A Wifi Free Life: How to Survive
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Life in college has been very hectic, what with sorting out our filmmaking society, catching up with people, doing assignments and trying to do all of this without having Wifi at home. It's almost embarrassing to admit that I can't function properly without having 24/7 access to Wifi but it's true. There's so much you can't do without it. I've found it hard to keep up with my studies, this blog, communicating effectively with friends and family. However, I've had to discover ways to pass the time without Wifi. And almost four weeks in I can say that I'm almost used to a Wifi free life. SHOCK HORROR. Here's some of the things you can do to pass the time without Wifi. Maybe it'll encourage you to take a break from the internet, show you that there's more to life than Wifi and you can try out some fun activities!
Painting
Yes, you read that word correctly. If you know me, you'll know that I have an extreme love for painting and drawing. I may not be very good, but I enjoy sketching, putting the colours together and putting the finished product up on my wall. I brought my watercolour pencils, paintbrushes up to Limerick and bought a sketchpad to work on. The work I'm making is both going up on my bedroom wall, but it is also going into my visual diary which is slowly being filled. Perhaps I will eventually do a full post showing you pages of the visual diary.
Writing
I've had a huge passion for writing since I was very young. I've filled countless computer documents, old copies and notebooks with stories, poems, songs, and pieces of writing for years. It's therapeutic, a release and I've found that it's nice to write things down so you remember them. I stopped writing for a few months, because I felt that anything I had to write was too negative to be remembered and that I was probably better off just trying to sort myself out. However, I'm feeling a lot better than I was, so I've been writing a little bit here and there in my visual diary so I can keep these memories safe.
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| Written a few months ago. |
Dancing and listening to music
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| Been loving this song for a good while now! |
To be honest, you tend to listen to music when you've got Wifi too, but I've found just listening to songs on your own or with other people. I'm living with new housemates and some of them have a completely different music taste to myself. So it has been great to trade songs and introduce eachother to new songs, artists and genres. It's been fun to just dance wildly around the kitchen while people watch you and shake their head in amusement. I am Queen of the most stupid of dance moves but hey, no one is perfect.
Walks
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| The University of Limerick at night |
I've only been down to the river in UL once this semester so far, as I still find the place a little alienating. However, the day I went I was on my own and I lounged on a wall for about an hour, listening to music, watching a pair of swans gliding across the water. I remember seeing a seagull being chased by a crow and I was laughing to myself because I could hear the seagull squawking in protest. It's a really nice spot. I've also enjoyed walking with other people, even if it's just walking into college or walking to the Stables at night time. We tend to spend so much time inside so it's nice to be outside in the open air.
Talking
Yes, good old fashioned talking to people. I really prefer talking to people face to face than over text or Facebook, because I like seeing facial expressions and I just feel like you get to know a person better. I've been spending time with my new housemates, getting to know them and it's been really nice and I am happy to say that I'm very comfortable living with them. It's also been nice to sit and chat to friends in person too, as opposed to a giant group chat on Facebook. Talking to people and having fun that way really does pass the time and seeing as us humans are social beings it's nice to step away from Facebook (a source of scrutiny, anxiety and many other negative things) and just be in the moment.
Drinking at the Stables
My friends are almost sick of me asking them to go to the Stables in the evenings but it's such good fun. In UL, my university there are two pubs. Scholars and The Stables. I prefer the Stables in terms of music, seating area and general craic. On Mondays there's Open Mic session, on Tuesdays sometimes there's Battle of the Bands, on Wednesdays we usually have karaoke night. Fridays, however, are the best nights in the Stables because it's International night. This is an event where our Erasmus students (foreign students) get to come together and dance to music. Lots of Irish people tend to go too because it's so much fun. We never want it to end. This passes the time, and definitely brightens up a boring Friday evening. It's not that expensive either.
Cooking
I am a college student, and I will put my hand up and say that I am very lazy when it comes to cooking for myself. I'd sooner rather get a takeout than cook my own food. However, without wifi I've had a lot of spare time, so I have set myself the task of cooking proper meals for myself. It's been going pretty well. Meals I've enjoyed making are the simple: pasta, with pasta sauce and cheese, omelettes with diced ham and vegetable dinners. But I'm planning on expanding to other things, and motivate myself to make curries and actually cook meat. I tend to feel fairly accomplished when a meal comes together and you can sit down and eat the "masterpiece" you've created.
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| I'd much rather have this though... |
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SO, that's basically what I've been doing for the past three weeks or so. So far it has been working and I haven't gone crazy yet.
We live in an age where you can be sitting in a room with ten of your favourite people but you're all sat talking to others on your phone or scrolling through endless memes on Tumblr or looking at what's going on, on your Facebook timeline. Or tweeting nonsense on Twitter (like me). Sure, wifi is extremely handy and so important for us students, but we really CAN function without it.
I've found that I've been able to relax more without having wifi at home. I don't have to worry that I'm not up to date or drive myself mad wondering what other people are doing. If people really want to get in contact with me, they'll have to either call to the house, call me on the phone or text me. Of course, it's been very inconvenient at times not to have it, because I haven't been able to post on this blog for a while and I want to keep this blog updated as much as possible. My work for The Liberal has been a hassle to get done without wifi so I am thankful that we're getting wifi SOON and I can finally catch up with all my work.
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1 comments
Going for walks seems like such a great idea, until I remember that I don't live close enough to my friends or boyfriend, and that it's freezing outside.
ReplyDeleteWonderGoth
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