Imagine this: you’re sixteen years old and barely settled into a new school when your parents tell you that you are moving again. Not across the capital, from Newlands to Titahi Bay, as before—oh no, from Wellington to Masterton. From a school that had 950 students to one that had 230. It is the middle of the school year. That was me and I have to admit, it was hard at first. Being naturally shy is not good for someone who everyone wants to find out about (ever had 23 pairs of eyes stare at you making your way into a room late because you got lost? Not fun). However as the year went on, I soon found out that everyone knew everyone in Masterton and if you didn’t? You knew someone who did.
Going to a school that had a small roll surprised me at first. You couldn’t just merge into the background. There was an administrator in the office that lived close to me and would give me lifts home from school when she spotted me walking. (Thanks again Mrs Taylor!) It gave me the opportunity to be on the student council which I don’t think would have happened if I’d been at a bigger school. Thanks to being on the student council I was also the school rep for the Wairarapa Youth Council which was also fun.
When I was in Year 13 my parents bought a hostel which is on the main road. I’ll refrain from naming it for the purposes of free advertising. It has been great, and I’m actually living there now on my own, rent free. It’s literally thirty seconds away from most things. The only downside? All shops close at 5pm on weekdays, apart from supermarkets, and 1pm on Saturdays. On Sunday, apart from Coin-Save, The Warehouse and supermarkets, everything else is shut. While it was a big deal to me before at school, it’s not that much now. You grow used to it, just like you get used to commuting to Wellington each day. Before you ask, yes that does mean I get up at 5:00am and get home at 6:30pm.
Because my parents own a hostel, and because we’re so close to everything, we get all kinds of groups and visitors. Recently we had the army stay for Anzac Day which meant an early morning wake up call before the street march but, as I said, I’m used to it. We also had the Pipe Band National competition and before that Golden Shears. We have had some really great tourists come through the area normally passing through on the way to Wellington. They usually stop a couple of days. It’s always a pleasure to have them and to show small town hospitality by taking them down to the local and having a drink with them.
Overall moving from a big city to a small town isn’t that bad. It couldn’t be too bad if Jemaine Clement from Flight of the Conchords lived there—could it? (In regards to that—my Mum’s friend went to school with his mother, just saying!)