Days 105-111: Birthday Week

So this past week was my birthday week! It wasn’t wild or crazy, but it was kind of busy. Allow me to elaborate:
The first part of the week was mainly working on assignments- My photography exhibition was on Thursday, so I spent a good deal of time scanning my physical prints in, digitizing them, and perfecting them in photoshop. I then got them printed out (A3 prints, 11 by 16 inches, in high quality full color for 60 cents each? Yes please!) and mounted. Our last class day was spent sipping champagne and listening to classical music, reminiscing about deadlines and stressing out. Liquor ban, eat your heart out. It was one of the best last days of class I have had.
Wednesday was my birthday! It was naturally preceded by Tuesday, which was not my birthday. It was on Tuesday I got my first birthday gift, from my good friend Anna. Anna is an interesting friend of mine- she is an RA, and thus is very responsible. In order to balance out her maturity, she often acts very childish, tapping people on the opposite shoulder to get them to look the wrong way and engaging in fanciful waves from great distances. Naturally, she got me a very childish gift in order to balance out my coming of age. I got a knock on my door right after midnight (my first technical minutes as a 21 year old), and had a gift shoved in my hand. Inside were two things: A set of cling- on pirate stickers (currently sticking to my windows and mirrors in my room) and a small wooden model pirate ship (ages 5+). Naturally, I was ecstatic. I played with the stickers and talked to Anna for hours (a naturally unhealthy habit that keeps me up until sunrise on some mornings) and finally went to sleep.
I woke up on my birthday to more gifts. I won’t go into them all, but they included a lot of chocolate, Guinness (YES), a small yard glass, a box of 30 ice cream cones (from a lactose-intolerant German girl, go figure) and other random bits and pieces, including some very nice cards. My Canadian friend gave me sunshine for the day- the weather could not have been nicer. I spent the day relaxing, staying in a hammock, not doing a whole heck of a lot, and loving it. That night a few friends and I went to an Irish pub we had hit up months before- it has a real pub atmosphere, and we were naturally the only students there. After a few rounds (all the good stuff, Guinness, cider, and Speight’s, a local NZ brand), we went to the bakehouse, a 24-7 bakery, and got some good eats. My birthday was low key and very enjoyable.
Thursday was a surprising day- normally it is my hardest, with class all day. Today, however, it was short with only 1 hour of class. I used this to my advantage to sleep in on my birthday. Oh yeah, it was still my birthday. One of the perk of living halfway around the world is that when you have your birthday, it starts on your time and ends at your home time. So, while I may not have had a massive thrashing party with dancing girls and beer kegs, I did have 40 hours of relaxation and enjoyment. I worked on some assignments, but otherwise didn’t have a terribly eventful day.
Friday likewise was less than… monumental. The three perks of the day were getting an assignment back (A+), hanging out on a stoop, and going to physio. At physiotherapy, to make my appointment time I had to run. Those of you who know me know that I have never been able to run a mile- my foot drops and I fall. I was astonished to not have this impending feeling of doom as I ran, that my foot was about to fall. I eventually did reach physio on time, and instantly told Jill, my physiotherapist. She told me to try and run a mile when I got back, so I did.

For the first time in my life, I ran a mile. The feeling was exhilarating. I decided that instead of doing cross training anymore, I would do running instead. The next day I ran an 8 minute mile (pretty good, considering that my last best time for a mile was in the 10th grade at 13 or 14 minutes). I decided to run 2 in a row, taking exactly 16 minutes. I have no clue where this falls on the fitness scale, but it was exciting. Have I found a passion I have thought so many others crazy for holding? Time will tell, I guess. For now though, the prescription from the physio is to keep it up, and that’s exactly what I intend to do.

My third good thing about the day was me sitting on a stoop with friends for over an hour, just hanging outside for no good reason. I felt like a city kid.

Friday was the engineering boat race- engineering students have been working on boats all semester, and it took place at the pond on campus. Both costumes and large crates of beer were encouraged. What did I do? I dressed up as a pirate. Naturally. I and a friend of mine dressed up, brought large sticks, and had swordfights on the opposite side of the lake in between races. It was totally juvenile and lots of fun.

Saturday included little except a visit to an art gallery showing scale models of Leonardo Da Vinci’s most famous inventions, including flying machines, war machines, and more (not to mention the first bicycle). The genius of the man is astonishing. Later that night me and Bryce went out to do some light graffiti, where one takes a long exposure picture of a subject, and then by manipulating light sources, is able to create an image similar to graffiti without damaging property. We spent most of the night walking around town, but did get a few cool shots near some abandoned buildings and in a graveyard. After a ton of walking we called it a night.