Friday, January 30, 2009

Settling Down

Greetings! so i believe the last time i posted i had JUST moved into my new place and was still sleeping on the floor. well i am proud to announce that last sat, christina and i, rented a cargo van and drove around picking up new furniture for my room. the bed frame i purchased was in lyall bay (near the airport a little southeast of town), and just so everyone knows, it's GORGEOUS out there. then after getting my bed frame, we drove into town and picked up a mattress from the salvation army (it was the very LAST mattress what wasn't sold, and luckily it was a double and only $45!), and a desk and shelves from the warehouse. i spent the afternoon walking around with michael and vineet, so michael could give me a ride home later ;) we went to the te papa museum (free new zealand museum downtown), to see the giant squid exhibit. i was really expecting something super cool, but really it was just a big preserved squid...not that amazing. when i got home i put my bed together, then started assembling my desk. i was actually quite proud of myself. as a daughter i was never really involved in those self assembly projects, and even though it's not very hard to follow the directions, i still did it all by myself :) unfortunately the little set of shelves i put together was not as simple...who knew. i couldn't get anything to align correctly and finally, when my hands were too raw from twisting the screwdriver, i just gave up and hammered them in the rest of the way.

on tuesday we (kate, liz and i) went to customs to try to get the luggage we had shipped over from sydney. nz allows a limited amount of luggage you can bring, which caused us to have to ship it via freight. we arrived at customs, and then were told to go to maf (people who handle biohazards), when we arrived at maf, they didn't know we were coming, and didn't have our paperwork done. then liz and i had to pay $50 to get our hiking boots cleaned (if we had packed them in our accompanied baggage, it would have been free...learned that lesson). we then went back to customs to get everything cleared...however we had to wait until wednesday to actually GO to the freight office to pick up the bags. bleh. anyway, i finally have all my stuff, my room is all furnished and i'm 100% settled :)

earlier last week (sorry for jumping around so much), amanda, christina and i went to a barrack obama party :) we were very excited to celebrate the inauguration, even if it was kiwi style, and check out one of the local music venues, the san fransisco bathhouse. the party was more of an obama party, than it was an inaugration party, and idk abt christina (she's american as well), but i kinda felt outta place. everyone who performed spoke about slavery, and how badly americans had treated blacks in the past, and look at them now, he's runnin the country. idk...it was an interesting experience, but def not was i expected.

on wednesday we had orientation, and i enrolled in my classes. this semester i'll be taking new zealand conservation practices, conservation ecology, and ecological restoration. for 2 weeks in feb we will do our conservation practice course through a 1 week trip to hawkes bay in the north island, and a 1 week trip somewhere in the south island. i hear it's the best part of the semester, and i'm really looking forward to it :)

what else...
i'm still working on getting my visa. i got a local library card (imagine that!). OH!! i finished 'son of a witch' last week (i just got it for xmas) AND i checked out 'the da vinci code' from the library and just finished that YESTERDAY! it's crazy. idk who i am now...but apparently i'm a reading fiend. i'm not on to reading the 'sex and the city' book, which the tv show was based on. it's crazy though...so attention everyone! all those books you told me i should have read years ago, write me a list or send them over, cause books are flying off my shelves!

the weather has been decent, not too hot during the day, and chilly at night. rained a few days ago, and of course the occasional gust of wind. today is the hottest day i've seen in nz, and it's only in the upper 70's. i'm going out tonight w/the girls in my program (i say girls...only because there are no guys!), to celebrate our last night before school starts. AND, i totally didn't even realize that the superbowl was this sunday!! i feel so outta the loop :( not like i enjoy watching football, but it's def something you HAVE to watch at home...i wonder if they'll even show it here? anyway, things here are good, and i've uploaded some more pics (nathan has also opened a picasa account and there is a link to his pics on the right hand side of my pic page). i will be submitting my alpha phi contest photos on feb 2, and i've narrowed it down to 3 finalists. there are some ties, so get in there and vote!! i'll let you know what i find out. :)

Monday, January 19, 2009

1 paparata st

hi again! (look @ me being so good, posting so much these last few days). just a quick post to let every one know i've moved into my new house. it's a bit far from the city, in a suburb called karori (said just the way it looks). it's on the top of a hill and i have a GREAT view out over the hills towards the harbor. there's a late-20's something married gay couple who lives here right now (micheal and vinete). they seem very nice (from the 1 10min convo we had when i came to check out the place), and i'm sure i'll be writing more about them as i get to know them better. i have a medium sized room on the 1st floor right next to the front door, it's unfurnished but has a nice closet for all my clothes :) the lack of a bed was kind of a determent from me immediately snatching up the room, but a few mins after i left they called me up and offered me the place. i had one more house i was going to go to on saturday, but i figured what the heck, why not just go for it! this weekend i purchased a double bed frame on trade me (nz's ebay), for only $51!! :-D i have to go pick it up myself, but i'm planning on renting a truck (or as the kiwi's say 'hire a ute'), so i can get the bed frame and then go by a mattress @ a 2nd hand shop. micheal and vinete are letting me borrow a foam mattress of theirs until i get a proper bed. i had quite the time finding double sheets for me bed...apparently they're a REALLY uncommon size to carry :-\ after buying a double fitted sheet from store A, and a queen flat sheet from store B, store C had a double flat and fitted sheet for only $10 each...waaay less than i paid @ either of the other stores. right now micheal (who's a kiwi) is cooking dinner for vinete (who's indian, just moved to nz 7 years ago), and i...some sort of indian food. it's a good thing i liked the indian food i had for the 1st time last week, or i'd really be in trouble!! when michael leaves to go pick up vinete from work/the gym i'll try to take some pics of the house. i don't wanna walk around doin it now...new roommate and all...don't want him thinking i'm to weird! (okay okay, so he'll prob figure it out later, but i'd like to delay that as much as possible ;)

RE-ENTRY: now, i've also been reminded that i skipped part of my syd-->wellington story and my re-entry into syd(which i must have tried to block out...ugh). after waiting through the customs line, i handed over my passport to the customs agent. after typing a few things there and there, she called someone over for a question. the 'question answer-er' pulled me aside and told me that my visa name and my passport name didn't match perfectly, because my middle name was not on my visa!! i told her i'd had the visa since july and there was no problem w/it then, but she didn't seem to care and kept telling me that the names had to match perfectly. i sat in some random chairs for ~20mins (worrying they wouldn't let me back in the country!), but eventually she came back and said everything was fine...guess they couldn't find my criminal records ;)

SYD-->WLG:after waiting a hour in the check-in line, the attendant told me i needed a return sydney flight to get into nz. apparently they won't let you in the country w/no visa unless you can prove you'll be leaving. so i got outta line and had to BUY a return sydney ticket on the spot :-\ luckily i had just gotten my bond back so i had the cash on me! i then went back to the attendant to weighted my bag (i was REALLY worried my bags were too heavy...i didn't know WHAT i was gonna do). the 1st bag was fine, and then they wanted to weigh my carry on!! WHO WEIGHS A CARRY ON?! well it was only allowed to be 7kg and it was almost 14kg! they said i'd have to check it, and pay $200 or if i had proof of my trip from the us-->syd then they'd wave the fee. well it's not like i walk around carrying old plane tix, so i had to go upstairs and find the united offices to get a print out of some kind. well they were closed...but lucky for me the attendant let me pass w/out the extra fee! :-D

**as soon as i find somewhere w/free internet i'll upload a ton of pics, so be ready! xoxoxo everyone!! happy almost obama day!

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

summer/winter/summer/wellington part II

alright everyone, as promised i'm finishing my update (instead of looking for housing, so feel special).

right, so after spending my 1st day of 2009 on coogee beach, and getting called out of the water because of a shark (very exciting, no injuries, and they didn't say what kind of shark it was), i set off to do my last bit of sight-seeing. that saturday i went to the royal botanical gardens, sydney opera house, and the australian museum. it was quite the day filled w/tourists, but i really enjoyed myself. i went on the tour of the gardens and practiced using my new camera (which nathan gave me for xmas-panasonic lumix...very nice ;) thanks again dude), and learned this interesting fact: each species of fig has it's own species of wasp, the blind, wingless male sits inside waiting for females to come by and mate with him. the extra pollen that she brings then pollinates the fig. (there was a man in my group who asked if the males have little tvs and kegs of beer inside...too funny). i also went on the tour of the opera house. i really debated spending the money on it, but i think it was quite worth it. they took you around inside and showed you the details of the architecture and you were also able to see 2 of the theaters. all week i had been seeing adds for the 'best nature photography of 2008' which was being displayed at the australian museum. naturally with my enjoyment of photography, and my new camera i was off to see the show. also...waaay worth it. the photographs were amazing, plus i got to hang out w/some cool cuttle fish (pics of which i'm quite proud of, thanks to my cool new camera!). i haven't quite been able to figure out the loading of the pics yet, something to do w/the file type...once i get them all converted i'll upload them. on sunday i finally made it to manly, after fighting the crowds on the ferry and fighting the wind, did i made it to to shelly beach. which is famous for snorkeling, but i didn't have any snorkel equipment so i just enjoyed the sun and continued reading my new book, son of a witch (squeal to wicked, and i'm actually almost done...i really need to slow down so i have time to find a new book to read next...never thought i'd be saying that).

then it was off to wellington!! after a quick flight (well, quick when compared to my us-->aus flights), i was in nz, land of the kiwis. my friend amanda, who is part of my program, offered to let me stay @ her apt until i find housing, and so she picked me up from the airport. after getting in we took a little walk around the wharf downtown and had a few beers @ mac's (they have a 6 beer sampler...very cool). on wednesday, we meet a friend of amanda's, jughnu, at his restaurant, little india. i can now say, that i have eaten indian food...i was always too scared before cause i didn't know what would be spicy. but don't worry, i survived :) jughnu also invited us to join him in his box seats at the nz vs west indies cricket game. so i can also now say that i've been to a cricket game. it was about as exciting as i expected, but i got to play w/my new camera some more :) after the game the 3 of us went to dinner, and then out for drinks. the next mornining amanda went to the airport to pick up christina, also in my program and will be be staying w/amanda until she finds housing. she barely had enough time to unwind before we were off on our road trip north. we were headed to parihaka, the peace festival about 3 hrs north of wellington. we made 2 stops on the way, one to lindale farm were we got ice cream and free honey samples, and two to amanda's mom's, cathy, beach house. at cathy's we had lunch and went ocean kayaking (which i had also never done before). i was really worried about flipping over in the waves, but i made it out w/no more than a few big splashes :) after out small detour we continued to parihaka. at about 9pm we set up our tent, took a small walk around to survey the stage areas and went to bed. there weren't very many highlights of our time there but i'll give you a few: the craaaaaaazy wind, the craaaaaaazy hippies, the 'roots' music, and the beautiful mount taranaki which (on the clear days) was the backdrop for the concert. it was really neat to walk around and see all the different kinds of people and learn about the maori culture (the native nz's). on the 1st offical day of the festival the local maori tribe welcomed us on to their land w/a small ceremony followed by a hongi line (you shake hands and touch noses to the elders). also, one night for dinner we had hangi, which is a traditional style of cooking. they make a fire to heat up many medium size stones and dig a big pit. the put the food in the pit, cover it w/wet clothes or fabric and then cover the whole pit with the stones to heat the food. it wasn't very exciting food, but it was a cool process to watch. they also had wood and stone carvers at the festival, which were really neat to watch. and i've def decided that decorating stones w/carving is a great way to dress up nature :) on sunday, the sun FINALLY came out (which caused me to get sunburned :-\ boo) and everyone's mood significantly brightened...after 3 days of crazy wind and clouds and rain. sunday afternoon we headed back home and stopped at cathy's again for dinner, and so amanda could finish her package (she does new segments at a nz radio station and was reporting about the festival-if you're interested in hearing her report...you might also hear someone you know ;) click the 2nd link below. the 1st link is to a tv report and you can see the hongi line, keep an eye out for me :) i'm a nz celeb already!)

http://tvnz.co.nz/entertainment-news/peace-festival-attracts-thousands-2437421
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/summerreport/20090112

we stayed the night at cathy's on sunday because amanda didn't get finished until late, and then on monday we helped her do some chores, spent a windy hour lying on the beach, and then went out to dinner (for more indian food!) before getting back to wellington. so it was a VERY busy weekend...well thrusday to monday. since i've been back in welli i've been looking for places to live. yesterday we went to the beach for a few hrs and then out for drinks last night. so i'm still not quite settled here in nz, but having a free place to stay while i'm looking is really great, and amanda is making a wonderful wellington ambassador. hope things are well @ home and you're not too cold!!! :-P

summer/winter/summer/wellington

hi.

so i know i've been really bad abt not having updated, and i'm very sorry. :( as most of you found out, via surprise visits by yours truely, i went home for 3 weeks to celebrate xmas in a true american fashion...with lots of cold rain. it was really great to be home and see everyone, and 3 weeks was def not enough time. i did hit the highlights: atown reunions, CNU/richmond trip, clubbing in DC, annapolis xmas tree shopping, movies, new clothes from tysons (thanks to the recession and xmas sales i got jeans for 50% off!!), ice skating in DC, and a road trip to RI. the only thing it was missing was snow but i couldn't have asked for more (except for more time maybe). so SURPRISE! :-D sorry to have fooled you all in to thinking i was staying in sydney, but it was just too great to see everyone's face when they realized that i was home from the other side of the world. a big thank you to everyone who went out last min and got me a xmas present :)

my trip back to sydney was pretty uneventful. the united flights weren't as nice as the qantas ones, so if you're willing to pay a few extra $'s i'd say it's worth the luxuries of qantas. no really good movies worth mentioning, and no interesting people that i talked to. on my way back to sydney i flew through san fransico, and had a 7 HOUR LAYOVER. don't try it. i repeat DO NOT TRY IT. if i hadn't been able to buy an internet pass for the day i think i would have gone crazy...well crazier.

once back in sydney where it was hot and sunny again, it took me about 2-3 days to get back on track and lose the affects of the jetlag. my phone had been canceled, which therefore meant no internet. so what i expected to be a carefree week was started by trying to get that all reconnected. however, to get my internet back up it would have cost me $100, which i did not think worth it considering i was only going to be in sydney for a week. therefore that meant very little communication back to the outside world and many hot, sweaty walks over to campus to send the occasional email.

i had a very excellent new year's eve, which i spent at a friend's house in the famous bondi beach. the celebration started with a bbq @ the beach, then drinks at his house until 11ish when we hoped on the bus to a high point near by to sit and watch the fireworks. we had planned on going to park X, but when we got there they said we weren't allowed to have our drinks so we had to go around the corner and find the 'alcohol park'. and let's just say it was exactly that. i could see the bridge just fine and they had little teaser fireworks 10mins and 5mins before the big show. then the show began, and we looked @ our watches and said 'oh, it's midnight! happy new year!' it was very anti-climactic. no big count down or anything. i never realized how much of the NYE excitement comes from the big '3, 2, 1, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!' so really after seeing 5-10 fireworks go off and not being very impressed i hopped over the the toilets while there was no line, got back and started toasting champagne with hayley and the frenchies. i didn't even get a NYE kiss :'( we then went back to damien's house in bondi and waited until 2:30am when we were to go to another house for the NYE after party. by then i was pretty much done w/my celebration and i was really getting tired. after dragging hayley and flo out of the party and taking 2 buses home, i got back to my room with a full sun in the sky. i was really looking fwd to sleeping in in the morning, but my landlady decided that the start of 2009 needed to be with us having a clean house :-\ below are some videos i took of the craziness of the NYE celebrations. they really don't do it much justice, but try to imagine yourself there :) and a happy and healthy 2009 to everyone!


**okay, so the videos seem to be lost somewhere in my computer. they may have not gotten uploaded when my pics did, which if that's the case means they're gone. however i'll keep looking and try to post them later. also, since i spent the last hr looking for them it means i'm REALLY sleepy now. i'll have to finish this update tomorrow. keep an eye out for part II. good night :)