Story #3

As I was walking into a café to meet a group of friends for an evening coffee date I suddenly realized that this would be my third coffee for the day…addicted much? Oh well, the only thing I was really worried about was the effect that the coffee might have on my teeth! Inside, I found the group of girls I was meeting and we ordered our drinks up at the counter. It was noted how cheap the coffee was here, $3.50 for a decent sized cappuccino was almost unheard of in this day and age. After briefly scanning the café we spotted an empty booth that we were to make ours for the next few hours!

The atmosphere inside the café was warm and busy and particularly noisy. I guess that it was just the after dinner rush. It was also extremely familiar as it was a place that I had been to many times over the past years two years I’d spent in Dunedin. It was the café that I went to on my very first day of study, as it was the only café close enough that my friend and I could find at the time! A lot had changed since then, but the purpose of coming to this place was still the same, to have a break and to get a good coffee!

Once we were all settled in our wee booth the conversations flowed. The group dynamics were a little odd, as some of us knew everyone there and others only knew a select few. This didn’t seem to matter though and we all had managed to find connections to each other in one way or another. I guess that’s one of the great things about having coffee in a bigger group of people, no matter how well you know everyone, you all at least have coffee as a common interest!

As our drinks arrived, presented beautifully I might add, we all quieted down to take our first sips and scoop the foam off the top with our spoons. Whilst messing up the swirling chocolate design on the top of my coffee it made me think about how coffee making really is a bit of an art. Some cafes just sprinkle a little chocolate on top of their cappuccinos, whereas other cafes, like this one, create a nice-looking design on top. This definitely makes the drink more appealing!  

As we all sat there content with our coffees the conversations continued. The noise level had risen considerably, however, as a large group had come in and sat down at the long table next to us. Consequently, we all had to lean in to the middle of the table, forming a small circle of heads above our coffee cups, in order for us to actually be heard above the chatter. From then on the time flew by and before I knew it, it had been an hour since our drinks had been drained and it was time to head home. Other groups of people had come and gone and we all had work/study eagerly waiting for us. We made vague plans to meet again sometime soon before saying our goodbyes and “thankyous” to staff as we ventured out.

Walking to my car and on the way home I couldn’t help but replay the evening and acknowledge how sometimes it was outings like these that kept me sane. It was over coffee that the best conversations are had, best advice is given and new memories are made. Our coffee date tonight brought us all together and for a short few hours gave us all a break away from the stressors study and just life in general. It gave us a chance to relax, have a few laughs together and wind down from the day that had passed. And of course we all had a wee caffeine boost that would surely help us stay up longer and do more work! This was always a good thing in my books and I looked forward to our next date already.