It was not quite as big a shock last year whilst I was in Japan, because I had grown accustomed to my host family and their way of life. Coming here, I have had more of a culture shock than I did in Japan- which is a rather strange. I don’t have a proper explanation for it except that perhaps I’ve had more contact with my family on a day to day basis than I did in Japan, which has made me rather reminiscent of what is waiting for me back home.
After celebrating R’s 21st birthday in Durham,
I came to Blackpool for a short week and a half stay. I leave tomorrow to
Birmingham for New Years, and along with my abundance of Christmas gifts, my
luggage is already bursting at its seams. I baked a cake for R’s birthday after
we went out to dinner. I miss baking a lot. Making Italian dark chocolate
ganache with mascarpone and cream, and decorating fresh raspberries on a butter
pound cake is truly a priceless joy.
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In the first week of my stay here in Blackpool, Harry and
his friends took me to Pleasure Beach. The theme park allegedly features Europe’s
largest roller coaster, and I was really excited just at the thought of riding
it.
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| looking quite marshmallow-y with my five layers of clothing (excluding the coat!) |
Unfortunately the theme park was closed for December, and
we had all unknowingly paid a total of 12 pounds for Nickelodeon Land instead. That’s nearly 30NZD for a bunch of carousels
and mini teacup rides. Though we were all apprehensive about it at first, (I
lie of course, I love Nickelodeon and embracing my inner child), the theme park
was all in all great fun. I got to meet Patrick Starfish, and realized that my
dreams of tasting a Krabby Patty will never come true.
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| ice skating! |
About three days into my stay here, I caught the world’s
worst terrible cold. I have been coughing, sneezing, and sniffling throughout
the week and haven’t managed to get any better despite tons of bed rest and
tea. Apart from feeling sick, we’ve been spending most of the time watching
films, taking the dogs for walks, and sightseeing around Blackpool. My parents
called me from New Zealand at around 2AM in the morning on the 22nd to
inform me of my successful acceptance into law school next year, and although I
was extremely excited to hear the news, all I could manage was a feeble “mmmmuuuuurrrrgggghhhh….”
Being sick around the holidays is by far the worst experience I’ve had so far, and
I wish my immune system had not failed me at such an inconvenient time.
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All year I’ve been stressed about having a shitty
Christmas and New Years if I was to find out that I had been denied acceptance into
law school, but by some stroke of luck, I managed to score an A+ in my Legal
Method exam for the semester. It certainly is a pleasant surprise, and not to
mention a lovely Christmas present from the University of Auckland. Thank you
everyone back home for all the support as well; I know I was a downright mess
most of the time.
All in all, Blackpool is a lovely city with great sights
and atmosphere. It was also nice getting to know Harry's friends. It’s a bit frustrating that most of the shops and attractions
were closed due to the Christmas holiday season, and not to mention that I
cannot partake in Boxing Day shopping as well. It never occurred to me that large
or small businesses anywhere in the world would knowingly close on Boxing Day
itself. I guess that is rather culturally ignorant of me to assume as well,
because Christmas is a huge holiday in the UK, and the day after Christmas
should accordingly be a holiday as well. In New Zealand, and many if not most
parts of Asia, Boxing Day is the day to shop, shop, and shop. Traditionally, my
family and I would wait outside the department stores before opening time just
so that we could get in there early and grab all the good sale items. I’ve been
feeling rather disorientated just sitting at home and eating leftover Christmas
chocolate. Usually we go outside on Christmas day, to the beach, or even have a
barbecue. I have been craving the seasonal strawberries, cherries, and
watermelon as well.
The sun sets at around 8, 9PM around Christmas time in
New Zealand. Here, the sun sets around 4PM, and it feels like I’m in constant
hibernation mode. No wonder my body has been lashing out at me. A year’s worth
of winter isn’t kind to anyone.
Having so much time indoors has also led me to an
increase in my Japanese study time. I’ve managed to keep at it for the entire
time I’ve been in Blackpool, and fingers crossed, I’ll keep going at it for
another week or so if there aren’t too many distractions around. Considering
that I’m going to R’s tomorrow, I’m not too convinced that I’ll be focused
enough to keep at a consistent work ethic. I don’t know what to expect of
Birmingham, but considering that it’s the second largest city in the UK, I
expect it to be livelier than Blackpool.
It would be ideal for me to get most of my Japanese study
done in these holidays, especially since I’ll be doing a Conjoint BA/LLB degree
at university next year.
I suspect that the workload will not be lenient. I’ve had
to enroll in 5 papers for the first semester of 2012, not to mention that it
includes three Stage Two law papers. Regardless of the increase in workload, I
do plan to thoroughly enjoy my year at university next year. This year has gone
by much too quickly, and 2012 is literally just around the corner. It felt like
yesterday that I was struggling with working around SSO for enrolling into
first year.
I hope you all had a lovely Christmas! Here’s to a great
new year ahead.
All my love always,
April
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