Since school ended a couple weeks ago, the atmosphere of self-importance and narcissism in my bedroom has significantly diminished.
This is not a result of any change in my own levels of self-absorption, but instead, a decrease in my alarm clock’s haughtiness as it experiences neglect from myself.
I have contentedly slept in more days in the last two weeks than I have in the entire school year, and for the most part, my alarm clock is no longer a necessity, at least until the end of summer.
But between now and then, I am soaking in the myriad of free time that summer brings.
For my seven-year-old brother Jack, this free time fills up with countless episodes of Spongebob.
And since we want him to accumulate experiences that don’t solely involve the television, he was told the other day to make a list of other activities he could do.
As I read through his list, I couldn’t help but compare his summer activities as a seven-year-old to mine as an 18-year-old.
Number one: wrestling. While Jack carries this out by impersonating UFC fighters and throwing blankets over people, my equivalent of wrestling involves less sweat and violence.
I mentally wrestle with how much time I should be spending in productiveness during summer, because it feels like the two months of freedom I have after an arduous school year should not involve any semblance of school’s work rate.
However, most of us know that after a few weeks of “doing nothing” and following Jersey Shore’s motto of “Gym, Tan, Laundry,” we grow restless. While summer does create room for relaxation, it still encompasses work to some degree.
I realized this the other night after spending nearly three hours doing my course selection for university next year.
Highlighting the day on my calendar that registration opens is as close as I get to the “colour a picture of Spongebob” activity on Jack’s list.
However, my summer lifestyle, as well as that of anyone at Gyro beach, closely resembles number three on Jack’s list: Build a fort.
Instead of blankets, we use towels, and we replace walls of pillows by barricading ourselves with tanning essentials and friends on either side, allowing us to work on our tan and look popular at the same time.
But as someone whose natural paleness often incites questions from others as to whether or not I am feeling okay, my tanning attempts are disheartening.
Thankfully, Kelowna provides a number of other things to do in summer.
Between Parks Alive and music festivals like Keloha, there’s always a good band to catch.
You can grab an ice cream from Moo-Lix and walk off the calories that are hindering your beach body as you check out the other stores along Bernard St.
And of course, we have the beautiful Okanagan Lake and the wakeboarding, boating and communal toilet it provides.
In some ways, my little brother’s summer activity list is enviable. But as teenagers, we have a list that allows us to enjoy summer in Kelowna even more than on Jersey Shore.
