In Which Break Starts Soon

Kia ora!

So I realize I'm a bit remiss in updating this blog, however, the past week and a half has been chaotic, and unfortunately my 'fun' writing slipped my mind and was replaced with the giant project known as "Essay 1". "Essay 1", however, is done, and while my lecturer gets to read about why and how the British lost the Battle of Gallipoli in 1915, I get to plan for my three week break and hope that there aren't too many spelling errors in said essay!

Over the weekend, I helped out the local community by volunteering at the Motukarara (I don't know how to say it either) Rail Station. It was, by far, one of the most useless volunteer projects I have ever been on. Not only was the group dropped off at the wrong site, but the work was almost meaningless. The rail station floods on one side due to the water levels of the area, so the plants were dying on one side. We were told to dig up said plants and transfer them over to the higher ground on the other side of the path...where they would be dug up later for new plants. So what was the point of digging them up and replanting them instead of putting them into pots? Our next chore was to take dirt from an accumulated pile and layer it over the flood ground to raise the soil. This project was less useless, but not at all gratifying. In all, most of us felt like we had wasted a perfectly good day, and while we were glad to help out, the only thing I have to really show for my time is a bruise the size of a tennis ball on my knee from when Chris and I threw dirt clods at each other (it seemed like a good idea at the time...).

On Sunday, though, I went to a comic book convention to check out how nerds on this side of the world roll, and had a good time with friends! We got to see Michael Winslow in person - a sound effects guy - and he was worth the price of the ticket alone, and probably more! The convention was no where near the size of San Diego, and overall wasn't nearly as good, but it was amusing to go nonetheless. Afterwards, Sam, Dave, and I wandered around downtown, got me coffee before I keeled over, and Dave introduced us to Alice's, a movie rental store that uses an old bank as its store. This city has so much character in it if you just know where to look!

I managed to catch a cold, my first in a few years I think, and thus I spent Monday huddled over my computer, attempting to type out 3,000 words about the battle of Gallipoli and not collapse in bed before it was done. Two rolls of toilet paper and two days later, however, I feel a lot better, and will probably be well enough to go hiking this weekend! I confirmed my project on the Russian Battallion of Death this week with my history lecturer, and learned that lecturers here are not called professors unless they state so. Also, I'm now officially done with two essays, and will complete the other one when I get back from break.

This weekend I will most likely be hiking in Arthur's Pass, up to Mueller's Hut. The trail was done by two of my friends a few weekends ago, and the pictures are absolutely epic! I can't wait to go, and though the trail is not an easy one, a friend of mine made it despite having not hiked in years, so I think I'll be ok.

On Monday I leave with three other girls from my Bible study to roadtrip along the South and West coast of the South Island. We plan to do Lake Tekapo, Mount Cook, Queenstown, Milford Sound, and Fox Glacier in a week, so we'll be busy almost every hour of the day! It should be a good time though, and I'm excited for it! Other things on the agenda for break include: Nelson, Abel Tasman National Park, ANZAC Day, and of course, tons of side trips.

Oh, yes, and the past journal entry was a game some friends and I played for about two hours one night. You list as many movie titles as you can, and add the phrase "in my pants" after it, and see which one is the funniest. It's one of those games you play late at night, because it's funnier after you're tired!

The week days have been pretty mundane, however. I spent most of my time in the past two weeks watching movies or TV shows with friends and hanging out. I've seen almost every episode of "Firefly", and watched all three "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies PLUS "Ocean's Eleven" with friends. Or, well, I was in the same room when we watched all four movies. Most of us fell asleep during the third Pirates and "Ocean's Eleven"...

The university is shutting down for the moment as break comes up, however, and most people are leaving for Australia, hikes, or meeting up with family members. I will be updating over break, via Internet cafes, so keep checking back for updates on the go! I hope you are all doing well, and that you have a good Easter break!


Cheers,
Nicole

Psalms 33

In Which I List Movie Titles

Kia ora!

This post will make no sense to anyone but Chris, Dave, and Dhruv. It will be explained later. For now:

Free Willy
The Two Towers
A Fistful of Dollars
Armageddeon
Spaceballs
I Am Legend
A Beautiful Mind
The Hulk
Pretty Woman
Shaft
Deep Impact
Independance Day
Dude, Where's My Car?
Slumdog Millionaire
Antz
How I Met Your Mother
Eyes Wide Shut


Cheers,
Nicole

Matthew 11:27

In Which I Fail Utterly to Achieve My Study Goals, But Hey, I Met Numerous Social Ones!

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