Couple Months after the fact!

Hi Everyone,

I know it's been just a FEW months since I posted but I figured I'll just post the last couple of months that were spent in New Zealand.

October:

There was a the wonderful tribute to Oktoberfest at the beginning of the month along with Tom Warson's birthday. We celebrated that by having a Coal Miner party. Most of the month was the preparation of classes ending and study week. Classes ended on the 16th, and that was a little weird cause they usually don't end until the middle of December. So while everyone else was just beginning their semester mine was ending. I had a week off for study week! It was nice cause I ended up taking a road trip around the North Island with the Toms, Taner and Chris. That was an adventure in itself. Maybe I'll do a post on my trips that I did considering I still haven't done a post on my spring break either (whoops =)... ). Anyways there was lots of driving, cities that smelled of sulfur, natural hot springs/ hot tubs, climbing famous Mt. Doom, an undercover police operation, caving, partying with the caving guides, partying in Auckland, eating at this really good bistro, called Stone Oven on Devonport Island, driving down back roads to find weathertop, and much much more.

After we got back from that excursion, we celebrated Halloween and three birthdays all on the same day! It was crazy and the costumes people came up with were awesome! Finals started that week and people became stressed out and isolated, like usual.

November:

Finals ended and people started heading home, which was really sad. We all hung out regularly so we could spend as much time together as possible. There were many nights of tears, and memories. We had an end of the year BBQ, that was a blast and a hit. Actually we ended up having a couple of them. There was one all - nighter pulled, and that was the night before Chris left for his Southeast Asia adventure.

Erica and I left for Australia on the 17th and were there for about 4 days before we meet up with my mom and aunt! It was a great time, we picked up our car and drove for 9 hours before stopping to sleep in a truck stop because no one would help us out at 3 am! Anyways we got up the next day and visited the Koala sanctuary, feed some kangas, peacocks, and saw a couple dingos. We got to go snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef and that was really cool. We went to a crocodile farm, where they harvest the skins for Gucci. We ate croc for lunch, which isn't bad it's different but interesting. After that we headed back to Brisbane where we dropped Erica and then my mom, aunt, and I headed to the airport.

I got stopped in the airport for having mace! It's a really long story for another time. Once safely back in Christchurch we settled into my flat for about a day. I took my mom and aunt on a tour of CHCH on Wednesday the 25th and then on Thursday we left for our road trip that took us to Dunedin, the Catlins, Te Anu, Milford Sounds, Queenstown, Twizel and back to Christchurch. We took the boat tour in Milford and it was amazingly beautiful! There aren't any words that justify the majesty and beauty that you experience there. Pictures barely justify it. But we had fun! We had dolphins playing on the bow of our boat, which was really cool to watch. We met up with Tom Cosgro in Queenstown and met his dad, who was really cool. I also ran into Mirco, my German friend while there.

Once we were back in Christchurch we did some shopping and hung out with Tom Warson, who teamed up with my aunt to make an incredible dinner. Tom then took me out on the town the last per the request of my mother and aunt. This of course was after my Aunt blew the power in my flat, by cleaning the stove. But we got power back and we finished packing since we were leaving the next day.

December:

December 1 I left New Zealand to come home. I saw my aunt off at like 5.30 a.m and then took my mom into to town to kill some time. I finished packing and sat around for a bit. We met up with Tom Warson when we were leaving, and said our goodbyes. It was really sad to leave but I know I'll see all of them at some point. I got to live Dec 1 twice. A full day in New Zealand and then about a half day in the States. It was a long process to come home but it felt good to be back. I was home in Chicago for about a day and then left for Milwaukee and Green Bay. I came up to GB and moved my stuff into my dorm and got to see Amy, Kert, and Chelsea. It was good to see them in person after Skyping for so long. After that I got a job at a Salon in the city as a receptionist, worked most of the time. But I was able to start up a relationship in between that time.

January:

Now I'm back at school and have survived my first two days of classes. It's a good start to the semester, but there is tons ahead of me to do. All I can do is take it one step at a time and breath normally as I go. haha

That's all I have for now, maybe I'll get around to typing out my excursions.

Thanks for reading!