Christmas etc.

So I had this awesome post typed up about my Christmas in the Marlborough Sounds, but I was using prepaid internet, and the time ran out right as the entry was posting - not having internet access sure is annoying.

Anyway, here is a quick Christmas summary:
Me, Teri, Amy, + two friends in the Marlborough Sounds
Cheeseburgers for Christmas Eve dinner
Glow worms in place of Christmas lights
'Twas the Night Before Christmas' recited by Amy in the hot tub
The Christmas Story from Luke read aloud from our bunk beds in our dorm room
Snorkelling on Christmas morning
Tanning and reading throughout the day
Roast, grilled veggies, and strawberry shortcake for Christmas dinner
A visit from Santa on a pontoon boat.

So it was a very fun Christmas, although a bit untraditional. It was probably about as good as it could be without being at home.

I am now in Marahau in Abel Tasman Park, and right now this computer seems to be swaying because I've been in a kayak for the past two days - but that could be several more posts.

Since my job ended I left Wellington, things been amazing, and I am definitely loving living like a gypsy.

office christmas party

Tonight I went to my first grown-up office Christmas party, and it was another fun and slightly bizarre experience, and not nearly as "grown-up" as I thought it would be.
The party took place in the basement carpark of our main office building. I arrived with a few girls I work with, and we were immediately transported back to your early teenage years. The basement was decorated with twinkle lights, disco balls and butcher paper Christmas trees, with a DJ in the corner playing very loud 90s dance music. All the drinks were in one corner and several tables were scattered on the other side, already filled with groups of people, chatting with each other, just daring anyone else to try and join their clique.
The four of us stood in a cluster with our drinks, trying to avoid eye contact with the IT guys we talk to on the phone every day when we have computer problems, and trying to make eye contact with the caterers carrying huge platters of finger foods.
At one point a man the age of my parents came up to me and started chatting, saying he was glad to see someone he knew. When he asked me where my team was, I answered that they were all up in the office still, finishing a business case due tomorrow. I didn't think I'd ever hear myself saying phrases like that.
After about 45 minutes, some older women began dancing in the center of the carpark. Some were wearing reindeer headbands, and some were wearing cowgirl outfits - Kiwis seem to have an interesting idea of what "festive dress" means.
Finally, the director-general made an "Merry Christmas" announcement and opened the buffet for dinner. We all clamored to be at the front of the queue for chicken curry and potatoes. After making awkward small talk with the adults at our table, my friends and I quickly made an exit, and just in time - more women in cowgirl outfits were headed to the dance floor to try out their line dancing skills.

caroling

Christmas carols by candlelight. Sounds very traditional and serene doesn’t it?
That’s the kind of night Amy and I thought we were in for as we walked to WestPac Stadium with some friends for the Christmas Carols Saturday night. We knew it would be a little different from what we were used to just because of the weather, but we were definitely in for a surprise.
We arrived at the stadium with streams of other people, including many small children sporting Santa hats. As we wandered in, the smell of French fries and donuts greeted us. The sun was still warming half the stadium, so we chose a spot in the grass where the sun still reached after paid a dollar each for “candles” - green glowsticks.
The evening began serenely enough, with kids from primary schools in the Wellington area singing carols for us. Things started to get a little different with the appearance of Santa Claus flying above, but not in a sleigh; he instead peered down at us and waved from a red helicopter that circled the stadium several times.
When the kids finally settled down, the evening got off to a proper start with the first special guest of the evening – Matt from NZ Idol, who began by singing “Amazed” by Lonestar.
And it only gets better.
When Matt’s numbers ended, the Christmas banded appeared, with the whole brass section decked out in superhero outfits. Throughout the evening we had a favorite superhero competition with Batman barely edging out Superman.
And what’s better to accompany superheros than men dressed up as fairies with pink and purple wigs? I can’t say I could come up with anything more interesting.
The show really got going when if began getting dark with a rousing rendition of “YMCA,” which got everyone up and moving and made for a nice transition to rock version of “Joy to the World.”
I have to say this was the first time in my life I’ve danced to Christmas carols.
By the time “O Holy Night” came around, we were ready for a break and calmly swayed to the carol and waved our glowsticks in the air. The stadium was filled with thousands of people singing and waving their green glowsticks - not quite the same effect as candlelight, but still nice.
My favorite part of the evening was “All I want for Christmas,” perfectly accentuated with a fireworks show, which was beautiful in the clear night.
The evening ended with a latin version of “Feliz Navidad,” and then we danced all our energy away to “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town,” and we left the stadium with thousands of other people, exhausted, but definitely in the Christmas spirit.

thanksgiving

I seem to have become a terrible blogger. I'm sorry, but I'm afraid it will probably only get worse after the holidays.
I spend Thanksgiving in the Marlborough Sounds, and for the first time in my life, I did not overeat for an entire weekend, in fact it was quite the opposite.
Amy and I stayed at a lodge only accessible by boat (or a really really long hike), and while we were aware of the fact that this meant there would be no grocery store nearby, we didn't exactly plan well.
For our two-and-a-half days at the lodge, we brought: a package of risotto with a carrot and a stalk of broccoli, six rolls, four bananas, four museli bars, two servings of Cup-a-Soup and half a package of raisins. Luckily for us, the office at the lodge sold cookies for outrageous amounts of money, and we were able to add some much-needed chocolate to our holiday diet.
So, unlike every other American, Amy and I managed to lose weight this weekend rather than gain it. And although it was the result of poor planning and not some kind of grand dieting scheme, I think we deserve a reward.
Here's a photo from this weekend. Yeah, it was great.

friends

One of the great things about long-term traveling is the people. You meet all kinds of people with different backgrounds, life experiences, attitudes, etc.
But for the most part, the people you meet can be split into two categories based on their reaction when you tell them you're staying in town for four months.
Type 1: Really, wow; that's a long time.
Type 2: Oh, just a little while then!

I've found it's much easier to get to know the Type 1 people, for the basic reasons that they're experiences are similar to yours and therefore conversation flows pretty easily, and, like you, they're eager to make friends. And while Type 2 people are generally very nice and eager to talk, they already have their own lives, making it a little difficult for them to fit you in.
Type 1 people love to share travel stories; typical topics include the different flavors of peanut butter throughout the world, the cost of alcohol in different cities, where the best hostels can be found and any type of travel adventure story. Eventually the conversations begin to have more normalcy and everydayness, and you start to feel like you might actually have roots in this city you're only living in for four months.

But unfortunately, as soon as that feeling comes along, it's bound to be the time for you or your new friends to move on to the next city or the next adventure. So you say goodbye, maybe have a farewell party, promise to stay in touch and catch up with each other when you're in the same part of the world again, and move on.
It's a bit sad really, but it's a part of life for travelers. One of the great things though, is that some day when I feel the urge to visit a random country in Europe, an island in the South Pacific or a different state, I can email one of my traveling friends, and say "Hey, remember me. We were friends in New Zealand for a while."

small city

Me: You know, for a city, Wellington feels really small

Kim: I know, you can't go anywhere without running into someone

Me: I can see why they say that in Wellington everybody knows somebody who was in the "Lord of the Rings" movies

Kim: I was in "Lord of the Rings"

Me: What? How have I known you for three months and not known that! What were you?

Kim: I was an orc

Me: Really?

Kim: Yeah, I was in the first and third ones

Me: Wow.

Giselle and ice cream

I went and saw the ballet Giselle last week. The ballet was beautiful, and as happens every time I go to a show, I really wanted to dance all the way home.
However, there were two things about the ballet besides the dancing that made the evening memorable:
I don't know a whole lot of people in Wellington, but I saw four girls I knew at the ballet. I thought that was pretty cool.
At intermission, they sold ice cream bars to the audience. It was just like a baseball game. The ushers stood by the doors to the theatre and sold the ice cream out of coolers. It was overpriced, as would be expected, but I had to buy it. I thought that was also pretty cool.

remember remember

Remember Remember the 5th of November
Gunpowder treason and plot
We see no reason why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.

Wellington celebrated Guy Fawkes Day a night early this year with fireworks over the harbour. Guy Fawkes Day is a holiday celebrating the foiled plan of Guy Fawkes to blow up Parliament in London. It's celebrated with bonfires, fireworks and everything that goes along, and why they celebrate it in New Zealand, I don't really know.

But Amy and I were eager to join in on the festivities, so after a small dinner party last night, we walked down to the waterfront with a group of friends. It seemed as if all of Wellington had the same plan as us; all the benches, walls, rocks, and anything else that could be sat on, were crammed with people. Teenagers seemed to be everywhere, setting of Roman Candles and chasing each other with sparklers; parents bought their kids ice cream and french fries at vendor booths; and those lucky enough to own a boat or kayak were sailing out to the middle of the harbour to watch the show from directly underneath.

We decided to head over to Oriental Beach, which was full of teenagers setting off fireworks, but as soon as the main show began at 9 when it was finally dark, they calmed down a bit. The fireworks were huge, with red, purple, white, green and orange sparks falling in an array of shapes - the standard firework shape, hearts, waterfalls, firefly like things and so much more. After sufficiently "ooohhing and awwwing" for about half an hour, and the fireworks ended, the masses of people left their seaside perches and headed into town, while the teenagers resumed their own haphazard fireworks shows from the beaches, rooftops and hillsides.

All the cafes, restuarants, bars and foodcourts in town were packed. Even the grocery store was swarming with people buying beer. But eventually we found a cafe on Cuba that had almost enough outside seating available and we sat down to enjoy late night coffee and dessert, only occasionaly interupted by waves of smoke drifing down the street from the ongoing festivities, which of course wouldn't be complete without Roman Candles, smoke bombs and a full drum corps.

Milo

As a kid, I remember scanning the shelves at Blockbuster looking for the perfect movie. The cheery colors and cute scene of a cat and dog on the front of "Milo and Otis" would always grab my attention, and I would carry the case around with me throughout the store, before placing it back on its shelf after finding an even more perfect selection.
Although I never actually watched the movie, I've always remembered the name and the picture that went with it. Until now.
In New Zealand, people don't drink hot chocolate - they drink Milo. Supposedly Milo contains all the nutrients and vitamins needed to be healthy and provide energy, but I'm a bit skeptical about that.
Every morning at work, after making myself wait until at least 9:30, I stroll down to the kitchen for a hot drink. I have my choice of instant coffee, pump coffee, tea and Milo. I like tea, and I like coffee, with milk and sugar of course, but it's very hard to pass up the big green canister of Milo.
Two scoops of light brown powder, a bit of sugar, boiling water (which comes quite conveniently from a tank on the wall) and milk to top it off, and I've got a warm, energizing hot drink to help me make it to lunchtime.
The word "Milo" will now always conjure up the sensation of hot, chocolatey sweetness for me, not an orange cat, no matter how cute.

where I live

It takes about five minutes for me to walk to this viewpoint from my flat. I like it here.

Some phrases I like as well:
"ta" for 'thank you"
"how're you going?" for "how are you?"
"gutted" for "very disappointed"
"can't be bothered" for "I didn't want to" or "too lazy to"

Cheers!

rain rain go away

It's raining out again, and I am very wet. But it's supposed to be sunny for the next three days, yay!
The internet at our house is being difficult. So I might not be posting for awhile.
Apparently it's almost Halloween, something I would not have even known except for the people back home asking me about it. In the grocery stores there are no pumpkins piled outside, no gianormous bags of candy stacked at the front of the aisles and no special costume sections.
Here, kids dress in costumes every weekend, people eat pumpkin year round and candy is always plentiful. You get the fun parts of Halloween throughout the year without all the black and orange decorations. I think I like it that way.

my birthday

The celebration of the anniversary of my birth began at work Friday. Since New Zealand had a national holiday Monday, my coworkers decided to celebrate my birthday early with a surprise birthday tea (here, tea basically mean any meal or snack, not literally drinking tea). As my boss had me update and print out the team’s action log, everyone was setting up the meeting room for my surprise. They all brought different kinds of New Zealand candy and food – like sausage rolls, party pies, L&P soft drink, Cadbury chocolates, chocolate pineapple bits, jaffas and much more. My boss even baked a Pavlova (basically meringue and cream) cake with kiwi fruit on top. It was pretty difficult to concentrate the rest of the day after all that sugar. Luckily, Amy and I had asked to get off early, and we spent the afternoon and evening at Island Bay, which was gorgeous.


Amy and I managed to have a nice weekend despite the constant rain and on Monday, we had a great day of birthday fun, which began with Amy’s gift to me of a cute and trendy summer dress and ended with a dinner party at our flat with some of our new friends. I made fajitas and Amy made a chocolate cake. After dinner we went to Life Group, and Greer and Sophie had also made me a chocolate cake, which was just as delicious as the first one.




All in all it was a pretty good day, especially since I had the day off work and I got to hang out with my new friends.

22

One of my friends asked me recently if I was going to do anything crazy before I turned 23. I thought about it for awhile, considered some of my options and then worried that there was nothing really crazy, like bungee jumping or getting a tattoo, that I really wanted to do.
But after a bit of thought, I realized, I'm done some pretty fun and exciting things during my 22nd year. I spent a few weeks in Taiwan, I graduated from college, I drove across the country - twice, and moved to New Zealand. And those are just the big things. I had so much fun being 22; it just might be my favorite year so far. Every year after this is going to have to be pretty awesome to live up to it.
But I think rather than be all sad and nostalgic about 22 being over, I decided to make year 23 even better. So if you have any ideas of how to make this year great, let me know. Because in two days, I get to start all over again.

birthday weekend

New Zealand's labour day is Monday, which also happens to be my birthday. I've been excited since last November (which is when I decided to move here) about having my birthday in the spring, especially since it's a holiday.
Amy and I had a big weekend planned. We were going to hike the Tongariro Crossing, which is supposedly the best one-day hike in the country. It's a 8ish-hour trek through an active volcanic field that goes up mountain and next to gorgeous lakes. It's in the mountains, so you can't hike it if the weather is bad.
So today, I checked the weather.
All of New Zealand has little gray rainclouds on it, except one little bitty town on the North Island far from Wellington.
So, apparently having your birthday in the middle is spring isn't so great after all.

gilmore girls

Yesterday I arrived home from work to be greeted by a very giddy Amy. She had received the first two episodes of the new season (which doesn't start until January here) of Gilmore Girls in the mail, and she was ready to watch them.
So after dinner, we settled down in front of my computer, which was perched on our trash can in our bedroom, and got ready to be transported to Stars Hollow.
Unfortunately my computer would not cooperate.
So I walked down to the common room (where the internet connection works) and tried to download the latest version of my software. But that didn't work. Neither did several other things I tried.
Eventually, a few of the guys in the room noticed we were having some problems, and being typical guys, they decided they would fix it.
But they couldn't.
Instead, one guy got the CDs to play on his computer, and another one brought a monitor down to the common room, and we all watched the episodes together with the group of people who had been in the room.
Although I'm quite annoyed that my computer was being difficult, it was really nice to watch the episodes with so many people, which the way Amy and I always watched them back home. It really made this bizarre house feel more like home, especially as we shared our candy, explained some plot background and gasped at new developments with those around us.
Even with all its downfalls, TV really has a way of bringing people together.

friday nights

Now, I’ve never lived in a city before, so this could be a city thing rather than a Wellington thing, - I don’t know. But every Friday night here, getting drunk is the thing to do.
People start drinking in the afternoon. They leave their offices for the pub at about 3; it’s not an occasional thing – it’s expected of them.
From there they’ll drink into the wee hours of the morning. Staggering home at 3 or 4 a.m., with a day of recovering from a killer hangover to look forward to.
As Amy and I walked home from a movie last night at about 11:30, I think we might have been the only sober people out except for the police officers. Boys were kicking cardboard boxes down the sidewalk, laughing and singing; girls were walking around in tank-tops in the cold wind without seeming to notice; and couples were falling over each other laughing.
When we decline an invitation to go out, people look at us like we’re crazy and demand an explanation. It’s a hard argument to get across, and we usually make up an excuse rather than explain that while we enjoy drinking on occasion, we really don’t relish the idea of spending all our money getting drunk. And anytime we’re in the house on a Friday or Saturday night, we get asked why we’re staying in, as if we must be seriously ill or something.
When people chose to go out and drink all night, we don’t make them feel bad or try to cajole them into staying in with us, so why do they feel the need to make us feel antisocial for staying in?

weather

When I walked to work this morning, the sun was shining and I was perfectly warm in my skirt and sweater.
At about 10 a.m., I walked across the street to run an errand, and I had to pull my jacket tight to stay warm and put my hair in a ponytail to keep the rain from messing it up.
At lunch time, I gazed out the window wistfully, wishing I had time to eat my lunch outside in the sunshine and admire the rainbow that had appeared over the hills.
By the time 5 o'clock rolled around, I was gathered at the window with my coworkers, trying to decide if it was sleeting or snowing, when my boss came in and informed us it was in fact hailing.
After finishing all my tasks half an hour later, I walked home under a blue sky, having to look at the ground as I walked to keep the sun's bright glare from hurting my eyes.
Wellington weather is weird.

One of the nice things about living in a city rather than traveling through, is that you start to find favorites. In Wellington I have a favorite satay restaurant, a favorite cafe for dessert, a favorite cafe for coffee, etc.
Satay Kingdom is my favorite restaurant. I usually get the No. 4; Amy gets the No.16. Neither of us can really pronounce what our food actually is, but that's not a problem as long as we don't switch restaurants. All I know is that the No.4 is some kind of slightly sweet but spicy orange-colored soup, maybe sauce, with chicken and kumara in it, and a stack of warm, thick roti bread on the side.
Satay Kingdom is small and always crowded. It's down a nice alley off Cuba Street, and it has a gazebo in the middle of the alley for extra seating. The woman who takes our order is small and rushed and switches from one language to another with surprising ease, hearing "No.4" and scribbling little symbols down on her notepad that I don't understand.
They bring your food out to you as is it ready, so if you worry too much about being polite, your food gets cold as you wait for your friends to get theirs. The waiters weave in and out through the people waiting in line to order, not pausing as they step outside into the freezing cold wind to go out to the gazebo, and they bring you spoons to eat with - no matter what you ordered. The second you've finished eating, a waiter appears, asking in a thick accent if you've finished with your plate, and you barely have time to nod yes or no before your dishes disappear from under your spoon. My friend discovered this the hard way yesterday not to hesitate when asked, as his half-finished bowl of soup was back in the kitchen before the question even registered with him,
The atmosphere at Satay Kingdom is a little quirky, but the food is great - always fresh and hot, the service is fast, and it costs less than McDonalds.

time lost forever

We had Daylight Savings time on Sunday. I wasn't exactly ready, but luckily I didn't show up late for anything. But I was thinking about it, and by the time I get back to the States, I'll have lost three hours of my live, in addition to the 24 hours I lost on my flight over here. However, unlike the hours I lost on my flight, I will never see these other three hours returned to me.

Last spring, I set my clock forward for Daylight Savings in Texas. On Sunday I set my clock forward in Wellington. And in March, when I am back in the Northern Hemisphere somewhere in Asia, I will again be forced to set my clock forward.

In three hours I can watch a good movie and talk about it with a friend, I can read a good book, fly from Texas to Oregon, drive from Abilene to Dallas, play a few games of volleyball, have several great phone conversations, cook a real meal and take time to enjoy eating it, catch up on my emails, earn money at work, or take a long nap.

But apparently, thanks to whoever invented Daylight Savings, I will miss out on one of these things this year.

world events

So as most people have probably heard, there was a coup in Thailand last week. So Amy and I decided to take advantage of the situation with its resulting drop in plane fares, and this morning we bought tickets to Bangkok.
So we'll be spending about six weeks in Asia in March and April.
I'm excited.

the embassy

Today my American friend Emily and I went to the American Embassy during our lunch break. It's surrounded by a gray fence and has a big gatehouse in front with metal detectors. We went in to the gatehouse and the security guard asked if he could help up.
"We want to go in the embassy because we're Americans," I say.
"Sorry, no one can go in," the Kiwi guard replies.
"Not even Americans?" Emily asks.
"Nope just people who work there."
"Oh. OK. Well, aren't we supposed to register that we live here or something?" I ask.
"I don't know - but it would have to be in Auckland."
"OK, so can people go in that one?"
"I don't know, but I can give you a paper with the website and the address up there," the guard says, trying to be helpful.
"Sure. Thanks." we say, accepting a slip of paper before walking through the gate and back to work.

I have to say I was pretty disappointed.

Things that make me happy

Seeing grown men drink chocolate milk out of a carton

Eating a home-prepared meal after eating out for a week

Hearing the lively response to "Where's a good place to get my hair cut" from a group of previously quiet girls

Watching children dressed in various costumes (Spiderman, bride, princess, etc.) walking along the harbour with their parents on a sunny weekend day

Leaving work early on a Friday afternoon

Getting to chose cookies for a work meeting and not having to buy the cheap ones by default

Waking up before my alarm clock and not feeling tired (doesn't happen very often though)

Feeling sore the day after working out

Seeing the window displays in clothing stores on Lambton Quay change as the weather starts to get warmer

The Wellington Library and its unlimited checkout policy

Cheers mate!

geothermal activity

I got home late last night smelling of sulfur.
Rotorua is a really cool place, but it sure does smell bad, and after soaking in natural hot springs, Amy and I did, too. I should be able to post a picture or two sometime soon I hope. The steamy and boiling environment of Rotorua provided for some interesting shots.
I'll write more when I post the pictures. But I'm tired now. I spent two hours doing Brazilian martial arts tonight.

Rotorua

This weekend Amy and I are going to Rotorua, one of the more touristy places on the North Island. It's like the Yellowstone Park of Oceanasia. We'll spend the weekend watching geysers blow, hiking around boiling mud holes and soaking in natural springs.
I'll be sure to take lots of pictures.

Food

As Amy and I walked through town to return a DVD to the movie store yesterday, we discovered something: Our lives now seem to revolve around food.
On the weekend, we plan our schedule around when we can go grocery shopping and when the market is open. When we come home from work, the first thing we do is decide what we're having for dinner. We spend time at the bookstore reading books with easy recipes in them. We plan our budget around how much we spend on lunches and dinner. When we walk into town, it's a serious struggle not to stop and buy a chocolate bar or a dessert at a cafe (we usually lose the struggle). Our conversations seem to always circle back to food. And we've realized one of the best things about traveling is discovering the new foods in the places you go.
I guess it's a good thing I live in town and walk everywhere I go.

XY & Zed

Today I left a voicemail for a man at work:
"This is Jaci from NSDP at the MOH, and I'm calling to confirm your attendance at the NGHN EAF meeting on Monday."
The crazy thing is, I knew what I was talking about, and when he checks his voicemail, he'll understand it, too.
My life has become full of acronyms. I live in NZ (Z pronounces "zed."). I work at MOH and I have conversations about the NGHN Project and meetings with people from HISAC, ACC, NZTPS and REANNZ. I have TORs signed and call people who live in OZ. I take minutes at IQA, EAF and SGC meetings about things like IPs, PAS, DHBs and GPs.
Apparently Amy and I were wrong when we thought we wouldn't have to learn a new language when moving to New Zealand.

Blanket Man

A homeless man lives on Courtenay Place in Wellington. He's called the "Blanket Man" because he doesn't seem to have any clothes; he always just sits on the sidewalk wrapped in a big wool blanket. He usually talks or sings to himself or talks to other homeless guys. Everyone in Wellington seems to know the "Blanket Man;" he's a local icon.
Anyway, as I walked to church the other night, I passed by him as a woman jumped out of her car with a pile of clothes in her arms.
"I've had a terrible day," she said. "I found out my boyfriend has been cheating on me and slept with another girl in my car!"
Blanket Man just sat there and nodded.
"I was going to throw all the loser's clothes away," the woman said. "But then I thought I should give them to you instead!"
As I kept walking, I saw her hand the pile of clothes and shoes to Blanket Man and the other men sitting with him.
Well, that's nice I thought. She turned a bad situation into a charitable gesture at least.
On my way home, I was curious to see if Blanket Man had put on any of the clothes. But as I neared his usual place on the sidewalk, I noticed a pair of shoes in a doorway, and a pair of pants and a sweater in the next. In the next doorway sat Blanket Man, still wrapped in his wool blanket, with several clothing items scattered around him.
I guess Blanket Man knows he just wouldn't be the same local icon if he actually had clothes under his blanket.

Mochas

Cafes are a big deal in New Zealand, especially in Wellington, where there are more cafes per capita than in New York City. In all those cafes, there are only three Starbucks, and I am proud that I have yet to buy coffee at one.
My new favorite drink, since white chocolate mochas seem to be lacking, is just a plain mocha. But in all the cafes I've been to here, the mochas are not plain and boring at all. Instead they come in a water glass on a usually brightly colored saucer, with not one, but two marshmallows on the side - usually one pink and one white.
And if that isn't enough, the barrista sprinkles cocoa on the thick foam topping the coffee, and if you're really special (or wink at the male barrista) you get a pretty flower drawn in the foam, which makes mochas so much more fun to drink.

rain rain go away

I woke up this morning to the sound of rain pouring from the house gutters down into puddles of our gravel parking lot. The sky is a pure shade of gray with no hints of blue within sight. Amy and I have very little on our agenda for the weekend. We have laundry to do, a few meals to cook and that's about it.
Last weekend we escaped to Napier, a town on the east coast where the skys were blue and the sun was warm. As we rode the bus bikes through the coutryside we saw hundreds of sheep with their little lambs, which convinced us that spring was in our immediate future. Apparently we were wrong - spring does not seem to be anywhere near Wellington.
Maybe it will at least stop raining long enough for us to escape the house and get to a cafe or bookstore.

currency query

As of July 31, New Zealand no longer uses a 5 cent piece as currency. Coins come in denominations of $2, $1, 50c, 20c and 10c. If you go to the grocery store and buy a Cadbury candybar for $1.84, you pay only $1.80. If you buy a bag of New Zealand Braeburn Apples for $1.36, you pay $1.40. It's a pretty simple system.
In the US, we can't even get rid of pennies, which most people won't even pick up from the sidewalk. Why is that?

The corporate world

Last night, my office had "team-building drinks" after work for everyone to get to know each other better because we all work on a project that recently began. After the drinks, members of one of team, mostly made up of foreigners from Bali, Australia, Singapore, and the US who work for an IT company, decided to go out and find some good steak. They invited the rest of us along, and when I made up an excuse involving Amy, told me to caller her and invite her to join us. And Amy and I don't turn down free food.
We found a small steakhouse and got drinks while waiting for a table. Eventually we sat down, and Amy and I were taken aback when we opened up our menus and saw that the cheapest meal cost $30. However, we were told to get whatever we wanted - so we did.
After eating our dinner, which arrived at about 9 p.m., everyone ordered tea and coffee.
By the time we left the restaurant at 11 p.m., I'm sure the bill had to be at least $600, but that didn't faze any of them a bit. Apparently spending $600 for a dinner is acceptable in the IT world.
If I understood anything about IT, I think that would be a good industry to get into.

My way to work

My walk to work takes about 15 minutes if I walk briskly. I walk down steep hill -it's got about an 70 degree slope I'm pretty sure - and arrive on a busy business street with a tunnel underneath for pedestrians to avoid traffic. Then I walk down a steep brick lane lined with small cafes, bakeries and shops and arrive on the main business and shopping street in Wellington, which is crowded with professionals dressed in black and who are all in too big of a hurry to wait for the crosswalk light to turn green. From there I walk past several pharmacies, a Starbucks (one of only three in the city), many cafes and a government bookstore, before I reach Parliament. I walk inside the wall and along the manicured lawn because I can and it makes me feel cool, and up a gradual hill. Girls in blue or teal plaid skirts with yellow and black striped scarves walk to school in groups, pairs of them darting into the dairies to buy breakfast or candy for the day. Eventually I arrive at my building, take the elevator up and use my security card to enter the office.
I feel so grown up.

lazy weekend

This has been a pretty nice and relaxing weekend. Amy and I went to the Botanical Gardens on Saturday and rode the cable car. Wellington is really hilly, so the cable car goes up to one of the neighborhoods in the hills. It's the only public transportation one I think, but lots of people have their own personal cable cars to get to their homes built on steep hillsides. There's not a lot of flat land around here, so people just seem to have built houses wherever they could. So when you look out at a neighborhood, the houses all look like they're about to topple over on top of each other. You can't even get to a lot of houses by car; you park on the street and take a windy footpath or stairs up or down to your front door. Amy and I saw a lot of those today when we went to Johnsonville - a suburb of Wellington.
We had to set up a joint bank account to pay our rent and expenses (I think by now we're pretty much married), and the only banks open on the weekend are in malls, which are in the suburbs. So we took a commuter train out to J'ville and after finishing our banking, we decided to explore a bit. We went up one hill by footpath and passed several private footpaths to people's homes. I want to know how they move in - Do they carry refridgerators and washers up the path?
Anyways, when we reached the top we could see most of Wellington Harbour and most of the city and over the hills to the ocean and maybe the South Island.
In about a week I'll finally be able to download my pictures and you all can actually see what I'm talking about.
Oh, and I got mail from several people yesterday that finally came from Auckland - thanks!
My mailing address is the same as it has been because everything gets forwarded to me here in Wellington - just so you all know.
In a bit Amy and I will cook an early dinner and then go to church and then tomorrow I start my job as a project administrator - yikes!

progress

Well, my days of leisure are soon to be over; I start my new job on Monday and it will last until December - I can't seem to get out of the semester routine. While I don't like the idea of waking up early every morning and putting on ironed clothes, panty hose and nice shoes, I think I'm ready for a routine to make Wellington feel more like home and less like vacation. And I'm starting to run out of things to do all day while Amy works, especially when the weather is windy and rainy.
And today, as I browsed through some shops, I decided that having a full-time paycheck will definitely have its benefits.
Amy and I moved into our new flat last night. We've been in New Zealand for just a little more than three weeks, and we've already managed to accumulate stuff. We both arrived with two pieces of luggage. We left our temporary flat with that lugguge, a box of bedding and another box of random household items. On the way to our new flat we stopped at the store, (racing in at 7:55 because, even though it's the store that's "open late," it closes at 8 p.m.) where we bought a space heater and an extra blanket.
Our bare room acquired some color after Amy and I finally unpacked out suitcases with much eagerness. I don't think either of us had ever unpacked lugguge so quickly in our lives - but I guess that's what living out of a suitcase for three weeks will do to you. All of our clothes fit onto the one wardrobe in the room and one cardboard box each. No one can call us packrats, that's for sure.
Now I'm off to buy some groceries to last us until the weekend and a few more items for our room, like a lamp and towel hooks. Exciting stuff, I know.

the weekend

Amy and I are pretty big nerds, so since Saturday was a beautiful day in Wellington, we decided to find WETA workshop, which is in a neighborhood called Miramar. We walked from Kilbernie, which is quite a ways. We found it eventually, but it really wasn't very exciting - basically just a building with one little sign that said WETA. From there we decided to walk to a place called the Chocolate Fish Cafe, which we had heard was a really fun place and a bit of a tourist attraction. On the map, it didn't look too far away, but as we approached the hills, we realized we were in for a longer and steeper walk than we'd thought.
We eventually reached the cafe, which is in a place called Scorching Bay and is beautiful, with fancy and quaint houses lining the bay, most of them owned by Peter Jackson we were later told. The cafe was really fun and quirky (like lots of places in Wellington) and had great food, but we couldn't linger long because we had a long walk to get home, and the busses didn't run where we were.
After rounding a peninsula and walking through an army base of sorts, our journey ended, only five hours after it began.
So on Sunday, after church, we decided to stay in and relax and listen to the rain and wind. We watched a movie, read and ate a lot of lollies and chocolate.
The weather has been pretty bad since, but at least today it stopped raining. The wind is pretty brutal though. In about half an hour I'm going to go sign the lease for our flat and pick up the key.

Learning to drive all over again

For those of you who don't know, my first experience driving a stick shift at age 15 didn't go so well. I ended up running over a baby tree at the local video store and having to pay for a new one to be planted.
Well, last night Emily, Amy and I decided to go to the video store after dinner. Emily thought I should drive because her car is kind of old and not worth much, and she thought it would be entertaining to see me try to drive a stick shift on the wrong side of the road.
Now, here's the thing, not only is the steering wheel on the wrong side of the car, but so are the blinkers and windshield wipers and the gearshift. Luckily, the clutch and the break and gas pedals are in the right place.
Oh, and I did I mention how hilly Wellington is?
So we left the house (later Sarah said she could hear the engine revving from the backroom) and drove up the hill. As a car approached, Amy and Emily both yelled, "Left! Left!" I eventually made sense of what they were screeching and corrected myself, but not before we were all laughing uncontrollably to the point of hyperventilation.
Every time I tried to turn my blinker on, I turned the windshield wipers on instead, and once I got the right lever, I turned them on to go the wrong direction because directions also are opposite apparently.
I had a bit of trouble at the stop light while trying to figure out which lane was the right-hand turn lane. And turning left while remembering to yield to the driver turning right was troublesome, but we made it to Blockbuster all in one piece, and no trees died as a result of our adventure, so I think it was a success.

Skiing on a Volcano

Amy and I woke up at 4:30 a.m. yesterday to get ready for our skiing adventure. We didn't plan to do much skiing while here, so we had no gear. Luckily, our temporary flatmate was able to acquire some mismatched ski clothes for us. Becky, Ben, Amy and I all piled into the car at 5 and set off for Mt. Ruapehu, which is about 3.5 hours north of Wellington.
Once the sun rose, we saw some beautful scenery. New Zealand has lots of green countryside, hills and lots and lots of sheep.
Mt. Ruapehu is cool for a few reasons: It errupted in 1996 and is still active; It is next to Mt. Doom from Lord of the Rings; and from the top of it you can see the ocean, which is very far away.
Becky, Amy and I took the beginners ski lesson and stayed on the bunny hill all day.
We all fell a few times, but we had a lot of fun and are ready to go back up another time and try some bigger hills.
On the way home we stopped at a grocery store for dinner, and Ben wanted to get a roasted chicken, which we did. The thing is, that roasted chicked in kind of difficult to eat in the car. So we sat in the parking lot while he carved the chicken in the plastic container on the hood of the car. It was a mess, and it looked funny, but it was a very good dinner.
We got home late and went straight to bed, and this morning Amy and I had appointments at a temp agency, and we should have jobs soon. Yikes. We've also been searching for a flat, which is hard.
But we're having fun, and that's all that matters, right?

Things I've Learned after 12 days in New Zealand

1. Wellington is called Windy Welly for a reason.
2. Wellington really is nicer than Auckland.
3. "Tea" is a warm drink and also another name for dinner.
4. Central heating is very nice, but without it, power bills are very small.
5. Wearing two pairs of socks keeps your toes warm, but it makes your shoes a little snug as well.
6. Flip flops are "jandals" and tank tops are "singlettes."
7. "College" is high school, and "uni" is where you go after college.
8. Kiwi fruit comes in more than one variety.
9. Drinking tea really does warm you up.
10. "Lollies" are any kind of candy, not just hard candy on sticks.
11. Cell phones are very cheap in America.
12. Finding a flat and flatmates in the Saturday paper can be an adventure.
13. Cadbury chocolate is awesome.
14. Skiing on an active volcano is a possibility that will probably happen on Tuesday.

Wellington

Amy and I arrived in Wellington yesterday morning after an all-night bus ride safe and sound. We had planned to meet a girl we're staying with at 3 p.m., so we were just going to hang around town all day until then. But as we got off the bus, our cell phone rang, and it was our friend of a friend telling us he was on his way to pick us up and take us to the house we're staying at. So we had a good start to our Wellington adventure.
We're staying in a house with three Kiwi girls who are very friendly and have taken us in and are showing us all around town. We really like Wellington. It's still a city, but with much more character than Auckland. It's also much smaller and easier to get around in. We're still adjusting to the cold and lack of central heating, but space heaters help a lot.
The job search begins Monday, but we've already seen a lot of help wanted signs around town, so we're not too worried about finding work. It helps a lot that we have a free place to stay for awhile and we're not having to spend a ton of money right now.
Now Amy and I are off to find the WETA workshop, which is where Peter Jackson works and there's lots of Lord of the Rings stuff. Wellington is full of Lord of the Rings places and references, so that's kind of fun and interesting.
Thanks for all the emails everyone - my internet access will be more limited for a while I think, but I love hearing from all of you!

One week down

Tonight Amy and I are moving to Wellington. We don't have jobs yet, but we have contacts at a temp agency, and we have a free place to stay for awhile. So that's cool.
Yesterday was Amy's birthday, so we hiked up a volcanic island. The people we're staying with made dinner and cake, and we had a fun little party.
That's all for now I guess. Next time I post, it will be from Wellington.

Volcanos and such

While in Auckland it's easy to forget that I'm in New Zealand, strangely enough.
Last night I watched the All Blacks rugby game (NZ won!) at a pub with Amy, our Austrian friend, an Englishman, a Swiss guy and an Israeli guy. The experience was really fun, but I didn't really see most of the game. Instead the six of us exchanged stories and the English guy tried to explain the rules of rugby to us. I suppose the experience was very New Zealandish, and the pub was full of Kiwis, but it felt very international.
Since I've been here, I've eaten Indian food twice, Chinese food, Mexican and American. And while walking up Queen Street past Korean grocery stores and Chinese markets, I am honestly surprised to hear English spoken.
At church this morning I spoke with a man from Taiwan, an Australian, a South African, a girl from China and several Americans. And it seems as if all the Kiwis I've met are married to South Africans, Americans or Irish.
Yesterday Amy and I hiked up Mt. Eden, which is an extinct volcano. The view of the city from there was amazing and we finally got an idea of how big Auckland really it. It's big. We took lots of pictures, which we should be able to download sometime soon; we looked down into the volcanic crater, and then we hiked down. After that we walked a long way to the Auckland museum to save the bus fare, and after that we met our friends for the rugby game. It was a full and fun day.
Now I'm ready for my Sunday afternoon nap.

Maybe we'll meet Peter Jackson...

So Amy and I decided to move to Wellington. Most people we've talked to have said it's a really fun city and a little easier to get around in than Auckland. It'll be kind of hard to leave Auckland because we've already made several contacts here and have gotten tons of help from people, but I'm sure we'll meet people there, too who are willing to help.
That's about all for today. We'll probably move in the next week or so.
Oh, and the crosswalks here are really cool. Instead of people being able to walk just one direction at a time, all the cars stop at the same time and people walk all directions, even catty corner. It's fun to watch the people going everywhere and even more fun to be walking with them.
Wellington here we come!

Sweet As

So I'm in New Zealand ... how crazy is that?
I got in yesterday morning, and the city was wet and rainy. While we were on the flight Amy and I keep bursting into fits of nervous giggling, which only intensified as we got on the bus and got dropped off on a rainy street corner. We just about lost it as we hauled our luggage up the steep hill to our hostel, but we made it and are still sane ... I think.
Yesterday was a very long day and actually pretty American. We attended orientation and learned about different cities, buying cars, finding jobs, getting cell phones, making friends, taking tours, setting up bank accounts and all kinds of other stuff that's just a blur. After the session, the girl looked at Amy and I and said, "So what do you think? Where are you going to live?"
We almost lost it again.
We called a guy we know through someone else (he has a church here) and he took us bowling to help keep us awake. Except for Leon, we were with all Americans. Afterwards, we went to dinner at his house (nachos, again very American), and he invited us to stay in his basement until the beginning of August, which is awesome because it means we don't have to pay $20 a night at a hostel.
After dinner we talked for awhile, and as Amy and I were about to fall asleep at the table, he took us back to our hostel, where we finally showered and gratefully went to bed after a whirlwind day of information and rain.
Today the weather was much nicer and we took a free bus tour of the city, which is beautiful and surrounded by water. We're not sure yet if we're going to stay in Auckland; we're thinking of moving down to Christchurch. If anyone has any advice, let me know.
We also made two friends. Veera is from Finland and was in orientation with us. She's kind of shy, but really sweet and very brave for moving here by herself. Emily is from Austria, and we met her on our bus tour. She is very friendly and is living and working here for four months. They're coming to our hostel for dinner tonight, which should be a lot of fun.
Amy and I bought a cell phone to share. So if anyone thinks they might want to call, email me for the number. We also got bank accounts. It's hard to believe all this is actually happening.
Oh, and I found out about a program that allows people to talk over the internet for free. Everyone here uses it, and I've heard the reception is better that some phones, and all you need to use it is a microphone on your computer. It's called Skype. You can sign up by going to Skype.com.
Auckland time is six hours behind Pacific time and eight behind Central time, but we're a day ahead. So there should be quite a few overlapping hours where I can talk to people.
So everyone stay in touch, and I'll let you know what happens next!

it's coming faster now

In exactly one week, I will be boarding a plane to New Zealand.
I don't have a job. I don't have an apartment. But I do have some contacts and a friend who's in the same boat as me.
I'll try to keep this blog updated, but I don't know how much internet access I'll have, especially for the first few weeks.
One week. Weird.

Geography Lesson

In about two weeks I'm moving to New Zealand, an island southeast of Australia. I've noticed that many people don't really know exactly where that is, and I was one of them before I decided to move there. So just for those who might like a better idea of where exactly New Zealand is located, here's a map:



Apparently New Zealand is the most isolated country in the world; it's about 1,300 miles from Australia. And for a sense of perspective, it's about the size of California.

I'm only 22!

I'm 22 years old. I have medium length hair usually in a ponytail and bangs. I wear jeans, t-shirts and flip-flops. Yet, no matter how hard I try to look like a college student, apparently I look as though I am the mother of several young children.
This morning, for the second time this year, a young mother I was working with at VBS asked me: "So which children are yours?"
I guess that's what happens when you're a twentysomething in a small town like this, where most people my age are at least married by now. The ones who aren't band together and try to assure themselves it's ok to be single, which is understandable, considering what the rest of the town is telling them.
I think I'm ready to move to the city.

lemon-berry cream slush

We have a Sonic here now, yay! But it closes at 10 p.m.; what's the deal with that? The funny thing about a Sonic in Oregon is that people just don't get it. My friends just don't understand why you would want to stay in your car and eat. They keep asking me, "You mean none of them have dining rooms?" and I say, "no. They don't."

But of course, once they get there and order and begin to comprehend the greatness of Sonic, they stop asking logistical questions and begin asking about the menu. "So what is an Ocean Water? Is it salty?" "What's the difference between a cream slush and a regular slushy?"

I have to admit, I enjoy being the all-knowledgeable Sonic connoisseur because I remember asking all those questions my freshman year and being met with incredulous stares from my friends who had been eating there for their whole lives.

So the other night, at about 9:45 p.m., my friends and I drove up and ordered. When we were about half way finished with out drinks, they decided they wanted to try more stuff, so we went through another round of orders, managing to try a pretty big percentage of the menu and driving the poor carhops crazy.
With Sonic, any night can be fun.

getting home

After three days in the car I made it home safe and sound earlier this week, but my phone did not. I left it in my friend's apartment in California, and I am going crazy without it. I left church today and reached into my purse to check for missed calls, but my phone wasn't there. I didn't know what to do with myself. I'm hoping I'll get it tomorrow; if not I might do something drastic.

The drive was nice, but long. We stopped in Hollywood and also made a detour to Carmel-by-the-Sea, which was beautiful. For the past few days we've been seeing the sights of my hometown and surrounding areas, which is fun because I haven't done that in a while.

This morning we tried to go to a Sunday School class, but we got to church and didn't know what room the class was in, and by the time we found out, everything had already started. So we left and took a tour of the town and then came back and toured the church. Everything has changed a lot since I lived here full time. It's all the same, but different, which is weird, and I feel suprised by that every six months or so when I come back.

Bird's nest

When I was watering our flowers yesterday, I discovered a little bitty bird's nest in one of the hanging plants. I carefully watered around it, and when Kathleen watered the flowers this morning, she discovered an egg in the nest. It's about an inch long and light blue with a few dark blue speckles. I think it might be a Robin's egg, in which case it will hatch in 12-14 days. It looks so nice and perfect; I hope our front porch makes a good home.

my house

Our dvd player works most of the time. Occasionally the screen turns black, but if you stomp your foot, the picture will come back on; if that doesn't work, masking tape will usually do the trick.
The ceiling fan in my bedroom makes a sporadic clicking noise, two minutes on, three off, five minutes on, one off, etc. When it doesn't click, the light bowl thing rattles.
We have a giant ant hill in the front yard. I doused it with ant killer a couple of weeks ago, so that ants are finally dead (Hail the conquering ant killer!), but the spot is still very brown and bare.
I think our kitchen faucet it leaking again. The kitchen rug just stays slightly damp, and our oven smokes most every time we use it.
But we have flowers on the front porch, a hammock in the back yard, a quote book in the kitchen, cabinets full of mismatched dishes, a refrigerator full of labeled food, and a home that I'm really going to miss.

Bikes

Today my roommates and I rode our bikes at sunset. We raced, rode hands-free and coasted down hills; then we went past a Little League baseball game. I don't think we could have gotten more Americana if we tried.

Life after graduation might not be so bad after all.

Graduation

There are no U-haul trailers left in Abilene, and I am now an alumna of ACU. I've said goodbye to some, missed others and smiled for a bazillion pictures.
Living in town this month, while the furniture, decorations and roommates slowly trickle out of my house, is going to be interesting.

11 days to graduation

A storm came through yesterday, and as I stood preparing my grilled cheese sandwich, my roommate came home and ordered me to go outside and see the full double rainbow that arched over our house. In the rain falling slow from an amber-colored sky, even our drab gray house looked romantic with green tree branches hanging heavy with water bowing down around it.
We went for a walk to a nearby garden, and as the sun set, we wondered if anyone had ever seen anything so beautiful in our dusty town. Half the sky remained pearl gray, with occasional lighting strikes, and half the sky displayed brilliant oranges and golds, which refelcted in the many puddles on the gravel road.
We walked through a wet garden, where our feet slid in our flip-flops in the warm mud, and we saw the colors of the flowers brighten with the fresh watering. Behind the garden in a field, which slopes down from a dorm, an abandoned slip-n-slide cut a white swath down the hill.
My roommate and I are not the most daring people, but with no one around, and the sky urging us to take advantage of the moment, we ran toward the top of the hill.
Sarah went first and threw herself down on the wet plastic. She had to jump up and run to gain momentum a couple of time, but when she reached the bottom, she slid smoothy into the chocolate-colored pit below.
I was not as risky as my roommate and began in the middle of the slide, allowing the front side of me to become drenched before leaping off the tarp as it gave way to the pit.
Dripping with muddy water, we rushed back through the field toward our home. At the crest of the hill, we turned back and saw the sunset reflected in the newly made stream winding through the small green valley.
Then we went home, the storm ended, and after showering, I finished making my dinner and Sarah got back to her homework.

Wal-Mart at 11:30 p.m.

Last night I ran to Super Wal-Mart with my roommate for a few essential items (hair conditioner and peanut butter). I have learned over the years that Wal-Mart at 11:30 p.m. is an even stranger place than Wal-Mart at 4 p.m., but last night topped all experiences.

Here are just a few of the encounters we had last night (sadly, there were more).

En route to the peanut butter aisle we passed two guys about our age; they were the Agriculture major type, and they stared at us without shame. Unfortunately we went down the wrong aisle and had to pass them again, and they asked us if we were lost. And of course, while heading toward the check-out aisle, we passed them yet again, but this time they decided to be cute and make comments at us, which we of course ignored because we didn't particularly like the idea of being hit on at Wal-Mart at 11:30 p.m.

We left the store without incident and went home to pick up another roommate, then all went to a local ice cream shop, which unfortunately was closing as we arrived. After being stared at by every man in the parking lot, we backed up the car, traveled back to Wal-Mart because, gosh dang it, we wanted ice cream.

And of course, as we entered the Supercenter, who did we see? Our two Ag major friends. They thought they were hilarious and make all sorts of comments and then called out at us from across the parking lot.

Well, we bought our ice cream and left the store, where a middle-aged man made no attempt to hide the fact that he was staring at us for a long as he could. All three of us laughed at the ridiculousness of it all and headed back to my car, and behold, we weren't through with guys yet.

Across the parking lot aisle, a man stood next to his car and called out to us: "Which one of you is from Oregon?" I said I was and got in my car while my roommates just about died of laughter. The poor guy really seemed pretty normal, and I think he realized how creepy he was as soon as I answered, but last night, he just topped off the Wal-Mart experience.

Moral of the story: If you need a date, don't bother going to social events, joining an online service or getting your friends to hook you up, just go to Wal-Mart.

From here you can almost see the sea

Right before leaving for Easter break, I got my New Zealand visa. I am now official. A travel book and a pamphlet of helpful tips came along with it and will come in quite handy.

I had a conversation with a friend about holidays in New Zealand. Doesn't it seem weird to have Halloween in the spring and Easter in the fall? I just don't think I can comprehend it until I experience it.

My trip to the beach was nice. I got a little bit sunburned, but not too bad. My four roommates and I attended a sunrise Easter service on the beach this morning. I hate waking up early, but I do love seeing the morning turn to day, especially on the water, where the world lights up as soon as the sun breaks through the morning clouds and reflects off the waves. Maybe next year I'll get to see that more often, since Auckland is basically surrounded by ocean.

Also, I like attending church on the beach. It's nice to be able to play in the sand with your toes while your mind wanders. And singing about God's glory while seeing waves break, one after the other, over and over again, is a great way to start the week.

There's something about the ocean.

Easter getaway. I'll be back when I'm a few shades tanner.

Catching up

So my goal of keeping up with this blog isn't going so well.

I was in San Antonio this weekend for the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association conference and a roommate night with my roomies.

Highlight: The sports editor jumped into the San Antonio River, and no, he was not at all drunk. Overall, I think we all had a lot of fun, even though we didn't take home as many awards as we have in the past.

This is a fun website: My heritage. It takes your picture and tells you what celebrity you look like. It's pretty random and definitely unscientific, but a lot of fun. Thanks to Sarah, I now know that I range from looking like Helen Clark to Rachel McAdams. I guess I shouldn't try to make the leap into show business.

I was going to link to an editorial I wrote about how much the Optimist staff loves spring, but it doesn't seem to have been posted online. So, if you can, find last week's newspaper and read it. It's over-the-top, but oh so happy.

Wal-Mart

I went to Wal-Mart the other night with $5 in my pocket. I didn't intend to buy anything, but I was hungry, so everything looked good. I left the story with three yogurts, macaroni and cheese, milk and a mini apple pie.

I really want to hate Wal-Mart but it's hard not to shop there. Especially when it's so conveniently located right down the street, and the nearest big grocery store is halfway across town.

I've heard a new documentary, called the High Price of Low Cost about Wal-Mart is out, and I kind of want to see it. But I'm afraid if I see it, my convictions will become stronger and I'll feel like even more of a hypocrite next time I run to Wal-Mart for milk and yogurt.

I wonder if they have Wal-Marts in New Zealand? Life without Wal-Mart is hard to imagine, but it might be fun...

For additional Wal-Mart fun, check out Jib Jab's take on Big Box Mart

Volcano

Four dormant volcanoes are in or near Auckland, my future city of residence. I'm glad to know that. Apparently the country has a few not-so-dormant volcanoes, too, and a high density of active volcanoes.

On St. Patrick's Day, a crater on Raoul Island erupted, and a man researching there is feared dead. You can check out this story http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,188626,00.html

The country, like California, is on the edge of two tectonic plates, which makes for some excitement in the region. I think I remember learning in elementary school that New Zealand in part of the Ring of Fire.

Volcanoes seem kind of cool to me, which is strange since they're so dangerous, but I have to admit, I'm glad New Zealand has some active ones.

yuck

My roommates found a cockroach in our house the other night. He was a slow-moving guy, probably because he was so huge.

It amazes me how a perfectly calm and sensible group of girls can turn into a squealing and yelling crowd at the sight of a bug. I stood in the doorway of my bedroom and watched as one roommate ran down the hall with a shoe, stood in defensive stance and squashed the bug. We all squealed then exclaimed how gross the bug was and argued about how to pick it up.

I don't think I'll ever get over the grossness of some bugs.

explanation

In case anyone happens to find my blog and wonder about it ...

I decided I should have a blog while I'm in New Zealand because it seems to be the cool thing to do now rather than sending mass emails. When I move, I'll tell people who care about me, or who are just curious, about my blog, and that way I don't have to worry about leaving anyone out on my email list.

But when I bought my plane ticket, I got really excited and decided to begin writing. So even though I'm still in Abilene, I have a New Zealand blog. And now I'm trying to practice doing a good job of updating it often. Maybe if I get into the habit now, I'll stay on top of things from the southern hemisphere.

enjoying the sun

Well, I got back safely from my spring break trip to California. We had a glorious time doing nothing but lounging by the pool, sleeping in the most comfortable beds ever, and eating amazing breakfasts.

Trips like the one I took last week seriously make me dread "growing up." Once I have a real job, am I ever going to have a whole week off to spend time with my best friends relaxing? I have a feeling it will be a while before that ever happens again.

I'm sure growing up has its benefits, but I'm having trouble seeing them right now.

Cheez-its

Cheez-its have been around since 1921 - who would have thought?

I must admit that the addictive cracker is a good bedtime snack, except that you have to brush your teeth again after eating them.

I hope they have Cheez-its in New Zealand.

If you never try, you'll never know

I guess it's a bit of a cliche now to title my post with a song lyric, but this one is so true. I bought my plane ticket to New Zealand on Tuesday, which means I am for sure, definitely going to move across the globe to a country I've never been to before.

I'm kind of terrified. But I am also so excited I can hardly stand it.

I can't wait to begin learning a new city, searching for a church, meeting my neighbors and claiming a favorite bookstore. I look forward to having friends with fun accents — right now I can't really even imagine having a new group of friends, but I suppose (and hope) that I will.

Which brings me to the terrified part. Seriously, I think I must have lost my mind. I could so easily stay in Abilene, live in my cozy house, pay ridiculously cheap rent and have fun with my friends who will still be here.

I've been wondering lately why I am going to New Zealand, and I really don't know why. Most likely, I think it's because I don't know what else to do, and New Zealand seems pretty cool. I have no idea what will happen in my year there, but if I never try, I'll never know. Right?

That's why I'm going.

Just a little bit of paperwork left

I'm moving to New Zealand in July. July 17 to be exact.