role. The thing is, in all his movies he has a cameo role, and it's always fun to watch out for him, so I was all like 'Yay! Cameo!' and then he kept reappearing. It was very beautifully made though and quite thought-provoking. After that I watched 'Memoirs of a Geisha' which was beautiful and disquieting at the same time. I felt so sorry for her!
I worked at the Sunninghill branch this afternoon, that was a lot of fun too. It's in a tiny little centre that's mostly closed off for renovations and I had a lot of memories of working at the old petshop in Illovo before I was moved to Paulshof - almost no customers. It was nice, I wouldn't mind working there more often, partly because it's next door to a Spar and I got Mango juice which is incredible! I also managed to watch two whole movies during my shift - 'Lady in the Water' which was awesome. Not quite up to the standard of M. Night Shymalan's other movies but I did enjoy it. I think what threw me was the way that the director had a biggish role. The thing is, in all his movies he has a cameo role, and it's always fun to watch out for him, so I was all like 'Yay! Cameo!' and then he kept reappearing. It was very beautifully made though and quite thought-provoking. After that I watched 'Memoirs of a Geisha' which was beautiful and disquieting at the same time. I felt so sorry for her!
I figured that with the title of my blog I'd better add in some reptile photos. This is a lizard we saw in Namaqualand a lot. They're quite small and run really fast. I managed to get pictures of this guy by getting the focus ready and then chasing him from under his bush. Not very nice for him, but it worked!
And here's a picture of me that Luke took one evening in Darling. It's not the most brilliant photo, but I love it!
3 comments:
to paraphrase shakti, memoirs of a geisha wasn't as spectacular as it could have been. and it is true! shakti speaks the truth! ;) the book was SO much better!
which kerk did you go to for midnight mass?
i was at St. Martin's in the Veld. my mom was playing the organ. it was quite uplifting me thought, especially when everyone was singing at the top of their voices.. OH COME LET US ADORE HIM.
ok chow. :)
Yes, that's where I go. My mom was giving out communion! Let me know next time you go and I'll come say hi!
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