Many students dread the end of the uni holidays, but for Otago dentistry student Paul Zhang, it cannot come soon enough.
A fortnight of trying to suppress his newfound work-hard, play-hard attitude and his increasingly liberal sociopolitical attitudes from those he grew up with has really taken its toll, according to Paul.
“Like, hiding those tattoos was pretty easy, since it’s cold enough to wear long sleeves all day. But do you have any idea how hard it is to keep a nose ring hidden all day and all night? Or to deflect conversations about who that girl is on my Facebook? Don’t even get me started on how I had to bite my tongue every time my parents mentioned how David Seymour is just ‘telling it as it is'.”
“While it kind of sucks that the holidays are over, frankly, it’s just a relief to be able to be back here in Dunedin. Finally, I can stop hiding who I really am from my parents, and start hiding who I really am from my friends instead,” Paul added.
When approached for comment, Mr and Mrs Zhang expressed deep concern about their “fucking lame-ass right-wing capitalist shill excuse for a son,” before proceeding to tell the Tribune’s reporter about their own two-week bender, “23 years ago today,” which led to the conception of Paul.