“Hōu”kainga

Words by Grace Muldrock (she/they; Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga, Te Atihaunui-a-Pāpārangi)

Moving out had always been a goal growing up, especially if you shared a room with your siblings your whole life. Imagine having your own space and eating whatever you want, whilst not having to worry about your teina sneaking their hands into your kai. One could only dream, right? 

That is, until we’re faced with homesickness, outrageous rent prices, insane food prices, and crazy flatmates (Kia ora Huy!). 

Coming from a big whānau, I can confidently own my homesickness struggle. My sister and I were attached by the hip, and while I was so excited to get my own room and space, part of me felt as if I were diving in too deep too early. 

Don’t get me wrong - it has been great seeing my food untouched in the fridge. But I can’t help but miss those sibling arguments. 

Another thing I have missed dearly is mum's cooking, or more so the not having to cook for myself or pay for the kai. Mum's cooking is always better because it’s free. The price of food these days is insane. I am not about to spend $15 on cheese, e hoa mā, and I really cannot live on noodles for another week. Thank you Countdown for your 3-for-$20 indomie noodles, you understand me. 

No matter how insane the price of cheese gets, rent prices take the cake on outrageousness. If there are any future landlords reading this, please, please, please don’t make anyone pay for a broken oven, and just let your tenants get a cat. On all levels, the audacity of giving your tenants a broken oven is frightening af. 

Ahakoa, besides all of the strife and stress, moving out really has been the opportunity I needed to strengthen parts of myself. I owe my success of moving out to my matriarchs (yes, including my hangry little sister), but also to my friends who keep me sane whenever Huihui storms into my room singing his waiata. My advice to anyone thinking about moving out soon or later is:, bring fly spray for the annoying flatmates, and have fun. It’ll always be stressful in the first month, but the memories really do be irreplaceable.