An Avo A Day Keeps the Rat At Bay

I just had the loveliest experience in Mangawhai. Let me quickly back up to the arrival at the Avocado farm.

I woke up at 6am, the cheapo that I am decided that I would walk my luggage (all 80 pounds) down to the train station- a 30 minute walk. My arms felt like jello and couldn't be moved for the next 12 hours...which was okay because I was on a bus that long, getting to Auckland. I then had the worst evening I have ever had in New Zealand. The receptionist was on some drunk, and wouldn't stop singing..some how we found our room. I shared a hostel with 11 other drunkies, who decided to shake my bed, poke me, try to rate how attractive I was, and demoralized women with their talk that lasted the whole night, minus 2 hours. I woke up to a lost water bottle, and vomit in the bathrooms.

I took another bus for 2 hours the next day to sit in the sun and wait 5 hours for my host to arrive. I had a wonderful 2 weeks filled with making stepping stones, shearing lamas, rescuing chicks, picking, eating and selling avos, making compost, toilet holders out of shells, weeding, planting, and so much more. I learned how to make the best hummus, salad dressing, bread, and strawberry ice cream! I really enjoyed singing songs with my host dad, listening to Ronan, the 5 year old, tell me stories, and eating Anne's lovely meals. I went to the Auckland Steiner faire with the family, 2 parties, I used a composting toilet, an outdoor shower, and would travel on the back of the Ute.

It was all wonderful, minus one thing. There was a huge rat, the size of a kitten, that would visit each night, in the rafters above my head. I would hear it scamper about. What if it fell?! Well I would cover my head and tell Frank, yes I named it, to go away. And he usually did. On the last night, Vanya, my host dad, told me he would rat poisoning in the rafters and that it might come down on my bed. Well I wasn't having that so I was set up on the coach that night.

I am so thankful for that family. They were all wonderful to me. They even helped me out during my Peace Corps interview. I learned so much from them.

I made my way to Auckland again, this time with a grumpy bus driver. So far my new hostel has treated me well. A London guy helped me with my luggage and the receptionist seems sober. Tomorrow I leave for Gisborn for the winery. Hopefully it will be a good experience. I cant imagine otherwise.

Farewell Windy Welly

Victoria students are given a "study break" for a week. This means that those of us who can afford it, or parents who can afford it, go on an adventure. The night before everyone left, my crew decided to dance the night away. We went to 2 bars, one that had some good old American music from a cover band, and boogie wonderland, the 70s dance bar, complete with light up floors and disco balls.

The real highlight from this night was before we even headed into town. A few of my friends and I made our way down the street to meet up with some friends. We were sitting on a coach, sipping some drinks when suddenly, Andrea and I heard a distant scream. The scream was getting louder. Suddenly our friend Meghan burst through the door screaming (which ended up being cheering). She made her way to the middle of the room and pelvic thrusted 3 times, and then ran to the kitchen to get a drink. Andrea immediately grabbed my arm, "Tell me I don't do that when I am black out.." The best part of the moment was that only Andrea and I seemed to notice what had occurred. Everyone else was either too drunk or used to Meghan screaming through out the house. I am pretty sure I cried, that's how hard I was laughing.

SO everyone went on a adventure and I...read a lot. I finished the 7 books in less than a week. 4 of the books were over 500 pages. I wasn't too sad with not leaving. I am staying in NZ another month longer than most people. My adventures were not about to end quite yet. It was nice to do nothing but read, and I also finished some paperwork for applying to the peace corps. I also discovered 2 new bakery/cafes with my friend, Lena. We had a pleasant time soaking up the sun and conversation during these dates.

Halloween came and it was an event. I had the idea of a Clue Crew, so 5 of my friends and I made out way through Wellington as Ms. Scarlett, Ms. Peacock, Mrs.White, Mr.Green, Prof Plumb, and yours truly, Col.Mustard. It was a blast. I would have been fine if I just stuck to my one bottle of wine, but I helped my friends with their drinks, making me a bit physical. I was either very loving, giving out hugs, tears because I didn't want friendships to end, or violent, as I used my prop, the rope, on some Clue Crew members..They took it away from me. I made it to one bar. It was great! And then I had that one drink- the one that changes everything. I stumbled to the bathroom, knocking my thumb into something, and took a break with the toilet. I reminded myself why I shouldn't ever drink too much, I just get sick. With the help of Mrs. White, and Ms. Scarlett, and a pitiful goodbye to the rest of the Clue Crew, I made my way home. The next morning I discovered a severely bruised thumb, but otherwise in one piece. I later found out that almost everyone was as drunk or worse than me during the rest of the night. Another friend of mine had fell down some stairs walking IN to town, danced for 5 hours, slept for 2 hours, and then realized he broke his foot.

The rest of the week I completed some finals (here most finals are worth 50% of your grade, and typically are only 3 questions to complete), played Frisbee out in the sunshine and said goodbye to some friends. One of my favorite friends, Courtney, left to travel before heading home in a week. To say goodbye, we had Hells pizza for lunch, played Frisbee in the afternoon, had some beers in front of Parliament, and then had a nice little potluck with our closest and finest! It was a mighty and appropriate farewell.

On Friday was the bonfire festival, AKA Guy Fawkes Day (V for Vendetta anyone?). Its a British holiday celebrating the failed overthrow of the government. To this day, the 5th of November mini figures of Guy Fawkes, or a more recent political figure, will be thrown into a fire. A few friends and I ran down to the harbour to see the firework display. The show went along with music, that sounding like something the Fleckstones would create. The show was only 15 minutes, but that is all that was needed. I saw a great variety of fireworks, with at least 4 that I have never seen before! It was a really good finish to the end of semester. That day I took my last final of my undergraduate degree. I wont lie, when I found myself back in my studio after the test, I danced around for a good 5 minutes to celebrate.

On the way home, my night was made when I passed by an elderly man, zooming down a road on his bike, with a yellow cape, singing at the top of his lungs some thing about Valentines Day. Moments like those make me want to spear my fist into the air and cheer...which I did.

I woke up to Saturday morning to what i thought was a hurricane. The one downfall to having an amazing view is that whenever it storms, i feel as though i am inside of the storm. I opened my eyes and saw the wind mightily pushing the rain and hail against my window. I couldn't see any view at all, even the airplane red alert tower on Mt.Victoria.

The hurricane storm eased and I made my way to the harbor. I spent some time at the art market and also Te Papa . The museum had a really nice Photo exhibit from one of New Zealand's finest, Brian Blake. If I ever had to pick another career, I would want to be a photo journalist! Travelling the world, capturing history, and bringing knowledge to others in the form of photographs.

That night, I had some tea and chocolate with my Wai-te-ata lady friends, Lena, Eugenia, Brita, Julie, Anais and Hollin. We watched Lord of the Rings 2 to celebrate our New Zealand time, and for the final approval of the Hobbit being filmed again in New Zealand. I said my goodbyes and gave Lena some of the Lippe favorite recipes.

The long awaited Bike-Winery Tour of part of the famous Marlborough area took place on Monday. I woke up at 6am and made my way over to Stafford to meet Andrea and her sister, Allison. I was surprised to find Courtney's old roommate, Evan, and his partner Penny making their way to the same ferry. Andrea, her sister and I made the walk over to the Ferry and waited another hour before actually leaving. I discovered that I get a bit nauseous on boats. The upset stomach could have been from the horrible films shown, Miley Cyrus' The Last Song, and, wait for it, High School Musical 3. The seats beside me each had a bountiful amount of barf bags but I had none. After 3 hours, we finally landed in Picton and I made it without vomiting.

As we waited for the ramp to drop, I could not help but feel like a refuge being released. I told this to Andrea, but she said she felt more like part of the Oceanic 815 "survivors". She wins.

We then jumped on a bus that took us to Blenheim; about a 30 minute drive. We were dropped off at the I-site and shortly after were picked up from our winery guide, Nigel. He set us up with bikes, helmets, water, packs, maps, and a route of his favorite wineries.

We made it to 4 wineries in 4 hours. We had about 8 different tastings for each winery. I loved all of them, even my father tainted Merlot. One winery, only 2 years old (but the owner has been involved in Montana wine for years and years- so not really new to the game), gave us some of their home-made olive oil AND some local feta cheese. It was THAT good. Where can you go wrong with olive old, cheese and wine? The Canadian couple that we met, also enjoyed the add ons. They were taking a world tour and were some of the most friendly people I have ever met. Gotta love Canadians.

I must say that biking and doing a wine tour was maybe a genius idea.

I also must admit that I used every technique Jill and Zach taught me and faked my way through each tour (specific hand holding for reds and whites, smelling, holding it in your mouth, looking at the 'legs'..). I owe them. I thought of them about 67% of the time of the tour.

I arrived home and was reminded of the cleaning still yet to be completed before leaving on Friday morning for WWOOFing. This kept me inside the next day and a half. I thought it would be appropriate to farewell Wellington with one last visit to Enigma. I invited the remaining friends. We shared coffee and our favorite cakes... I did the sentimental thing and got the very first thing I ever got at Enigma, carrot cake with yogurt and creme, and a coffee.

After Enigma, a few of us took a nice long walk through the harbor of our favorite small capitol city. Sam and I also stopped at the city art gallery, another free museum! I love Wellington. Its the perfect size city. Small enough to feel like a person who belongs, with a bunch of stuff to do for all ages, many festivals and activities to keep you occupied, a place that has a bunch of political activities to keep you up to date and informed, plus a really good location in case you want to travel to other parts of the country.

That last night, I said goodbye to friends at a party on Landcross. It was nice to say goodbye, but I didn't stay too long. My friend Sam let me crash at her place (she lives a floor underneath me) because my room was already check-out, and me kicked-out.

I will miss the harbour, the friendly atmosphere, the bountiful vegetarian options, the Malaysian food, the free activities, blanket man outside of the library, who has the Rasputin looking bouncer, Enigma and its cakes, the way the water is clean, and the air sweet, how white collar folks actually use their lunch breaks to go running or visiting with friends, the way that classes and and ages seem to mix together better than in the States, the music players on the streets, the many bakeries, and parks available. I picked well.

Friday morning, equipped with 4 peanut butter and grapefruit marmalade sandwiches, I made the 11 hours journey to Auckland. This is the beginning of my last month in Kiwiland. I will be WWOOFing in Mangawhai, at an avocado farm, and then going to Gisburn to a winery. Wish me luck! Hopefully I wont get any sun poisoning:)

Lacking funds but still having fun

After making a delicious home made pumpkin pie with my lovely German friend, Lena, she reminded me of the international farewell party on Tuesday. The next day I continued to remind all of my other international friends. It was pretty easy since the party was giving away free food. A whole crew of us made our way over. There were pretty lame games, trivia, and passport covers given as prizes (everyone got free t-shirts though-Whoop). The caterers did not anticipate our apetites, so there was a lacking in food. My friends and I made up for that I consumed a great amount of the free wine and beer. This was a good pre-game for a few of us who in a short hour would be the ultimate frizbee team 'the samuri pizza cats' cheerleaders.

I wont lie. Andrea and I went all out. We had planned out outfits, including the accesories. The week previous we "had" to go to a pizza place for lunch in order to get mini pizza boxes as our samuri sheilds. We were feeling pretty good when we jumped into a van full of frizbee players. They were pretty excited to have their own cheering squad. While the team warmed up, so did some of the cheerers. We found the locker room and pumped each other up with crazy poses and acting like cats...again, we were feeling pretty good.

During the game, some of my fellow cheerleaders were not as enthusiastic. It may have been their first time cheering or maybe they were not used to my loud voice. The team appreciated my efforts. I even got a little trophy! (some of the other cheerers were a bit jelous). Our team won and we were all excited on the ride home. The excitement may have made our driver, drive a bit quicker going around all the ups and downs and bends in the road. I thought that maybe I was just drunk, and that was why I wanted to vomit---but another frizbee member asked the driver to slow down so he wouldnt barf. Half the van quickly agreed. Maybe it was becuase I was a great cheerer, or maybe the driver knew I was feeling ill, but they drove me right to my door! I think the rough ride home made me drunk becuase I got out of the van and started walking the wrong direction to my door. I was thankful to creep inside my sleeping bag that night (yes I have been sleeping in my sleeping bag the last 4 months).

So the next day was Wednesday, Enigma day! Andrea and I skipped watching Othello in Philo and made our way over early. I had already seen the movie and it is one of my least favorite Shakespere plays. We sort of went crazy at Enigma and ordered nachos and a tofu burger and fries, plus a milkshake and coffee-we did share this. It was all delicious. I made my way home and then met up with Lena. I got a bit too cocky and got ANOTHER cup of coffee. Mind you, this is now 2:30. Bad call. I had a lovely time with Lena and we even bumped into some of the ultimate frizbee team and some other friends and had a good chat. However, that night, I didnt fall asleep till 4:30 am. My bad. I forgot how too much caffine affects me!

The next day I went over to Lena's and joined in a 9 person potlocke. Potlockes are extra good when there are people from around the world cooking their favorite recipies from home! I hadn't been fed that well since...well since enigma but excluding that, in 2 months!

On Friday I joined some of the ultimate frizbee friends and went to a farm house (the farm house belonged to the family that I stayed with in Christchurch) about 2 hours away. On the way, we stopped at a grocery store and my friend Brian and I found our way to the playground. Playgrounds are much more fun in New Zealand than in the USA. They are a bit more dangerous but in New Zealand, people dont normally sue one another like they do in the USA. Thus--> really cool playgrounds. A flying fox for not only children but adults was present, as well as two hamster wheels.

We finally got to a location in the middle of nowhere to walk 30 minutes to the farm house. For some reason, Andrea and I were leading the way even though we had no idea where we were going and we had to pass through streams and random muddy paths. Andrea split a bottle of whiskey meant for the 3 events in our future. I of course ate way too much and was not drunk at all. Andrea found the side affects of whiskey to be a bit angry. She happened to fall hardcore into the mud. She was so angry. I fell shortly after because I couldn't stop laughing. Andrea immediately got up but again, still unable to breath from the laughter, didn't stand for another few minutes. This falling and angry Andrea happened about 3 more times before we finally arrived to the farm house.

The night was eventful. I tried smoking a cigarette and finished one for the first time. It was difficult as I choked the whole thing down. I am glad my body still rejects cigarettes for the most part. The crew played a kiwi version of circle of death and flip cup. Some how I dominated which got me pretty hyped up. An Irish man couldn't stand the female superiority and a may have gone on a feminist tirade. Some pushing may have developed.

The night was beginning to turn into a shit show; two people were passing out, waking up, making out a bit, then passing out again. One person peed their pants twice. I decided to go to bed early. I went downstairs and slept underneath the window sill. I saw so many stars that night. We were surrounded my mountains, a river and the bush. The door of the barn kept swinging open. I eventually just let it stay open and a nice breeze would drift in.

It took a while for people to function the next day and we didn't actually get home until 5:30. I had a bit of a rough time as we drove through the mountains. I don't know how kiwis are not carsick every day. I had about 3 hours to recover and shower before I was due for a birthday party down the street.

The birthday party was fun. I got to chat with many of my pals and eat a lizard looking birthday cake. I was really excited to give my birthday card to my friend, Corey. I literally spent at least 2 hours on it. I recreated a Hogwarts acceptance letter, sorted my friend into a house and provided reasons for the specific house, and then copy and pasted her face into a Hermione Granger body. It was ugly as sin but hilarious. She loved it.

The next morning, I woke up and made my way to the farmers market. I gave myself a treat and got half a pumpkin for a dollar. I came home and spent 3 hours making a delicious pumpkin and veggie soup. While I chopped pumpkin, Erin from back home distracted me and gave me the low down on WI life. After adding copious amounts of salt, the soup was delicious going down. After I finished the second heaping bowl, I stood up for a glass of water. I made a quick detour to the toilette and vomited. My body continued to reject the soup for the next 2 hours. Some of the pumpkin must have been bad. To entertain myself while I barfed, I watched the last episodes of Dexter. I wasn't prepared for the sad events which occurred. I hadn't cried that hard since I last watched the last Lord of the Rings. A bit of a rough night I would say, eh?

The next week was the last week of classes before finals. I had one Asian Religion final. The rest of the week Andrea and I devoted some time to finish up our Global Leadership Certificates. We had 2 more speaker events to attend.

The first was a panel discussion on ASEM (ASian and Europe Meeting). I was surprised that I was one out of 6 students in attendance. The rest of the small audience was filled with ambassadors around the world, including John Key, the last Prime Minister of New Zealand. That was interesting. I was glad I was able to be present at a function that the heads of State attend. I was able to glimpse into that world a bit.

The next event was not nearly as interesting. This time, Andrea and I were the youngest in attendance. The event was a book release. The book was about the battle of Crete in WW2 and the involvement of New Zealand. It was a short history lesson. The speaker portion wasn't so bad. What I disliked was the snooty atmosphere of the event. There was really nice appetizers, wine and juice served. Elder folks looked at us wondering why we were there. At one point I offered some appetizers to the man next to me, thinking he would keep passing the tray, but he just took some food and acting like I was there to serve him, a caterer, like I didn't belong. Even though Andrea wanted to leave about 6 times, I was glad that we stayed and mixed up the audience a bit.

Andrea and I decided we wanted a scary movie night. We rented the Shining and the Birds. After 3 different tries at buses, and a really helpful bus driver, we finally made our way to Newtown, where our Canadian friend Jessie lived. We had a wonderful time eating popcorn, cuddling on a couch, shrieking, and eating coconut chocolate covered ice creams.

The next day I woke up at 7:30 am and was WIDE awake. I caught up on some emails and paperwork and waited for some friends to wake up. I spent the afternoon with my friends Courtney and Sam in the botanic gardens. We climbed this tree where you could lay on the top of it. I was able to see a great view of Wellington, along with an elder men's croquette game! We walked around for a couple hours and then had a little ladies night filled with rice, beans, and chocolate. We watched Ice Age two...not as good as the first one.

The next day I went to the farmers market with the ladies. I treated myself to a grapefruit--I felt safe with that choice--I have yet to vomit. On the way home, we stopped at a french bakery, run by Chinese women. I bought a croissant filled with custard. Amazing. However, I have been reading 'the face on your plate' and couldn't help thinking that if I was vegan, I couldn't eat this. I am tempted to take the plunge, but that would make the peacecorps a bit more difficult. Who knows what I would live off of...

Tonight I am meeting up with Lena for dinner. Veggies, tortillas and maybe wine and a movie are in order.

Check and Check that off my list

The past two weeks I have been busy. I was able to get some school work done, future goals sorted out a wee bit and check some things off the "Things to do in New Zealand" list.

First up was getting my tattoo. Andrea and I made our way to the tattoo parlor after our philosophy class. We went to the same place Claire got hers done, but we had the other artist, Al. Andrea wanted to go first, which was fine with me. I talked with her and tried to distract her while she got hers done. I jumped on the table after her, trying to hide how nervous I was. Ive been told numerous times that the rip is the most painful place for a tattoo. Andrea was sat too far away so we didn't chat- but that turned out to be okay. I closed my eyes and just relaxed in my happy place. I think the heavy hip hop blaring and the stench of BO distracted me enough from the pain. So to explain my tattoo, the phrase is from a really good youth work reading I had in social work. It shows me that I can learn from anyone, stranger, enemy, child, homeless man, etc. The circle represent community, everyone has a part or role in this journey. And the font is based on the Waldorf font;reinforcing community. CHECK

That evening, the last minute I decided to go out with my German, French and Spanish friends to a bar called the MaltHouse. The bar was celebrating Oktoberfest! It was actually a really good time. We all just sat around and chatted, ordering large Deutchland Beers, and watching the bartenders in classic outfits, straight out of the Sound of Music. I left at 1:30, before everyone else. I decided that I had a really good night and didn't want to drag it out and not have the night be as wonderful as it was.

The next day, I went to the craft fair near the harbor with Hollin, Andrea, Courtney, Sam and Amanda. There was a sweet bluegrass band playing outside, that I enjoyed while the ladies shopped. I decided I wanted some caffeine and a baked good so we made our way to enigma. The caffeine really made a difference! I was ready to roll after that.

We all were supposed to find our Clue Costumes, but i got lost in a second hand book store. I was there at least an hour and could have stayed longer. I narrowed down my ridiculous pile of books to 2 small Harry Potter books, Quidditch through the Ages and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (4$ all together!), AND I also bought Harry Potter and the PHILOSOPHERS stone and the prisoner of azkaban...I decided I wanted two British versions for home. They have better covers then the American, anyway.

I met up with my friend Max, and him, Sam and I walked around Cuba St for the next 3 hours looking for costumes. It was a really nice day and local musicians were out and about all day! It was really nice listening to them and rummaging through random indie stores. I made it to about 4 o'clock- the other two went off to grab some food and I made my way home, exhausted.

The next week I pushed about all of my school work aside and focused my attention on applying to the Peace corps. The process was rather long, and many emails were exchanged with my Dad, trying to figure out how much in debt I was with my student loans. Now its the waiting game to see if they are interested. I will fill my waiting time with applying to Americorps, and trying to figure out where in the North Island I am going to WWOOF when classes finish.

I took a nice little break on Wednesday from the Peace corps paperwork. I stopped by the Union bar and met with some of my friends and the ultimate Frisbee team. I met two cool as Kiwis, Liz and Mike. The bar wasn't prepared for en entire Ultimate Frisbee team to show up on a Wednesday so beer went quick. I then nursed a new drink. Ginger ale + whiskey. Is amazingness a word? It should be after that drink.

I was feeling pretty good and walked 4 minutes down a hill to my German and French friends, Lena and Anais. Lena allowed me to help her make this great German dish and Anais made french apple pies! My contribution was red wine, and doing the dishes. It was incredible. We decided that we are all going to make pumpkin pie- which is scheduled for tonight. I just bought half a pumpkin so it better happen!

I then returned to the bar and met up with Andrea, Liz, and Mike. We all went out to this bar called Lotus. It had some techno music and sweet drinks with limited amounts of alcohol. Liz got a bit ahead of herself so around 12:30, I found her a cab outside, and as heavy amount of rain poured upon me, I decided it wasn't worth going back into the bar so I made my way home. Right when I hit my pillow case, I discovered that I was finally drunk. I hate it when that happens. I downed my nalgene and hoped for the best.

Thursday was a shitshow. I was that non-motivated hungover. I somehow did nothing until 9pm, when I started my two research papers. To give me some credit, I had an awesome outline for one of my papers, and I had gotten 2 books from the Library for the other paper. It was a long night, but around 2am I gave myself a break and said sleep was more important. I woke up at 8am, skipped two classes and finished my papers. I took a nice lunch of Hell's Pizza with Andrea and Courtney. We ate our meals at the union bar and talked with our friend Brian, who always seems to be drinking there. I returned home, finished my bibliographies and then printed out my papers at the library. As I was dropping off my papers, I had to share a elevator with my philosophy professor (the class i had skipped that day- and yes, he did notice. I always sit in the front row).

That night, I had dinner at this dessert place classed Strawberry Fair. I had a Delicious half cooked chocolate cake, with ice cream, cream, and white and dark chocolate drizzled on the bottom. I then made my way to the Embassy theater and caught a showing of fight club. It was a freaking great night.

The next day I did nothing but read, drink tea, watch Dexter and nap in the sunlight of my room. I went to a concert around 5pm. The 8pm show was sold out so I went for the all ages show. The opening band was called the Kids of 88. I was pumped at the name, as I myself am a kid from 88. They were not BAD, but I felt like I was in middle school, lyrics awful, stage presents a joke, and the lead singer re-messing his hair 4 times a song. The main act was Naked and Famous- a New Zealand band. In short, they rocked. I even ran into an employee of Enigma who was jamming out. I would suggest listening to "All of This" and " Young Blood". I was really glad I went. It was a small venue, smelling to sweat of the band members, and feeling the pulse of the music. Going to see a live New Zealand band, CHECK!

Last night I opted out of going out. I had already spent a bunch of money this week, and I was tired from the late nighters. So I bought a bar of chocolate, and read some Harry Potter. I woke up at 7:30am, saw the sunrise and then went to the farmers market. That place always makes me in the best calm/happy mood. I told myself that due to the limited money I have left that I couldn't buy anymore avocados, grapefruit or kiwifruits. So I was just going to get apples and bananas. Well, since I am making pumpkin pie, I got half the pumpkin, and then the pumpkin was by the eggs, and the eggs were by the onions. So I cheated and had a really nice breakfast. I will do better next week.

Action is Character

This past weekend, I went WWOOFing. I travelled to Harmony Farms once again and met some new friends: a Swedish couple, a Canadian, a Frenchman, and a couple from the States/Canada. Hollin WWOOFed alongside me. I am really glad she had a good first experience with WWOOFing. We started planning where we each want to go WWOOFing the month before we return home. We were able to turn compost, cook, start a potato patch, prune olive trees and make mulch, and we created a recreational area for WWOOFers (which meant taking out 8 trees).

It was really nice being outside again, especially after being on the road so recently with the road trip. My favorite part of the weekend was learning about different wild weeds and flowers. We ate a weed salad with almost every meal! I enjoyed it more than romaine lettus! I also really enjoyed going through Otaki. We took a mini car tour through the trees, the river, the ocean (which had WILD WINDS that spit ocean foam around in the air!) and waterfalls.

I came home and enjoyed having another room mate for 2 days. Lyra, the Canadian, stayed with me while she explored Wellington. She is from Winnipeg, and shared her love of folk music with me. She told me stories about small local bars that play music every night and hosts many a music festival...sounds like my kind of place! We took a trip to the Embassy theater (where the LOTR was premiered) and saw Inception. I sat right behind where Sean Astin sat! Ahh. It was a really neat theater. May be one of my favorite places in Wellington!

That day, I also went on a field trip with my Asian Religions class. We went to a Buddhist meditation temple. We were able to sit and talk with a monk for 40 minutes! The place was made mostly of wood and had flowers around the temple. It was peaceful and serene. One could not deny this. It was really interesting listening to the monk (who came from Canada and wanted to become an engineer at one point in his life). I was surprised to find the Monk so warm, kind, and FUNNY. He had a wonderful laugh. He was the type of person who really valued what you had to say. I felt more like an equal towards this man. It was a really neat experience.

The rest of the week is pretty busy. I have a lot of paperwork to fill out regarding options for when I return to Wisco. That is where the "Action is Character" fits in. I am in the in between place where I am calm but want to be proud of what I accomplish with myself. Maybe its because my philosophy class has hit the Death portion of the trimester. If I died tomorrow, I would want to be satisfied with what I have done. Doesn't it feel good to like yourself? I also will be inking myself yet again on Friday. I am a bit nervous. I don't want to cry but I know this particular ink job is going to be a painful one (Hey Zach, no worries. This tat is another hidden one). Andrea and a few others also want to hit the town and find our costumes for Halloween. We are going as the Clue Crew. I love the group creativity projects! Go Teamwork!

Let me introduce myself

I just had the most fabulous evening and I decided I had to share. I just finished a dinner( I must point out that dinner consisted of a re-used jam jar filled with New Zealand Riesling, a radish and butter sandwich on whole grain bread, a sweet and sour grapefruit and an avocado that I dusted with salt- All were eaten with zero utensils), alone, eating slowly, sitting cross-legged, barefooted, listening to a whole album straight through and watching through my large window Wellington become lit with lights.

I thought to myself that I never had time for this back home. I was always rushing, doing a thousand things and trying to be there for 20 people. My me time, was when I slept, or when I drove to one of the 100 places I needed to drive to. I couldn't relax and just enjoy myself, fore even when I planned me time, a few hours later I would make up for it. I couldn't remember the last time I spent the whole afternoon reading and watching the sky. This is what I came to New Zealand for. To let me have my ME time. To let myself remember what it was like to let me be me.

I started making a list of things that were most definitely ME. It was fun! And I think most of you would agree with my life. If I met a new person tomorrow, this list would give them a sense of who I AM.

-I love wine, especially Riesling (Merlot can stay in my fathers cabinet)
- I love to dance (and not grinding the whole time!). I may get wild and look like I am intoxicated, but I am not.
-I prefer salty foods over sweet
-I prefer tea (the juicer the better) over coffee. Coffee after 2:00pm is dangerous. More than 1 cup and I will be awake the entire evening. Once I drank NyQuil in order to sleep, as it was 7am.
-Pictionary is my board game of choice
-I would pick a local small pub over a crowded large bar any day.
-My pet peeve is not being a team player.
-I could sit and read novels all day
-Must two people talk all day? I enjoy the silence 2 friends may share together.
-Everything in moderation! If you cant have fun being sober too, then do you fear reality?
-I love being barefooted and in jeans. BUT, I also love socks!
-Screw nail polish
-Take me to see an independent movie at a small theater, or a band playing at a tiny pub, and I am yours.
-My children will go to a Waldorf school
-We can learn from everyone, especially our enemies.
- I don't believe in violence, except on a pitch.
-I love showing affection to my friends
-I WILL eat with my hands. Silverware optional
-Let me sing...I realize I don't know the lyrics well.
-I enjoy cooking WITH people.
-I have no control with it comes to chips, potatoes, fries and sour patches. Eat until empty.
-Be sensitive when criticising Harry Potter or Lost.
-I cross my fingers when I don't want to forget a point. This way, the thought is on my fingers, but I may still ACTIVELY listen to you, and not just wait for my turn to speak.
-I like to ask you questions, and yes, I am interested in what you have to say, but do not forget to ask me questions too. Everyone likes to share.
-If I talk to you, and seem interested in what you have to say, I probably am interested. This does not mean that I want to sleep with you. I just like to understand and get to know people.
-My fingers can withstand the cold and ice longer than most people.
-I love baths.
-Life is shades of grey to me...unless it regards attractiveness. Then its black and white.

I could go on, but I made my point to myself. Its good that I am taking care of myself. Its good that I made time for ME. This list is important. I need to remember many of these things, especially when I am working within Social Work. It can be a depressing job where I can easily lose myself. This list is important so I can find myself quicker.

Flatmate for a week

This past week I had a flatmate! Claire's partner in crime while she was here in New Zealand was Jules. Claire wanted us to meet so Jules came and stayed with me.

The first night I took him to Enigma, my favorite cafe! We shared some carrot cake and drank some coffee. That night, we made blueberry American pancakes. I tried to make them really fluffy and thought I was doing well. Then I made him try it out and he made better pancakes then me! The next day, I came home after class and he had made me dutch pancakes! It was a lovely surprise.

Courtney asked Jules if he wanted to play an ultimate frizbee game with her league so he was able to run around that day too! He told me he played poorly but Courtney told me otherwise.

That night we watched Harry Potter. We made a drinking game out of it. He was Ron, I was Harry, my friend Max was Hermione and my friend Sam was Dobby. We each had to drink when our character did something specific. For example, whenever Harry spoke to snakes, I had to drink. We had a bunch of other rules that applied to all of us. Some were when Hagrid cried, when ever someone mentioned the Wesley's were poor, when the full name 'Harry Potter' was spoken, etc. It was a fun night.

Friday we made our way to the Film Archive. We were able to see a really interesting movie about the Springbox and the All Blacks in the 70s. The film was called Try Revolution. There was a game in NZ and people began to protest South Africa due to their racially separated team. I was excited to see that after the movie, when the lights came up, almost the whole theater was filled with white collar business folk on their lunch break! I dont know how many people back in the states would use their lunch break to see a documentary. I loved it!

That afternoon, Jules and I went to a park and began filming an amature Parkour video. It was hilarious and we had a good time. on our way home, we picked up some items so we could create Butterbeer. It was amazing. Jules skyped Claire for a hour or so while I drank a bit on a tree trunk with Andrea and Courtney. We spent some time listening to a cover band in the local Uni pub too. I loved the fact that I knew every song they played. Gotta love a good cover band!

That night we took along our butter beer and went to a party. I drank and ate too many sweet things. Because of that, I didnt have the stomach to go out dancing. Or maybe I was already danced out from the party? We came home and watch the Lion King instead. I forgot how much that movie STILL ROCKS.

The next day, we went to a art fair by the bay. It was neat but I was glad I had no reason to buy anything. I did manage to find the Waldorf Education Table! I was really excited and talked to two teachers about the similarities, and hardships that NZ faced within Waldorf Education. Jules spent a bit of time there, looking over information. We had a nice little discussion about education that night.

The rest of the afternoon, Andrea and Courtney joined us for more Parkour video making. We had a lot of fun running around and thinking of different scenes for the video. That night, the girls came over and we looked at some of our videos and made a magnificent dinner for us all. We ended up watching Almost Famous too.

The next morning we all woke up and went to the farmers market, my favorite place in Wellington. The rest of the day it rained. I started reading a book, and Jules finished his own book. He played some tunes on his guitar and showed me a bunch of bands that I had not heard of before! I have a list going now...I was able to show him some of my own favorite bands too. That night we made a good dinner, had some delicious fruit for dessert and watch the 6th Harry Potter Movie!

The next day, we woke up, had some breakfast and then made our way to the train station. It was so nice having a flat mate for a week! I really liked just hanging out listening to music, chatting about unimportant or important issues, and taking someone along to explore outside or hang with friends! I had a really nice time with him.

Time of my life

Cheesy, but true; my 15 day road trip around the south island of New Zealand was the "time of my life". I dont use that phrase lightly. Myself and 3 lovely ladies, Andrea, Courtney and Hollin, flew into Christchurch and rented a Corona. We named our car Dumbledore's beard, DB for short.

We first made our way through Arthur's pass. We stopped at a magnificent boulder field! Finishing that day, we saw a Kea (Bird), which are only seen in parts of the South island, and slept under neath a mountain in the south apls! The next morning, I explored the river that ran beside us and plunged my head into it. It was a refreshing wake-up. The water was so clear, I could see through to the bottom. It was delicious as well and took advantage of the mountain water and filled up my water bottles.

We then made our way along the coast, checking out ocean and mountain views. We drove through Franz Joseph and stopped along at the Fox glacier. I was expecting a large hole in the ground to show how there was once a glacier, like back home. Nope, we hiked along a path and saw a monstrous pile of ice in between two mountains. It was magical!

We were heading out when I asked my geology gal, Courtney, if we should go to the access point. After all, it was her thing, and if we were somehow in a place with a Harry Potter museum, I knew Courtney would ask me if we should make a stop! She said no...but then 22 seconds later turned around. I am glad she did! We thought we would just get a close look at the glacier- We tramped around mountains, amazed by the glacier pools and then almost peed our pants when we saw the glacier close up! It was incredible but sad. We were able to see how large it used to be, and how over the years, especially the last 100 years, how quickly the glacier has melted away.

Next we drove through Mt.Aspiring, and again camped beneath another mountain. The next morning we drove through more gorgeous lands and made our way to Queenstown. We were pretty exhausted but still looked around town, saw a neat sunset, ate some gelato, and did a bit of shopping. (I finished my Christmas Shopping for the entire family).

The next day, Andrea, Hollin and I ventured away to a near mountain range called the Remarkables. There, we sky dived. To be blunt, it was the most fantastic thing I have ever done. I am not one who likes rollercoasters or who normally enjoys putting myself in extreme situations. The entire time of the experience, I was not nervous or felt unsafe. My skymaster was named Scott. He was 38, scruffy, and also had the same hiking shoes as me. With this knowledge, you may understand how I didnt complain and welcomed him as he strapped me close to his hiker body, for protection. We got into a small little plane and made our way up 12,000 ft. It was an incredible ride! I had the one window seat so I was able to see the beautiful mountains around us!

So yes, the actually falling. He set me outside the plane and he held on, so virtually i was hanging out of the plane. I concentrated on my "banana" position and swore to myself that I would keep my eyes open. Scott didnt delay and we somersaulted out of the plane! The feeling in my stomach wasn't as bad as a rollercoaster and lasted only moments. It was incredible as I fell to the ground. I wasn't even thinking I was falling...I just kept looking around at the amazing views that I had. I saw pools of water, lakes, beneath me. Suddenly, the air stopped rushing and I realized my shoot had been pulled. I looked around me and saw that I was parallel to a mountain beside me. "I always wanted to fly" I told my skymaster. (I know, I am ridiculously lame). We para sailed down. The scariest part was landing, as I realized how fast we were coming to the ground.

Apart from feeling hungover and not being able to hear anything for 2 days, the whole experience was wonderful. As Andrea and I sipped on our free coffee and waiting for the rest of the skydivers to finish, I had to hold back some tears! I confessed how up in the sky, jumping out, I felt like I could conquer all of my demons; that all the unfortunate things that occurred in my life, which at times hold me back, I could grasp and become stronger, while they still exist inside me.

SO- We then made our way to the Fiordland National Park. It was the beginning of Avalanche season so many of the treks we were unable to go on. We chose the Greenstone trek, which was supposed to be on an easier level and less hilly. We decided to hike right before the sun was setting, to make it to the first hut which was only a couple hours away. We had a magical moment as we came into a clearing and saw the mountains lit by the moonlight. In the dark, with the help of our head torch, we found our hut. We had a welcoming party of 4 boys from the Christchurch Uni. We later found out that they thought we were rangers and they didn't have a hut pass so were nervous. We played Asshole with them the rest of the night and had a good time.

The next day we awoke to some rain. Hollin was not keen on treking but I wanted to at least try. We hiked for a few hours. Courtney and I got REALLY creative for about 45 minutes, finding ways to cross a marsh/river. We were literally 15 ft away from being clear of river crossings when Courtney fell in. She was a trooper and still keen to tramp but then fell in again. We had around 5 hours a head of us still, so we decided to take the short cut and go to a closer hut, about 2 or 3 hours away. We were welcomed by a group of hunters, on their way out. They had a dear attached to their helicopter, hanging from a rope. It fell, but they came back for their prize later that night. We were exhausted and took a nap, trying to dry out our clothes. We were awakened to a couple who made it to the hut right before dark. They were pretty shy and kept to themselves.

The next day we made our 6/7 hour trek to the next hut. We went through landslides, forests, Meadows, wetlands, wire bridges, hopping along rocks, and anything else you may think of. The trek was covered with green and purple stones! It didn't look real. At one point, I slipped on a rock. I am pretty good at reclaiming my balance but with a heavy pack, there was no hope. I fell (but gracefully) down and could not get back up. I needed at least two of the girls to help me up. That night, we celebrated with splitting two carrots with jam for desert. We were pretty tight with our food, so at that point in time, a half carrot each was heaven. It made up for the detergent flavored oatmeal packs we ate for 2 days.

Two days later, we made it out to civilization. We looked rough. We stripped in the parking lot and found clothes that didn't smell. Through those 4 days, we grew accustomed and desensitized to waterfalls, as well as farting and scratching ourselves. The latter portion became troublesome later that day. We were walking around Milford sound and Andrea laughed. She said she had just itched her crotch for 20 seconds, forgetting about the group of boys passing by. We needed to readjust.

So, a bit crabby, we blasted the heat and took the Milford highway to Milford sound. It was beautiful. We drove higher and higher, and were in areas where it was snowing. We drove through a mountain and then when we existed, we bombarded with the most beautiful sights.

We drove on down to Milford and checked out the views. On the way back, Courtney and I stopped at the Chasm. We were not sure if we wanted to take the 15 minute hike (remember we were just in the woods for 4 days) and Andrea and Hollin were not about to budge from the car. A random man said it was worth it so we made our way.

SO, apart from skydiving, this may have been my favorite thing in the whole trip. I FREAKED out when I saw the chasm, the rushing water and how the rocks looked. Courtney and I were like little girls who are seeing their teeniebopper idol, Aaron Carter..We even took the dodgy unmarked trail down and hung off a tree to getting a better look at the chasm. It was hard not to cry! But Courtney blamed that on my hormones.

Back in the car, we made the trip back to a hostel, washed our clothes and played board games. In the morning we made our way across the coast. We stopped at the Southern most extreme point, a beach with petrified wood, and another beach that had cool kelp and boulders. I was off exploring by myself and scared myself to death when I almost fell on top of a sea lion. He/She was just as scared as I was and we both booked it in opposite directions. I failed to capture the creature and later saw a beware of sea lions sign. Ops.

We finished the day with nugget point, a lighthouse with seals, penguins, beaches, and really neat rocks. We voted, and I lost, so as a team we drove to Dunedin and got a hostel instead of camping out.

Dunedin was a neat town. We woke up and checked out the Uni and ate at the Velvet Burger. The place rocked. We were not used to such large portions! After we then went on a Cadbury Chocolate Factory tour. I ate my included bag of candy all in one day. We then finished off with a Spaights Brewery Tour. That was a GREAT tour and I was able to take advantage of the 30 minute open bar, serve yourself. I was reminded how small the world is when I met a gal my age, who was visiting a friend of mine. She happened to also be from WI and I found out she was in my Dads first class at Whitefish Bay. Pretty crazy.

The next day we were ready to make our way to Mt.Cook, but made a stop on the edge of Dunedin. We climbed the steepest street in the world! Honestly, I expected it to be more steep, but then I remembered that cars actually had to ride up and down this street. I wouldn't want to be the driver of that car! (I actually drove to this street, but refused to drive up it).

We also stopped at a beach with boulders that looked like the top of turtle shells. It was fun seeing some of them split open, and others intact. The boulders reminded me of giant geodes.

We finally made it to Mt.Cook, which was Mt.Doom in LOTR. We took some pictures and set up camp in the middle of the mountains. There was a blanket of moss on the ground which was great padding for our backs. We joked around, told stories and then drifted off to sleep for a few hours. We were then awakened by a huge rain/wind storm. It seriously looked like a hurricane and part of our tent collapsed. We had to stay inside the tent for hours, trying to hold it together. It was hilarious, even though the girls were furious. In the morning we made a run for it and took down the tent with frozen hands. I discovered that my hands can withstand the cold longer than others. Add that to my talents. Well, the rain did not stop so we made our way to a hick diner. After some breakfast, we travelled up the coast, through wine country, rolling hills, and beach coasts. We stopped at one beach and walked around a bit. We spent the night in the car on the ocean towards the top of the south Island. That night we went to a small bar called the strawberry tree. There they had a special on Guinness and also a coin toss for an hour giving away free drinks. I had my Guinness but also won a free drink. It was a good ol time. Our night in the car was interesting. We were near the train tracks. 3 trains passed through that night. 1 was extra loud and I really thought the Hogwarts express was coming for me, and would ram into our car.

We drove on through more rolling hills and made our way to Hamner Springs. We stopped in the little town and played a game of Frisbee. We found a nice little bakery too! I was able to get a 90cent roll with sprinkled cheese on top. I was in heaven! We then continued on down to Christchurch. We stopped at the store and bought some wine and found our way to a museum before finding our host family.

I was as tired as a 5 year old, waiting up Christmas Eve for Santa. I did not want to try to keep my eyes open in a museum. I was surprised and it happened to be the most interesting art museum I have ever encountered. There was 1 exhibit about America, and all the small places and organizations that we like to keep quiet. There was also another exhibit of small paintings related to societal norms. That one was my favorite. I was pleased to find even a kids exhibit that was informative, interactive and intelligent. I really enjoyed myself.

Instead of staying in a hostel in the middle of the CBD of Christchurch, we stay a 20 minute walk away at Courtney's ultimate Frisbee friend's parents house. Her friend wasn't even there, but his family welcomed us warmly! The father was the vice chancellor of the Canterbury Uni, there in Christchurch. He was very interesting to talk to. The mother was a hoot, making us laugh and telling us stories. That night we had a wonderful dinner and talked about society, traditions, and earthquakes. Their niece was living with them and she took us to a inprov that night. It was called scared scriptless. It was like whose line is it anyway. It was really funny. The whole audience got into the programme, offering ideas. It was great fun. That night we all went to sleep.

4:30am that morning I woke up to a sudden shaking. Immediately my thoughts remembered our previous night's talks about earthquakes. Hollin and I were sharing a bed. We grabbed one another and I noticed the huge bookcase beside me. Our conversation between us was short and to the point. me:bookcase (Maneuver out of bed, tripping over things) hollin:doorway (Maneuver again, huddle together and hollin putting a pillow over our heads). A minute later it ended. We later found out that Andrea and Courtney just laid in bed quiet. Afterward Courtney, thinking of our Mt.Cook experience, said to Andrea something about the wind..Andrea had to tell her it was an earthquake! Then Courtney snapped out of it and said that if it happened again, they should probably get out of bed.

I was so lucky to be at the Carr's home. Mr.Carr found all of us and reassured us. The niece brought her laptop in and we started looking at news results. They even found a battery radio so we could listen to what was happening (We had no heat, electricity, or water from then on). In the morning, Mrs. Carr, Jenn, had breakfast ready. We talked, went on a walk through town to see the damage (My group witnessed the mayor state the city was in a state of emergency), we played ultimate frizbee with family friends, they made us lunch, gave us snacks, and we even had a lovely dinner party filled with boardgames and HUGE amounts of candy! I almost vomitted with the amount of food.

It was so incredible having a family, especially in a state of emergency. They were so lovely and gracious. Mr.Carr was in touch with many people, due to the fact he was vice chancellor. That was really helpful. He helped us get in contact with our families too! (Our cell phones didnt work either). Courtney's parents had had our itinerary and knew we were in Christchurch. They were nervous and had called the embassy searching for us!

Everyone was really lucky. If we hadnt stayed with the Carrs, we would have been in the worst damaged areas of Christchurch. We would have been stranded in that city for 2 days. If the earthquake didnt strike at the early hour which it did, we would have been with the thousands, within the CBD of christchurch.

We awoke early, ready to depart for the airport. Jenn, such a kind person, had woken up even earlier so we would have breakfest! We arrived with plenty of time. The airport was more crowded then ususal due to the fact that flights had been canceled from the earthquake. Tremors continued to shake the city, even ten minutes before we got onto our plane. The weather was WINDY. It was so windy that the stewardess couldnt serve us coffee and tea. I literally almost vomitted for more than half the trip. I later found out that our flight was the "test" flight, to see if it was too windy or not.

It was nice to be back in Wellington. I called it home for the first time at the airport. The first thing I did was wash my sleeping bag. I had been sleeping in it since I arrived in Wellington. Now it smelt like mold and sweat. I was not excited about school begining the next day. I felt like I had been gone for longer than 15 days. I had no motivation. I wanted to go on another adventure!

Preparing for lift-off

This week I was preparing for my adventure to the South Island. I am so excited to be done with school for awhile and just hike. My old professor would say that I am "finding your spirit again".

I took a bit of a risk at the farmer's market last Sunday and bought small grapefruits instead of my normal kiwifruits. Wow, I am happy with that decision. I bought 4 grapefruits for a dollar thirty- I would be jealous too. I also discovered that I don't hate chai tea. I was used to this nasty (but good for you) chai tea that my mom and sister drink. That stuff was always too spicy for me. This stuff is great! The first day, I had 7 cups!

I decided I needed to get out of my studio to actual work on school. I am really good at doing nothing. While I was procrastinating in my room, I rediscovered ballet. I used my radiator as a barre and have been stretching out!

When I finally did make it to the library, it was a toss up. The first 3 hours went fine. Then a couple sat across from me. I don't know why they even came to the library. It was packed and another two people would have loved their seats. They literally had a heated make-out session the whole time. Tickling was involved. Giggles. Maybe I am a hater. Maybe I came to the library so I could concentrate. After an hour, I couldn't take it anymore and left.

My Asian Religions professor was the highlight of my day. He gave us an easy lecture. We talked about what meditation really is, and laughed at the ridiculous stereotypes the west (us) have created. Did you know that some secs of Buddhism meditate with a corpse? They come every day until the body is completely decomposed...My professor also imitated the angry, blue muppet baby, for at least a minute and 37 seconds. He did an amazing job. I forget why he began to imitate him but who cares. He must have rehearsed that performance.

I bought myself some gaters for my backpacking trip. Not going to lie, I feel like a real tramper. I cant wait to use them! I imagine they will do wonders for my quickdry pants and hiking boots. I might not look it, but I FEEL bad ass in them.

So the highlight of this week came Thursday. My German friend, Miriam, invited me to a reading from the author of the Whale Rider. His name is Witi Ihimaera. It was hosted at another university. I was so excited that I made her sit in the second row. It was a wonderful night. He read from two books, lyrics, showed us clips from a play and a TV movie he is creating. He even sang for us. When he started singing, other Maoris from the audience joined in with him. It was really special. He was about to wrap up and then he said that he put 3 golden tickets underneath 3 seats for one of his books. I GOT THE GOLDEN TICKET. I felt like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I ran up and shook his hand and he gave me the book. It was amazing! After the reading, we were served free snacks (I found out I enjoy olives better with the pits!) and WINE. I love New Zealand! This was all free. I then sat in line and had him sign my book. He was really funny and kind. He even talked to me for a bit. I was a bit star struck (He is the most famous Maori person, and one of the most famous New Zealand Writers), so I discussed stupidly how my name is spelt backwards and forwards. I am pathetic.

Well, after writing one rather good essay on society and gender, and another poor essay on elements of the Buddhism, I am ready for my spring break trip. The car is reserved, date planned to skydive, hostels ready, backpack all suited up...I think I am ready for take-off!

Save it for a rainy day

The combination of rainy weather and extreme levels of procrastination (3 papers are due next week-ha), I had a really chill week. I had a fun week doing smaller scale things that involved intimacy and less crowds- my favorite.

Last weekend, the Germans I met from WWOOFing came and visited Courtney and I. They brought along a friendly Canadian, too! When they arrived, we walked along the coast, through the city and down Cuba St. The Germans were hungry so they went to some cheap noodle joint and the Canadian, Courtney and I went literally across the street to a Vegetarian only restaurant. It was scrumptious!

We then took a trip to the market and bought some beer, cider and wine. We made our way back to my studio and continued finishing 4 and a half bottles of wine, 2 bottles of cider and 2 cases of beer. Courtney failed to make it out that night. One of my fondest memories of the night is one of the Germans, poking and trying to wake her up from my bed, while another German is laughing extra loud and taking pictures of this, while the Canadian stealthily switches the German's metal music to some arcade fire/other random Canadian bands. Due to the Germans, I now am aware of the different types of Metal: epic, power, melodic, death, heavy...will this information ever be useful to me?

We first stopped at my friend, Hollin's place. We met some more people and then made our way to Cuba St. The first bar we went into, one of the Germans was asked to wait ten minutes to sober up. With persuasion, the rest of us went into the bar. I knew I didn't need any more booze so as the other German and Canadian bought some beer, I boogied on the dance floor. Later I was joined by "too drunk to get in" German and the Canadian. The other German was too cool to dance. Too bad-that German was extra cute. Unfortuneatly, he was a metal boy, and I already did that once.

We stayed about an hour and then made our way out. I asked a random, hammered Kiwi, who was not allowed in due to his drunkenness, what other good bars there were to visit. He pointed us down Courtney place. On our way there, the fountain was filled with soap foam. One of the Germans, the Canadian and I decided to play and had a foam war. It didn't last long once we realized we were ankle deep in the fountain.

We stopped at Burger King (which is classy here!) because the Germans were hungry again. Canadian and I talked about co-ops and good music. He used to work at a famous co-op, where everyone is allowed only one share, thus making it a real community owned and every vote counts, co-op. He wrote down there secret humus recipe for me. I am so excited to make it with my brother, Gareth, when I get home.

To speed up the rest of the night, we tried another bar but after confronting drunk bros, left quickly. The next 4 bars, one of the Germans was told he was "too drunk and not properly dressed" so we sort of made our way home. We did stop at a kabob place so the Canadian could eat. One of the Germans decided he was hungry again too. When I got back, I made my self an avocado sandwich.

The next day, I woke up early, and went to the farmers market. The boys slept off their hangover. I was a bit sour, hungover, but as I made my way down the "murder stairs" (no one was murdered there.They are just so steep that your legs die each time you go back up), the never ending story theme song came on.. "TURN AROUND, AND LOOK AT WHAT YOU SEEEEE". I literally stopped, looked out and saw the mountains, and felt the sunshine and light breeze on my face. It was the best hangover cure. Once I got back, I was in the best of moods. The boys were all up so we made our way to the Botanic gardens, looked at a view of the city, walked through Parliament and the bee hive, and took the cable car for a ride.

We then said our farewells, I did a huge reading for my religion class, and then passed out.

The next week, I had this burden of an incredible amount of school work looming over me. Well I didn't do any of it. I used my energy in different areas of my life. I had a nice birthday dinner for an australearn buddy. I had an amazing risotto there. I went to Enigma, and planned my spring break trip to the south island! I was feeling ugly and needed a change so I made an appointment and cut off all my hair. One day I will have really long hair again, but not this year. I went to an acoustic night at the San Fransisco Bath House, and listened to my German friend, Miriam. That was a great night. I sat and chatted with some of my favorite people including Bill Bryson, aka Stu, Courtney, Sam, Andg, and Amanda, while drinking on a sassy red pint of beer. I heard a country style version of Lady Gaga's pokerface.

I read an article in the newspaper about a play called Dog Sees God. It is about Charlie Brown and his friends ten years later. Andrea and I got tickets and walked through a rain storm to a small theater, called Bats. It reminded me of revolutionary, run down, vegan only restaurant in Minnesota that I love so much. It was barely making ends meat, but looked like the coolest place in town. It was a small theater, maybe holding 30 people. The story was dark, but funny. Snoopy dies and Charlie Brown begins to wonder if there is a Heaven. Linus is a pothead, Sally is having an idenity crisis, Beethoven is teased and beat up for being gay, Lucy is in the insane asylum for lighting a girls hair on fire, the kid who always had a cloud of dirt around him is a germaphobe jock and the really smart girl who calls the other tom boy girl, "SIR", are sluts. I would highly suggest the play.

Saturday, I skipped out on going to the coast with some friends, to get some work done for my papers. I finished all my readings for my papers but couldn't handle anymore school. It may have been due to the wannabe Lawyers, sitting across from me who couldn't stop arguing about one was going to make more money than the other after UNI.

I came home, made a delightful dinner, and then watched a movie called "Moon" with Sam, Amanda and Andg. The movie was done by David Bowie's' son. It was pretty awesome. It wouldn't be in my top ten by any means, but I didn't feel like I was robbed of 2 hours of my life. The murderer from the Green Mile, and the Jackass in Charlies Angels...He always plays a bad guy- He was the main character. He did a really good job and DIDN'T play his typical role. Kevin Spacey voiced a robot.

After the movie, a few of us began debating politics and health care. Everyone seems to have an opinion on something but never wants to admit certain details of why. "I wish they would have handled it better". Well why? "I don't want to get into it". Or people will just make one statement saying how its impossible, not really knowing all the details, and just giving up. "You cant have health care for this large of a nation". This conversation pissed me off, but also made me feel more confident in my thoughts to Americorps. The US is fucked up. I don't blame people for hating us. Its up to us to change that response though. I just shouldn't give up and run to another Country. At least not yet. While Claire was getting her Tattoo, we watched a video called the Fall of the Republic. It was a film discussing how our Nation is run, the corruption, and how big businesses are running everything. I wasn't surprised by any of it. But I am pissed that I just let myself me mad and do nothing. That's just lazy, which is what our culture is. Lazy and eats up whatever they are told. Lets read some cosmos, or play video games, while the important people run things.

This morning, I woke up to another windy, misty day of rain. I made my way to the farmer's market and decided to get grapefruits instead of Kiwis this week. How delighted was I when I bought 4 grapefruits for a dollar and 30 cents. Oh how I love New Zealand Farmers market.

Wish me luck. I am off to the library to try to get some work done of these 3 papers.