Oh man.

I'm going to miss this place, ya know? The people, especially. You all are lovely. :-)

One month, 3.8 days or so.

<3

(The picture is totally random, haha!)

The Week at a Glance

Sooo... Just a short note as an update for the week!

Top activities/events of this past week, beginning Friday, 15 May 2009.

*Singing as part of the worship team for OCF (Overseas Christian Fellowship).




We're a band. :-)











*Watching SALSA at the Mexican Cafe!!

*Checking out Victoria Park Markets (and the surrounding children's park with a frog!!).

*Going to a (relatively boring, but awesome) Blues vs. Crusaders Rugby Game!!

*Hamilton Gardens and random adventures south of Auckland.




Who knew there were giant pumpkins around in May?!















*Driving!!

*WAITOMO CAVES!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh goodness, how lovely! :-) (Pictures and a better description available on Facebook, if you're interested. I would suggest checking it out online as well!)




Something was hillarious! Perhaps the fact that we just got dumped over in the river...








*Being challenged, learning from new experiences such as Waitomo (and working on my fear of heights)!

*J's Backpackers and new international friends in Hamilton.

*Lunch in Albert Park because it was a sunny day!! (They are getting fewer and fewer as winter closes in...)

*Writing a paper... (Ok, maybe that's not too exciting, but it was about surgery!!)

*Flamenco fiesta with cheese, crackers, wine, and... nachos!! And of course dressing up and dancing!!















*Giving a presentation in class for the first time since arrival in Auckland.

*Sweet Impact Group (small group) with OCF on Tuesday evening; dinner at "Angie's Cafe", a Malaysian spot, afterwards!

*STOMP!!!!!! The show was held at the Civic Center here in AKL and was amazing!! Also had dinner at the Viaduct, which was lovely.

STOMP!

*Japanese dinner and "Little Miss Sunshine" with the girls! (Oh, and cookie baking!) :-)

Being unicorns with our chopsticks, clearly!

That's all for now!! Turned out to be a bit more than just merely "highlights", but it's been a nice week. Time to finish my history document analysis and begin the next one! Finals (finals MONTH, to be precise...) are a few weeks away, though there are only two full weeks of class remaining! Crazy!!!!!! Going on a bushwalk/tramp this Saturday with OCF friends and such; should be quite wonderful! The rest of the weekend will be spent studying, researching, and writing. Fun times!

Update again soon! I would love to hear from you if you are reading this. Please feel free to shoot me an e-mail, facebook message, or comment on the blog. :-) Miss you, friends!



Auckland Town Hall as a sand castle. I'm not really sure why...
















G'night! <3>

When Pigs Fly.

So I was walking to class yesterday (or perhaps two days ago... not exactly sure) I spotted a super awesome t-shirt upon a classmate. It was simply stated, black in color, and rather amusing. It said...

"Pigs don't Fly.
They Flu."

:-)

And that was all. I had a nice little chuckle to myself. And yes, the "Swine Flu/H1-N1" did come to Auckland, but it appears as though it's not a concern... No worries.

On a different note, a few friends and I went to the Blues (Auckland) vs. Crusaders (Canterberry) Rugby Game this evening. It was lovely weather, quite mild. We lost by 2 points, which were scored in the last 7 minutes or so of the game... Bummer! On a happy note, we were able to manage the following pictures post-game:







That is all for now! More to follow. Headed to Waitomo Caves tomorrow and will be Black Water Rafting. We shall see how that goes!! :-)

G'night and love you all!

MIZ - ZOU!!

So... I realize that it has been over a month since my last post... don't get too excited yet, as this is not going to be a long post... YET... :-)

Just wanted to share some immediate excitement with friends back home.

As I was waiting at the bus stop near Uni after an incredible Graduation Gala Orchestra Concert/Competition, I took time to people watch. This is my usual routine, and usually provides a fair amount of entertainment, for a common bus stop, that is. This evening, however, I watched a guy come to the stop where I was waiting. I looked at his bag because it said "National Geographic Society." Then saw his "All Blacks" jacket. Kiwi. Thenn.... I saw a TIGER. No joke. THE MIZZOU TIGER! On his baseball cap. :-D Oh goodness, I was excited. I evaluated the situation, checked out the hat, and indeed saw an "M" with our lovely tiger resting upon.

So I commented... "Sir, is that a Mizzou hat that you have?"... "Umm... no, sorry, it's not... eh... wait, OH! Missouri, yes!"

Turns out he has been there for 6 months, not sure how recently, but he mentioned Kansas within the first few words... then followed by apologizing and saying it was actually "Kansas City, the Missouri side."

I laughed.

So yeah, basically that's the story, he knows MISSOURI!! The first TRUE TIGER that I've spotted since arrival on February 16th here in good ole' Auckland, NZ.

Made my night.

Made my day, actually!




That's all for now. Much love and will post again soon. :-)

Just an extra hour at Piha

We went camping! :-) As a result, I am now a bit sandy and sunburnt... and my knee... don't think I was supposed to slide down Lion Rock... But it provided an absolutely stunning view of Piha! Since camping was something that was on my list for the "summer in NZ" or such, it was a joy to actually have a plan come together. Five of us headed out a bit later than expected on Saturday to the western beaches of the Auckland area. They are known for wicked surf and sometimes quite strong currents.

First stop: Foodtown to pick up some groceries. Let the fun begin. Was a nice drive down; quite a curvy road through some dense bush. Nice views awaited from a stop-off just above Piha! Soo exciting!! (Note: There is a large, obtrusive rock called Lion Rock in the middle of the beach at Piha. This is in a few films, so may look familiar.) Once we arrived, we had a "nice" (*cough notnice cough*)chat with this lady who presumed we were up to no good... Quite an unfortunate assumption on her part, I do believe. Regardless, we found a campsite in a small field-ish area and set up camp! Then we headed to the beach!

What a beautiful surf. Huge waves galore.

Needless to say, we enjoyed a bit of the water, though it was very chilly. Relaxed for the afternoon and loved taking in the view of PIHA!! Returned to the campsite after enjoying a beautiful sunset. There was also a couple in wedding attire on the beach! Gorgeous. Dinner (cheese sausages) was fixed in the kitchen after a few 3-minute showers and then we retired back to our site. Sat outside in the chilly air, relaxed on the air mattress, and looked at the stars for quite some time. The sky was completely scattered with stars and absent of clouds for a while, which was nice. Then...

There was a noise around our campsite.

It sounded like an animal (and to be honest, my instincts told me "Run! Bear!"... Of course I wasn't thinking, "There can't be bears, we are in New Zealand...")...

Sooo... we began to investigate and found...
a
HEDGEHOG! Eating our chocolate cupcakes and sitting amongst the feijoas!! Oh goodness... Soo... we took too many pictures, laughed for a while, and then sent the hedgehog on its way.

Needless to say, I slept in the tent from this point on.

Day two: More of the beach!! :-) Once we finally cleaned up, had breakfast, played on the playground, and packed out the cars, we headed to catch some surf. I actually tried SURFING for the first time in my life!! :-D It was super super exciting, even though I was not successful... Regardless, I enjoyed the mini-lesson and think it would be nice if we lived near a beach back home so that I could potentially practice! Either way, my half hour of surfing was totally worth while and sweet as! :-) Tuna and bread for lunch on the beach, with a few Oreos for "pudding." For the rest of the afternoon, I took a nice walk up Lion Rock, nearly slid down into the grass, and managed to enjoy even more wonderful views of the surf and such. What a splendid spot.

It was a bit stressful getting everything settled, but nothing that would distort my impression of a wonderful weekend at the beach. Camping and all! :-) I'm still suprised that it actually happened.

Quite tired now. Back to Remuera Road, packed, and ready to leave tomorrow for the Cook Islands! We shall see when I find time to do my papers, but hopefully all will be well for the remainder of break!!



Ready to try out surfing.



I found this road sign to be rather obvious. Lion Rock.



Relaxing along the shore.



Ahhh... Piha.



Our visitor!

Ahhh, sweet break.

Mid-semester break has begun! I am quite quite QUITE excited about the upcoming two weeks!! Today begins with an adventure to Piha Beach. We are going camping!!! :-) Something that I've been hoping to do since arrival. Should be nice. Then coming home to finalize packing and such for the Cook Islands! Stoked about visiting Rarotonga!! Dancing, swimming, markets, embracing the island, and an Easter celebration!! :-D Yay! Then... to the South Island. Oh goodness, I hear it is absolutely wonderful. Also, am excited that my parents will be there for a while!! Sweet as! :-)

For now, I must be going to finish packing, baking, and preparing for the two incredible weeks ahead! Adios for now.

"Your jumper is really quite nice."

My first Flat White... (basically I couldn't drink it because, although it was supposedly "quite weak", it was full of caffeine and coffee-flavored...). But it certainly looks nice! I'll take an Iced Chocolate, please. :-)

I am really enjoying the Kiwi language. It makes me smile to hear even the youngest of children speaking in "proper English." For instance, Honey and Ivan's grandson, around age 7, was asking me about my proper jumper. He is so proper and utilizes quite an odd vocabulary in comparison to most American seven-year-olds. Several other words came about over the course of this past weekend... "flash" refers to something that is modern, something that is fresh. "That city is certainly flash! Perfect for the tourists!" "Fringe", not bangs, for the hairstyle (note: utilized for both guys and girls). "Jumpers" are worn by most; meaning a sweatshirt or hoodie. Not the typical American dress of sorts. (I know this is standard in most other English speaking countries, but still struck me as a bit odd.) And... as mentioned in the title, it is very common to refer to an event, food, or other object as "quite nice" rather than "good, tasty, cool."

On the other hand... I walked up Mount Hobson this evening! Quite lovely once again! And what's not to love about nature, sunset, and a sweet city overlook?! I mean, honestly... I have included a few pictures below regarding my evening.

I experienced my first U of A exam yesterday evening!! Everyone was super serious... rather ridiculous if I may say so... :-) Regardless, it was a nice exam, and I trust I did rather alright. Biopsychology, so much of the information is not new at this point.

Here is a random tid-bit from my day. My friend Eliza and I went to the Warehouse (an all-puropose, wholesale, everything-store) and found Easter candy. I found this one to be a bit disturbing...




Casket? Really?


*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

And now I am beginning to set out clothes for the upcoming two weeks of incredible chaos!!! Very excited for mid-semester break!!! :-) (My internal clock tells me that I should be preparing for Spring, flowers, and pastel colors. Clearly that's what is associated with April, Easter, and such! But no... the leaves are turning and there is a chilly breeze lingering on a more regular basis. Strange. Anyway, I will continue to wear pastel colors because it is Spring to me.) :-) Leaving for Rarotonga in the Cook Islands on Monday!! Soo soon!! And then it will be 23-28 degrees C (mid-70's and such). Nice. Then to the SOUTH ISLAND!!! Meeting my parents at the airport in Christchurch and cannot wait to see what the week holds!! Yay!

But for now, I must focus on looking into my research papers (all 5 of them...). Yikes.

Have a lovely night/morning/day! Miss you all!



My home is in the lower left corner. You will see a series of connected dark grey roofs; I live in one of those!




Mount Hobson, looking towards Mount Eden.





The Clocktower from Albert Park, Uni.