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. :)
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