Birthday, Politics, Parliament

I had a pretty wicked birthday celebration, lasting 3 days to compensate for my birthday in NZ and the States. It involved a lot of singing, movie watching, and hanging out with my friends that remain. I even dressed up as a mummy on Saturday for another person's birthday, but no one else dressed up. It was slightly embarrassing for a while, but I had fun with it.

Sunday (29 june) I went to Wellington to hang out with a friend and be a "reader-writer" for kids with learning disabilities. It was pretty cool being a reader-writer, as I got to see what kind of stuff the kids learn in NZ. Most of it was the same, but there was a section in the social studies portion that irked me a bit. There was a section covering the 2008 presidential elections, and I kid you not, these were what the articles were essentially about: people who voted against Obama because of his race ("the racist belt" among other things), and the people who voted for McCain were poorer and less educated. My personal favorite though, was an article from the Rolling Stone calling Bush the best president since Bill Clinton. The Rolling Stone, really? I think laughed while reading this one to the kid. If these are the things NZers are hearing about US politics, no wonder they love Obama and hated Bush. Then again, it's not so different here. Anyways, enough about that...

Last Wednesday I took a tour of Parliament, and at the end I got to watch the beginning of a session. It was hilarious. I remember watching part of a session of the House of Commons in my Politics in Europe class, and it was quite similar to that - it consisted of a lot of yelling back and forth and over each other and attacks on another party, especially by the PM John Key. I wish I could have stayed a little longer to watch...

Well, happy 4th of July everyone! Wish I could be there to engage in some American activities, like eating an American hot dog, watching fireworks, and throwing around the old pigskin, or even just some summer activities like swimming. That's ok, I'm sure I'll get more than my fix when I get back. I seriously might overdose on hot dogs...

A Continuation...

I thought I'd finally elaborate a little about my last week of school and the All Blacks game in Wellington...

I had my last exam last thursday, and it went alright- did well enough to pass I'm sure... Not that I was ever bombarded with work, but it feels nice to be done and not have a nagging sense that I should be studying or reading something for school.

Most of the day on Friday was spent packing up my stuff and cleaning out my dorm room, a bittersweet experience, and then I moved into my new place with a friend on the volleyball team. It's still pretty close to campus though, so it's just a short walk to see my remaining friends. The only killer is that there's literally a hundred stairs to get to it.

Saturday morning I left for Wellington, both for another volleyball tournament and for the All Blacks game. Volleyball was business as usual, but once I left the gym, it was party time! Haha wow... I met up with Ray at the hostel she was staying at, and we walked to the game from there. It was pretty incredible: it seemed like the whole city was walking to the game, thus the streets were packed. The atmosphere was electric both inside and outside of the stadium, what an experience!

The stadium actually wasn't very big compared with what I'm used to- you could probably get a sense of the size from the video if you watched that. Also, we were in the second row, and those were the cheap seats. Obviously we didn't have the best view of the entire field, but we didn't really know what was going on anyways so it was pretty cool to be that close. And there were some French fans sitting behind us yelling in French, so I enjoyed that. It was fairly cold out, so we went all bundled up, but that didn't help much when the wind was blowing and the rain started to seep through the layers. However, sitting at the game was nothing compared to the walk back: it started pouring on us and there was like 90 mile an hour wind threatening to blow us over. BRR!

Oh goodness, here I am talking about the weather like anyone cares... so about the game... Well, the All Blacks won, but I can't remember the score. Haha, that's about all I have. I still don't understand all of the rules, but it's easy to follow and fun to watch so I guess that's all that matters. Apparently some girl ran onto the field and was hard out tackled by a security guard, but I missed that...

After the game a few of us went out on the town, which was, not surprisingly, hoppin'. It was Ray's last night in New Zealand, so needless to say, it was a late night. I had a game at 10 on Sunday morning, and let's just say I was tired to the point that I could barely keep my eyes open between points. My team enjoyed making fun of me, but I have to say that I played surprisingly well taking my state into consideration. I took a nap in between games and woke up feeling much better. Unfortunately we ended up losing to NZIS in 5, but there'll be more opportunities to play them in the future. We got back to Palmy around 5pm, and I was in asleep by 830pm and slept until 930am the next morning. 13 hours of sleep. It was greaaaat.

I decided to go on a three day raw fruit/veggie detox just for kicks, and I was actually able to do it, although I probably didn't eat as many veggies as I should have... I surprise myself sometimes. So that's pretty much the highlight of Monday-Wednesday. Oh, and immediately after a detox, it's a bad idea to have a red bull and a giant burger with fries. Just saying...

Well, I'm 22. Crazy. I'll tell of my birthday extravaganza next time :)

All Blacks vs. France

Hopefully I'll add some more text here soon, but thought i'd put up this video from the All Blacks game versus France in the meantime.

this is the order of the clips: NZ national anthem, man chasing french chicken, the haka, a short clip from the game

Finals

I have to say one of my least favorite things about NZ has been their finals system... I've made several references to finals over the past few weeks, mainly highlighting the fact that I only have 3 over a two week period, with a one week study break beforehand.  First of all, this is just a recipe for me to feel like a terrible student.  It's completely unnecessary for me to study that much for the classes I'm taking.  Just give me a couple of days and I'll be fine.  And I can defend my point because I had two finals this past week and they went quite fine- I even took quiz night study breaks. (By the way, we won quiz night one night.  HOORAH!)

In addition to feeling like I should be studying constantly for three weeks, the actual administration of the exams seems a little over the top.  It's like taking the SATs or something:  they check our IDs, allow us to only bring in pens and water, and the professor isn't actually there, instead there's about three random people walking around keeping people in check.  Some people even have exams on Saturday, yuck!  Moreover, the exam period is three hours long, and it's taken me at least two and a half for both of the ones i've taken thus far.  After writing three philosophy essays in three hours, my brain was completely fried.  Not cool.  But in spite of everything, I guess I shouldn't complain, as these are the only exams I've had to take all semester...

I have one final left, Sports History, this Thursday, and then I'm done!  CRAZY!  How long have i been here now?  5 months?  Pretty unbelievable.  It's one of those things where I feel like I just got here, but at the same time like I've been here forever... It's pretty weird too, because a lot of my new friends are going back within the next week or so, and I'll still be hanging out.  I'm going to miss them heaps, hopefully this won't be the last time I see them.

I'm starting to miss home a little more- don't get me wrong, I still love it here, but I could really go for some solid home cooked meals, or even just a real hot dog.  Mmm... hot dogs [drools].  And I definitely would like to see family and friends, and (attempt to) cuddle with my cats.  But, I'm sure these next two months will go by just as fast as the rest of my time here and before I know it, it'll be time to head home.  Hopefully I'll make the most of my time here and go on some killer adventures.  Safe adventures, of course.

My birthday is coming up, and I'm pretty excited about celebrating it in NZ just for the sake of being in another country.  But alas, as usual, it's going to be difficult to round people up for the celebration, as people are traveling/going home during the semester break.  I'm sure it'll be just fine though.  Hm... 22... interesting...

Random note:  my use of "y'all" has become a rare occurrence, and I'm wondering whether two months of living with a kiwi (with a fairly strong accent I may add) with further diminish that.  

oh i don't know

Last week our dorm played in the social leagues basketball championship- I scored a few points and grabbed a few boards, but we ended up losing by about 12 points.  There was a fight at one point, and as it's co-ed, it was kind of amusing to see the girls just walk to the side and chat while the guys battled it out.  Apparently one of the girls on their team played for the NZ national team.  It's funny how many people I've met that have been on a national sporting team.  I guess that's what happens in a country of just 4 million people...

I did a lot of lazing last week since the semester is winding down.  Hm... I'm not sure how to elaborate... The "Life on Mars" finale was terrible...

On Sunday a bunch of us went to see Angels and Demons.  I have to say that movie etiquette is much better here.  An usher actually went up to someone and told them to turn their phone off that hadn't even made any noise.  What's more, the guy actually listened!  Impressive!  The movie itself was disappointingly average, and at risk of sounding like a broken record, the book was way better.  

I have to say that I'm so glad that I'm staying longer.  I was originally supposed to leave 20 june - in 3 weeks.  I really can't imagine leaving that soon.  Although I could use some sun and sweltering heat...

Mostly in Napier...

I'm sure you guys have been wondering where I am and sitting by the computer waiting for a new post, so I won't keep you waiting any longer.

Last week, the one and only Stephanie Figgers came for a short visit, so Ray and I took here around Palmy and a bit of the east coast.  

Tuesday morning we went to pick up a rental car from a BP, which was a bit odd, but it had a sweet interior so we couldn't complain.  We drove a couple of hours to Hastings/Napier for a wine tour, but about an hour before we were scheduled to go, the guy called and said he had to cancel.  No worries, though, we went to a tourist info place and they got us fixed up with another one that was supposed to be at about the same time.  Unfortunately, the lady, Val, was about 45 minutes late, was a new tour guide, and was driving a standard van (she hadn't driven a standard in years).  After stalling once, getting slightly lost, and hitting a curb (or kerb, I refuse to spell it like that), we finally made it to our first stop, an "olivery."  I tried an olive, but it was way too salty for me to eat by itself, and some vinegars and "salsas".  It was an interesting experience, but i don't know, I guess I need to develop a liking for olives and oils before I go back to one.

After the olivery, we set out for our actual wine stops.  And I basically confirmed what I already knew - I'm a red wine person.  I tried all of the whites, but they were too sweet and just didn't do it for me, though I must say that chardonnay or viognier would be my top choices.  It was fun tasting the reds too - I had never had syrah before so that was fun.  In all, we went to three wineries, and had a "cheese break" at one of them, which was a delight.  The last winery we went to, the Mission, was apparently the oldest in NZ - it was once a Catholic (?) mission and was later turned into a vineyard/winery/restaurant.  They were a little snooty at this one, but  it was a really nice place and had a beautiful view.  Here's some pics:

^view from the restaurant

After the wine tour, we headed into Napier to find a place to stay for the night, and decided on a hostel/backpackers right across from the ocean ($20 NZD a night! haha).  We made Ray watch Hostel II with us the week before, so she was scared that we'd be drugged and sold to psychos, but I assured her that that only happened in Slovokia.  And obviously, that did not happen to us.  After checking in, we went to search for a place to eat, and settled on bar food (garlic bread and soup that looked like baby food- it was pretty good).  I also had my first gambling experience, losing $6 on the pokies (slots).  It was fun, but don't worry, not that much fun.  Following that thrilling outing, we headed back to the hostel, and got ready for bed... at 8:30.  Yeah, so it was a long day.

The next day we got up and wandered around Napier for a couple of hours, our last stop being "Opossum World", which we thought was a souvenir shop.  It was- sort of.  But it was also a possum museum, filled with stuffed possums and their history in NZ.  Please just look at this picture of one of the things they had:  

Yes, those are possums caroling on top of a car. WHAT?!  I don't know, but I thought it was pretty hilarious.

That made me completely lose my train of thought... Oh, after that delightfully unexpected stop, we made our way back to Palmy.  I drove the whole way, and I'm quite proud of myself, even though the double roundabouts were confusing as.  That night we went to a quiz night, which was cool, even though we didn't win.  They kept bringing us free food, so I can't really complain.

Thursday night was the usual for me, although this time we were able to introduce Steph to the NZ karaoke scene.  It was a good night.  

Friday night was pretty low key - we just ate some homemade flautas and guacamole courtesy of Steph and watched some movies.  Oh how I can't wait for some OTB when I get back...  

Saturday and Sunday I headed back to Napier, this time for another volleyball tournament.  We ended up beating the team we lost to at the last tournament in the finals, so yay sweet redemption.  It was also fun because I got to know some of my teammates a little better and was reminded of one of the reasons why I love NZ so much- they're just nice, good people, and they were very keen on helping me figure out what I'm going to do for the two extra months I'm here. 

This week is the last week of lectures, which is odd since we still have a month left, but hey whatever.  I need to find a hobby... I mean, I'm going to be studying constantly for the next month.  Yeah, that's what I meant... 

Well, I'll try to be better about updating, though I'm not sure if anything exciting is going to happen during the next three weeks... 

Baby, it's cold outside

Wednesday afternoon, the Massey international office put on a little "kiwi culture afternoon."  We got some free food  like marmite and toast, minced meat pies, pavlova, and even some wine and cheese haha, played traditional games (toss the gum boot, poi, etc.).  They also had some NZ music on in the background, as well as Flight of the Conchords on the TV.  Haha, it was slightly over-stimulating, but it was fun nevertheless.  In case you're not familiar with it, the Flight of the Conchords is a show/comedy duo from NZ, but their show also comes on HBO back home I believe.  Oh and they gave us a little gift bag too!  They're very accommodating to international students here...

Other than that the week was just more of the usual:  classes, volleyball, and a little singing.

Only one other person showed up to my sports history class today.  I felt kind of bad for the professor, what a waste of time!  It was kind of funny though.

It's pretty wild, I only have two weeks of class left after this week, a "study break" week, and then the two weeks of finals.  Wowzas!  

I actually thought about it, and it's quite sad, but I won't really have a summer for another year if I stay here until august!  Bummer!  It's getting rather cold here- I even busted out the gloves today.

Here's some clips from the break... the first is of the sperm whale, and I love how you can hear my mom and me laughing at how anticlimactic it was after watching it float for 20 minutes; the second is of an orca; and the last is of some seals.  Don't worry, I'm not planning on going into the film business.

'When will you realise, [New Zealand] waits for you'

Nothing too exciting happened since the last post, except a couple of friends and I went to a bonfire for some military guys who just got back from Afghanistan.  It was a pretty good time, except when one of the dogs ran under some of the brush for the bonfire that hadn't caught fire yet.  Don't worry, after several minutes of grueling uncertainty, someone was able to grab the little guy and pull him out.  The dog was pretty lucky as he escaped with minor burns on one of his paws and tail.  We slept in the car that night, and let's just say that it was freezing and terribly uncomfortable.  That was Saturday, and three days later, my hip still hurts from lying in the back seat.  My hip!?  How old am I, really?

On the way home on Sunday I had my first experience driving on the left side of the road.  I did pretty good, save for when I was only halfway in the road when I first started.  I'm just glad I've had a lot of practice looking right and then left when turning, otherwise I might have freaked out a little. 

So today is Cinqo de Mayo, and in case you were wondering, no it is not celebrated here.  I have no idea why... However, we made the best of it, having Old El Paso burritos, which is the best Mexican food we can find.  As you may have guessed, there aren't any Mexican food restaurants in Palmy, and just as a generalisation, Kiwis don't really like spicy foods.  We got some "hot" salsa once and it was probably the mildest salsa i've ever had.  It was basically tomato chunks.  Boy oh boy do I miss On the Border.

I realised when my parents were here that I've gotten much better at understanding people here.  I felt pretty cool when I could "translate" things to them when they couldn't understand a Kiwi.  Of course, if I hadn't gotten better at understanding people here by now, I would just be pathetic.  

As you may have noticed, their spelling has become quite natural to me for the most part.  Maybe it's because the "s" is easier to type on the keyboard than the "z"... It probably drives my mom crazy :)

And while it's not absolutely official yet, I'm planning on staying here until the end of August after volleyball nationals.  I'm working on getting my flight changed and getting a visa/holiday work permit at the moment and let's just say it's a process.  

Sorry about the lack of videos/photos on here lately, it's crunch time.

South Island and Volleyball

Well after my overnight stay in Palmy, I took a taxi to the airport on Sunday morning.  The day didn't start too well, as my original flight scheduled for 10am to Christchurch was cancelled, and Air New Zealand put me on an 11:40 flight to Wellington and a 1:10 flight to Christchurch.  She assured me that I'd make the flight to Queenstown that was set for 3ish.  It probably would have been ok if my Christchurch flight was on time, but it wasn't, so the first time I see my dad in NZ is him frantically asking me where i've been and rushing to try to make the flight.  It was too late to check in so I missed the flight.  I had a brief moment of panic, as my parents didn't have a phone and if i couldn't find a flight that day, it would be rather difficult to contact each other.  Luckily, however, I was able to get on a different flight a little over an hour later.  I thought I was pretty resourceful telling them what was going on via my voicemail greeting.  Clever ay?  haha

After that near disaster, the trip was pretty awesome.  We stayed at a sweet bed and breakfast in Queenstown:  they had wine and cheese, pesto and crackers every night, and some absolutely delicious, fresh brownies at the front desk.  Our first full day in Queenstown we did a jet-boating/funyaking up and down the river, which was cool (in both the literal and figurative ways).  Apparently the surrounding mountains were the site of a lot of the Lord of the Rings scenes, as well as some scenes in the Chronicles of Narnia.  I haven't seen the LOTR, and I don't remember what part of Narnia it was in, so it wasn't as cool as it could have been.  I should have done some movie research before I came here...

The next day we took a plane ride to Milford Sound, which was quite gorgeous, and then took the "gondola" up the mountain to see a Maori show.  We missed the show we were originally going to see, so we had some wine and cheese while we waited.  Anyone picking up on a theme here?  The show was cool:  I went on stage with some other people and did the "poi", which is basically a dance with a ball on the end of string, and the Maori music is so awesome (they're great harmonizers).  

On Wednesday we packed up the car and headed for Kaikoura, a small beach town on the east coast.  I have to say it was quite hilarious watching my parents go to the wrong side of the car every time we got in... I'm not sure they'll get it before they leave...  In Kaikoura we went whale watching, which, despite a quite boring sperm whale, was pretty cool.  After we saw the awe-inspiring flip of the tail by tutu the sperm whale, we saw a pod of orcas.  Now those are some cheeky little fellows:  they seemed to be putting on a show for us, swimming around and underneath the boat for several minutes.  They probably enjoyed watching us just as much, as we were running around the boat like idiots trying to see them.  I'll try to get a video of the big boys up reasonably soon.  After the whale-watching adventure we went to a winery and had some wine and cheese and crackers/bread.  Ok, surely you've got the theme by now...

If not, wine + cheese and crackers + beautiful scenery = a pretty awesome week.  :)

Friday it was time to jet, as I had to be in a town just outside of Wellington the next day for a volleyball tournament.  We took a 3 hour ferry ride from the South to the North Islander, which would have been agonising if I didn't go watch Slumdog Millionaire in the boat's cinema.

So volleyball is quite different here.  At the most basic level, the competition isn't terribly strong, but perhaps the biggest difference is, not surprisingly, the fact that it is so laid-back:  there weren't any real refs, we didn't even have an official coach, and it was pretty much just for fun.  It was reminiscent of rec league play the way it was set up.  It's been so long since I've played that much volleyball though - 6 matches in two days.  Needless to say I'm pretty sore.  The only match worth mentioning was the final, against the NZ Institute of Sport.  Apparently most of their players are on the NZ national team and are our big rivals.  The match went to five, and we lost, but it was a fun game.  Aaaaand it's been a long time since that has happened.  The bad part about the league we're in is that we play the same teams at the 5 tournaments until nationals... so it might get rather monotonous.  Oh well...

On another note, I played basketball (an actual game) tonight for the first time since 8th grade and I was ballin'.  I probably scored 14 points.  Not that it was super serious but it makes me feel pretty good.  :)

here's an album i made on facebook- it's mostly just scenery, so you may not be interested, but it's there if you want it!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2143193&id=38706249&l=c30392117a

Wellington

Well, this is going to be pretty short, but I figured I'd save myself the trouble of having to include this in the next post, which will probably be much longer.

So, Wellington is quite awesome.  It's right by the ocean, the night life is pretty stellar, the shopping isn't bad, and there's heaps of outdoorsy stuff to do.

I finally saw a kiwi bird!  It was at the zoo, but still.  I have to say those are the funniest animals I've ever seen- they were just running around like chubby idiots.  Don't get me wrong, I love 'em, and they just might be my new favourite animal.  Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures because it was dark and I wasn't sure what the policy on flash photography was.  Here's one I got from the internet, and you can't even try to tell me you that you wouldn't laugh if you saw one of these guys running around.

We went bowling and it was "Texas Thursday", so that was fun, but it didn't really have anything to do with Texas except that there was a Texas hold 'em tournament or something.  Actually, they did have the Mavs/Rockets game on, but I have a feeling that was just a coincidence.  

Apparently calling children "cheeky buggers" is the equivalent of calling them little shits.  Haha, oops.  It sounds like such a cute term of endearment...

Well, I meet up with the parents tomorrow, so that'll be exciting!  Hopefully we do some killer stuff in Queenstown and where ever else we end up.

Here's a link to an album I made on Facebook:  

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2142138&id=38706249&l=d869982546

The pictures aren't all that awesome, but if you're bored...  It includes stuff from the Botanical Gardens, the zoo, and Te Papa museum, along with some other random pics. 

Mid-Semester Break

Well, it's time for mid-semester break!  Yeah, it's hard to believe.  I'm heading to Wellington and staying at a friend's house and doing random stuff around the city for about a week, and then I'm meeting up with the parents for a killer week in the South Island.  To wrap things up, I'll go back to Wellington for a little volleyball tourney.  Sounds pretty sweet ay? :)

That being said, I'm not sure how active I'll be with updating the old blog.  I'll probably be able to make a post documenting my adventures in Wellington next Saturday, in which case I'd still be keeping up with my usual schedule.  No guarantees though, and if I don't make a post, be prepared for a hideously long one at the end of the break.

Nothing too exciting has happened since my last post, and this is about to get pretty random - sorry for the lack of organisation.  Dang it!  Their spelling is getting to me!

Carrying groceries back from town is the opposite of fun.  Especially if you bought milk, laundry detergent and two bottles of wine.  Let's just say my traps were sore the next day.  I think I'll make sure I catch the bus next time.

I still have one essay to finish- luckily I'm a little over half way done.  Who makes an essay due in the middle of a break?!  It makes it that much more difficult to get motivated.

So it's Easter weekend, and for such an ostensibly secular country, they take it pretty seriously.  It's against the law for anything to be open on Good Friday and probably on Easter as well.  Last night everything closed at midnight, and they'll close again at midnight on Saturday.  However, it is rather amusing because the bars open at midnight tonight, because it'll officially be Saturday... On a related note, I'm fairly upset that I'm missing "Via Dolorosa" (and the entire Good Friday service for that matter) back at Bethel.  I'll just have to settle for the Sandi Patty version on iTunes.

I've been downloading some of the embarrassing techno/dance music they like here, and I'm not gonna lie, I like it.  It's especially good running music too, so yeah, that's my excuse...

I forgot to mention that last week I was serenaded by a Maori rugby player when I was in line for the bathroom.  It was really awkward albeit kind of funny, but it's a good story.

It's starting to get pretty chilly here - especially at night.  Where did I get the impression that it would be relatively warm year-round?

While I already held this to be true prior to this week, it became all the more abundantly clear that "it's not what you say, it's what people hear." - Dr. Frank Luntz (I wouldn't want points taken off for plagiarism)

Not too shabby

Altogether this week was not too bad.  In fact, I'd even say it was quite good.

Volleyball was pretty fun, but it was rather interesting trying to play in glasses.  It's really awkward if the ball goes outside of my lens and back in.  Luckily, I should only have to experience that one more time, as I'll be getting some contacts when the 'rents come for a visit in a couple of weeks.  Yay!

I have three essays due within the next week (the first time I've really had to do work), and I'm almost done with two of them (I just need to edit really).  But I am kind of nervous about their grading system here... oh well, we'll see.  I'm not sure if y'all care, but I'm quite proud of myself.  Oh yeah, and it's quite annoying typing an essay in British because Word automatically corrects things like "organisation" and other such words.  Apparently I can fix that, but I think I'll just correct them manually or just go to the library and let their programme correct them back.  Yes, programme.

Thursday night was family night again, and it was a veritable feast.  Salmon, mushroom and spinach risotto, broccoli, and strawberry cheesecake all cooked to perfection (except the cheesecake as it was store bought).  We took a picture because it was just so damn beautiful.  

Friday night I went to a fundraiser for the volleyball club that was essentially a high school dance.  I guess the kids had their nationals in Palmy and when they're done they have a dance.  I didn't really want to go in the first place, but I'm glad I did.   As I've mentioned before, Kiwis love to dress up in crazy outfits and some of them were hilarious.  There were some guys that dressed up as hardcore nerds, girls in leopard outfits, both guys and girls in 80s style spandex suits, and everywhere in between.  It was our job to sell water for $1 (difficult, i know), and let me just say that it's quite disgusting handling the sweaty money that girls pull out of their bra or underwear.  Yeah, gross. 

Saturday morning Ray and I went to volunteer at the Manawatu Gorge right outside of Palmy with the Department of Conservation.  She did something with a wheel barrow and I pulled weeds for three hours.  It was quite therapeutic actually.  However, it kind of sucked carrying an awkward 50 lb bag of weeds back up the hill.  My triceps are sore today, but that's kind of nice actually.  

Later on, I worked on my philosophy essay in lieu of taking a nap, ate some dinner, played some uno, and when the time came we headed into town.  The bus ride into town was absolutely obnoxious:  fifty or so drunk, screaming, and chanting 18 year olds.  And you almost saw three americans and a canadian go after a kiwi who was making derogatory comments at our expense (one of the girls that was with us is a hard core feminist) and then proceeded to hurl asinine insults at us/about the US.  So that was fun...  Despite all that nonsense, the night was pretty awesome.  

On another note, I've been developing the strangest accent and word bank.  Occasionally I say things like a kiwi would, or say things like "heaps," "ay," "sweet as," "cheers" (or "chur") or "keen."  However, New Zealanders aren't the only ones affecting my speech.  Lindsay is from California, so I've started to use "dude" in every other sentence, and she also says her Os like someone from the midwest would, and I'm definitely picking that up too.  Yeah i don't know.  And finally, there's a guy in the court who says everything like it's a question, and I've noticed that I've started to tell stories where every sentence sounds like a question.  It'll be interesting to see where I end up after a few more months of this...

Epic

Epic.  That's the word for this weekend.  There wasn't anything too terribly out of the ordinary, but it was awesome.  This is a long one, so you can read portions at separate points in time if you'd like.  I won't judge you.

I finally got some vision correction in the form of glasses on Thursday, and it just kicked off the weekend right.  Yes, Thursday is the weekend.  We made some excellent chicken parmesan, as a part of our newly instated "family night" consisting of my flatmates and me, and then we eventually headed out for a little karaoke.  Ray and Lindsay did a stellar dance while i rapped to "men in black" and it was quite hilarious.  Yes, they did practice the dance specifically for this performance.

Friday was our R.A.'s birthday, so we had some bbq in the courtyard with everyone in the court, followed by some classic American games.  I was planning on taking it easy, so I went to take a nap after dinner, but i was awoken shortly later by some prolific losers of beer pong and was convinced to go out.  We hit up some new places, and i very much enjoyed chillin by the fire and having a solid conversation with Ray.  After that, we went yet again to the karaoke bar.  You know you go there too much when the bartenders laugh when you walk in, like "are these people really back again?"  yeah... After a rousing rendition of "piano man" we headed off to do a little dancing, and on the way, we thought it would be a good idea to continue "singing" (it was more just shouting than anything else) the song as we trekked across town.  

Saturday afternoon we went to a Super 14 rugby game (the Highlanders from Dunedin in the south island, and the Bulls from South Africa).  I actually enjoy watching the game, but as you may know, the fans are a little rowdy- at least the fans that go to Massey and are completely hammered before the game.  I guess it would be like going to any big university sporting event.  I don't know, I was slightly annoyed after about 20 minutes.  Since none of us have any transportation, we were just going to hang out in town, but Ray and I went to get cash and just decided to cab it back to the hostel (they call dorms hostels).  We eventually ventured back into town and checked out a live band for a bit and then hit up the karaoke bar for the third night in a row.  It was great fun as always.

This morning I went to check out the Lutheran church.  It wasn't the most convenient trip as the busses only run once every hour or more, so I hung out with the ducks in the center of town for about 30 mins.  It was pretty small, and it was contemporary style with the praise band and the powerpoint.  The church didn't really seem very Lutheran to me.  The service was fine and everything, but it was extremely casual (granted it was the "family" service).  There was definitely a small child playing on the altar at one point and that was totally ok with everyone.  I could hear people murmuring in their pews from across the world.  Also, and if you're not familiar with the Lutheran church this probably won't mean anything to you, but there was very minimal responsive reading.  And the weirdest thing was the fact that we didn't sing the part before communion (pax domini perhaps?), you know, "the Lord be with you, and also with you..." and "holy, holy, holy".  It was hard just reading it and not singing it.  After the service, there wasn't a bus for over an hour, so I opted for the 45 minute walk instead.

Just letting everyone know, and this might be slightly disconcerting for some, but I'm trying to figure out a way to stay.  I know everyone says that, and maybe I'm just saying it too, but I absolutely love it here. I just feel amazing in every way - physically, mentally, socially, and whatever else there is.  I'm not sure when the last time I was this happy and this content.  Look, I used italics, I must be pretty serious.  Maybe it's just infatuation, I don't know.  However, the urge to come back for an extended period of time is definitely present, so I guess we'll just have to see what happens.

here's a picture of some rugby action, as well as me in my glasses.  I feel a little silly putting a picture up of just myself, but i wanted to show off my super-sweet spectacles.  they say spectacles.

good on ya!

nothing new

So there hasn't really been anything too exciting in the past week or so.  I tried surfing again at Castlepoint and still wasn't able to actually get a good ride of a wave.  I'm going again this weekend, and i'm going to try the longboard.  If I can't do that maybe I need to just face the music... nah, i'll probably keep trying in vain.

I had anchovies on pizza.  Not on purpose- they messed up our order.  It wasn't as bad as everyone's always made it seem, but then again, i don't think i'd ever order them.

I started research for my sports history paper... my topic is  cricket and muscular christianity.  I'm a big fan of cricket.  I'd like to try it one of these days...

I've noticed that people love their sweets here, but I rarely see an overweight person.  I guess it's all about being active after all...

My version of "me and bobby mcgee" is quite popular at the karaoke bar.

Sorry, this was just a bunch of random thoughts, but I figured I should let y'all know I'm still alive.

gear

here's the stuff that i got.  though it may not look like much, bear in mind that $1000NZD is about $500USD.  nothing else new for now.

lake taupo

this weekend we headed for lake taupo- the largest lake in new zealand.  friday night we camped out, and let me just say that my flatmates and i are not very good at setting up a tent.  i'd like to say because it was dark outside, but i honestly don't think it made a difference.  needless to say, it took a while, and it would have taken longer had there not been people who actually knew how to set up a tent.

we got up around 7 and went to huka falls, and then we headed to the skydiving place.  it was an pretty awesome experience, but it wasn't as big of an adrenaline rush as i had thought- sitting on the edge of the plane with my feet out was probably the scariest part.  i'm not sure if it would be worth the money to do it again, but i enjoyed it and am glad that i got the dvd and pictures of me in the air. 

after the jump, we went to "craters of the moon," which reminded me of yellowstone a little bit. 

craters of the moon, huka falls, skydiving

oh stereotypes and other fun things

yesterday was an interesting day.

First of all, i went to Kathmandu to claim my $1000 worth of prizes.  i got a $600 rain jacket, which may seem silly, but it's pretty sweet.  i also got a fleece jacket, a sleeping bag, a cooler, some gloves and a water bottle.  it doesn't seem like much, but i'm pretty happy with my purchases.

around 3pm i went to the police station for questioning about the bridge jumping accident, so that was interesting.  the policemen were oddly friendly, making jokes and casual conversation- not something i'd expect in the US.  i was there for about 2 hours, but i got some snacks that were pretty good, so i wasn't going to complain.

So, finally i had a couple of encounters with some kiwis that i found quite entertaining.  one guy asked me if there were cowboys out on the open range, and some other guys asked me if i owned a gun.  and here's my absolute favorite, "so you're from texas, why aren't you fat?" HAH!  classic. i told myself i'd mess with these people and go along with it, but i didn't... next time for sure.  i also had a nice long conversation with a kiwi about politics.  it was so awesome, in a funny way.  he pretty much bashed everything about our government- from iraq to bush to obama.  it was interesting to finally get one of "those" opinions.  this time, i had fun encouraging him.. but then again, maybe i should have been an obnoxious american... hmm... i'm devising some devious plans for future conversations... oh, and he also talked about how racist americans are.  he goes, "texas, that's pretty racist eh?" anyways it was quite an interesting conversation.

these pictures are in backwards order.  oh well...

Monday afternoon after i got done with class, i checked my voicemail and found out that i had won a drawing for $1000 worth of camping gear.  i was a little sceptical (that's how they spell that here... gross), but i went to the store yesterday and sure enough, i had won!  so i'm pretty excited about that.  i think i'm going to get a tent, a sleeping bag, a chilly bin (cooler), and some jackets.  i like kyle's idea- once i get it all, i'll take a picture and post it up.

Monday night i had volleyball "tryouts" and it was pretty awesome.  there were a few decent players, but most of them weren't very good.  but it was so laid back, and i had fun.  plus everyone was really nice and seemed pretty cool, so i'm going to stick with it.  it'll be nice to just have FUN playing for once.  our coach played at UCLA and in germany for several years so he knows what he's doing, but at the same time realizes that it's all for fun.  oh, and he let me set so that was fun.  and i jump served just for the hell of it.  

When i said that there was reason to worry about bridge jumping, here's the reason:  after everyone in our group jumped, people started to go for a second time.  i was planning on going but i decided to get something to eat first, and while i was eating, ray and another friend came running over to us saying that the rope had snapped on a girl (although it was because the rope wasn't retied properly and there was no slack).  not really realizing the severity of the problem, i eventually ambled over only to find the girl lying motionless on the ground below.  I don't want to go into too much detail out of respect for the girl, but she ended up dying the next day.  It was (and still is) an extremely surreal situation for everyone involved, knowing that it could have been any one of us and thinking about her and her family.  i was stoked about jumping again.  i'd like to ask you all to pray for her family and those who feel in some way responsible for the accident.  

baking, jumping, and surfing

Last week a bunch of us really wanted some cookies (or biscuits as they say here), so we decided to try and make them from scratch.  Ray was put in charge because she wanted to stretch her cooking muscles.  It probably wasn't the best time to try this, as we were missing quite a few ingredients essential to baking cookies (baking powder/soda, vanilla) as well as things like beaters to mix the stuff together.  It was quite hilarious watching the whole scene unfold, and long story short, the end results hardly resembled cookies, but instead we got some pretty awesome pancakes.  who knew...

we went to karaoke again on thursday... i love karaoke

saturday morning we went bridge jumping (swing, not bungy), and i had  pretty awesome time on my jump.  i did more or less a swan dive off the bridge.  it was quite the rush, and i was impressed with my composure and lack of hesitation on my jump... and by the way, i didn't tell anyone because i didn't want y'all to worry.  turns out there was reason to worry.  i'll explain that later.

saturday evening, we borrowed a friend's car and trucked it on over to the east coast to castlepoint for a little surf club camp out action.  lindsay (one of my flat mates) drove us and i was the navigator (bad idea p.s.).  the directions the surf president gave us were a little esoteric, incomprehensible for people who don't know the area, but we still got to the camp site a little after midnight.  we hung around the campfire for a while and then headed off to "bed".  everyone else had their nice tents set up, but we came, knowingly, ill-prepared and tried to sleep in the car - it was too windy to sleep comfortably outside.  that didn't really go well, but i did get to see a lot of stars and the sun rise so no complaints there.  around 8am we all started rummaging around and eventually headed to the beach.  i briefly did some boogie boarding, and then tried to surf.  i wasn't able to actually stand up on the board, but i sure did have fun trying and i can't wait until surf camp in two weeks to try again.  i feel like i was pretty close to getting it, but we'll see.

this should be an exciting week- volleyball starts tomorrow, possibly netball or fire club on tuesday, and lake taupo this weekend. 

sunset

just wanted to put these pictures up.  i'll make a new post after the weekend

observations 2 and other stuff

here's some more random stuff i've thought of since last week...

kiwis love theme parties.  i've told y'all about the foga party, but last weekend i also went to a neon(fluorescent) one, i've heard about a foam party and a general costume party, and i saw some people walking around in superhero costumes or something like that

they don't say "bless you" or anything else after someone sneezes.  i thought that was odd

i haven't seen very many diet cokes, not to mention any pepsi or dr pepper, and sprite zero is more common than the regular stuff.  there isn't gatorade, powerade monopolizes the sports drink category.

they call mcdonalds "mackers", or at least a commercial does.  on that note, other fast food places i've seen are kfc, pizza hut, and burger king.  however, they are definitely not on every corner like they are here

most toilets have "half flush" and "full flush" options

in general, the guys wear shorter shorts than the girls.  the guys shorts are mid thigh or a little higher, and the girls' are usually knee length

the guys like to walk around barefoot everywhere- on campus or in town

in case you're interested, my classes are pretty small, having around 15-20 people in each.  and we're supposed to address the prof by his/her first name

this is from a long time ago, but it's worth still putting up.  silly sheep.  sorry about the lady's head in front of me.. haha

observations

i figured it was time for some fun "facts" about NZ...  i'll keep adding them as i remember, but here's a few:

yes, a lot of the guys here have rat tails and mullets.  the rat tails aren't terrible because they're usually accompanied by a faux- or mohawk so it doesn't look too bad.  but man have i seen some SICK mullets!

a majority of their tv shows are from the states, but they're a year behind in airing, so i can't watch shows online because of a licensing issue... so i'll have to wait until i get home to watch the office... bummer

there's a huge cadbury (like the chocolate) factory in dunedin on the south island.  almost all their candy is cadbury.

new zealand likes to name things by characteristics of the items or what it looks like.  there's tons of these, but my favorites and the only ones i can think of now are sticky plasters (bandaids) and throaties (halls/cough drops).  these aren't too crazy, but there a candy called crunchies and pinkys, as well as a cheetoh-like product called twisties.  i'll add more when i come by them

a little taste of other kiwi lingo:  togs=bathing suit;  jandals=flip flops;  lollies=candy; chippies, crispies, crisps=chips

history, foga, and clubs

Yesterday was an interesting day.  I was so lost in the sports history class:  not only do i know very little about the sports we were talking about, but i know very little NZ and british history (at least not well enough to keep up).   it was alright because it was just lecture for the first half, but then we read a short article and proceeded to discuss it.  it was about the history of south african racism and rugby.  the teacher asked me something about rugby history and i had no idea what he was talking about.  oh well, i guess i'm getting what i wanted- to learn about their sports which i know nothing about.

later on i ended up going to the "foga" party, and it was actually pretty fun albeit a little gross.  there was a live band and a foam machine.  we pretty much just picked the foam up off the floor and rubbed/threw it on each other.  i hope someone puts some pictures on facebook so i can transfer them over here.  my toga looked awesome too. haha

today was clubs day on campus, ergo all the clubs had a table set up in the center of campus where we could sign up.  lyndsay (one of my flatmates) and i went a little crazy and signed up for several clubs.  if i'm remembering them all, i signed up for the alpine club (outdoorsy stuff), the surfing club (they'll teach us and let us borrow boards and wet suits!), the summit club (more outdoorsy stuff), the fire club, ultimate frisbee (i'll probably never do this one, but i was standing by the table and the guy told me to just sign up), and, if i'm not forgetting something, volleyball.  i asked if they needed a setter and they said they did, so i'm going to try to go that route.  plus, they only practice once a week for two hours, so i'm down with that.  there's only two tournaments while i'm here though, so i might lose interest.  we'll see how much of this stuff i can handle, and i think it's going to be an adventure...

school started today...

classes (they call them papers) commenced today, and i had sports history at 9am, world politics at 1pm, and modern philosophy at 3pm.  we mostly just got syllabi today, but the classes are normally two hours of lecture each class period, twice a week.  it seems like a long time, but i think the profs encourage discussion so maybe it won't be too unbearable.  plus they seem to be pretty cool classes.    there's only one exam, a final, for each paper that is 50-60% of the grade, which is a little daunting, but they've already given us previous exam questions so that's good.  other than the final, i'll have one to two essays (20-25%) and possibly a presentation or participation grade.  it kind of makes me nervous to not have anything due until april though... i don't have my other paper (politics of culture) until friday.  yeah it's only once a week for two hours as far as i know.

it's way different from what i'm used to, so if you're interested, the breakdown of my schedule is as follows:  monday 9-11, 1-3, 3-5; tuesday 3-5; wednesday 3-5; thursday none; friday 9-11, 1-3.  not too bad- at least i get most of my classes done towards the beginning of the week.

it's "super O week" here, which apparently is a pretty big deal.  i guess the first week of the semester is like a big celebration.  tomorrow there's a "foga" party (foam-toga; i'm not sure if that really appeals to me), there's also several bands playing on campus throughout the week and some new zealand comedians that are coming.  i'm sure there's free food somewhere in there too.

we're also trying to get a weekend trip set up to go to the bay of plenty and cape reinga (to go dune surfing!).  hopefully we can get that going before everything gets too crazy with school.  oh yeah, and unfortunately, i don't think i'll get to see an all blacks rugby game - the only game reasonably close is in wellington and it's june 20 - the day we're flying out :(. oh well, we'll just have to go see the super 14 or whatever they are.

Belated video 1

I've finally figured this posting videos thing out thanks to kyle's technical help, so that's why this is a little late.  i'll try to put some others up eventually.  

this is what zorbing is.  this isn't a video of me, but i wanted y'all to see it in action.  and this is actually a person who was suspended in the ball, so just imagine people sliding inside.

volleyball and second degree burns

so i've already told a few people, but i'm being actively recruited by the volleyball team here, haha.  on one of the first days of orientation, this lady came up to me and asked me if i played volleyball.  i guess i just look like a volleyball player.  so she told me that they needed a middle (gag) and when they were practicing.  the next day i was at the mall (or "the plaza") and this lady came up to me and did the same thing.  I'm not sure what i'm going to do yet, but i think i'm going to at least check it out and see how serious it is and what position i'd have to play.  

On a related note, there was a campus wide volleyball tourney where all the halls played each other.  we had a pretty solid team and we won, undefeated, and we got a t-shirt.  it was funny though because a lot of the kiwis didn't wear shoes to play.  in fact, they don't wear shoes to a lot of places, like walking around downtown.

we also went to foxton beach, which is only about a 30 min drive from town and it was pretty cool.  i did, however, get completely fried.  i mean bad.  like second degree burns.  apparently the ozone here is bad so you have to make sure to pile on the sunscreen.  i didn't know this until after the fact, so being a texan, i was thinking i could handle a few hours in the sun without sunscreen. oops, boy was i wrong.   that was one of the most painful nights ever.  now i know, and knowing is half the battle.   Ray took a picture of my pathetic state, and although it's sideways, i think it shows my burns all too well.  that was my posture of choice for the majority of the night - it was the least painful.

kairanga courts

here's my court and what's around it.... like a jail eh?

In Palmy

Saturday afternoon we took a bus ride to our final destination, Palmerston North.  By this time, our once large group dwindled to about 13 of us going to Massey.  Although I was quite exhausted, the 5 hour bus ride flew by, watching the scenery as we drove through the countryside and listening to some classic rock (the eagles seemed perfect for the occasion, as did tom petty and "saturday in the park").  We passed by one of those lakes i've only seen on tv or movies - you know, the ones with the white sandy beaches and water you can actually see through.  The overall beauty of the country seemed quite surreal, and i hear the south island is even more beautiful, so i can't wait for that!  

It was a little weird getting off our bus and all heading in different directions to our respective dorms and flats, but at the same time it was nice to have some alone time to pack and get settled in.  I'm not on a meal plan, so me and a few others in the same boat headed off to the "pak n save" (i'm guessing a rip off of sak n save? hah).  that was an overwhelming experience.  it is extremely huge, and the only thing i could recognize were some of the fruits and vegetables.  It seemed to be poorly organized, but maybe it's just because i didn't know any of the labels.  they didn't have turkey sandwich meat, which i suppose makes sense, but it still surprised me a little.  they're all about chicken flavored chips (or crisps or crispies or chippies - i've heard all three).  I have yet to try those, though i am curious.  They didn't have grape jam either much to my chagrin.  I managed to get a few things to last me through the week so i left relatively satisfied, albeit concerned about making the trip to this store once a week or so.  Apparently NZ is ahead in the "green" trend, because they charge you for plastic bags, and it seems as though locals rarely use them.  It only took us one trip to figure out to bring our own bag or backpack for our shopping excursions.   did i mention that it's a 45 min walk to town?  a little farther than i originally thought, but it's a nice walk.  fortunately there's also a free bus to take.  

I'm going to eventually take some pictures of my dorm for y'all, because it is very reminiscent of a jail.  I'm not too picky, but the resemblance is amusing.  there's four of us to a "pod" and while we have our own rooms, we share a toilet, kitchen and shower.  the good thing is, we have a cleaner come once a week and all the toilet paper we can use!  However, I almost had a meltdown when i saw clotheslines in our courtyard and found only one washer.  The next day i found our washing room complete with several washers and dryers, so i was quite relieved, but just thinking about being forced to hang dry my clothes every week was nauseating.  Yeah, maybe i'm a little spoiled.  Oh, on that note, i haven't seen any dryer sheets anywhere... odd

Despite it's outward appearance, i quite like our "court."  it's a lot of americans, but everyone i've met has been pretty cool, and one of the first nights we were here we went out and played soccer on one of the fields right behind our court.  literally right behind it.  i'm terrible at soccer, but it's been so long since i've just gone out and randomly done something like that.  At least for now, it seems like people are much more willing to do things spontaneously rather than planning forever.  maybe it's because no one has a car... time shall tell i suppose.

I went to a couple of orientation things, but honestly it was mostly stuff i've been hearing since my freshman year, so I've been choosing my sessions wisely :).  There was a big presentation the other night with a guy who talked to about the dangers of alcohol and the "roller coaster ride of" something.  hadn't heard that before... ironically, as with every place you'll visit in NZ, they were serving alcohol at the place.  everything in moderation i suppose

I was very proud of my packing job, but i didn't do such a great job.  it gets a lot colder here than i thought, and it's still summer.  i was prepared for texas weather.  and a pair of my "good" shorts mysteriously got a hole in the back... should've brought that needle and thread like mom suggested!  

On another note, I have a really good internal clock.  I've set my alarms about five separate times since i've been here, and every time i've woken up 5-30 mins before it's supposed to go off.  cool.  They also have excellent tap water here.

i don't know what i'm doing

top:  place we went caving

next:  ray and i in traditional maori garb

third:  zorbing

fourth:  hot pool in Rotorua

last:  me in front of the governor's house (or something) in rotorua

Finally

Ok, that didn't work.  I was trying to copy from word... let's try again...

I don’t really know how to start this except by saying that this is going to be an enormously long post.  I haven’t had adequate time on the computer until now (I finally got a converter), so yeah…

I guess I’ll start with the flight and arrival.  There were a few minor bumps in this event, leading me to feel slightly overwhelmed.  However, the part I was most concerned about, the actual 13 hour flight, was not all that bad.  Much to my chagrin, there was as much space as a regular flight in the U.S., which I was deeply concerned about since my legs are slightly longer than the average person.  I might have suffered from deep vein thrombosis like my mom had warned me of, as I only got up twice and occasionally had searing pain in my bum.  I didn’t have a good excuse for not getting up as I was in the aisle seat, but I was cold and cuddled up in my blanket instead.  We arrived in Auckland and met up with the Australearn crew at 5:30am their time and it was overcast, but eventually the clouds cleared and we could see the beauty of the country.

 

We went directly from Auckland to Rotorua, which is famous for it’s thermal pools (i.e. it smells like sulphur).  That smell didn’t really bother me too much, and it didn’t bother me at all after a few hours.  We stayed at a hostel in Rotorua, and I was surprised – although I don’t know why – that there was no air conditioning in the rooms, just windows.  It was pretty hot and sticky when we got there, so I was thinking that that wasn’t going to fly with me, but it cooled off a lot at night and I actually woke up cold.  I realize now that air conditioning is a rarity, but I suppose it’s not Texas.

 

The next day was quite exciting.  In the morning, we had breakfast at the hostel, where I tried some Marmite (the NZ equivalent of Vegemite).  It is pretty sick, I’m not going to lie, but it wasn’t completely unbearable.  Then we went to the “World Famous Live Sheep Show.”  I wasn’t extremely thrilled about this, but I did think it’d be cool to see a sheep being shorn.  It was pretty awesome see all the different kinds of sheep that were herded on stage and the stuff that the sheepdogs could do.  I won’t try to explain it in too much detail, because I took some videos so y’all can see for yourselves.

 

In the afternoon, we went Zorbing.  It’s hard to explain, and again I took videos of random people doing it just so you could get the gist of what the hell is going on.  But basically, three of us got into a giant plastic ball (like a hamster) that had a little water in it and then we rolled down a hill.  It’s kind of like extreme slip and slide.  It was pretty awesome – you’d have to try it to truly understand; unfortunately, Rotorua is the only place in the world to have it.

 

When we got done with that, we went back to the hostel and learned how to do the “Haka.”  The Haka is the war dance that the All Blacks (NZ’s rugby team) before their games.  It’s pretty hilarious and awesome.  I wasn’t able to get a video of us doing this, but I did get some pictures of us in some of the traditional garb that we had to wear.  I’m sure you can youtube the Haka and watch it if you are interested.  Of course they’ll look a lot cooler than we did!

 

After the Haka, we went to a show where we saw a show that taught us a little history about the Maori people (pronounced more or less like “mowry” with a short “o” like “ow” not “mow”- good explanation, Shelly!).  It was pretty cool, even though they told us not to laugh or smile which made it hard not to, naturally. I really liked one of the songs they sang.  After the show, we had a “hangi” dinner.  Hangi is a style of cooking they do where they cook the food underneath the fire, so it has a really smoky flavor to it.  It wasn’t bad, but I honestly wasn’t thoroughly impressed.  I’ve decided that I want to try all kinds of things while I’m here, so I tried mussels.  Talk about disgusting!  Probably one of the grossest things I’ve ever eaten.  There is hardly any flavor to them, and the texture is terrible - even thinking about the endless chewing I had to do before being about to swallow it makes me want to vomit.  Even so, however, I’m glad I tried them so that I never have to eat them again.  We took a bus to this place, and the driver was pretty awesome.  When he picked us up, he greeted us in like 54 languages and then sang songs from several random countries.  He was pretty funny, and on the way back he drove us around a roundabout about (that’s fun to say) 7 times. 

 

The next day was pretty exciting too.  We drove a few hours to a place called Waitomo where we went caving.  I’m fairly claustrophobic, but it wasn’t too bad.  It was a wet cave, so they gave us wetsuits, boots, and a helmet with a little light on it.  It took about four hours to go through it, but it was so fun.  We floated in the water, climbed around on sharp rocks, squeezed through seemingly impossible passageways, and saw some glowworms on the ceiling.  The night too, was quite fun.  We hung out at the bar at the hostel for a while, and then went to see some comedians at a local bar.  It was hilarious and interesting to see what their sense of humor is here.  Oh yeah, and later that night Ray got mugged.  Don’t worry, she didn’t get hurt – they even gave her a hug after they got some money.  It’s funny only because she wasn’t hurt.

On Saturday, we left for Palmerston North.  It was a fairly long bus ride, at around 5 hours, but it was nice to finally get to the school and unpack my suitcases at my new home.  This day wasn’t all too thrilling, but it was definitely nice to just relax and not be on a schedule for once.  I don’t think I was all that affected by jet lag, but I was certainly pretty tired after four very busy days and ended falling asleep around 10. 

By the way, last time I said "sweet as"... that's the kiwi version of awesome.  and I'll post pictures/videos soon!

Finally, Internet!

I wouldn't consider myself a spoiled person, but I've been lost not being able to use the internet.  Anyways, sorry about the wait!

Hey everyone! If you've been wondering where I was, I'm at a hostel in Rotorua doing the Australearn orientation thing! There isn't a wireless internet connection here, so I can't post any videos yet. On Sunday (Saturday for you guys) I'll be in Palmerston North, so hopefully I can get some cool stuff put up then.

Anyways, it's beautiful here and the people are super friendly.I'd write some more, but we're going "caving" today and we're leaving in like two minutes. Sweet as.

Cheers!

Leavin On a Jet Plane

So I leave tomorrow, and I can't wait for the day-long (literally) journey.  First we stop in Phoenix, and then to LA where we'll meet our new study abroad friends, when we will then proceed on our 13 hours flight to Auckland.  

Well, much to my delight, packing has been quite easy.  I guess knowing that I can basically only take the essentials made it easier to weed out the junk.  On a lighter note, the cats enjoy sitting on top of my suitcases.

Surprisingly enough, I'm not nervous or apprehensive at all about leaving, I'm just really excited.  Good.

I look forward to making another entry when I get there!

Gettin Ready

Well, I just thought I'd try to get this thing started before I get to New Zealand.  What I'm planning on doing is just keeping you guys updated and posting pictures and videos about my daily/weekly escapades abroad.  Hopefully i'll pick up some funny lingo to fill you guys in on too. 

We (Ray/Lauren and I) are leaving February 9, so check this around then and hopefully I'll have something new for you guys to read.  Maybe I'll even include some stories about the packing process if it proves to be as interesting as I'm thinking it might be.  I don't know if y'all will be able to post comments without having a blog on here, but I'd love to hear from everyone!

Yeah, I know I still have two weeks until we leave, but I have nothing else to do.