Sleep: My daily drug

By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen

When I'm awake, I constantly think of sleep. When I'm asleep, I dream of sleeping. Sleeping is my drug and you know what? IT'S FREE!!!!

Are you also a student, who constantly sleeps?

In my first year, I got the nickname, Sleeping Beauty, because I was always falling asleep in my Afrikaans lecturer's class. But in my defense, she was a bit  extremely boring. Always reading the same poems and going on and on about the same work. The time of the class, was also accidentally in my afternoon nap time. I got good grades so the lecturer never scolded me, she just nicknamed me. My second year was pretty much the same thing, always falling asleep in class.

Lately, I'm quite good at staying awake in class and at work. I try to doodle in class or make notes, which helps to keep the sleepiness at bay. When I do eventually arrive at the residence, I immediately get in bed. I never sleep the amount of time that I planned. I set my alarm for an half an hour, but when I eventually awake from my death sleep, it's an hour and a half later...

I always feel so guilty when I wake up and think about how much work I COULD HAVE done in that hour... 

Pfffft! Yeah right!

Problem is: I love sleeping so much, I might consider marrying it. I love my bed. Oh, and did I mention my cushion. Just writing this, I am already fantasizing about my bed.

Is there something wrong with me? Or is sleeping just my drug? 

I'll go for the latter!

Sleep tight, my dear readers.

Sleeping Beauty

xx

A weekend for the wanderluster

By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen

“All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

We went for a weekend of camping at one of my favorite places, Mountain Sanctuary Park.

Roadtripping

Monkey drinking water at our tap

Being hit by a hailstorm at the swimming pool

Our first sunset

Clouds reflecting on the sliding pools

Beautiful dead tree at the sliding pools

Our last sunset

My fashionista sister, while hiking up the mountains

My mom and I said that the camping is not the thing you remember, but the beautiful and many hiking routes, as well as the scenery. I truly enjoyed the weekend. 

The wanderluster didn't even have to go far, to feel the satisfaction of going places and being awed by the majestic world we live in. 

“because he had no place he could stay in without getting tired of it and because there was nowhere to go but everywhere, keep rolling under the stars...”
― Jack Kerouac, On the Road

Living vs. Rat Race

By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen

“Life had become some kind of profound competition, where my emotional loss was substituted by my professional success. I became a part of what they call the rat race.”
― Saurbh Katyal, Seduced by Murder

From the day I was born, life has been a rat race. People going to work, trying to make money, rushing home in traffic, feeding the kids and getting them into bed. Only to fall asleep yourself.
Day spent.

After studying, you get a job. You get the man. You get the house. You get the children. And this is it. I know I have reached the time when I should send out CV's and decide where I want to work. The type of work that won't feel like work. I should aim to be successful. Maybe, I'll meet the man, while being successful in my work. Then comes the baby and the golden carriage. Constantly chasing success. Will it even make you happy?

Hell's Bells!

I want to shout at the rat race to slow down! Smell the roses around you. Live. See. Touch. Experience. Travel.

There is nothing wrong with being in the rat race and having a family and kids. BUT IT'S NOT ME. IT IS NOT ME. For now....

I want to go to places, which I have read about in books. I want to touch the Tower of Piza. I want to swim in Jacob's Well. I want to ride a bicycle in Netherlands and go places on my bicycle.
I want to do and see things, which not many people do after getting a job, the man and kids. I want to travel in Europe. I want to eat things, I have never eaten before. Walk where I've never walked before. Learn about different cultures. I want to travel. Maybe, once I have done that, I will be ready for the rat race. MAYBE.

I'll never be the common rat racer. I will always have feet itching to go places and see things. Is there a job where I can do that? Please make suggestions, if you know about something like that.

But for now, I'll be completing my studies and in the meantime, I'll be contemplating about what my next move is gonna be. The rat race has to wait for a while.

Love
The Wanderluster

#NoToXenophobia

By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen

Today, I write with a very sad heart. My fellow South Africans are killing Africans. These attacks have mainly started in Johannesburg, where my family lives. It expanded from there to a lot of other places in the country.

Xenophobia: "deep-rooted, irrational hatred towards foreigners". Xenophobia happens when a population group present within a society that is not considered part of that society. Often they are recent immigrants, but xenophobia may be directed against a group which has been present for centuries, or became part of this society through conquest and territorial expansion. This form of xenophobia can elicit or facilitate hostile and violent reactions, such as mass expulsion of immigrants, pogroms or in other cases, genocide.

I love South-Africa and the diversity we have in this country. We are diverse in so many ways that other countries should be jealous. South-Africa has many cultures, races, religions, etc. We are a rainbow nation. But with these attacks it doesn't feel like we are a rainbow nation.

But it saddens me so much that people are killing others, just because they aren't South Africans. Where is your humanity? I take it as a compliment when people from Africa want to come and live in South-Africa for work. It tells me that South-Africa has done something right.

Nando's, a fast food company, made this ad a few years ago. It is a bit humorous, but behind the humor, there is a bitter truth. 

How can you hate so much, that you kill?

Follow these hashtags:
#NoToXenophobia
#AfricaIsForAllAfricans

Every dog has its day.

By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen

You know how you watch people do things that are wrong and you can't really change that, but then all of sudden the wheel turns and they get their day like every dog gets his day?
Yeah, I call it karma.

This year, whilst studying the diploma in management, we had to form groups and create "businesses" and then do projects as if we are a company. But some of the group members have not contributed to the group from the beginning and it was a real struggle. Only a third of the time, they showed up for class, meaning the rest of the group had to do the classwork without them. Which is not fair, because they are reaping in the marks, without lifting a finger.

Also, at the place where I work, people are dishonest about the times that they are working. For instance they leave 20 minutes before the time, but log out the time that they were supposed to leave. Or the people are constantly late, making other assistants miss their classes and then usually they log in the time, they were supposed to be there.

Well, enough is enough! We kicked the lazy members out of our group. They now have to create their own company and do the remainder of the work by themselves. Unfortunately, they are getting the marks of previous projects, which they hadn't really contributed in. But, they will understand how much the rest of the group had to do, once they have to do the projects on their own.

On the work front, the people are gonna get their day. I have always been honest and always made plan not to be late for work, so can they. If you know that you are always late, then set your alarms earlier or plan your day better. But don't make it hard for other people working with you, you are selfish.

Employers won't be very nice, once they realize that you are always late and lazy. The real life is waiting and it will be hard, if you don't realize that soon enough.

Disney and THE ONE...

By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen

Constantly looking for the One around every corner and turn? Well, I say stop it!

"What? Are you serious?
You expect me to sit
around and wait for
some guy to come and
save me? I'm going to
law school in August
and as soon as I'm out of
this dump I'm reporting
my stepsisters  and
stepmother to the police
for harassment and slave labour.

I remember when I was younger, I used to dress up to go to the mall, thinking that there will be lots of hot guys and maybe, just maybe one of them will ask my number. Forgetting to enjoy the moment with my friends or family.

In high school, you believed the guy you are dating will be the One. You held on to them for dear life, believing you won't find another.

At university, every guy you even talk to, you do that thing where you imagine how it would be to be with them. Maybe even envision marriage. Believing there is only one ONE! Scary, ain't it?

I blame Disney for this lame belief. The belief that you HAVE to find the one when you are young. The belief that only a prince/man can save you. How about saving yourself, being your own hero?

Guess what? There are multiple ONE's! There are like 20 in your country, one in France, one in Ireland, like 1 million in America and 1 billion in China, who will be THE ONE for you.
How you meet people is about location, for instance you won't meet the one who is in China, if you are in South Africa. It is about the same interests, it is about timing, etc...
And the best part is, you will find one another when the time is right and your paths cross. It might be when you are 17 or when you are 31, who knows? And who worries????

I have so much that I still want to do before I meet my soulmate. I am not ready to meet them. I want to travel the world, live in my own place and I want to get a good job, before I meet the guy. But my interests differ from other people and I get that. I just want to make sure that I am making the right choice before I commit to a lifetime decision.

April Fools!

By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen

My previous blog post is just an April Fools joke! CALM DOWN!!!

I am sorry if I caused you a semi-heart attack. But thanks to everyone who phoned, who spoke their concerns for the 'travel agency' who contacted me on Facebook. Saying that it sounds a bit dodgy and also reminding me that my dad isn't Liam Neeson, who will be able to save me, once I get taken!

I still enjoy my studies and will take it through to the end! I am not a quitter even when the going gets tough! I only have 8 months left of studies, afterwards the adventures will begin. I will travel in 2016 though, but it will be done through reliable people and not randoms, who contact me on Facebook!
Hope you had a bit of a laugh!

Click here to see previous blog post.

Quitting the studies to travel.

By Arnia Kiara Oosthuizen

I have big news! I have decided to discontinue my studies, to go and travel the world!

I have been struggling too much with Accounting and all those other boring subjects, while I tried to silence my Communication brain. It has been really hard. While I was struggling with this diploma, the wanderlust in me has taken over and it has been nagging at me for the last few months. I have been planning 2016 for a while, I was planning to Au-pair in the Netherlands, so that I can tour Europe in my spare time, but then life decided that it has to be NOW! I have to travel ASAP!

I have been contacted by a travel agency on Facebook, who wants to me to blog for them overseas. I will be blogging on their site, but I have free reign on my blog about what I blog about my travels. Guess my blog will be transformed into a travel blog!

The amazing deal includes that they will pay for my flight, my accommodation and meals, wherever they send me, as long as I blog for them, rating the place's stay. And I still earn a salary per month! My first stop will be Ireland, since I don't need a Visa to enter the country, thereafter we will arrange Visa's as we go.

My parents are not really happy about this decision. They feel it is a bit rash and I should think it through. My mom feels that I should first finish my studies, before doing this. But an opportunity like this only comes around once in a lifetime, whereas studies can always be completed later on. After all, traveling has been my dream for many years! I will join my parents in San Antonio in June, which I'm also looking forward to!

My flight takes off on the 11th of April. I am going to live the dream. I cannot wait for this amazing adventure to start! It will be so much fun!