Anja was true to her word. I spent my morning in windy Christchurch wandering by the river and taking photos; I wasn't a long-term visitor like most of the people in my hostel, so I didn't have a job. I went out for lunch at some little sandwich place and when I got back to the hostel it was nearly three in the afternoon. There were maybe thirty people living at the hostel we were at, but at this time of day barely anyone was around; the place was fairly quiet.
I threw my bag and jacket in my room and headed down to the kitchen. Anja was already there - her long, long hair tied back into a messy ponytail, no makeup, wearing a tee shirt and a little sweater and a short denim skirt. Hemp and beads around her ankle, no shoes. She was at the counter, boiling water, and I said hello; she turned around and gave me that casual smile, with a slip of teeth. She had a dimple just on one side. Adorable.
"Hey. Do you want... um..." She held up the boxes of tea that were free game in the kitchen. "Earl Grey or English Breakfast?" A laugh, that tinkling sweet laugh. "Not much to choose from! Black tea or black tea?"
"I'm an Earl Grey kind of girl." She popped the tea bags into a pot, grabbed a plate and piled it with little cookies. "Wow," I said. "You've really got this planned."
She moved around the kitchen in her bare feet, grabbing cups, not worrying about crumbs on the floor. I winced; I can't do that sort of thing. "Yep," she said, and tucked a stray curl behind her ear. "It's not often I get to have tea and conversation, you know? Life's been dull lately."
Oh, charming! And now she's made me feel special, too. I felt like such a scrub in my dirty black jeans, black tee shirt, black hoodie. She was all lightness and bells and beauty. I followed her out to the covered balcony upstairs like a lost puppy.
We had such a lovely view -- it was a tall house and we could see all the houses around. We settled on a couch, she poured us cups of tea, and immediately we fell into wonderful conversation. She'd been everywhere -- traveled a lot as a kid, moving around with her family, and just kept doing it as an adult. She was twenty-four, had never had a career -- just preferred to go place to place, surfing and snowboarding and having fun until it got old or her visa expired, and then it was on to the next destination.
I loved it. So carefree and so adventurous. She thrilled me; cute and fun and smart? Fucking crazy. I couldn't help but watch her lips move as she spoke; she had the strangest way of speaking, and I loved it.
"So what about you?" She asked, and bit into a cookie. She spoke next with a mouth full of crumbs -- how fucking endearing. "What's your story?"
I shrugged. "Not sure what I want to do with myself. I need to... figure some shit out. Eventually I'll go back to school, but before I do that I need to sort out some priorities, figure out what's important to me."
She sucked in her breath. "I feel like I haven't done that at all."
I was surprised. "All that traveling didn't do it for you? I mean, I find that being on my own away from home and security has really helped me."