Okay, so this is getting a bit out of hand. Updating once a week now? Come on. I really need to get back into shape with these blogs, so they don't become once a week and 14 pages long. Anyway, here goes:
Last Sunday: Consisted of studying for an American Civil war test on Tues. We did a quick cafe stop in town, but nothing much else exciting happened.
Last Monday: More work, and lazing about. Worked on some pictures, and did the norm (hang out with people, read some, homework some, some pictures as well).
Last Tuesday: Had physio in the morning, which was complimented by an 11 am Civil war test. I did well- I am expecting 100 percent. The amount of domestic students who don't study here is appalling, however. It seems worse than home- many of them just don't seem to care if they pass or not. The same is true of the management classes, according to my German friend Fabian. Now, for those of you who didn't drink to the point of coma, last Tuesday was St. Patrick's day. Me and Canadian Comrade (Andrew) decided to go out and see what was up on this day, but we weren't joined by anyone except a random 26 year old Canadian we found at the bus stop who looked like his brains had been perma-fried from smoking too much pot over the past 10 years. He apparently goes to the same home university as Andrew. Anyway, after an empty bus downtown, we decide to hit the irish pub we had gone to a few days earlier.
Wrong move.
The place was packed, with almost no room to move. Guinness had almost doubled in price since the week before, and I felt that if there was an allergy to the color green, I might drop to the floor from anaphylactic shock and be a goner within seconds. Luckily, that didn't happen, and we got out of there after surveying the scene and saying hey to the bartender we had met the week before.
We hit up another place that we frequent, a student bar, but it was the same story. After a minute or two, we decided to leave there as well. As we walk downtown, we realize that everywhere is either irish themed and packed, or operating normally and empty as a post gold-rush ghost town (some of the bars are actually themed that way, oddly enough). Feeling cheated, we decided to bus home.
After walking to the bus stop, we realized we missed the last one home not 10 minutes before. Oh well, we thought, we'll get a taxi (they are cheap here). That didn't work either, as none seemed to be anywhere tonight. We ended up walking back. It was actually pretty nice, being able to have a nice conversation with no worries of someone having to run off to class or dinner- there was just walking. The walk is pretty safe, except if you are a lone female, but we encountered no problems. After we returned, I hit the sack. So much for St. Patty's day. Looking on the bright side, though, at least I remembered mine, which is more than some people can say.
Last Wednesday: consisted of getting things ready for the inter-semester break, and homework. I got some photography done with a friend of mine, as I had a role of film to develop by Thursday, but otherwise not much else happened. Played some basketball on an outside court adjacent to campus with some American, NZ and Italian friends. I feel much more limber and athletic now than I did 6 months ago- my back is getting better through a routine of daily exercises, and I feel that I might be able to run without tripping over my left leg. I won't chance it yet, though, because I still have restrictions. I can't, for example, lift weights yet, which is driving me nuts; I can feel my muscles atrophy every day.
You may notice that when I tell you who I hang out with, I give nationalities. I don't do this to try and convince you of how multicultural I am, or how much cooler my friends are by virtue of their different origins. I have always been fascinated by people of different cultures coming together and sharing an experience that more often than not is life changing- this is why I work at an international house back home, and why I decided to hang with international students here. They are more adventurous, open minded, and in my opinion interesting than hanging out with a group of domestic students from any country (though I do that as well, mind you). So, when I list nationalities, it is not only an easy way for me to remember years from now where these friends of mine came from; is my way of trying to get you uni students out there who are reading this to realize that alot of good comes from the exchange programs universities set up, and the people you meet from other countries can be some of the most interesting friends you will ever make. I encourage you all to reach out and see what international programs go on in your university, and make the most of them; you'll be glad you did.
Thursday: Consisted of a full day of class, followed by intense planning for a 2 week trip down to the South Island of New Zealand. The idea is to take 4 of us down to south island for a week, rent a car (you don't need a NZ driver's license to drive down here. I can drive on my NC driver's license. The same goes for almost any developed country's driver's license), and camp for the first week around the island. In week 2, we are going to pick up 2 more travelers, and hit up the more popular spots of south island, including geothermal springs, volcanoes, beaches and mountains, and of course, glaciers. This took a great deal of planning and strategizing between 6 people to get to work, but we met an accord. That night we went out and heard a live guitarist play some of the best songs of the past 10 years for free (no cover charge on most venues and bars here). It was awesome.
Friday: Woke up, and bussed up to Auckland for Polyfest. We weren't attending the festival until the next day, but we bussed up and stayed with a friend named Estee and her family. A few words about the drive:
The bus was cheap (18 USD for both ways, and it isn't a trivial drive), but beautiful. We saw Auckland from a distance, and the closest city I can compare it to is Seattle, Washington. I don't throw this comparison out because they necessarily look alike, though they do give me the same skyline vibe. I compare them because Auckland is the first city (over a million people) since visiting Seattle in 2006 that I instantly liked. It is clean, beautiful, and on the water. It is the size of Charlotte, NC (1.3 Million people), but you'd hardly know. It is easy to traverse as a pedestrian, from what I saw. Anyway, I didn't see the city up close until Sunday. We arrived at Estee's house, which is an awesomely typical NZ home- the house is surrounded by succulents- Aloe vera, cacti, and yucca, just to name a few. Included are these succulent plants that look like black roses- but they are the flesh of the plant, not a flower. Thus, they stay that way as they technically aren't blooming. The house was one story, but fairly large for a NZ house. It had enough room for 5, out of a family of 6. Cinder block construction, with an A frame roof. The deck had a view of the ocean and surrounding mountains- I did not take photos because I saved all my memory for Polyfest.
Another interesting thing I have noticed here in NZ: No worries from nature. there are spiders with webs, ants, and wetas (large cricket-like things) everywhere, but none of them really pose a threat. I have yet to see fire ants, and only one of the spiders is dangerous, and I have yet to see it. There are no large predators here (there are no large mammals on the islands, and most the predators were birds, who are now long extinct), so really there isn't much to worry about from nature. For all intents and purposes, the people are nice and safe as well. As a result, we all slept in Estee's garage over the weekend, with the doors open- and it felt great.
So anyway, Friday night we went out for fish and chips with some of Estee's local friends, and I stayed up talking to them for awhile while my com padres slept. They are interesting people, and I hope to meet them again.
I also started reading Bill Bryson's "A Walk in the Woods", which details his hiking of the Appalachian trail ( a 2100 mile endeavor, for those of you who don't know). The book is hilarious to start, and gets more and more serious as it goes on- Bryson grabs the reader at first, has his admiration, and then delivers his message in a candy-coated shell of laughter and hilarious true happenings. I have been unable to put it down for 3 days. I highly recommend it.
Now, I didn't include polyfest in this because this post is already of a behemoth size, and it deserves it's own post. Trust me. As soon as I get some proper pictures to demonstrate how awesome it was, I will post. Prepare to be entertained.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Days 19, 20, 21 and 22- Back to Tauranga
Well, I haven’t been updating every day, but twice a week isn’t too bad, right?
I apologize for the delay in this post. Homework and other things have come up. This chronicles the past 4 days.
Wednesday was an uneventful day- nothing but lectures and homework. Thursday was my busy day again, but was much enjoyable than the week before- it was less tiring, and more interesting (in terms of lectures and labs). Speaking of tiring, I sort of unintentionally have taken myself completely off caffeine. I decided this year to get rid of soda (cola, pop, soft drinks, call it what you will) for lent, something I have never been able to do. So far, I have been doing quite well in the process. For the first week or so, I would drink tea 2-3 times a day to keep me going, but I can’t get it to taste good here, and it stains my teeth pretty significantly, so I stopped drinking that as well. I don’t drink coffee or energy drinks, so those are out as well. As a result, there is no caffeine in my system, and hasn’t been for about 7 days. I think I am fully ‘detoxed’ now, and I feel… peculiar. I do miss the caffeine, but at the same time it is nice to know that the energy I have is my natural energy. I don’t ever crash, I don’t have as many weird caffeine tics or random blurts of speech. In any case, it feels pretty good. I do think I’ll go back to caffeine when lent is over, but for now I am doing a little experient with how my body feels. I will say one thing- there is no way in hell I can stay up past, say, midnight. I have become an early sleeper, but still not an early riser. As a result, I sleep like 9 hours a night. The sleep is nice, but I think to really be effective I will need soda again in a few weeks.
So, Thursday. After labs and lectures, a few of us just met outside and decided have a little get together in someone’s room to commemorate the start of the weekend for most of us. We had a few drinks, and some people decided to go downtown. After they left, we moved to the RA’s room (not my RA, mind you) and talked there for awhile. The RA, Koji (from japan) is a limnology student. I am studying marine biology, or biology of the sea. Limnology is freshwater ecology, so naturally the two have a bit in common. Well, after getting on the topic we start having the nerdiest conversation ever, in the presence of a few confused and probably bored non-science majors. He showed me a report he wrote, with responses something like this from my side:
“This is… which lake? Oh, I see. That’s a big one. Wait, you only had one sample point? Oh, you could only afford one? Hmm, you’ll have to buy more buoys in the future. Wait, is this the thermocline? Wow, okay, I see. And this one here, this graph? Mixing? No way! How many times a year does this lake turn over? Holy crap!”
Anyway, as you can see, it was an extremely gratifying and at the same time useless conversation between two eager science students who’s nerd centers had been amplified by knocking back a few cold ones.
So, on Friday a few of us went downtown to go get bus tickets for Auckland next weekend for something called “Polyfest”, which is a festival of all the pacific islander cultures in the Auckland area (and there are A LOT). We booked our tickets and were walking to the grocery store, when my friend Zia got a phone call and had to go back and change tickets. I went with her, and then we walked around downtown a bit looking for a bus. While downtown, we stepped into a secondhand bookshop and browsed through it, buying a few old books. I have since made a list of classics that I have to read- something about being in an old bookstore with another person who loves dusty old literature sparked my love of reading again. I got 2 cheap random books (one I had never heard of, a captain’s journal of some kind, and a mythology book). After we got back, I got some work done and then we all went out to an irish pub for some hanging out. Funny story: On the bus ride to downtown to get our bus tickets earlier in the day, we met a random girl on the bus who worked at the irish pub. She told us to come over, and we said we would. An hour later I am walking with my friend Zia to the bookshop when I see her across the street, dressed as a cop. I am confused at this point, but as I am crossing the crosswalk she hands me a ticket. Needless to say, I am bewildered but take it anyway. I read it, and of course it is a promotion for the pub (money off of a Guinness). Later that night we walk there, and are the only people in the pub, aside from the bartender girl we saw earlier. We order a drink, play some pool (at a perfectly round pool table, quite weird) and talk. She gives us free food, and each a lottery ticket. I won a Guinness T-shirt! After a few hours, we leave and head home.
Saturday was another trip to Tauranga, just like last weekend. Before we even hit Tauranga, though, we went to some waterfalls, called McCleary (not sure if the spelling is right) falls. We hiked trails through rainforest, and found some really spectacular small waterfalls. Once we had gone through there, we went to the large falls- which is really a massive rock formation. I have pictures which I will put up, but the place was astonishing (and probably pretty boring to the kiwi driver Anna that brought us). There were massive boulders sitting under pools of water, just sitting there, for God knows how long. The rocks were polished smooth from the running water, and stones boulders and pebbles were all smooth. The entire formation was perhaps 60 to 70 feet tall, from top of river to bottom of falls- but it occued in a step pattern so as to not make it one large fall. One of the most interesting features of this area were that there were perfectly cylindrical indentions into the rock, apparently from flowing water from previous millennia. Imagine a solid rock ground, on which you stand. It is smooth and complete- all one rock. You go ahead, and see a perfectly circular pool 2-3 feet across or more, and one and a half times that deep. It is an almost perfect cylinder. At the bottom lie smoothed pebbles. One thing I will say about the rocks here- they all look fake. Go to your local miniature golf course that is jungle themed (Jungle Rapids for you Wilmingtonians) and look at the fake plaster rock. Well, that is all real in NZ- none of it is fake, though it looks it. After spending a few hours at the falls, we headed to Tauranga.
We started off by visiting a rose garden, which was stunning. Afterwards we went near the same location as last time: We went to the mount this time- which was a daring hike. The mount is about 700 feet high, with sheer cliff faces. Where the mount isn’t sheer cliff, it is extremely steep. The paths are perhaps a foot and a half wide, with maybe another foot of error space on the side before you fall off. There are no handrails, or anything else. It was exhilarating.
It was pretty intense, but the view was incredible at the top. Imagine this (soon you won’t have to, because pictures will be up): surrounded by sea on 3 sides, with clouds barley letting rays of raw sun get through. Beyond the water are rising peaks as far as the eye can see. It looks like heaven.
Once we got to the top, we saw 3 guys with very large packs do something I didn’t expect- fall off the side of the cliff. They were parasailers, and once their parasails were inflated with wind, they just hopped off the side of the mountain and cruised all around us. It was a pretty awesome sight. Once we got down the mountain (and felt like we were hiking through the shire) we went down to leisure island, where the blowhole was last week. This time I brought a camera, but the weather was much nicer, and the blowhole wasn’t acting up like it was before. We climbed all over the place, to the edge of the sea and back again. Climbing there looks treacherous, but it is, like I said last week, very easy and fun.
After leisure island, we went back and had fish and chips in the same place we got it last time (and for under 3 bucks USD, mind you!). We drove home (it was night by this point) and stopped once we got over the mountain to see the moon rise over the hills. Once we got back we hung out with my friends Talana (NZ, part Maori, cook islander, Samoan, and about 3 other things), Estee (NZ), Andrew (Again, Canada) and Zia (Italy). We made fun of Estee, because she can contort her body to look pregnant at will. I enjoy the company of these friends, because we constantly bash on each other (Estee on Talayna because she is Maori, Talayna on Estee because she isn’t very bright, me on Andrew because he is Canadian, Andrew on me because I am American, and, well, Zia just kind of watches), all in good fun. Another exciting weekend- they seem to be becoming the norm here.
I apologize for the delay in this post. Homework and other things have come up. This chronicles the past 4 days.
Wednesday was an uneventful day- nothing but lectures and homework. Thursday was my busy day again, but was much enjoyable than the week before- it was less tiring, and more interesting (in terms of lectures and labs). Speaking of tiring, I sort of unintentionally have taken myself completely off caffeine. I decided this year to get rid of soda (cola, pop, soft drinks, call it what you will) for lent, something I have never been able to do. So far, I have been doing quite well in the process. For the first week or so, I would drink tea 2-3 times a day to keep me going, but I can’t get it to taste good here, and it stains my teeth pretty significantly, so I stopped drinking that as well. I don’t drink coffee or energy drinks, so those are out as well. As a result, there is no caffeine in my system, and hasn’t been for about 7 days. I think I am fully ‘detoxed’ now, and I feel… peculiar. I do miss the caffeine, but at the same time it is nice to know that the energy I have is my natural energy. I don’t ever crash, I don’t have as many weird caffeine tics or random blurts of speech. In any case, it feels pretty good. I do think I’ll go back to caffeine when lent is over, but for now I am doing a little experient with how my body feels. I will say one thing- there is no way in hell I can stay up past, say, midnight. I have become an early sleeper, but still not an early riser. As a result, I sleep like 9 hours a night. The sleep is nice, but I think to really be effective I will need soda again in a few weeks.
So, Thursday. After labs and lectures, a few of us just met outside and decided have a little get together in someone’s room to commemorate the start of the weekend for most of us. We had a few drinks, and some people decided to go downtown. After they left, we moved to the RA’s room (not my RA, mind you) and talked there for awhile. The RA, Koji (from japan) is a limnology student. I am studying marine biology, or biology of the sea. Limnology is freshwater ecology, so naturally the two have a bit in common. Well, after getting on the topic we start having the nerdiest conversation ever, in the presence of a few confused and probably bored non-science majors. He showed me a report he wrote, with responses something like this from my side:
“This is… which lake? Oh, I see. That’s a big one. Wait, you only had one sample point? Oh, you could only afford one? Hmm, you’ll have to buy more buoys in the future. Wait, is this the thermocline? Wow, okay, I see. And this one here, this graph? Mixing? No way! How many times a year does this lake turn over? Holy crap!”
Anyway, as you can see, it was an extremely gratifying and at the same time useless conversation between two eager science students who’s nerd centers had been amplified by knocking back a few cold ones.
So, on Friday a few of us went downtown to go get bus tickets for Auckland next weekend for something called “Polyfest”, which is a festival of all the pacific islander cultures in the Auckland area (and there are A LOT). We booked our tickets and were walking to the grocery store, when my friend Zia got a phone call and had to go back and change tickets. I went with her, and then we walked around downtown a bit looking for a bus. While downtown, we stepped into a secondhand bookshop and browsed through it, buying a few old books. I have since made a list of classics that I have to read- something about being in an old bookstore with another person who loves dusty old literature sparked my love of reading again. I got 2 cheap random books (one I had never heard of, a captain’s journal of some kind, and a mythology book). After we got back, I got some work done and then we all went out to an irish pub for some hanging out. Funny story: On the bus ride to downtown to get our bus tickets earlier in the day, we met a random girl on the bus who worked at the irish pub. She told us to come over, and we said we would. An hour later I am walking with my friend Zia to the bookshop when I see her across the street, dressed as a cop. I am confused at this point, but as I am crossing the crosswalk she hands me a ticket. Needless to say, I am bewildered but take it anyway. I read it, and of course it is a promotion for the pub (money off of a Guinness). Later that night we walk there, and are the only people in the pub, aside from the bartender girl we saw earlier. We order a drink, play some pool (at a perfectly round pool table, quite weird) and talk. She gives us free food, and each a lottery ticket. I won a Guinness T-shirt! After a few hours, we leave and head home.
Saturday was another trip to Tauranga, just like last weekend. Before we even hit Tauranga, though, we went to some waterfalls, called McCleary (not sure if the spelling is right) falls. We hiked trails through rainforest, and found some really spectacular small waterfalls. Once we had gone through there, we went to the large falls- which is really a massive rock formation. I have pictures which I will put up, but the place was astonishing (and probably pretty boring to the kiwi driver Anna that brought us). There were massive boulders sitting under pools of water, just sitting there, for God knows how long. The rocks were polished smooth from the running water, and stones boulders and pebbles were all smooth. The entire formation was perhaps 60 to 70 feet tall, from top of river to bottom of falls- but it occued in a step pattern so as to not make it one large fall. One of the most interesting features of this area were that there were perfectly cylindrical indentions into the rock, apparently from flowing water from previous millennia. Imagine a solid rock ground, on which you stand. It is smooth and complete- all one rock. You go ahead, and see a perfectly circular pool 2-3 feet across or more, and one and a half times that deep. It is an almost perfect cylinder. At the bottom lie smoothed pebbles. One thing I will say about the rocks here- they all look fake. Go to your local miniature golf course that is jungle themed (Jungle Rapids for you Wilmingtonians) and look at the fake plaster rock. Well, that is all real in NZ- none of it is fake, though it looks it. After spending a few hours at the falls, we headed to Tauranga.
We started off by visiting a rose garden, which was stunning. Afterwards we went near the same location as last time: We went to the mount this time- which was a daring hike. The mount is about 700 feet high, with sheer cliff faces. Where the mount isn’t sheer cliff, it is extremely steep. The paths are perhaps a foot and a half wide, with maybe another foot of error space on the side before you fall off. There are no handrails, or anything else. It was exhilarating.
It was pretty intense, but the view was incredible at the top. Imagine this (soon you won’t have to, because pictures will be up): surrounded by sea on 3 sides, with clouds barley letting rays of raw sun get through. Beyond the water are rising peaks as far as the eye can see. It looks like heaven.
Once we got to the top, we saw 3 guys with very large packs do something I didn’t expect- fall off the side of the cliff. They were parasailers, and once their parasails were inflated with wind, they just hopped off the side of the mountain and cruised all around us. It was a pretty awesome sight. Once we got down the mountain (and felt like we were hiking through the shire) we went down to leisure island, where the blowhole was last week. This time I brought a camera, but the weather was much nicer, and the blowhole wasn’t acting up like it was before. We climbed all over the place, to the edge of the sea and back again. Climbing there looks treacherous, but it is, like I said last week, very easy and fun.
After leisure island, we went back and had fish and chips in the same place we got it last time (and for under 3 bucks USD, mind you!). We drove home (it was night by this point) and stopped once we got over the mountain to see the moon rise over the hills. Once we got back we hung out with my friends Talana (NZ, part Maori, cook islander, Samoan, and about 3 other things), Estee (NZ), Andrew (Again, Canada) and Zia (Italy). We made fun of Estee, because she can contort her body to look pregnant at will. I enjoy the company of these friends, because we constantly bash on each other (Estee on Talayna because she is Maori, Talayna on Estee because she isn’t very bright, me on Andrew because he is Canadian, Andrew on me because I am American, and, well, Zia just kind of watches), all in good fun. Another exciting weekend- they seem to be becoming the norm here.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Days 16, 17, and 18- Week 2 of class
So, the past 3 days have been fairly uneventful. They have consisted of me going to class, and trying to get some travel planning done, all while reading, studying, hanging out with new people, and deciding what i am going to take senior year when I return, in addition to research opportunities, financial aid headaches with the university, and...
Well, you get the point.
So, let's talk about classes, shall we? My most enlightening and enjoyable class thus far is...
American Civil War. The teacher is a New Zealander, and is damn good at his job. He speaks in a way that keeps you at rapt attention. I would love to record his lectures, but we aren't allowed. He teaches the class much differently than at home. The outside perspective is doing significant good for my understanding of the historical period. On Tuesday, I got guilted into becoming the class representative for my history class- it isn't hard, it only requires one day a month to go to some meetings, but it will look good on my CV (Curriculum Vitae, or resume, for you uncultured heathens out there). I also joined the magazine committee for the student village (where I live), which basically consists of me taking tons of photos.
My photography class will be fun, but we haven’t done any photos yet- we know how to work our cameras, but currently we are only working with photograms. A photogram is like a photograph. When you use the darkroom equipment to make a photograph from film (you use something called an enlarger), light passes through the film and hits the paper, exposing parts of it. Well, when you want to, you can just not put in any film, and place objects over the paper. For example, I put a spoon over the paper, and expose it. The paper turns black when developed, except where I put the spoon, which stays white (as it was not exposed). The results are interesting and high contrast images that are very easy to make. They allow us to learn our darkroom technique before we try on film.
My biochemistry class is a mix of boring and hilarious. The closest personality I could match my professor with is that of the mad scientist Walter from the tv show ‘Fringe’. He is very serious, and takes his job seriously, but he is old and absent minded, and inadvertently says the most hilarious things without realizing how funny they are.
Example:
He refers to babies as ‘it’, not he or she. When describing how babies need to be flexible to come through the birth canal (no idea what bearing this has on biochemistry, mind you) he gives a practical example. If an old person falls, they are likely to break something. If you are changing a baby’s diaper, however, and it falls off the table, it won’t break. It’s elastic! However, babies have to harden quickly, or they will be eaten by other, baby-eating things.
So those are my classes. Much more work than I anticipated.
Only other 2 things I can think of is that last night (Tuesday night) we had a horror night for our block, and watched “strangers”. The movie wasn’t great, but it was a good bonding experience and my entire pod of 6 people showed up. I feel like it was a good way for us all to get to know one another better, and I almost feel like we are a little family. Also, we consistently laughed at the Chinese guy behind us (who went caving with us) who screamed like a little girl at each jumpy moment. Ahh, good times.
Well, I have to go to dinner. That is all, for now. Until later, keep reading!
Well, you get the point.
So, let's talk about classes, shall we? My most enlightening and enjoyable class thus far is...
American Civil War. The teacher is a New Zealander, and is damn good at his job. He speaks in a way that keeps you at rapt attention. I would love to record his lectures, but we aren't allowed. He teaches the class much differently than at home. The outside perspective is doing significant good for my understanding of the historical period. On Tuesday, I got guilted into becoming the class representative for my history class- it isn't hard, it only requires one day a month to go to some meetings, but it will look good on my CV (Curriculum Vitae, or resume, for you uncultured heathens out there). I also joined the magazine committee for the student village (where I live), which basically consists of me taking tons of photos.
My photography class will be fun, but we haven’t done any photos yet- we know how to work our cameras, but currently we are only working with photograms. A photogram is like a photograph. When you use the darkroom equipment to make a photograph from film (you use something called an enlarger), light passes through the film and hits the paper, exposing parts of it. Well, when you want to, you can just not put in any film, and place objects over the paper. For example, I put a spoon over the paper, and expose it. The paper turns black when developed, except where I put the spoon, which stays white (as it was not exposed). The results are interesting and high contrast images that are very easy to make. They allow us to learn our darkroom technique before we try on film.
My biochemistry class is a mix of boring and hilarious. The closest personality I could match my professor with is that of the mad scientist Walter from the tv show ‘Fringe’. He is very serious, and takes his job seriously, but he is old and absent minded, and inadvertently says the most hilarious things without realizing how funny they are.
Example:
He refers to babies as ‘it’, not he or she. When describing how babies need to be flexible to come through the birth canal (no idea what bearing this has on biochemistry, mind you) he gives a practical example. If an old person falls, they are likely to break something. If you are changing a baby’s diaper, however, and it falls off the table, it won’t break. It’s elastic! However, babies have to harden quickly, or they will be eaten by other, baby-eating things.
So those are my classes. Much more work than I anticipated.
Only other 2 things I can think of is that last night (Tuesday night) we had a horror night for our block, and watched “strangers”. The movie wasn’t great, but it was a good bonding experience and my entire pod of 6 people showed up. I feel like it was a good way for us all to get to know one another better, and I almost feel like we are a little family. Also, we consistently laughed at the Chinese guy behind us (who went caving with us) who screamed like a little girl at each jumpy moment. Ahh, good times.
Well, I have to go to dinner. That is all, for now. Until later, keep reading!
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Days 13, 14 and 15- my first true adventure
So, these past 2 days have been my best here. This will be a long post, so I will spare you the pleasantries and jump right in.
My 13th day was a Friday. Now, seeing as I have no class on Friday, my friends and I decided to get out of town and see some of the surrounding region. Our destination: Tauranga. Please excuse my prior spellings of the town as Toronga, or other derivations- I had only heard the town name, not seen it, and as a result of accents I guessed as to the proper spelling. There were 5 of us that left friday morning: Myself, Kristen (American, Minnesota, my neighbor), Dylan (American, New York), Andrew (Western Canada), and Anna (NZ, Tauranga). Our drive was scenic to say the least- rolling grassy hills covered in cattle and pasture. We saw suprisingly few sheep. The drive requires about 45 minutes over rolling hills, then climbing a mild mountain called mount Mauganui (again, spelling uncertain). The weather was overcast on our way up, and due to something called the rain shadow effect (which should trap all the clouds on the side we were coming from), the other side, and thus Tauranga, should be clear. We were, in fact, dead wrong. After a very cool drive to the top of the mountain, we were hit with a deluge which persisted the entire day. On our way into town, we stopped at Anna's house so she could see her family. Only her father was home- this home is about lower-middle size for a normal American suburban home- one level, with I think 2-3bedrooms and 1 bath, with a new one constructed. Anna's father was very hospitable, and told us all about NZ and the housing. Apparently, many more families want more rooms in their homes, and are expanding. After the house (and seeing the pet chicken that traverses the property) we drove behind the property, past avacado orchards, to a lookout on a cliff. As soon as we got there, though, the car got stuck in mud. We proceeded to get out and push, which worked just fine- in the pouring rain. After this, we drove into town, and went to a park. The park was full of puddles, which we proceeded to gleefully jump in. We had brought bathing suits ("togs" in NZ) with us, as we were going to go to the beach. After a while, though, our clothes were so soaked that we decided not to change. After the park we went to a local place for some fish and chips- it was the best fish and chips I ever had, and the cheapest (3.50$ US). After this we decided to hit the waves. We went to a place called the mount. It is a small mountain, or a really large hill, at the end of a peninsula. The view is breathtaking. Here is a picture- note: I did not take this.
This is the mount, and the main beach of Tauranga. When we went, the waves were really strong, and because of the storm, you couldn't even see the top of the mount. The place the picture is taken from is known coloquiolly as the peninsula. It actually looks like an island from far away, but it is barely connected to the beach. Here is a photo of the peninsula from the mount- the peninsula is the lower bit of land, not the upper island.
Once we got on it, we climbed it- at it's highest it is maybe 60-80 feet above the crashing waves- going down into steep cliffs below. We split up and explored the entire islandish land form. At the top, where this photo is taken, is just a platform of grass and shrubs, surrounded by cliffs. As I climb up there, staring out to the sea, I feel totally alone- and I am. It is a wonderful, secluded feeling. I peer down one of the cliffs, only to be astonished to see the crazy canadian scaling the rock wall down to a lower platform below! When I say scaling, I do mean it- while it was not a sheer wall, it certainly required some climbing to be able to get to. Below me was a platform of weathered rock, polished clean and full of pools from the sea spray, full of sea critters. The platform is maybe 20 feet above the rough water. We all climb down (and I swear, the sea carved such perfect hand holds and footholds that no indoor climbing place could make the climb easier), and are standing on a whole stonescape utterly alein to us. With tide pools are the most fantastical carvings and shapes nature could make, shaped by millenia of water, spray and wind. At the very edge of this platform is something I later found was called 'the blowhole'. For those of you familiar with the term, you will know of what I speak. Imagine a cove where waves come in, but there is a bottleneck at the entrance. As a result, more water comes rushing in than there is room for, and it has nowhere to go but up. Thus, a huge spray of water, much like a geyser, forms. On a normal day, the fluctuations aren't that bad. We, however, got it on a pretty rough day. We stood on the edge of that blowhole and just watched in awe as a wave would roll in (after the water level dropped 10 meters or more within 5 seconds), get stuck, and come rolling up towards us. We got utterly soaked. I don't know if I had ever felt more alive. While the others continued to enjoy the blowhole, I explored the platform a little bit. I found an alcove about 10 feet up a wall, and climbed it. I sat down. It was carved like a throne- I enjoyed my little kingdom, and before I knew it we were climbing back up onto the main island. Once we trekked back down to the beach (and dove in the water fully clothed), we went on a drive. I didn't know where we were going, but we soon found out.
After a few minutes, we stop at a house in town. We got out, and were greeted by a group of people I had never seen before- it turns out they were friends of Anna. One was Sarah, a 25 year old chef. Her sister, Theresa, 20 years old, also lives there with her husband Paul of 1.5 years (I think it is so cool they got married so young). Their 4th is a girl who's name I can't remember. We were invited in, given showers, clothes, food and drink, and good conversation. These people had 2 houses and tons of gardens all to themselves, and they were more than willing to share. They gave us brownies, pizza, bread, and apples. They were phenomenal, and I will definately return. I was tickled to think of this place as a sort of commune, but it almost was. As I was walking to take a shower, one of the girls just walked out of a random room in full biker gear (helmet and all) and just walks past me. It left me a bit confounded, and totally amused.
After our wonderful drive back, we crashed for the night. It was the best day I had had so far here, but the next would be even better.
Saturday, we woke up bright and early to head to a place called Waitomo. Wai, in Maori, means water, while Tomo means cave or hole. Thus, it is fitting that this area of the country is covered in subterranean tunnels and caves. We had 8 of us going this time: Anna, Kristen, Andrew, Dylan and myself from the day before, and 3 new adventurers: Simon (NZ, claims he is half hobbit), V (from Thailand), and Mendy (either Thailand or China). We got there after a breathtaking drive through grassland and pasture, into mountains and then hills. Once we got to the place, we made a peasant lunch of foods we had gotten from a grocery store on our way- breads, cheezes, and salami, and fresh fruit juice (no sugar, literally only juice!). Of course, Anna provided chocolate (she loves chocolate). Once we got in the van, we were underway to the cave site, a 20 minute drive. The surrouding country looked like a movie. Put in lord of the rings. Look at the shire. Now multiply that by at least 3, and you will get how beautiful this place is. If I could use two words to decribe the place, they would be:
Utter Serenity.
Jutting out of the side of hills were rock walls- but they were so perfectly and evenly carved, they looked exactly like man made stone walls. They were, of course, all natural. Here's a pic of what we saw EVERYWHERE.
So, we don our gear- gumboots (galoshes), red helmets with lights, and wetsuits.
Wait, wetsuits?
Yeah, heavy ones too. Very similiar to the one I own, actually. This was a 'wet' cave experience. Thus, wesuits are definately needed.
We trekked in our gear to the cave we would be wandering through. We eventually got to a tiny pit no larger than a manhole cover, with a ladder. A ladder going straight down.
I slipped into total blackness. I hit the ground, the world of light above me and vanishing quickly. I flicked on my light and looked around. Is this what a cave looks like? It is so... dark. I was expecting a cavernous entrance to a well lit pathway, but what I got, was, well, a cave! I walk down to the first meeting point so everyone can get down, and walk through an underground stream. When I get to my point, I flick off my light.
Total darkness. Total, utter darkness. Space is not this dark, not night, not in the depths of your deepest closet. This is darkness so complete that your brain thinks you see things, while searching for the closest semblence of light. After a few seconds, there was some light to be found. It wasn't from people though- it was from gloworms.
The Waitomo caves are known for their gloworms. Here is a photo of them that does absolutely no justice, followed by a picture of them from farther away, showing the light they produce better. Neither of these are good shots, and neither are mine. The second shot also is something we did not do- we took no boat (though we did swim some of the way) and our cave was not lit like this picture. Thus, all the light we had was our helmets, and when those were off, the worms.
The worms, for those of you who care, are about 3 inches long and hang on the walls. They have a small glowing orb inside of them that moves around- this attracts prey (mainly, the adults of the species, which are flies). They lower dangly gooey strings to catch this prey, and bring it back up to eat it. The dangly bits you see are the strings, not the worms. Think of a spider, and that is how they work.
Anyway, the cave was amazing. I fit through spaces I thought I would get stuck on, I feel into water where I had no clue how deep it was, I sang Bohemian Rhapsody with a bunch of random strangers while swimming underground, I saw awesome little bioluminescent creatures, I climbed things I have wanted to do since I was a kid, and I took 0 pictures of it. I didn't even bring my camera (didnt want the poor thing to get ruined). I did, however, take a few other pictures with someone elses camera. I've tried to upload them, but I will reduce them in size and do it tomorrow. The internet is being buggy right now.
Today, I didn't do much. It doesn't hold a candle to the awesomeness of the two days prior.
Let me just reiterate: I cannot capture this place in words and pictures. It must be lived and experienced. You all might want to buy a one way plane ticket here, because you won't need the return trip- you won't want to leave...
My 13th day was a Friday. Now, seeing as I have no class on Friday, my friends and I decided to get out of town and see some of the surrounding region. Our destination: Tauranga. Please excuse my prior spellings of the town as Toronga, or other derivations- I had only heard the town name, not seen it, and as a result of accents I guessed as to the proper spelling. There were 5 of us that left friday morning: Myself, Kristen (American, Minnesota, my neighbor), Dylan (American, New York), Andrew (Western Canada), and Anna (NZ, Tauranga). Our drive was scenic to say the least- rolling grassy hills covered in cattle and pasture. We saw suprisingly few sheep. The drive requires about 45 minutes over rolling hills, then climbing a mild mountain called mount Mauganui (again, spelling uncertain). The weather was overcast on our way up, and due to something called the rain shadow effect (which should trap all the clouds on the side we were coming from), the other side, and thus Tauranga, should be clear. We were, in fact, dead wrong. After a very cool drive to the top of the mountain, we were hit with a deluge which persisted the entire day. On our way into town, we stopped at Anna's house so she could see her family. Only her father was home- this home is about lower-middle size for a normal American suburban home- one level, with I think 2-3bedrooms and 1 bath, with a new one constructed. Anna's father was very hospitable, and told us all about NZ and the housing. Apparently, many more families want more rooms in their homes, and are expanding. After the house (and seeing the pet chicken that traverses the property) we drove behind the property, past avacado orchards, to a lookout on a cliff. As soon as we got there, though, the car got stuck in mud. We proceeded to get out and push, which worked just fine- in the pouring rain. After this, we drove into town, and went to a park. The park was full of puddles, which we proceeded to gleefully jump in. We had brought bathing suits ("togs" in NZ) with us, as we were going to go to the beach. After a while, though, our clothes were so soaked that we decided not to change. After the park we went to a local place for some fish and chips- it was the best fish and chips I ever had, and the cheapest (3.50$ US). After this we decided to hit the waves. We went to a place called the mount. It is a small mountain, or a really large hill, at the end of a peninsula. The view is breathtaking. Here is a picture- note: I did not take this.
This is the mount, and the main beach of Tauranga. When we went, the waves were really strong, and because of the storm, you couldn't even see the top of the mount. The place the picture is taken from is known coloquiolly as the peninsula. It actually looks like an island from far away, but it is barely connected to the beach. Here is a photo of the peninsula from the mount- the peninsula is the lower bit of land, not the upper island.
Once we got on it, we climbed it- at it's highest it is maybe 60-80 feet above the crashing waves- going down into steep cliffs below. We split up and explored the entire islandish land form. At the top, where this photo is taken, is just a platform of grass and shrubs, surrounded by cliffs. As I climb up there, staring out to the sea, I feel totally alone- and I am. It is a wonderful, secluded feeling. I peer down one of the cliffs, only to be astonished to see the crazy canadian scaling the rock wall down to a lower platform below! When I say scaling, I do mean it- while it was not a sheer wall, it certainly required some climbing to be able to get to. Below me was a platform of weathered rock, polished clean and full of pools from the sea spray, full of sea critters. The platform is maybe 20 feet above the rough water. We all climb down (and I swear, the sea carved such perfect hand holds and footholds that no indoor climbing place could make the climb easier), and are standing on a whole stonescape utterly alein to us. With tide pools are the most fantastical carvings and shapes nature could make, shaped by millenia of water, spray and wind. At the very edge of this platform is something I later found was called 'the blowhole'. For those of you familiar with the term, you will know of what I speak. Imagine a cove where waves come in, but there is a bottleneck at the entrance. As a result, more water comes rushing in than there is room for, and it has nowhere to go but up. Thus, a huge spray of water, much like a geyser, forms. On a normal day, the fluctuations aren't that bad. We, however, got it on a pretty rough day. We stood on the edge of that blowhole and just watched in awe as a wave would roll in (after the water level dropped 10 meters or more within 5 seconds), get stuck, and come rolling up towards us. We got utterly soaked. I don't know if I had ever felt more alive. While the others continued to enjoy the blowhole, I explored the platform a little bit. I found an alcove about 10 feet up a wall, and climbed it. I sat down. It was carved like a throne- I enjoyed my little kingdom, and before I knew it we were climbing back up onto the main island. Once we trekked back down to the beach (and dove in the water fully clothed), we went on a drive. I didn't know where we were going, but we soon found out.
After a few minutes, we stop at a house in town. We got out, and were greeted by a group of people I had never seen before- it turns out they were friends of Anna. One was Sarah, a 25 year old chef. Her sister, Theresa, 20 years old, also lives there with her husband Paul of 1.5 years (I think it is so cool they got married so young). Their 4th is a girl who's name I can't remember. We were invited in, given showers, clothes, food and drink, and good conversation. These people had 2 houses and tons of gardens all to themselves, and they were more than willing to share. They gave us brownies, pizza, bread, and apples. They were phenomenal, and I will definately return. I was tickled to think of this place as a sort of commune, but it almost was. As I was walking to take a shower, one of the girls just walked out of a random room in full biker gear (helmet and all) and just walks past me. It left me a bit confounded, and totally amused.
After our wonderful drive back, we crashed for the night. It was the best day I had had so far here, but the next would be even better.
Saturday, we woke up bright and early to head to a place called Waitomo. Wai, in Maori, means water, while Tomo means cave or hole. Thus, it is fitting that this area of the country is covered in subterranean tunnels and caves. We had 8 of us going this time: Anna, Kristen, Andrew, Dylan and myself from the day before, and 3 new adventurers: Simon (NZ, claims he is half hobbit), V (from Thailand), and Mendy (either Thailand or China). We got there after a breathtaking drive through grassland and pasture, into mountains and then hills. Once we got to the place, we made a peasant lunch of foods we had gotten from a grocery store on our way- breads, cheezes, and salami, and fresh fruit juice (no sugar, literally only juice!). Of course, Anna provided chocolate (she loves chocolate). Once we got in the van, we were underway to the cave site, a 20 minute drive. The surrouding country looked like a movie. Put in lord of the rings. Look at the shire. Now multiply that by at least 3, and you will get how beautiful this place is. If I could use two words to decribe the place, they would be:
Utter Serenity.
Jutting out of the side of hills were rock walls- but they were so perfectly and evenly carved, they looked exactly like man made stone walls. They were, of course, all natural. Here's a pic of what we saw EVERYWHERE.
So, we don our gear- gumboots (galoshes), red helmets with lights, and wetsuits.
Wait, wetsuits?
Yeah, heavy ones too. Very similiar to the one I own, actually. This was a 'wet' cave experience. Thus, wesuits are definately needed.
We trekked in our gear to the cave we would be wandering through. We eventually got to a tiny pit no larger than a manhole cover, with a ladder. A ladder going straight down.
I slipped into total blackness. I hit the ground, the world of light above me and vanishing quickly. I flicked on my light and looked around. Is this what a cave looks like? It is so... dark. I was expecting a cavernous entrance to a well lit pathway, but what I got, was, well, a cave! I walk down to the first meeting point so everyone can get down, and walk through an underground stream. When I get to my point, I flick off my light.
Total darkness. Total, utter darkness. Space is not this dark, not night, not in the depths of your deepest closet. This is darkness so complete that your brain thinks you see things, while searching for the closest semblence of light. After a few seconds, there was some light to be found. It wasn't from people though- it was from gloworms.
The Waitomo caves are known for their gloworms. Here is a photo of them that does absolutely no justice, followed by a picture of them from farther away, showing the light they produce better. Neither of these are good shots, and neither are mine. The second shot also is something we did not do- we took no boat (though we did swim some of the way) and our cave was not lit like this picture. Thus, all the light we had was our helmets, and when those were off, the worms.
The worms, for those of you who care, are about 3 inches long and hang on the walls. They have a small glowing orb inside of them that moves around- this attracts prey (mainly, the adults of the species, which are flies). They lower dangly gooey strings to catch this prey, and bring it back up to eat it. The dangly bits you see are the strings, not the worms. Think of a spider, and that is how they work.
Anyway, the cave was amazing. I fit through spaces I thought I would get stuck on, I feel into water where I had no clue how deep it was, I sang Bohemian Rhapsody with a bunch of random strangers while swimming underground, I saw awesome little bioluminescent creatures, I climbed things I have wanted to do since I was a kid, and I took 0 pictures of it. I didn't even bring my camera (didnt want the poor thing to get ruined). I did, however, take a few other pictures with someone elses camera. I've tried to upload them, but I will reduce them in size and do it tomorrow. The internet is being buggy right now.
Today, I didn't do much. It doesn't hold a candle to the awesomeness of the two days prior.
Let me just reiterate: I cannot capture this place in words and pictures. It must be lived and experienced. You all might want to buy a one way plane ticket here, because you won't need the return trip- you won't want to leave...
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Day 12- The longest thus far
So, Thursdays are not going to be particularly great. I started off with a 2 hour session in the darkroom for my photography class (which rocked the day out early) followed by a one hour lecture in my American Civil war class. Both teachers are exceptional- especially the civil war teacher. It may sound silly, but I have learned so much already in this class- the outside perspective is doing wonders for me already.
Those two classes were followed by an hour break, in which I ate lunch. After the break I went to another Biochemistry lecture- this is not an easy class. The professor is all over the place, and seems to jump around at random. I am lucky I took an Organic Chemistry class last semester- otherwise I would not understand half of the stuff that the was talking about (and the pre-requisite for this class is only basic chemistry). After my lecture, I had a 1 hour break, which I used to get more work done in the dark room on some Photograms. A photogram is similar to a photograph- it is the result of differential light exposure on a light susceptible surface. Instead of film, however, the image is made by the absence or presence of objects on top of the paper. Thus, if I were to put a clothespin on top of the photo paper, and expose it, when I developed it the clothespin would be solid white, while the rest would be black. I did 4 of these, then went to my biochem lab. By this point in the day I was totally dragging from exhaustion, despite the fact that I got more than enough sleep. This is the equivalent of a normal day back home- I don't know why it was so hard here. After a greuling 3 hour lab, I got back, picked up my photograms (just before the building closed for the night) and went to dinner, which I almost missed. After dinner, I had a good conversation with my neighbor from Minnesota, who is an evangelical christian (we have good philosophical, moral and religious discussions). After about an hour, we packed up and went out on the town for the night. I just got back about an hour ago, after about... 4 hours on the town. Our group of friends is tight knit indeed. After a ton of dancing and hours of strobe lights, I am ready to hit the sack. I will say something- I went out dancing with my RA today- never before has my RA been in the same club as me, and it was a really cool experience; there was no tension at one being seen by the other in a public place, which is much different from home.
Well, I'd better get some sleep. Tomorrow we are leaving bright and early for a town called Taronga, which is on the coast. Some people who live there are driving us int'l students for free. The next day we will be in the Waitomo glowing caves, doing a cave rafting trip. On Sunday (the day after that) we will be going to the other coast, to a town called Ragland, again for free. In 2 weeks we will be heading to Auckland for a cultural festival (with great food, i've heard) and the week after that we will be white water rafting, but I don't remember where. So much to do- I still can't believe I am here!
-P.S. Remind me to tell you about ISTO tomorrow.
Those two classes were followed by an hour break, in which I ate lunch. After the break I went to another Biochemistry lecture- this is not an easy class. The professor is all over the place, and seems to jump around at random. I am lucky I took an Organic Chemistry class last semester- otherwise I would not understand half of the stuff that the was talking about (and the pre-requisite for this class is only basic chemistry). After my lecture, I had a 1 hour break, which I used to get more work done in the dark room on some Photograms. A photogram is similar to a photograph- it is the result of differential light exposure on a light susceptible surface. Instead of film, however, the image is made by the absence or presence of objects on top of the paper. Thus, if I were to put a clothespin on top of the photo paper, and expose it, when I developed it the clothespin would be solid white, while the rest would be black. I did 4 of these, then went to my biochem lab. By this point in the day I was totally dragging from exhaustion, despite the fact that I got more than enough sleep. This is the equivalent of a normal day back home- I don't know why it was so hard here. After a greuling 3 hour lab, I got back, picked up my photograms (just before the building closed for the night) and went to dinner, which I almost missed. After dinner, I had a good conversation with my neighbor from Minnesota, who is an evangelical christian (we have good philosophical, moral and religious discussions). After about an hour, we packed up and went out on the town for the night. I just got back about an hour ago, after about... 4 hours on the town. Our group of friends is tight knit indeed. After a ton of dancing and hours of strobe lights, I am ready to hit the sack. I will say something- I went out dancing with my RA today- never before has my RA been in the same club as me, and it was a really cool experience; there was no tension at one being seen by the other in a public place, which is much different from home.
Well, I'd better get some sleep. Tomorrow we are leaving bright and early for a town called Taronga, which is on the coast. Some people who live there are driving us int'l students for free. The next day we will be in the Waitomo glowing caves, doing a cave rafting trip. On Sunday (the day after that) we will be going to the other coast, to a town called Ragland, again for free. In 2 weeks we will be heading to Auckland for a cultural festival (with great food, i've heard) and the week after that we will be white water rafting, but I don't remember where. So much to do- I still can't believe I am here!
-P.S. Remind me to tell you about ISTO tomorrow.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Day 11- so this is uni, eh?
So, classes have started. They are quite different from home- I feel as if everything has been switched up on me- I feel relatively unprepared for everything. All three of my classes- Biochemistry, Creative Photography, and American Civil War history, seem so different from what I am used to, that I can't help but feel like I've got no bearing at all on the subjects. I am sure within the next 2 weeks or so I will indeed get my bearings, but at the moment I feel very exposed, very... unintelligent. The classes aren't difficult, but I guess through all the changes I have been going through in the past 2 weeks, I feel unprepared even for simple classes. Once I have settled in a bit more, I guess things will get better.
I do feel, by now, that I have a pretty solid group of friends. They students from America, New Zealand, England, Germany, Italy, Tonga, and Canada. All in all I feel like we are a fairly tight knit group. For example, on Tuesday a bunch of students were going to a local bar, as during Orientation Week the local places run a bunch of price specials. Me and my friend Fabian (from Germany) were turned away, as we didn't bring our passports as ID (and honestly, who is stupid enough to bring a passport out to a bar anyway?). We walked down the block and found a cool upscale place, and for 10 bucks got some really tasty bread and dip, and a drink each. We talked for over an hour, and it was one of those moments where you are just happy to be you, happy to be exactly where you are, and grateful that you have met the people you have.
Yesterday I had history and photography- the classes weren't bad, and I am excited about my creative photography class. The woman who teaches it, who goes by 'Panda' (though I don't know why) really wants to push creativity in the classroom- I am looking forward to getting to do some photography work while I am here. My history class seems to have a good lecturer, but the videos he shows are so incredibly bad it is laughable. I am sure once we actually get into the war, things will be much better.
Today I only had 1 lecture. After dinner we finished a game of risk that we had started on Saturday (I think) and I helped an Italian friend of mine with her chemistry homework. I am obviously way too tired to be able to effectively blog, so I am going to sleep. I have been sleeping a ton lately- averaging almost 10 hours a night. I can't seem to get any less than that- otherwise I won't function. I did give up Soda for lent for the first time ever- maybe the lack of caffeine is the reason for my sleepy demeanor.
Hey! Maybe I won't be lazy and will update tomorrow!
I do feel, by now, that I have a pretty solid group of friends. They students from America, New Zealand, England, Germany, Italy, Tonga, and Canada. All in all I feel like we are a fairly tight knit group. For example, on Tuesday a bunch of students were going to a local bar, as during Orientation Week the local places run a bunch of price specials. Me and my friend Fabian (from Germany) were turned away, as we didn't bring our passports as ID (and honestly, who is stupid enough to bring a passport out to a bar anyway?). We walked down the block and found a cool upscale place, and for 10 bucks got some really tasty bread and dip, and a drink each. We talked for over an hour, and it was one of those moments where you are just happy to be you, happy to be exactly where you are, and grateful that you have met the people you have.
Yesterday I had history and photography- the classes weren't bad, and I am excited about my creative photography class. The woman who teaches it, who goes by 'Panda' (though I don't know why) really wants to push creativity in the classroom- I am looking forward to getting to do some photography work while I am here. My history class seems to have a good lecturer, but the videos he shows are so incredibly bad it is laughable. I am sure once we actually get into the war, things will be much better.
Today I only had 1 lecture. After dinner we finished a game of risk that we had started on Saturday (I think) and I helped an Italian friend of mine with her chemistry homework. I am obviously way too tired to be able to effectively blog, so I am going to sleep. I have been sleeping a ton lately- averaging almost 10 hours a night. I can't seem to get any less than that- otherwise I won't function. I did give up Soda for lent for the first time ever- maybe the lack of caffeine is the reason for my sleepy demeanor.
Hey! Maybe I won't be lazy and will update tomorrow!
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Day 9- O week begins
Before I do anything else, let me just say...
Mary James (Masha) and Alexandra (Shura) say hi!
These are my two cousins I talked about a few posts ago. I finally got around to getting some pictures of them up, and boy am I glad I did- I had such a great time with them, and hope to visit them again after I return home.
2 days ago, after I posted, the rest of the day was fairly straightforward. It was raining all day on Saturday, and there wasn't much to do. However, the campus gets very very green and beautiful after a rain, and I sat outside. Not a minute after I sit outside, eating dinner, with my feet in the luch green grass, in front of a lake with trees and greenery everywhere, that I hear bagpipes. I quickly looked around, ran back to my room, and got my camera. I ran to the sound, to see a lone bagpiper doing rounds across one of the buildings. My first thought, after seeing the well dressed procession, was funeral. In fact, my Mom's Dad had bagpipes at his funeral. The sound was so eerily beautiful, I recorded it. I may post it on here, if I can find out how. As I was taking pictures of the bagpiper, I was one-upped, and turned to see a man with a massive camera on a tripod (could'nt tell what brand). Following him...
The bride and groom, of course! A wedding! I gave the newlyweds my congrats, and went on my way to finish eating in the wonderful 'scottish' rain.
After dinner we started a game of Risk. It was me, 2 other Americans, a Canadian, and a German. I was winning for a while, but then got screwed over by one of the Americans (Dylan) and the German (Fabian). I am still alive in South America, but am borderd by two superpowers (Fabian and Kristen, the other American who has been friendly to me all game). I am unable to break free, but I am biding my time until one of them is weak- then I will divide and conqur! We played at 6:30 pm, and went on to 11 pm- the game still isn't finished, and no one has even died yet. All in all it is a good game.
So, yesterday might have been the best day yet here. I woke up, and a few of us met to go to mass at a Catholic church called the Cathedral a few minutes away from campus. The mass wasn't great. Several new members who had completed RCIA (Right of Catholic Initiation for Adults, I think the acronym stands for) were elected to become catholic on Easter Vigil mass. The Bishop was there (for the local Diocesan) but as a result of all the official business, the mass was rather dry. In addition to that, there was a Maori woman with two young kids behind us, and one of the kids (about 2 YA) continuously got his pants off and ran up the aisle as the Bishop was speaking, only in a diaper. It was funny, yeah, but I wish the mother had just gone into the crying room, as the kids were quite noisy. They sure were cute, though.
A funny bit: There is a bit of graffiti outside the church on the sidewalk. What does it say?
"Jesus Loves You"
That certainly made me smile.
After this, we were driving back to the Uni when I saw people peddling items on the side of the road- I thought I saw a hookah among the items, and some of the people here have been looking for one, so I got back, alerted the friends, and we went hookah hunting. We found no hookah, but we did get some old piano music books for the 'library' upstairs in the Mezzanine. After this, we went back for lunch, followed by inter-hall sports games. The games included mud sliding, dodgeball, barrel rolling, tug of war, and other wacky games. I took nearly 500 pictures, so some of them better be damn good! Our hall (Student Village) ended up winning the games, much to our delight.
After dinner, we went to the hamilton Gardens and enjoyed an absolutely spectacular show- the Waikato city orchestra performed pieces of opera, sets from West Side Story, Disney hits, finished with... what else, but- The 1812 Overture. These guys certainly know how to do it in style- there were cannons and fireworks to go with the music, and it was astonishing and phenomenal. It was such a wonderful night, the finale was the icing on the cake. there were 11 of us, 5 Americans, 5 Kiwis, and 1 from 'all over the place'. Once it got dark, we were just sitting on the lawn, heads to the sky, watching the stars. The stars here are very bright, and after a while we could see so many. Once enough time went on, we started seeing sattelites, streaking across the sky- I saw at least 8 or 9 over the course of the evening. There was just something about looking at the southern night sky, listening to opera, and watching these man-made objects go 18,000 mph above our heads that just made me supremely happy. I got pictures, and will post them eventually. We got a taxi home, and then me, Estee (NZ), Talana (Maori NZ), and Zia (Italian) all hung out and talked for hours. Talana is teaching me a new Maori word each day. Currently I know Poi (a Maori dance piece, its a ball on a rope), Kai (food) Te Whara (pronounced te fahdah, which means... to go, if I remember right). I also learned orange, but forgot it. The big phrase is Kia Ora, which means, hello, thanks, your welcome, yes, and a ton of other stuff. If you are in doubt, just say Kia Ora, and you will be set. The way it is pronounced, it really is Kiora, as it is said so quickly, but I won't get into the details.
So, today so far, I went to the physiotherapst here (for free, as usual) to work on my back. Today is the first day I could lean to my left without any pain at all- it is working! I am so excited, and my physio person is so nice. Afterwards, I walked back with a mince pie in hand, and came back to blog and do some exercises- I am joining the gym today, so I can stay strong. Unfortunately, I am not allowed to lift weights :(
Until next time, keep reading!
Mary James (Masha) and Alexandra (Shura) say hi!
These are my two cousins I talked about a few posts ago. I finally got around to getting some pictures of them up, and boy am I glad I did- I had such a great time with them, and hope to visit them again after I return home.
2 days ago, after I posted, the rest of the day was fairly straightforward. It was raining all day on Saturday, and there wasn't much to do. However, the campus gets very very green and beautiful after a rain, and I sat outside. Not a minute after I sit outside, eating dinner, with my feet in the luch green grass, in front of a lake with trees and greenery everywhere, that I hear bagpipes. I quickly looked around, ran back to my room, and got my camera. I ran to the sound, to see a lone bagpiper doing rounds across one of the buildings. My first thought, after seeing the well dressed procession, was funeral. In fact, my Mom's Dad had bagpipes at his funeral. The sound was so eerily beautiful, I recorded it. I may post it on here, if I can find out how. As I was taking pictures of the bagpiper, I was one-upped, and turned to see a man with a massive camera on a tripod (could'nt tell what brand). Following him...
The bride and groom, of course! A wedding! I gave the newlyweds my congrats, and went on my way to finish eating in the wonderful 'scottish' rain.
After dinner we started a game of Risk. It was me, 2 other Americans, a Canadian, and a German. I was winning for a while, but then got screwed over by one of the Americans (Dylan) and the German (Fabian). I am still alive in South America, but am borderd by two superpowers (Fabian and Kristen, the other American who has been friendly to me all game). I am unable to break free, but I am biding my time until one of them is weak- then I will divide and conqur! We played at 6:30 pm, and went on to 11 pm- the game still isn't finished, and no one has even died yet. All in all it is a good game.
So, yesterday might have been the best day yet here. I woke up, and a few of us met to go to mass at a Catholic church called the Cathedral a few minutes away from campus. The mass wasn't great. Several new members who had completed RCIA (Right of Catholic Initiation for Adults, I think the acronym stands for) were elected to become catholic on Easter Vigil mass. The Bishop was there (for the local Diocesan) but as a result of all the official business, the mass was rather dry. In addition to that, there was a Maori woman with two young kids behind us, and one of the kids (about 2 YA) continuously got his pants off and ran up the aisle as the Bishop was speaking, only in a diaper. It was funny, yeah, but I wish the mother had just gone into the crying room, as the kids were quite noisy. They sure were cute, though.
A funny bit: There is a bit of graffiti outside the church on the sidewalk. What does it say?
"Jesus Loves You"
That certainly made me smile.
After this, we were driving back to the Uni when I saw people peddling items on the side of the road- I thought I saw a hookah among the items, and some of the people here have been looking for one, so I got back, alerted the friends, and we went hookah hunting. We found no hookah, but we did get some old piano music books for the 'library' upstairs in the Mezzanine. After this, we went back for lunch, followed by inter-hall sports games. The games included mud sliding, dodgeball, barrel rolling, tug of war, and other wacky games. I took nearly 500 pictures, so some of them better be damn good! Our hall (Student Village) ended up winning the games, much to our delight.
After dinner, we went to the hamilton Gardens and enjoyed an absolutely spectacular show- the Waikato city orchestra performed pieces of opera, sets from West Side Story, Disney hits, finished with... what else, but- The 1812 Overture. These guys certainly know how to do it in style- there were cannons and fireworks to go with the music, and it was astonishing and phenomenal. It was such a wonderful night, the finale was the icing on the cake. there were 11 of us, 5 Americans, 5 Kiwis, and 1 from 'all over the place'. Once it got dark, we were just sitting on the lawn, heads to the sky, watching the stars. The stars here are very bright, and after a while we could see so many. Once enough time went on, we started seeing sattelites, streaking across the sky- I saw at least 8 or 9 over the course of the evening. There was just something about looking at the southern night sky, listening to opera, and watching these man-made objects go 18,000 mph above our heads that just made me supremely happy. I got pictures, and will post them eventually. We got a taxi home, and then me, Estee (NZ), Talana (Maori NZ), and Zia (Italian) all hung out and talked for hours. Talana is teaching me a new Maori word each day. Currently I know Poi (a Maori dance piece, its a ball on a rope), Kai (food) Te Whara (pronounced te fahdah, which means... to go, if I remember right). I also learned orange, but forgot it. The big phrase is Kia Ora, which means, hello, thanks, your welcome, yes, and a ton of other stuff. If you are in doubt, just say Kia Ora, and you will be set. The way it is pronounced, it really is Kiora, as it is said so quickly, but I won't get into the details.
So, today so far, I went to the physiotherapst here (for free, as usual) to work on my back. Today is the first day I could lean to my left without any pain at all- it is working! I am so excited, and my physio person is so nice. Afterwards, I walked back with a mince pie in hand, and came back to blog and do some exercises- I am joining the gym today, so I can stay strong. Unfortunately, I am not allowed to lift weights :(
Until next time, keep reading!
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