The One Leavers To Rule Them All

WHOA!! Leavers was damn fun, I wish we'd stayed more than four days, and we would have if it hadn't been for those damn Med interviews ... we originally booked to stay till tomorrow afternoon but some of us had interviews booked for tomorrow morning so we had to leave early :@

I read a letter in the editorial of the paper when I came home this morning. It talked about how Leavers are being 'set loose' to behave like 'drunken idiots' and go around in mobs to drink and have sex. What this angry writer obviously didn't realise is that these people don't define every Leaver who heads out of Perth. I won't deny that a lot of bad stuff goes on at Leavers, but the purpose of our Leavers was to relax and hang out. And that's exactly what we did.

First day: I drove the two-and-a-quarter hours to Bunbury. Should cut into my 25 hours that's required to get my Ps :D so we met the owner of the Chaletshed, Don, who looks straight out of a WWE competition. Really a nice guy who provided us with everything we needed including a 51cm TV screen, DVD player and computer. Of course the screen was poor quality, the DVD player could have been picked up for $50 at Cash Converters and the computer didn't even have Microsoft Word (and was hardly able to run the OC), but it's the thought that counts. Spent the day playing Halo 2 and watching OC episodes on the comp, which John kindly burnt for us.

Second day: more OC, Halo 2 and Dead or Alive 3. On a more positive note we walked to the beach (bloody one-and-a-half hour walk thanks to wrong directions) where I was able to educate my fellow Leavers on the finer points of boogie boarding. Also simulated Bhav hanging onto a pole while we tried to drag him into the water - got a great pic of it too. Spent the night watching an unexpectedly hilarious Taxi. The movie itself sucks but we had English subtitles in such poor English that we cracked up in the most serious moments. Also saw Collateral - though only I thought it was a great movie.

Third day: more OC, Halo 2 and Dead or Alive 3 ... anyone seeing a pattern here? But today was significant for the fact that we can now say that we sat through the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy NONSTOP! Try sitting through 8.5 hours of television in succession and it'll test anyone's bladder, but with the help of near-unlimited snacks and some warm sleeping bags, we witnessed the entire heroic journey of Frodo to Mount Doom. Sometimes we felt we were on an impossible quest as well in some of the movies' dragging parts, but we stuck through it and were rewarded with an unintentionally hilarious scene where Legolas hints at a homosexual side when he gives an odd look at Aragorn when he's crowned king. Ask me about it and I'll show you.

Fourth day: had planned to hit the town, but couldn't be bothered, so just hung around playing more Dead or Alive 3, Halo 2 and watching more OC. Too much OC is bad for your mental health because you start relating everything else you see to characters and situations from the show. For instance we concluded Marissa could be Frodo, Ryan was Sam and Oliver was Gollum. Like Marissa and Ryan from the OC, Frodo doesn't believe Sam when he thinks Gollum is lying and playing Frodo for a fool - which, like Oliver, he of course was. Tried to hit the beach from a different route but got lost, only to discover that we had been heading on the right track initially. Still, at least we tried.

Some of us pulled an all-nighter so we could be ready to leave the Chaletshed by 5.30 to catch the bus to Armadale by 5.50 this morning. Eventually reached Perth City around 9, and finally came back home.

As much as I'm relieved to have all the comforts of home back, I wish we could have stayed in Bunbury longer enjoying each other's company and taking time out from the worries of the world. In particular my night-time walks proved very ... enlightening, as well as giving me permanent foot sores. All I know is that when the time comes to head to Uni, I'll miss the many friends I made in high school and the comfort taken in knowing you're going back to school next Monday with the people you know.

Unfortunately for now, Med interview preparation awaits. Can't wait till this time in two days when I can truly feel free.