My Best Friend

I met my best friend in college when I was 20 years old. His name is Cameron. We studied at Sunshine Coast T.A.F.E in Queensland, Australia. We were studying business and the main focus was on the hospitality industry. He is only one year and one day older than me so we got on well from the beginning. He was born in Brisbane and I was born in Sydney. These cities are approximately 1000 kilometers apart from each other.

The subjects at college revolved around the food and beverage industry so we learned a lot about both of these topics and were able to put our new knowledge into practice. There was a small restaurant at the college where people studying to be chefs cooked and people studying to serve the food and drinks looked after the customers. These customers were members of the public who paid the small amount of $15 (approximately 1500 yen) to eat and drink in our restaurant. They could drink alcohol (alcohol was extra) and eat 3 courses, including an appetizer, main course and dessert. It was fun for the diners and us, too. The restaurant was open twice a week and each student worked there once a week. (There were 2 classes).

After finishing for the day, we usually went drinking and this is where I started my friendship with Cameron. We have been friends for about 27 years and I still contact him today through Facebook Messenger. There were many local pubs near where we lived and we would start drinking there. We usually chose drinks we had studied making at college so it was fun trying different drinks. We also went to dance clubs together sometimes. It was a good time in our lives.

It was fun to make friends with someone with a different background to mine. I come from a white-collar family and he grew up with a single mother so we had a different upbringing. We both went to private schools so we had similar school experiences. We also had a similar sense of humor and this is why we became such good friends. We also had many friends from college who came from all over Australia so we were all very close. We had some college trips together so the group bonded.

After college, Cameron moved to London to work and travel and I stayed in Australia to work for my parent’s business so we didn’t see each other for a few years. When he got back from his stay abroad he contacted me and we met up for a coffee. It was funny because it felt like we hadn’t been apart for so long. We ended up living together some years later, which is another story. It’s strange that he was always interested in Japanese culture but I ended up living in Japan. When we talk, he always asks me about my experiences living here and he is jealous of me living here. I really do miss him sometimes.

Peter

Vocabulary

hospitality (n) ? the services, especially food, drink, etc., that an organization provides in order to keep its guests or business partners happy
look after (phr. v) ? to take care of or be in charge of something
white collar (adj.) ? relating to people who work in offices, doing work that needs mental rather than physical effort
upbringing (n) ? the way a child is raised
bond (v) ? to form a close relationship with someone