To go or not to go
All system clear to go off to the UK this coming June, so I'm feeling kind of excited.
Its really strange how things seem to work out. My boss and I have tentatively agreed on the terms of our deal. He provides an interest free loan to me, I work for him for 3 years while repaying the loan, plus all the perks and salary of a regular working. The funny thing is, I dont even know how much I am going to earn when I get back! But judging by what he pays me now, I guess I shouldnt bee to worried or calculative about the matter. Its feels like, the less I make the big deal out of it, the more it would come to me.
But the thing I have really been cracking my brains at it this. Euro trip after my studies; to go or not to go?
My friends are sure as hell wanting to go, and from the looks of it, they have set aside rather generous budgets for it, a budget which I unfortunately lack. As it is, going to UK for 3 months means I'm already living on a shoestring. So buying "Backpacking on a shoestring' by Lonely Planet isn't going to be much help. So, the clear and obvious answer would be a resounding no...
But......
Its a chance of a lifetime.. Its Europe... Its this whole other continent! I get excited about it just from the thought of it. Everyone I have spoken to has asked me to just go... but they talk as if, just by saying it, the money would somehow drop in my lap!
I could afford it, if for 3 months there, I ate nothing but bread and water.. Then I could tour Europe, eating more bread and water..... Sounds like a depressing trip if you ask me.
So....... I just dont know.... Here's the math... I have around 800 British pounds for food and general expenses, after I minus accomodation and tuition fees... for 3 months... Thats about 270 pounds per month or 9 pounds per day to spend. I've never been to Sheffield, but I'm going to take a wild guess that 9 pounds a day is already living on a shoestring!
I think I'm working myself up... My brain is doing all the calculations, and all the logical deductions.... and the conclusion I am consistently getting is that its out of the question. I should just go study, come home, and get on with life. That's my brain talking. But my heart is singing a different tune, one of lovely European evenings, of old world charm, of rich heritage, architecture, people and faces........ just a couple of hundred kilometers away from where I will be.
So near yet so far.
I suppose the problem is that I am undecided. The realities of adulthood and responsibilities are slowly dawning on me.. Bills, debts, work, responsibility.... But being so young, I guess I cant quite get away the romantic notion of a tour around Europe with my university buddies sharing a once in a lifetime opportunity to travel together.
Its strange, because just the other day, taking a long walk, chatting with good'ol mom, she said that she resented the fact that my father made my brother and I grow up so quickly. She said that my father made us grow up faster than she would have liked to, by making us take up responsibilities that weren't ours to shoulder yet. She said that in a way, it ruined out childhood.
I guess there is some truth in it. We did start taking more responsibilities earlier than our peers. I started ironing and doing my own laundry when I was 10, started arranging my own meals when I was 14. Just last month, my brother and I arranged for our place to be rented out. We cleared out the house, repaired it, met the tenant, drafted a contract, worked out the terms and leased the house out for a year. Not something your average 22 year old would do. The house isnt even ours. Its my dads.
Speaking of which, I have not spoken to him over a 2 weeks not. His phones are out, and he is unreachable. Everyone has been trying to call him. The last time I spoke to him he said "Actually, there have been some developments recently that I have been reluctant to tell you boys." It doesnt take a rocket scientist to know that something is going on. Something not good.
And his mysterious absence these 2 weeks only confirms to me that something is brewing down south, and my father is yet again in the thick of things. Privately, I suspect that he has somehow found another woman.... BUt thats just speculations.
Its really strange how things seem to work out. My boss and I have tentatively agreed on the terms of our deal. He provides an interest free loan to me, I work for him for 3 years while repaying the loan, plus all the perks and salary of a regular working. The funny thing is, I dont even know how much I am going to earn when I get back! But judging by what he pays me now, I guess I shouldnt bee to worried or calculative about the matter. Its feels like, the less I make the big deal out of it, the more it would come to me.
But the thing I have really been cracking my brains at it this. Euro trip after my studies; to go or not to go?
My friends are sure as hell wanting to go, and from the looks of it, they have set aside rather generous budgets for it, a budget which I unfortunately lack. As it is, going to UK for 3 months means I'm already living on a shoestring. So buying "Backpacking on a shoestring' by Lonely Planet isn't going to be much help. So, the clear and obvious answer would be a resounding no...
But......
Its a chance of a lifetime.. Its Europe... Its this whole other continent! I get excited about it just from the thought of it. Everyone I have spoken to has asked me to just go... but they talk as if, just by saying it, the money would somehow drop in my lap!
I could afford it, if for 3 months there, I ate nothing but bread and water.. Then I could tour Europe, eating more bread and water..... Sounds like a depressing trip if you ask me.
So....... I just dont know.... Here's the math... I have around 800 British pounds for food and general expenses, after I minus accomodation and tuition fees... for 3 months... Thats about 270 pounds per month or 9 pounds per day to spend. I've never been to Sheffield, but I'm going to take a wild guess that 9 pounds a day is already living on a shoestring!
I think I'm working myself up... My brain is doing all the calculations, and all the logical deductions.... and the conclusion I am consistently getting is that its out of the question. I should just go study, come home, and get on with life. That's my brain talking. But my heart is singing a different tune, one of lovely European evenings, of old world charm, of rich heritage, architecture, people and faces........ just a couple of hundred kilometers away from where I will be.
So near yet so far.
I suppose the problem is that I am undecided. The realities of adulthood and responsibilities are slowly dawning on me.. Bills, debts, work, responsibility.... But being so young, I guess I cant quite get away the romantic notion of a tour around Europe with my university buddies sharing a once in a lifetime opportunity to travel together.
Its strange, because just the other day, taking a long walk, chatting with good'ol mom, she said that she resented the fact that my father made my brother and I grow up so quickly. She said that my father made us grow up faster than she would have liked to, by making us take up responsibilities that weren't ours to shoulder yet. She said that in a way, it ruined out childhood.
I guess there is some truth in it. We did start taking more responsibilities earlier than our peers. I started ironing and doing my own laundry when I was 10, started arranging my own meals when I was 14. Just last month, my brother and I arranged for our place to be rented out. We cleared out the house, repaired it, met the tenant, drafted a contract, worked out the terms and leased the house out for a year. Not something your average 22 year old would do. The house isnt even ours. Its my dads.
Speaking of which, I have not spoken to him over a 2 weeks not. His phones are out, and he is unreachable. Everyone has been trying to call him. The last time I spoke to him he said "Actually, there have been some developments recently that I have been reluctant to tell you boys." It doesnt take a rocket scientist to know that something is going on. Something not good.
And his mysterious absence these 2 weeks only confirms to me that something is brewing down south, and my father is yet again in the thick of things. Privately, I suspect that he has somehow found another woman.... BUt thats just speculations.
posted by Compulsive Blogger @ 1:12 pm
Comments: 1
