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!

Past Couple Weeks

Hey,

So it's been a couple weeks since I updated. I'm really bad about keeping up with this thing. I guess it has to do with the fact that I've been crazy busy the past couple weeks. On the 16th I had my final for my Vertebrae Biology Class, so that took up most of the beginning of that week and then I had to get ready for Wellington! That was such a fun weekend!

I left for Wellington (the captial!) on Friday at 2, and got there at like 4.30 or so. I met up with Erica and Tom who had left at 10.30. I would have gone with them but I had class that went until 10 and that was just cutting it too close to take off time, so I opted for a later flight but not the really late flight like a bunch of the group did. We stayed at the YHA in Wellington, which was more like a hotel than a hostel. It was 6 floor and had two kitchens, but both of them were pretty small. Since so many people took the later flight, Tom, Erica, and I waited around the hostel for them and made some spaghetti with corn on the cobb for dinner. It was really good! Finally we met up with everyone, and then the festivities started. We went out to a couple bars but didn't really find anything that held our interests. So we went back and went to bed.

Saturday we all got up and went to Te Papa, the awesome museum there to kill some time before we went to the All Blacks game! After the museum we went for Mexican in a food court in town. It was ironic cause I had Asians make my Mexican food, and when I get Chinese food from a food court back home it's usually made by Mexicans. I know that it sounds bad but it's true. Anyways it wasn't that bad, but it was funny cause the lady didn't say quesadilla right. She said it like Napoleon Dynamite's grandma does! Haha! So that was fun. I then split from part of the group and went with Rebecca, Fabian, Alissa, and Alex to wander Cuba Street. Rebecca decided to get her ear pierced so that was an adventure. The place we went was a really cool tattoo shop and the guys there were so cool. After that we went back to the Hostel to get ready for the game! We all painted ourselves with some kind of war markings, or just our whole faces. Tom and I were the last to leave so we walked to the stadium by ourselves, and ran into some people dressed up as pirates. We found out they were from Hawaii, it was international talk like a pirate day, and that they had extra eye patches. So Tom and I took their eye patches and were pirates for the rest of the game.

We had some really good seats for only 70 bucks. We were 3 rows back from the field but we were sitting behind the end zone, which was alright but it would have been better if we were at the 50 yard line. The haka was awesome to see live, and there were fireworks that go off at the end of it. The All Blacks kicked ass, beating the Wallabies 33 - 6 (what now Aussie). We had so much fun, especially since there were like 11 of us sitting together. After the game, Tom and I went to a bar called the Bull and the Bear where we ran into some Aussies. The one guy asked if we were from "Canadia" (yes I did spell that wrong), we told him no that we were from the States. He asked us why we would wanna admit that, and we both looked at each other and then asked if we should be ashamed for being an American? He said no but just most people wouldn't admit that. It was a strange conversation but I felt offended by that comment. I'm not an overly patriotic American but I am proud of where I come from. After our chat with the Aussies Tom and I headed back towards the hostel to find everyone else. By the time we got back everyone was pretty much asleep so we called it a night too.

Sunday I slept until 1, which kind of sucked cause I was going to go back to the museum but it worked out better in the end. Erica and I went and just walked around town. We ended up at the wharfs watching a pigeon with one leg fend off seagulls and a group of Asian girls leave because the pigeon came close to them. It was kind of funny. After that we continued our walk and ended up finding a really cool, really old cemetery. I'm talking graves from the 1860s! It was really interesting, we tried to find the oldest grave but some of the tombstones were so worn that the writing was gone so we couldn't tell. After that we met up with everyone and headed out to explore the town a little more at night, a group of us ended up playing pool at a pool house. The guy working there gave us a couple vouchers for buy an hour get an hour free on one of the bigger tables. It was a really nice gesture of him.

Monday morning I flew back to Christchurch, and had to get ready for class right away. I was so tired that night and all of Tuesday. I didn't think I could get that jet lagged that fast; maybe it's worse on shorter trips, cause your body doesn't have time to get used to it before you've landed again. I don't know. Monday night all of us got together and watched the 1st Lord of the Rings movie, and it was great cause we could tell where scenes of the movie were shot cause some of us have been there. Tuesday I pretty much slept all day cause I was still exhausted from the weekend. Tuesday night we went to Cartel to watch The Hicks, which is a two man band consisting of a fiddle, a guitar, and a harmonica. The singer was really good. Wednesday and Thrusday were lame because I had to write a paper that was due on Friday. Friday I turned in my paper and just relaxed for most of the day. Tom, my flatmate, and I got some quality flatmate bonding time this weekend because most of our friends went on a trip to climb the glaciers on the West Coast. Saturday I went and had Denny's for breakfast with a group of friends, and then came back and slept most of the day. Sunday was homework day along with researching what I can do in Gold Coast when Erica and I have our adventure in November.

The weather lately has been sort of spring like, lots of rain but it's also been cold, which is not fun! I want the warm weather of spring to come quickly! Today (Tuesday the 29th), it's been sunny and fairly warm, but not warm enough for me. Soon the summer weather will be here and I might complain that it's too hot but then I don't know what the range of temperature is down here. It's just going to be a pain when I have to go back to Chicago, because it'll be super cold and possibly have snow on the ground. I'm only getting glimpses of summer this year! Haha.

I will admit I think I'm starting to miss home a bit more. But I think it's because school is back in session so I miss having class with all my friends, and going to football games, and I'll be missing hockey season for the most part too. I do miss the prices on food, and having the convenience of having everything available to me, but that's what I get for being brought up in the States. Everything is available to us whenever we want it, and it's been an eye opener being down here. I think I'm also anticipating the date I have when I get back home. I'm really excited for it cause it's with a good guy that I've known for a while now.

This weekend I have another Operation Friendship get together. There's going to be a picnic at one of the family's houses. It should be a good time. I think Sunday I might go with one of my other friends to Kaikoura. I've been there but only for a couple hours and I'd love to go back and explore a little more. I also have postcards that I'll hopefully be sending out soon. The hard part is what to write, cause I have this blog, and there's not much space on the card to describe and tell about everything. I'm still working on my movie so please have patience I did a lot those two weeks, and I want it to be really good.

That's all for now.

Love you guys! <3>


I had to walk out onto the tarmac to get to my plane to Wellington...


There was a wall of postcard from all over the islands...


The beginning of the game where both national anthems were sung...


Me, Alissa, and Teen Wolf (haha Fabian)...


Erica, Rebecca, and I after the game...

Max's haka face...


Te Papa, the museum...

The wharfs...

First week back...

It's Sunday the 13th at 4.09 p.m., it's been a beautiful day, and the first week back is over. It was a tough week because I had two exams right at the beginning of the week, but it's ok because I got through them. I'm not too worried about them because I answered all the questions with all the knowledge I had. Monday through Wednesday were basically study days,since I had an exam on Wednesday for Vertebrae Biology Lab, and then an exam in exercise and health on Thursday morning. That one will be interesting to see because I answered everything in one paragraph for each question, but it was a concise paragraph so I think I'll be alright. Thursday afternoon I went on a field trip to the Canterbury museum for my art history class and that was pretty interesting. We met with a courtier of the museum and he did a specialized session for us where he pulled out individual pieces of the Polynesian Art collection for us to see and touch. There were weapons, figurines, dancing props, and other amazing things. One of the items was a hula costumes that was made from the canine teeth of dogs! It was nuts! This thing had 400 canine teeth on it! After that I came home and started working on my movie. Friday was pretty relaxed, I made french toast for breakfast and Tom made the bacon. It was so good! I continued to work on my movie, and then I made museli (garnola), and that came out really well. Then since it was such a nice day out Gem and I decided we should celebrate with some sparkling wine! Friday night was a quiet night in and it was much needed. Saturday I went to the farmer's market and figured out that I need to go more often, I then went to breakfast with Erica, Gem, and Sammy. That was really good. Saturday night was even quieter but it was nice. I watched the All Blacks lose to South Africa (boo!), but it was a brutal match. I can't wait to go see them in person next weekend! Today's been pretty quiet got up around 10 and have just been hanging around the flat for the most part and enjoying the weather. I went for a walk earlier and that was nice. I actually moved one of my couches outside and did some school reading out there.

This whole week has been beautiful for the most part. It's been sunny and warm, like 70s warm sometimes. Spring has definitely sprung! I came back from spring break (which will be updated as soon as my movie is finished...) and all the trees were in bloom. It's even more amazing now that there are flowers! I already don't wanna leave, and I still have 2 and half months left. Well for this week it should be pretty easy. I have one exam on Wednesday again but if I take the test now I have one less final in October. I leave for Wellington on Friday, which is going to be a blast! I'm so excited to go see the All Blacks and be on the North Island!!! Woo Hoo! Anyways, spring break was epic, and there's way too much to write about so I'm making a movie (woo hoo!!!) about it sorta. It's kinda a picture slideshow with captions and music. But it was amazing, I now have 6 really good friends that I can count on; one of them is my flatmate Tom so that's convenient, haha. I'm trying to get that together for you guys and hopefully I'll have it up sometime this week, but don't hold me to that.

That's all I have for now I'll keep you posted as often as possible.

Miss and love everyone

Break is almost here...

This past weekend was fun filled and then this week was blah, due to all the stuff due before break. Break starts tomorrow (August 21st) at 11 am when I finish with my tutorial for my Exercise and Health class! WOO HOO!!! Two weeks off and it's going to be epic I can just feel it.

Ok now to recount last weekend which was so much fun. Let see Friday was round 2 for operation friendship. The food was delicious again, and we had different courses this time. A few of the same things like the sweet potatoes and chicken, but we had quiche (they're big on quiche down here) this time along with yams. The yams here look like little red worms that get cooked up. Then the amount of desserts we had was quite an eye full. There was this thing called lolli cake, which is cookies crushed up and mixed with candy and then baked (?). Anyways it was delicious, and satisifying. We then moved onto the games, which consisted of Up Chicken Down Chicken (I love this game), round robin ping pong (which got dangerous at some points), and catchphrase. Over all it was a fun and delightful evening, and I can't wait til next month's meeting.





After Operation Friendship, Cole and I did a movie night which was good. We had cheese, crackers, and some wine (cause what's cheese and crackers without wine). We watched Top Gun and a Bee Movie cause Cole hadn't seen either one of them. Saturday was an early morning for I had to get up in order to go TRAMPING!!! It was my first tramping club trip and it was the Bush Ball. It was a disco themed party at a hut on Lake Daniels, but we weren't exactly on the lake. We had to cross the rivers like 10 times which would have been so much more enjoyable if the water wasn't like 32 degrees! The walk was pretty easy and it was really pretty. It sprinkled on and off on the way to the hut but not too bad. Once we got to the hut everyone immediately got into costume and started the dance party. We cooked dinner which consisted of instant mashed potatoes, which were extremely bland, but mixed with the curry veggies that were made it wasn't too bad. The dance party continued until about 3 am. Then things settled down and we got some sleep. At about 9 am someone decided that it was a good time to wake up and leave, so the first group left. Probably around 10 my group left and we decided to take the track around Lake Daniels, which was about an hour and half longer than the track we took in. It was completely worth it though! The lake was stunning! We continued along the track and reached the other side where there was a tiny pier and another hut. We took a break there for a bit and then continued on our way. Along the way we saw little waterfalls, and really cute footbridges, which seemed to be randomly placed but I'm sure they were carefully placed. After walking for about 2 hrs, I was getting antsy about going home. Finally we crossed the river and got to the vans to go home. We stopped by the pie (savory meat) shop but it was closed so we settled for some fish and chips at the local shop.

The final river we crossed in order to go home...



A tree with some warts...



Green winters...



Lake Daniels and the hut we hiked to...



Monday was pretty standard went to class, and then came back and started studying for my exam that was on Tuesday. Tuesday went to yoga at 7 am, came back studied some more, and then went and took my exam. It went well I probably could have used a little more studying time but I didn't blow it.

Yesterday, was a good day I went to class and then I came home and did some research for my essay due tomorrow, and then I cooked dinner for 10 people!!! It came out so well I was excited, and everyone enjoyed it, or at least they said they did! hahaha. I made regular and vegetarian sloppy joes, and hashbrown casserole (made with hashbrown patties). I did get asked to put up the receipe for the casserole, so that must be a good sign. Then I went to the tramping club meeting and had Chris's delicious cheesecake and Mary/Sarah's really good banana cake. I came home and did some research before Cole came over and hung out. We watched top gear, moon tv, and ali g. I'm not a big fan of ali g.

Thursday I got up to went to yoga, walked all the way to the rec center and realized I didn't have my card to get in. So I came home and went back to bed for like a half hour, then got up and got ready to go to class. I then had tea with Rebecca at our usual spot, Cafe 101. After that I came home and messed around on the internet, and then finished my essay for Friday. That night I had dinner at Erica's with the group, and then we're all went to see Psycho Shakespeare, because one of our friends is in it. It was really good and made me miss theater, I wish I had more time so that I could do theater. Anyways the play ended up being about this shrink who talks through the different scenes where Shakespeare characters go mad, but there was a twist! There's always a twist with Shakespeare, the psychologist was actually a patient in the intitution impersonating the doctor. My friend was actually the doctor! It was so good and interesting.

Friday was pretty relaxed I turned in my essay, and then went into town with Cole and bought some souvenirs. After that I came back and chilled out for a while, made dinner, and then went and hung out with Cole's friends for awhile. Then we came back and met up with the Toms, they then informed us of a formal party that we could go to, so we went there for a while. Then I came back and went to bed cause I had to get up to go to Dunedin. Which is the next post so keep reading.

Plans for break right now are up in the air. I'm pretty sure that there will be a trip to Dunedin sometime this weekend or week. Then second week is going to be a tramp in Abel Tasman, and a visit to Nelson. That's going to be the whole two weeks, it's crazy! After that things start to get somewhat crazy or maybe it's just the first week back will be.


I will try to keep this posted over the next two weeks but if not I will try to summarize everything when I can.

That's all for now. I will post my pictures on photobucket at some point.

<3

A Couple Weeks have gone by now...

Ok so I'm a slacker and haven't updated in a couple weeks. Well I can say that last week was pretty boring since I had an essay due last Friday. My first actual assignment as a New Zealand student! It was an essay on the signature whistles of bottlenose dolphins. They're pretty cool cause you can tell a dolphin's identity from them. Each dolphin modifies the whistle to themselves. Anyways I'll send you my essay if you really want to know more. I can honestly say that I can't remember what I did last week that is how boring it was. The weekend was pretty good.

Saturday (Aug 1st) I went hiking at South shore, it was really pretty there. We ended up at the beach cause that's where the trail lead us (by us I mean Rachel, Chelsey, Amanda, and I). We ended up meeting up with Ben Reidie and headed to the New Brighton Pier where we hung out for a while and watched the crazy Kiwi surfers try to catch some waves. But the waves weren't big enough to really surf on, and the water has to be freezing at this time of year. Actually I know for a fact that the water is freezing because I collected some shells from the beach and cleaned the off in the estuary that we were at. We saw some black and white birds at the estuary, we thought they were peguins but sadly they turned out to be petrals, a native New Zealand bird. In my frustration, I decided to chase after them and scare them off. At the pier we decided to get some ice cream, and found a local store that sold two scoop cones for $2 NZD which isn't bad at all. I had Jaffa flavor which was orange sherbert and chocolate mixed together kind of like dreamiscle but with chocolate instead. Saturday night was pretty chill, a bunch of us went for fish and chips! It was ok but I think I'll stick to Captain Ben's fries, unless Riccarton Fish Supply has better fish and chips altogether. We shall have to explore that option. Saturday night I hung out at flat 80 with a bunch of people and we had a good time. It started as a quiet night with friends and then turned into a party! Ha isn't that how it always is.

Sunday has somehow become a lazy day where I only do homework and nothing else. It kind of sucks cause I really like going out and exploring, especially since this country is beautiful. I finished my lab report for Monday, and then Sunday night I went and watched the Fifth Element with a group. It was good, and Bruce Willis was his typical self in the movie, what else can really be expected.

Monday through Friday was pretty boring as previously stated because I was doing research for my essay and then writing my essay. Although on Tuesday I did get to dissect a pigeon in lab. That was pretty cool! Birds have a weird internal layout but it makes sense for when they're flying. I did get to see a female pigeon that was full of eggs. The rest of the week was boring and long. I finished my essay and handed it in and then I went shopping on Friday with Rachel. We had an adventure of finding a swim suit considering it's still winter here but it's not like back in the states where the middle of winter hits and all the spring/summer stuff comes out. I found one but it cost me a pretty penny. Friday night I watched Monty Python and the Holy Grail with Ben who fell asleep at the end of the movie. I then had some homemade cookies. I forget what they were called, but you could taste how much butter was in them. I also booked my flight to Wellington for September when I go to the All Blacks game (Rugby).

Saturday I went to Hanmer Springs again. But this time it included a hike up to a scenic point. It was really pretty. The hike was about 20 minutes and it was weird cause I ended up in just a T-shirt that the top and I wasn't cold at all. I couldn't believe that it was the middle of winter and I was standing in a t-shirt. I took some pretty pictures, and I wish I could figure out how to get my panoramic pictures to combine in my PC but I haven't, so you'll just have to flip through them. After our hike we spent about two hours in the thermal pools and it was so relaxing. Before we went to the pools we went and had burgers at a local joint. It was so good! Mine had pineapple on it, next time I'm gonna try a Kiwi burger. This thing has so much on it, I don't know how I'm going to eat. Saturday night Gemma and I split a pizza and garlic bread from the pizza place in Ilam, cause they were having a special. It was good but a little small for two people and we got the large. After that we sat around Gemma's flat for a bit and played some games then we went out to town. I had a red russian for the first time, but I didn't like it cause when I looked at the receipe for it, the menu left out the coffee aspect of it. There was too much coffee for me, so I was disappointed. We ended up at Boogie Nights again, and it was a lot of fun! I just need to learn how to swing dance or something and then I'll be set.

Side story from Boogie Nights: One of the bar maids was serving this guy and two girls, and the guy was gonna pay her with a 50 but she either didn't have change for it or didn't want to give him that much change; so she was gonna make him pay in coins. Well he was taking too long to get the correct change, and so in her impatience she threw one of the drinks at the crowd in front of the bar. One of the girls didn't like this so she threw the beer that she was paying for back at the bar maid. Next thing I knew the two girls were running off and security was hustling the guy out the door. I thought for sure that they were gonna break his arms off for the way they were carrying him. Anyways I guess everything got straightened out or something but we left right after that so I really don't know.

Sunday was a good day. I spent the morning hanging out with Cole and making grilled cheese. After he left, I took a nap but I was still tired since I had only got 3 hours of sleep Saturday night (Cole and I watched Edward Scissor Hands). I wrote up my lab report and had dinner. I then went over to Gemma's to hang out and do some laundry. I went to bed after that.

Monday I went to get my YHA membership card, so I can stay in the hostels around New Zealand and Australia for a cheaper rate. After that I went to class and lab. In lab I worked out my left bicep for a bit cause we were doing a lab on EMG. EMG measures how much electricity your body puts out when it is contracting and relaxing. I had to do 3 bicep curls with 5kg (which is like 11 lbs.) it wasn't so bad the first couple times I did it but about the 5th or 6th time they made me do it, I was struggling. After that we did some testing on grip strength and muscle fatigue. It was an interesting lab. Tom bought the tickets for the All Blacks game, so I'm officially going to that =D.

Tuesday was ok, had class all day along with a lab. In lab, I got to look at all kinds of birds and learn about the different characteristics and features and adaptations of each one. Then last night I had planned on going to Quiz Night at the Foundry but I went and saw Coraline in 3D instead. It was good but a very creepy movie. I think the 3D aspect helped in that department. I was scared more in this movie than I have in a scary movie lately. After that I came home and went to bed.

Today was the same old thing but someone decided to turn winter back on. It had been nice lately and then today it was cold and cloudy. I hung out with Anita all day and then went to the library to find the research I need for my essay due next Friday. It's crazy break is in 2 weeks. I am not going to Fiji, instead I'm going to be doing a road trip tour of the South Island. It should be fun we're going to drive south then west and then north and end up in Nelson where some friends live, and spend the last week of break with them. It'll be a good time. I'm also probably going to Australia with Erica in November for a bit since she has free stay there. The family is definitely coming down at the end of November so that is exciting!!! They just have to figure out what they want to do when they get here.

Plans for the rest of the week: Costume shopping and playing poker tomorrow night, Operation friendship round 2 on Friday along with movie night. Saturday and Sunday is Bush Ball with the Tramping Club, it's disco themed so it should be a good time.


This was someone's mailbox...


The beach was littered with shells...


Puppy prints in the sand =D...



From left to right: Rachel, Chelsey and Amanda


Left to right: Ben, me, Rachel, Chelsey, and Amanda





This is George he was super friendly!


I really loved the fact that this boat was just sitting in the middle of the estuary.


More pictures to and from Hanmer Springs...







Ok so if you wanna see all of my pictures go to photobucket.com, search: ramgrl07 and then go to the album Kia Ora New Zealand.

I will try to update more often since I have been "yelled" at for not updating.

It's Been A While...

It's Thursday, 30 July, I have been here for 3 weeks already, and today has been a good day. It was sunny and warm today which is a nice change from the cold weather we've been having down here. I had class today and was done at 1 (which is 8 p.m. back in the midwest), since then I've been chatting with people and doing some homework. It was nice to catch up with people back home, especially since I haven't talked to some of them since I got here. There's not much planned for tonight, more homework and possibly the stoplight party at the Foundry. That should be a lot of fun. A bunch of us are probably going to go. Today, I realized how much I really can't stand my one art lecturer. She's awful. She can't get through one power point presentation that she made in 50 mins, she always runs out of time. She should time them so that she has to change topics when the slides do haha. But next week should be good cause it's the other lecturer, he's funny. He spent 5 mins yesterday saying um and pacing trying to find the right word ha!

Let's see yesterday, I went to the Tramping club meeting, which I am now apart of. They're doing a bunch of tramps this weekend, some easy ones and some more difficult ones. But I'm not going on any of those. Rachel, myself, and some of her friends are going to do a day tramp out at Sumner, which takes us into New Brighton. I'm excited because I haven't been to New Brighton yet. I also saw Rebecca and Fabian last night and that was fun. We hadn't hung out in a couple days and it's just more fun with them around. =D. I was studious and went to the library, I started reading the articles that I printed off for my essay due next Friday. It should be an interesting essay, it's going to be on the whistles of the bottle nose dolphin. I've already learned something from it, which is what I'm supposed to do right, I am in college. But each dolphin, especially wild dolphins, have a signature whistle which is distinctly different from everyone else. How cool is that!!! So I have to finish that. Also I was definitely manhandled last night. Literally. Fabian flipped me over his shoulder and threw me onto Rebecca's bed to then body flop onto me. Rebecca then decided to join and flop on top of Fabian, so I guess it was more of a Kait dogpile. Later that night Chris decided it would be a good idea to flip me over and carry me into Mary's bathroom to threaten me with a swirly but that didn't happen he put me down unharmed.

Tuesday was a good day too. So far everyday has been a good day, minus Sunday but I'll come back to that later. Tuesday I had class all day, along with a lab. I went to lab thinking I was going to dissect a pigeon (poor George =( haha), but found out I was going to be looking at amphibians and reptiles. I got to see a salamander that is completely aquatic (completely lives underwater) with some funky looking gills, two frogs that are also completely aquatic and then compare those with a terrestrial frog. It was really funny watching the aquatic frog try to jump across the floor, because their legs aren't positioned for that. It kind of just belly flopped and made a mess, haha. It was one of those you had to be there moments I guess. Tuesday nights at the Foundry (the campus bar) is quiz night so I once again went and participated. It was fun, but the questions seem to get harder and harder each week. I mean the animal category should be relatively easy right? Wrong! The questions were ones like: what is a baby eel called? what is the national bird of India? what animal does cashmere from? I mean come on how many people can answer those questions without looking them up.

Monday was kind of foggy, was still in my cold fog. I'm not completely over my cold but it's getting there. I had 2 classes and my exercise & health lab. That was interesting we did body fat composition and skinfold tests. I had to poke and prode this poor guy (I found out his name is Richard) that is my classmate. First I had to mark him with a pink marker, couldn't find a more manly color but it worked. I realized about half way through the lab that I will have to do this in my line of work after grad school, so I better get used to it. I know I've prolly said this before but I'm really enjoying my Exercise & Health class. Moday night I went over to Gem and Mary's where Gem made pasta bake. It was delicious!! Then Sarah came over, made brownies and gave me a backrub!! It was nice. Chris then came over with chocolate, gave all four of us girls a piece, and according to Gem "satisified 4 girls at once"! Hahaha that one will live on! Golden Tom (he's from Golden, CO) came over, I went home got Tom (my flatmate) and went back over to watch Slumdog Millionaire! (I heart that movie!!! =D). We then searched for a bunch of YouTube videos, and after that I came home and went to bed.

Sunday was a not so good day. I woke up with a really bad cold. I went to the computer lab to work on my lab report, came back and slept for 2 hours. I finished my lab report and started to talk to Ben, who offered to make me dinner. I definitely took him up on the offer cause I was not in the mood to cook. So he made me fish and chips in his toaster oven. We then proceeded to watch Family Guy and some other shows like that. I then watched my first episode of Curb Your Enthusiam, which was alright, it's not my favorite show but I'll watch it if it's on. All of this was fuzzy cause I was drowsy from the Nyquil I had taken and just being sick in general.

On Saturday I went to Hanmer Springs with Gem. We went and sat in the Hot Springs all day, which was amazing. It was so relaxing!!! We had lunch at Saints Cafe, where I had a really good pizza, and the good part was that I had leftovers for at least 2 more meals! Saturday night was a quiet one. Heather and Cameron had made dinner and offered me some. It was a good curry pasta dish. After dinner we watched Hot Fuzz, it was funny and I hadn't seen it before. I didn't realize that the guy that's the main cop was the guy in Shaun of the Dead. After that we watched Fight Club, which is a really good movie. "The first rule of Fight Club is that you do not talk about Fight Club, the second rule of Fight Club is you do NOT talk about Fight Club!" It reminded me of Secret Window with Johnny Depp (he's hott!).

Friday, I went to class and came back and slept for an hour. Then I went shopping to get ready for Ben Reidie's Birthday Bash we were having that night. That was a fun shopping trip! Dollar stores are the best places to get the most random and funny crap! Friday night was Thai and wine night. I made the mistake of wearing my new black stillettos to walk to the restaurant. Let's just say after we got the restaurant the shoes came off and stayed off. Dinner was fun, because Heather, Ben, and Ben ordered all their curry dishes extra extra HOT! And boy, did they get what they asked for! After dinner, we came back and partied, some drama went down but that's all behind us now. I have moved on and don't care anymore. Otherwise Friday was a good day and everyone had fun!

Quick overview of last week, let see. Last Tuesday (the 21st) was club day and that's where I joined the tramping club. I didn't get a chance to see all the clubs Uni offers because I had class. But that's ok, I think I might join the Climbing Club, which is a rock climbing club. I think I've decided to join the Rec Center here, they have a lot to offer and it's cheaper if I join. Quiz Night was tough, The Misfits only gained 29 points over 5 rounds! We really sucked last week. Fabian and Tom climbed the library on Thursday, it was really cool. The library here is 11 floors and huge. They started on the 6th floor and climbed up to the roof. It's not an easy climb there's literally nothing to grip or push off of. But they did it and were successful! Thursday I can't really remember, was pretty uneventful. I did go to the Foundry and shoot some pool. Anna and I lost two games, then Heather and I won but it wasn't exactly a real win (thanks Anita! hahaha). Anita wanted to shoot and so she did but she pocketed the 8 ball so we lost but continued the game anyways cause it was Ben's birthday. Tea Time on Thursday was fun and Rebecca turned Rachel and I onto Best of Bootie Remixes. Some are really good but some are not so good.

Plans for this weekend: Rumors of ice skating at the Art Fest on Friday Night, Southshore Walk to New Brighton on Saturday, Coraline Saturday night?, Boogie Nights/Town late Saturday Night?, Sunday TBA.

Oh and Fiji is definitely on! I think I've conviced Rebecca to go to Australia for a week over break.

Tom climbing the library last Thursday (the 24th):


Fabian Climbing the Library last Thursday (the 24th):





Random tree on campus:
Photos from the drive to Hanmer Springs:

Weekend Number 2

Friday night (the 17th) I went to Operation Friendship which was a good time. The program is for international students who are looking for a home-away-from-home experience. It is made up of families from churches in the area who are looking to help students feel more at home and give them a more authentic Kiwi experience. I was in a group with a bunch of students I knew which was nice but I did make a few other friends. The families were really nice and all of them pretty much offered us to come over and hang out with them whenever we felt like it. We had a home made Kiwi dinner which was delicious. It consisted of lemon chicken, mince pie, home made bread, regular potatoes, sweet potatoes, parsnip, roasted pumpkin, salad, lamb, and chowder. I really enjoyed the roasted pumpkin and the lamb. Then we had hokey pokey ice cream, which has honeycomb in ice cream and a traditional New Zealand desert called Pavlova, which is basically meringue and marshmallow. All the Kiwis there made sure we knew that it was a New Zealand dessert and not a Austrailian dessert. It was pretty funny. After that we had tea and coffee, and just talked. It was a really relaxing evening. I have been invited to dinner this Friday by one of the families. After that I came home to a party and had a good night.

Saturday morning Tom, Sarah, Mary, and I went to the Willowbank Wildlife Reserve for a day of New Zealand animals and Maori cultural lesson. It was a lot of fun to see the traditional Maori songs and greetings. Tom became our faithful chief that accepted the peace offering, which was a piece of greenery. Once he accepted that we were allowed into the village and greeted. Kia Ora means welcome, thank you, and many other things. Ka pai means excellent, awesome, we like what we see, all that type of thing. After that we got to explore the "zoo" area where all the animals were. I made friends with a wallaby and it licked my hand for like 2 minutes but I don't know why I didn't have anything in it. Haha. But it was cute and I really wanted to take it home with me. I also saw 3 Kiwi birds! They are nocturnal so most people don't get to see them, but they have an exhibit for the Kiwis. You have be really quiet because they startle real easy and become stressed out. They are odd looking birds that are rolly polly. One fell down and just kind of rolled down the hill they had. They had a lot of birds there, and some American animals. The pigs there were pretty ugly, they were faces only a mother could love. Haha. I was also attacked by two Kea birds. They look vicious but are just curious little birds. They tried to eat Mary's purse, and we learned that they will eat the rubber off your car! So don't park anywhere near and area with Kea birds.







Saturday night was fun cause we went to the Holy Grail sports bar to watch the All Blacks take on the Wallabies and then went club hopping so I got to see what they were like. The game was really good, the All Blacks won like they were supposed to. Rugby is a brutal sport and makes American football players look like pansies with all the padding and helmets. There isn't any of that in rugby and they guys are really rough, that actually doesn't describe the intensity of what goes on. Anyways after the game we went to Fat Eddies, then the Base, then the Concrete Club and finally ended up at Boogie Nights. They played 80's and early 90's music there. It was a lot of fun and then we were off again. 4 of the guys I was with and me ended up at Treehouse, where Chris took on the mechanical bull. He was pretty good but complained about how the rope was all wrong. It was a good time though. We headed back to Fat Eddie's where we saw two fire trucks and a place get evacuated.

Sunday was a pretty relaxing day. I went shopping and got some more pairs of jeans, some workout clothes, and some necessities. After that I met up with Tom and Rachel and we went to the Art Gallery. That was an adventure. A couple of the exhibits were distrubing. One of them was a video of this guy throwing himself against a wall with a flashing green light and a strobe light in the exhibit room. I was like I could do the same thing but add a few more colored lights and then I'll become a famous artist. Once we got into the historical art section it was a lot better. Then I made dinner with Heather and Ben. It was so good that I even had it for lunch today it was crazy that there was enough for leftovers. After that we hung around the flat, watched tv and had milk and cookies. Then we went and joined the rest of the group for a night of charades, which I didn't part take in because I'm not a big fan but it was still fun to watch everyone act. There were some really hard words.



Today (the 20th) I had my first exercise and health lab, but that was no big deal they handed me a pedometer (that doesn't work now) and told me to record my steps and my food intake for two days and do a write up. Not so bad. All the other classes were class but I'm starting to really like my Principles of Animal behavior class. It's amazing how much we know about why animals do what they do and how they do it. Tomorrow (tuesday) I get to dissect a toad in my Vertebrate lab, which should be exciting but boring too. I've done a couple of frog dissections before I'm sure it'll be similar.

This coming weekend there is trip planned to go see Springfield, New Zealand. They have a beautiful place to tramp. I was also told that they have a replica of the giant doughnut from the Simpsons movie. So that will be photographed and sent out. Then on Sunday we're going to go Hanmer where there are hot mineral springs that you can sit in. I'm going to have find a bathing suit, dang. I should have brought one with me. It should be a good time.

That's all I have for now. More words to know later.