Kia ora!
So I have one essay almost completed. However, "Themes Exposing the Morality of Convictism in Clarke’s “For the Term of His Natural Life”" somehow just isn't exciting enough for me to write an entire blog post about it. In fact, it wasn't even interesting enough for me to finish said topic over the weekend, meaning I now have two and one-third essays to do this week and on the weekend. I take comfort in the fact that I work well under deadline, especially when break is almost here!
Break for us, here in New Zealand, is three weeks. That's right, read it and weep! We get three weeks off in the month of April, and included in that is Easter and ANZAC Day. ANZAC Day is commemorating the Battle of Gallipoli (oh yeah, and the World Wars), and how the British basically killed a bunch of ANZAC (Australia, New Zealand Army Corps) troops by sending them rather blindly into the Ottoman Empire. It's an exciting read, look it up!, and they have special biscuits for the day! Any day that has special biscuits is a plus in my book.
What am I doing for break, you ask? I'm not quite sure yet. I have a few set things on my agenda, but when and how I get there is up in the air. I do know I will be doing some hiking in the Abel Tasman National Park, and possibly doing a day kayak tour there. From there, I hope to go down the west coast, stop in Westport and Greymouth, and continue on to Fox Glacier. At Fox Glacier, I'm looking into doing the day hike on the glacier front, as well as hiking Lake Matheson, New Zealand's most photographed lake. It's the one on the Mount Cook postcard, for whoever received that card. From there, possibly go to Queenstown to hang out for awhile, then Milford Sound to do a day tour and see the Fjordland National Park, then either go to Invercargill to visit a friend or over to Dunedin, to stroll through the Cadbury chocolate factory. From there, it's back up to Christchurch to either do homework frantically or go from there.
A lot of New Zealand people are pretty loose on traveling, and will often just go with only a few days of planning. While I will be traveling during a peak season, it will be towards the end, and I'm not especially worried about transportation or accomodation. God has been good to me, and I don't have any fears about traveling alone or being stranded. New Zealand is too small to worry about the latter!
The bus system here is EXCELLENT. Cheap, almost always available, and exceedingly travel-friendly, I wish that we had this kind of system back home! One bus system, Naked Bus, even has fares as low as $1 NZD if you book far enough in advance. It's sweet as.
And you're probably wondering what I actually did this week. I did a lot of socializing, and spent a good amount of time with friends, watching movies. Next weekend I'm going on a volunteer weekend, and then to a convention with a friend, so I've been told that I can't go to the convention until I've seen all of "Firefly", a western/sci-fi television series (it has 14 episodes and one movie, so not a large commitment). Thus, I've been watching "Firefly" with a friend, and saw "Sweeney Todd" with another friend. I also got my hair cut, and dyed it! It's still red, but this time it's so red it looks like I'm a comic book character. It wasn't intentional, and not only did the colour come out VERY bright, but I also had to buy another box, just to get the spots I missed... I'm waiting for the colour to fade, and hoping it looks better than it does, because right now I could be Mary Jane from "Spider-Man".
The week has been rather spastic with weather. The weekend saw two days of cold, wind, and rain, thus out door activities were fairly limited. It's turning into autumn here now, and the leaves are changing colour at school. The weather is also starting to turn chilly, meaning I'll be shopping soon for more warm clothing. I recently learned the way to my friend's house off-campus, and despite the flat being less than a 15 minute walk, I find myself getting cold even on such a short stroll. I'm just lucky it rarely snows in Christchurch!
Speaking of walking, I realized today as I was walking back to Ilam Village that there seems to be something about New Zealand that inspires you to walk more. It might be that the scenery is beautiful, or the fact that everyone else walks. But the longer I stay in New Zealand, the more I find myself becoming more outdoors oriented. Granted, I still enjoy a good solitaire session or two on the computer, but there's something about hanging out at the lake or sitting on a bench under the trees to eat lunch that speaks more profoundly as a worth while experience while over here. Back home, there is less push to be amongst nature, yet I can see now why God calls the Israelites to the desert. There's something about the land that moves you to just sit quietly and think.
Another week at school is about to begin, and with hair still smelling slightly of dye, one step closer to finished assignments, and a full weekend planned, I think I'm ready to roll! Here's to hoping my school work gets finished...
Cheers,
Nicole
Isaiah 40:3
Showing posts with label buses. Show all posts
Showing posts with label buses. Show all posts
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
In Which Papers Start and I Have Homework
Kia ora!
Well, it's official. Classes (called papers here) have started and I'm now back to joining the ranks of university student-dom. Which also means homework has started. Yes, I can hear everyone laughing sweet laughs of revenge, but at least I only have three classes worth of work? :)
The first week of school, as always, is one of those learning curves. I thought I had gotten all of my books, and was rather proud of myself, until I entered my 20th Century Novel class. BOOM! Add nine novels/anthologies we're reading, and suddenly I have nine books on my book list! "Ok," I thought to myself, "I guess that's not horrible..." Then my Australian Writing class comes around, and SHA-ZAM! Another seven novels! The horror! Naturally, I resolved to just go buy the books, but lo' and behold, books here are MUCH more expensive than at home. Because of importing everything, an average book costs about $20 NZD. Often more. Meaning that all around campus this week is the dying cries of student's wallets and bank accounts, and the evil maniacal laughter of the campus bookstore. I ended up finding some used book stores to browse, and got a good portion of my books, but wish me luck as I search for the other half!
About classes though: attendance is not graded. Only one of my two lecturers (I have the same lecturer for both literature classes) keeps track of who shows up, but that's only to figure out why people don't do well on the evaluations. Thus, your grade depends on as few as two evaluations, or up to four. Evaluations, for my three classes are the same, and break down like this (in terms of percentage of overall grade):
Essay 1 25%
Essay 2 25%
Final Test 50%
Talk about sink or swim! One bad assignment and you're down for the rest of the semester. I won't lie that I'm a bit worried about this grading system, but after Dr. Little's America in the 1960s paper, I'm pretty sure I will do fine.
My favorite class, by far so far, however, is Australian Writing and Culture. The Aussies have a very unique set of themes that they write about, and so far I've enjoyed learning about this incredible culture, halfway around the world! At the same time, it's a bit ironic to be studying AUSTRALIAN culture in NEW ZEALAND, but there was no New Zealand literature class with enough hours to make the class count towards graduation. I'm also very much enjoying my War and Society in Europe class, as the lecturer is enthusiastic and super-excitable. I'm one of few people taking it at the 300 level, so the seminar (small discussion group required for most university classes here) is smaller. It should be a good time!
Other highlights of late have been signing up for clubs. Over here, it costs money to join clubs. I don't know why, perhaps that's the only way they make money, but it does. I've signed up for way more clubs than I'll actually be joining (I won't lie, I mostly signed up for ones that were free), but the ones that look most promising are Tramping Club, UCNavs (one of several Christian clubs), and Musical Theatre Club. Among the other clubs here are: ABC - A Brewing Club, Renaissance and Medievel Society, Green Party, Super-Ninjasoc (soc meaning society, and I still have no idea what they actually do), Unicylcing and Juggling Club, Sci-Fi Club, Buddhist Club, Choir, and many, many more.
I also made a trip up to the International Antarctic Center. The Center is fun, though pricey, and it's one of those things that you do once and most likely never do again. It was a fun day though, and I got to see fish that live in -1.1 *C water, survive a simulated Antarctic storm in a chamber that went down to -18 *C with wind chill, and watch blue penguins get fed. Also, the exhibit had a TON of information on Antarctic, and I found out that the coldest temperature ever recorded in Antarctic is -89.2 *C, at a Russian base. We all agreed that it figured Russia had the coldest base! Also, did you know that Antarctic is the coldest AND driest place on Earth? It gets less rain fall than the desert!
I also had no idea that 70% of flights that transfer people down to Antarctic fly out of Christchurch! The Center is right across from the airfield where the Hercules plane lifts off and touches down, and the highlight of the day there was definitely seeing people coming OFF the plane from Antarctic. They were quite identifiable, as their coats were a piece of luggage alone, some where still wearing rubber snow shoes, and they all had red bags that can be seen in numerous videos within the Center. We greeted them as they got off, and welcomed them back to double digits! They responded that they just came from double digits, just double digits in the opposite direction.
Oh how time seems to fly these days! A friend and I are planning a weekend up in Kaikoura to swim with either seals or dolphins before the business shuts down for winter. The hard thing about the New Zealand bus system is booking far enough in advance to get a good price. One bus system, Naked Bus, lets you book for $1 a seat if you book months ahead! The only problem is being organized enough to book that far in advance! But my backpack will definitely be getting a good deal of experience on my back and riding in a bus, as the rates are generally not horrible, and hostels are numerous here. Now let’s just see if I can get rid of the fish ‘n chips smell from my day pack. IMPORTANT TIP! Never leave fish n’ chips in your backpack for more than five minutes…
Cheers,
Nicole
Matthew 21:21-22
Well, it's official. Classes (called papers here) have started and I'm now back to joining the ranks of university student-dom. Which also means homework has started. Yes, I can hear everyone laughing sweet laughs of revenge, but at least I only have three classes worth of work? :)
The first week of school, as always, is one of those learning curves. I thought I had gotten all of my books, and was rather proud of myself, until I entered my 20th Century Novel class. BOOM! Add nine novels/anthologies we're reading, and suddenly I have nine books on my book list! "Ok," I thought to myself, "I guess that's not horrible..." Then my Australian Writing class comes around, and SHA-ZAM! Another seven novels! The horror! Naturally, I resolved to just go buy the books, but lo' and behold, books here are MUCH more expensive than at home. Because of importing everything, an average book costs about $20 NZD. Often more. Meaning that all around campus this week is the dying cries of student's wallets and bank accounts, and the evil maniacal laughter of the campus bookstore. I ended up finding some used book stores to browse, and got a good portion of my books, but wish me luck as I search for the other half!
About classes though: attendance is not graded. Only one of my two lecturers (I have the same lecturer for both literature classes) keeps track of who shows up, but that's only to figure out why people don't do well on the evaluations. Thus, your grade depends on as few as two evaluations, or up to four. Evaluations, for my three classes are the same, and break down like this (in terms of percentage of overall grade):
Essay 1 25%
Essay 2 25%
Final Test 50%
Talk about sink or swim! One bad assignment and you're down for the rest of the semester. I won't lie that I'm a bit worried about this grading system, but after Dr. Little's America in the 1960s paper, I'm pretty sure I will do fine.
My favorite class, by far so far, however, is Australian Writing and Culture. The Aussies have a very unique set of themes that they write about, and so far I've enjoyed learning about this incredible culture, halfway around the world! At the same time, it's a bit ironic to be studying AUSTRALIAN culture in NEW ZEALAND, but there was no New Zealand literature class with enough hours to make the class count towards graduation. I'm also very much enjoying my War and Society in Europe class, as the lecturer is enthusiastic and super-excitable. I'm one of few people taking it at the 300 level, so the seminar (small discussion group required for most university classes here) is smaller. It should be a good time!
Other highlights of late have been signing up for clubs. Over here, it costs money to join clubs. I don't know why, perhaps that's the only way they make money, but it does. I've signed up for way more clubs than I'll actually be joining (I won't lie, I mostly signed up for ones that were free), but the ones that look most promising are Tramping Club, UCNavs (one of several Christian clubs), and Musical Theatre Club. Among the other clubs here are: ABC - A Brewing Club, Renaissance and Medievel Society, Green Party, Super-Ninjasoc (soc meaning society, and I still have no idea what they actually do), Unicylcing and Juggling Club, Sci-Fi Club, Buddhist Club, Choir, and many, many more.
I also made a trip up to the International Antarctic Center. The Center is fun, though pricey, and it's one of those things that you do once and most likely never do again. It was a fun day though, and I got to see fish that live in -1.1 *C water, survive a simulated Antarctic storm in a chamber that went down to -18 *C with wind chill, and watch blue penguins get fed. Also, the exhibit had a TON of information on Antarctic, and I found out that the coldest temperature ever recorded in Antarctic is -89.2 *C, at a Russian base. We all agreed that it figured Russia had the coldest base! Also, did you know that Antarctic is the coldest AND driest place on Earth? It gets less rain fall than the desert!
I also had no idea that 70% of flights that transfer people down to Antarctic fly out of Christchurch! The Center is right across from the airfield where the Hercules plane lifts off and touches down, and the highlight of the day there was definitely seeing people coming OFF the plane from Antarctic. They were quite identifiable, as their coats were a piece of luggage alone, some where still wearing rubber snow shoes, and they all had red bags that can be seen in numerous videos within the Center. We greeted them as they got off, and welcomed them back to double digits! They responded that they just came from double digits, just double digits in the opposite direction.
Oh how time seems to fly these days! A friend and I are planning a weekend up in Kaikoura to swim with either seals or dolphins before the business shuts down for winter. The hard thing about the New Zealand bus system is booking far enough in advance to get a good price. One bus system, Naked Bus, lets you book for $1 a seat if you book months ahead! The only problem is being organized enough to book that far in advance! But my backpack will definitely be getting a good deal of experience on my back and riding in a bus, as the rates are generally not horrible, and hostels are numerous here. Now let’s just see if I can get rid of the fish ‘n chips smell from my day pack. IMPORTANT TIP! Never leave fish n’ chips in your backpack for more than five minutes…
Cheers,
Nicole
Matthew 21:21-22
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