The search for the cardboard box

A large black crate, high and daunting; a small box and a bin to help make the ascent, foot by foot you make your way to the top. Relief, it was quite easy. Takes you back to when you used to climb trees as a child- you smile. Cardboard boxes, of all shapes and sizes consume the inside- where to start? Large and small, torn and perfect; the hunt for the perfect few. This endeavour doesn’t last long; the good ones have been taken. Time to get down... and you realise you can’t. Your neighbour couldn’t care less- as he walks away you can imagine what he is thinking. Your flatmate trying desperately to help, but laughing at the same time as she sees you at the edge terrified to get down. You realise that you are actually afraid of heights. Hands are sweaty, heart it racing- and now?.. You think to yourself. Big sigh- there is no other option, you know you can’t stay up there forever. Eventually, you manage to get down and realise that it wasn’t actually that high- and now you have a story that makes everyone laugh!

Unemployed

Time eventually catches up with you and before you know it, the big wide world is yours for the taking. It’s a funny thing how life just whizzes by and you don’t realise. I think back to when I was still at school, and it feels like those years took forever and couldn’t get to the end fast enough. Three years of varsity on the other hand flew by. I feel like I blinked and it was over. It’s been three years of good times and bad times, but the memories that I have will always be with me. I remember when I was younger being told “high school is the best time of your life” or “university is the best” etc and I think that its different for everyone and just depends on your circumstances. My expectations when I started at Stellenbosch were very different to what actually happened. I was heading into it with the impression of what I had seen in movies; maybe American universities are like that- I don’t know, but I do know that I am so happy for how it did turn out. Although I have struggled from time to time with the language barrier, Stellenbosch was definitely the right choice for me. It is a student town and everything is in walking distance; although for some this may seem too claustrophobic, for me it was ideal. I have made the most incredible people here and I know that we will be lifelong friends.

As of Friday afternoon I am now unemployed; it’s not really official until Graduation next month, but how I see it I am now on holiday indefinitely. As much as I have wanted this day to come, to step into the “real world”, now that it’s here its daunting. Celebrating on Friday, half the people I was sat with are all in the same position as I am, and we joked about how we now have all the admin issues to deal with: updating CV, writing a cover letter, selling my car and all the others that come along. I had hoped that by now I would have had a job sorted in Cape Town and my own little flat to move into in the New Year, but things don’t quite work out as planned. I was a bit naive to assume it would all come together so fast, I think I just seem to forget that it is a lot more difficult because I am international! The long term plan is to come back here asap, but who knows where life will take me? Perhaps it’s best to stop making plans and just go with the flow.

I have three weeks left here to try and get done all that I put off. It’s not enough, but I’ll do what I can manage. Today I started the process of cleaning up my flat and all that I have collected in the last three years. It will take awhile, and it is an emotional process. Knowing that I’m not just moving down the road is a hard reality to face. I recently studied The Silent Minaret for my English exam, and how Issa’s disappearance isn’t complete until his brother packs his belongings up. It’s not exactly the same scenario, but packing up three years of your life, saying goodbye to your best friends is hard. Stellenbosch became my home (not that Kenya isn’t- it always will be, this is home in a different way), and I’m just a very emotional person! Hehe

So back to the job hunt I go, and let’s hope my status of unemployment won’t last too long!