Adjusting

I've decided to come to the Library today since our internet has run out. This means that between 5 people we went through 20 gig's of internet in the past 3 weeks. I am not sure how this happened since last month we didn't even go over 18, but none the less, we no longer have internet access. I think it will be refilled or whatever on the 3rd of October, but for a facebook and e-mail addict like myself it is torture to have to sit at my desk and do actual work without distractions. 

Some people come to the Library and use the computers to do work, or print things out, but I have been here for the past hour and I have yet to accomplish anything beyond talking to some friends and downloading my assignment for Media.

This past weekend was LEAP back at SMC and I am very sad to have missed it, but I heard good things about the weekend. I managed to make my presence known even from so far away and I am thankful to those who helped me. I am extremely vague with all of this but if you are a fellow LEAP-er then you will know why. I got an email back from someone who went on the weekend and it put the biggest smile across my face possible. The other people in the library must have wondered how I went from being really bored and staring off into space to so very happy in under one minute, but I'll let that remain a mystery, unless of course they happen to read this blog. Which is very unlikely. And that would be weird.

The library is pretty nice here, but it could use more computers. I brought my own and linked onto the network and wireless just fine, but there is a line against the wall of people waiting for an open computer so they can work. I have heard of people waiting an hour just to have access to a computer. They put a couch against the wall where the line is, which seems to just exemplify the fact that they need more computers and are aware of the bad situation. I think that Saint Mike's has just about the same number of computers on campus as this library which is saying something because Victoria University has 10 times  as many students as Saint Mike's.

I think that I will head home soon and finish writing my lab report for physics. I wrote half of it yesterday, which consisted of my copying and pasting a bunch of graphs and tables, and now I have to fill in the gaps and describe what all the tables are for. It is different having to write scientific papers for class, but I think I have finally got it down. We'll see when I get this back graded.

I got a 71 on a paper the other day and I was quite disappointed with myself. I thought that I worked hard and deserved better, but then I noticed that next to the 71 was an A-. I am not sure how it works, but the grades here are scaled so oddly. Over a 50% is a C and over 60% is a B, leaving 70% or higher as the A range. A D is considered failing, so you have to watch out for that, but outside of physics I can't imagine not getting an A or at least a B+ on work. It would be almost impossible to fail any of my general courses here, which is great news for me. The bad news is that in physics I am the one who doesn't get it and the professor has no intention of helping me to 'get it.' I e-mailed him to ask if there was anything  I could do to improve my grade and that I know that I need to get a C- for this class to count for me. He wrote back to me saying that if I study and review the notes I should do just fine. That is not what I was looking for. I even stated that I am not looking for a hand out, but I would like to do work to improve my grade and all he has to say to me is to study. I knew that before I even came here. Studying is one of those things that I thought was obvious, apparently in NZ it is not.

I have now wasted a bit more time, so I suppose I should go do real work. Not that blogging isn't work, because it is.

Flat 9 does KAIKOURAAAAA!

This past weekend was AMAZING!

Justine bounded upstairs to Claire's room on Thursday and announced that she wanted to go away for the weekend. So she Claire and I decided on a weekend adventure to the south. The boys joined in last minute and booked the later freight ferry. We jumped a ferry Friday night and stayed in Picton, where the ferry arrives in the south. We went out on the town, which is about 4 square feet, and waited around till the boys got in. After checking into the hostel we pretty much just crashed from exhaustion. That next morning we got up early and rented a car for 5.. but we are six (Me, Jay, Claire, Justine, Phil and Kevin) so Kevin and I waited while the others got a car. 

We then drove south for about 2.5 hours and got to the most beautiful place on earth. In Kaikoura you can see the monstrous mountain ranges pushing up through the earth, right next to the ocean. It was truly outstanding. 

Once in town we went to the i-site and booked some fun for the weekend. We planned to go kayaking with seals and fishing early the next morning. We got a hostel and moved everything in, then went back to the i-site where we got picked up for the kayaking. It was so neat to get to kayak with wildlife right around you. I saw only one penguin... and it was dead, but tons of fur seals were out! There was one seal that was swimming around us so we followed it and it found an octopus to eat. it was the neatest thing to experience. I have never seen anything in the wild like that besides on the discovery channel. I felt like I was on some kind of cool seal show.

After Kayaking we spent the rest of the day exploring town and discovered that there was going to be a rail jam that night. Jay, being an almost pro snowboarder, was way too excited and we made him sign up for it. That night we went to eat dinner and got the tastiest pizza I have had in awhile then went off to a bar to the rail jam. Jay rode for awhile on a borrowed board and ended up winning best trick for going down with one foot out of his bindings. We stayed in the bar awhile longer till we got kicked out for taking the really awesome Monteiths pint glasses... they frown upon stealing here... Oh well! We did manage to get an air horn and a salt shaker somehow tho.

That night was a long one, so the next morning came way too early! We went out to get some breakfast before our 8 am fishing boat headed off shore. We first went to collect the crayfish pots that were laid out the night before, these pots only ended up having 3 crayfish in them, one pregnant female, one small male and one big enough for us to take it. The big crayfish was worth about $100, which is pretty amazing. I did not know it but crayfish are actually pretty big, about the size of a lobster, but without the claws.

We then put the rods out and went fishing for about an hour. We caught over 15 fish, mostly perch, but one blue cod. They then filleted them for us right on the boat. It was about that time when 50% of the group lost it. It being their breakfast. I surprisingly did not get sick, but Claire was first to go, followed by Phil and Kevin. We headed back to shore after 2.5 hours of being on the water, and all anyone wanted was to sit on solid land for awhile. 

Because everyone was feeling a little off, we put off hiking and decided to drive around to see what we could find. We stumbled upon a real great lookout and saw the whole town. After that it was about time to get going and we made the long trek back to Picton then on the ferry and home.  That night Jay cooked up the crayfish and we had a feast. Then I passed out from exhaustion, a weekend well spent in NZ.

The Zoo, Rugby and Jess's 21st

Saturday was quite the busy day. On Friday Claire and I decided that we wanted to get the to zoo this weekend, so we checked out the bus schedule and sure enough the bus that stopped by my flat went right to the zoo as well. Saturday morning Claire, Alex and I bussed over to the zoo and saw some of the cutest animals around. They had the usual lions and tigers and bears (oh my!) along with wallaby's and kangaroo's and giraffe's. The giraffe's were eating and we were able to get so close I could touch it's head! The monkeys were the cutest thing, about 6 inches long I just wanted to carry one around in my pocket.We even saw a lion while it was eating... a horse leg. There were 2 females which were really close to the window, the picture is not zoomed, and then the one male was further away, but all were chewing on legs.. ew.

After the zoo I had about an hour before I was off to the Wellington Lions Rubgy game. Kailah, Julie, Aldi and I walked over to Westpac Stadium just in time, and it was an awesome game! We were in the 2nd row back and got to see all the action from about the 50 yard line. A few others joined us less than a quarter in... we won by a long shot and it was an amazing game! 

When I got back to my flat tons of people were over starting to celebrate Jess's 21st birthday. It was a surprise so we were all waiting on the b-day girl to arrive. After freshening up, it was only about 20 minutes until she arrived. It was a long night of celebration, which ended with a walk into town.. down random alley ways and through barricaded areas, haha.

Needless to say, Sunday was a complete day of rest. Only leaving the house to travel down to the big farmers market on the waterfront followed by a stop off at the New World super market.

Email Number Deux

I sent out a second mass e-mail the other night so here it is, if you aren't on the list and want to be, let me know:

Hey there everyone!
I just got off of my two week break and decided its time for another email. Since I last wrote I have been wwoofing- world wide organization (of) organic farming- and been through 7 weeks of classes and adventuring!

First with the wwoofing. I decided to join this (very credible) group, and through them I was able to work on a winery in exchange for amazing food and a place to stay. I lived at the Celtic Winery in Levin and during the days I would bottle and label wine, and relax around the property. I got to read 2 books, start on some homework and just chill out. It was an amazing way to spend my break. I was there for 10 days, and then spent the last 4 in Wellington. 

While at the winery Malcolm and Deb cooked great meals for me and the Japanese exchange student who they were hosting. They have two daughters (19 and 21)who conveniently live in Wellington as well. I felt right at home here and loved having that homey feel.

Before wwoofing, I had been in class for 6 weeks. My classes are all going very well, with physics challenging me more than ever. In my drama class I got to read a bunch of plays- Ubu, Waiting for Godot, Eiffel Tower Wedding Party, and The America Play (ironically). For the last few weeks we will study the America Play in more detail, so this should be a good time. American history and racial relations being a few of the topics. In religion, I got to play Javanese instruments last week and have been learning about tons of different religions which is really neat. I am taking a media class as well and we have been talking about US politics and the Olympics a lot. Having been in New Zealand for more than 2 months I am starting to realize how much of an influence the US has on the rest of the world which I didn't ever think about before. I did a project recently and cut out newspaper headlines about Obama and the rest of the political debate. Almost every day I check the paper and find the front of the world section to contain at least one US story, along with a few more contained inside. I like being so connected to home, but I feel that a bunch of New Zealand culture is somehow connected to America. Almost every television show is from home or the UK and I never go a day without hearing several American accents.

I have also climbed Mt. Victoria twice now, it's a really beautiful climb. I am currently planning what I will be up to after I finish with classes in about 4.5 weeks. I want to go wwoofing to more places and I have been e-mailing with a family (with horses :D) who would like someone to watch over their little girl and possibly do some house painting and tend the veggie garden. I may be heading off to do that, as well as getting down to the southern tip of the country visiting Dunedin and some friends who go to Otago University, as well as wwoofing for another week down there, right next to a rain forest in an area called the Catlins.

Back at the end of July I travelled to the south island for a long weekend with my orientation group. We went to the Marlborough sounds, specifically the Queen Charlotte sound. There we got to kayak for a few hours in the bay then took a water taxi across the sound to our lodging. We stayed at a backpackers and left the next morning for a day tramp. We hiked for about 4.5 hours all around the sound in a ring and eventually got to a point where we could look across the water to where we had started. After stopping for lunch and the carrying on again, we took the water taxi back to the ferry, and the ferry back home to Wellington. The ferry here is very large, think ocean liner, but we took a smaller one back than we did over. I got sick coming home, since I always get sick-as those who travel with me know... but it was mainly because there were 15 meter swells. It was an intense couple hours.I have been going to the farmers market every Sunday to get fresh fruit and vegetables, then heading to the food store for the necessities. It is quite the hill back up as I said before, but slowly it is getting smaller. I am getting used to the stairs, but I am waiting on the day that I am not out of breath by the top... it WILL happen someday soon!

This Friday I am looking forward to a Wellington rugby game! I have only been to the one All Blacks game, so this will be my second rugby event, and a first time seeing a Wellington team play. Hopefully it will not rain this time!! I have found some great friends here finally and I am loving going out and about on the weekends. My flatmates and I have been getting along well, even going out together (minus one girl) it's been great! I do have one strange flatmate.. but that is to be expected. Overall I am still loving New Zealand, but I truly can not wait to be reunited with everyone in the spring!

Thanks so much to everyone who e-mailed me back last time! I love hearing about everyone else and their adventures! Oh and welcome back to school, since you've all had at least a week there already!

xoxox love and miss you all!

Meghan

Here I am crossing a rope bridge on the Queen Charlotte Track:

The whole orientation group who came out with me:

The Interislander Ferry from the trip over:

Betty Crocker Style

I made shepherd's pie tonight and it was amazing =) A little taste of home that was much needed. And the best part was that I didn't even need a recipe! I just mashed some potatoes with chicken broth (I didn't have beef) then layered some cooked beef then corn, then the potatoes, then beef, corn, potatoes, and Voila! Shepherd's pie! I am quite proud of myself for this one. I have been surprising myself with my cooking abilities here. I have made potato leek soup, and the pie, and all kinds of stir fry's... it's been great! I am not really looking forward to getting back to alliot food. However I feel like I am super prepared for senior year cooking on my own. It's sweet cooking for yourself, except dinner tonight ended up being enough for 3. My only complaint is that I have no one else to cook for here, I just have left overs for a few days then another wonderful meal! Oh and I never made it out last night... it rained from the time I was considering going out (about 8 when it began) until this morning well after I got up (maybe 3 when it stopped). And when I say rain, I mean a complete downpour that made me worry if the sewer system was up for the challenge. Having not left the house today, I will soon find out as I am off to Kailah's for a night of socialization!

Tequila Wednesday= Drunk in 9 am Physics

Wednesday night I decided since I hadn't been out in over 2 weeks and, well, there was free tequila being offered, that I should out. It was most likely against my better judgement since I had class the next morning at 9, but I will get to that later on. So there I was walking with 3 of 4 of my flatmates over to Jessica's place waiting for the night to begin. It was tequila Wednesday so when I arrived a margarita was placed into my hands... which I happily consumed in not too much time. The night went on and the marg's kept coming, and I kept guzzling the delicious liquid down.. then we went out. In town I was a very good girl, spending no money at all, and danced the night away. It was all going great and I was having quite the time, but sadly it got to be about 1:30, so I meandered home. Because I was falling over I decided to shower to wake myself up a bit before attempting to 'sleep it off.' Now, after sleeping a few hours one would think that the tequila would wear off and I would be up and at 'em ready to go for 9, and this is kind of true, minus the fact that when my phone alarm went off I bumped it off my bed. And not only was it off my bed it was between my headboard and the wall. So I reached down, squeezing my arm to get it only to get my elbow stuck on the way out. (I, of course, could have got out of bed and reached 2 feet down to where my phone was, but I didn't think of this.) That was when it first occurred to me. I am still drunk. I can not function and standing up may result in falling down again. But physics is one of those things that I just can't miss so I got up, having thankfully showered the night before, and put some clothes on. Off to class I go, stopping off in Claire's room to check if she was still drunk too. No dice. She is just slightly hung over with a large glass of water next to her bed. I kept tipping backwards which was a weird sensation, but slowly I gained my balance. Physics wasn't too bad, I managed to get some notes out and I went straight over to my next lecture which happened to be a debate over something I actually cared about. In drama we are deciding which play we should talk about for the next 5 weeks and, having done Beckett until I wanted to die before, I decided to pick the other play. The America Play. Literally. I know Kiwi's aren't real fond of Americans, having pretended to be Canadian once before, but do they have to hate anything with our name attached? One girl did and we got into a fight. A drunken fight with good supporting information on my side and a pissy hormonal 14-year-old fight on her end. I won none the less when another person told her not to use my words against me and that I had very good points and everyone in the room was telling her to shut up... it was great. (this is a tutorial class of about 15 mind you)

Then I got hungry and went home. Good story. 

Thursday happened without me realizing it had passed, and today is Friday. I had a big project due today which I had minimal work done on, so I spent most of the day working to get that completed. It was due at 5 and from about 11 to 5 is a blur to me. Class, library, project... stuff.... class.... project. However I got it done, and quite well I do believe. I think I may go out tonight, but I will stay away from the tequila for awhile. It likes me to too much to indulge in it often.

Today is Wednesday

I saw a boy in class today wearing leather chaps. With fringe. And a leather jacket. And a bright yellow Spongebob t-shirt underneith it. I kinda wanted to chunder. (That's what the Kiwi's call puking.) But all this was happening when I was in my religion course learning about the Javanese culture and how to play their instruments. I got to play a thing kinda like a xylophone while others were banging on drums and gongs and weird little metal pots. It was sweet. Oh and I finally got postcards so I can mail some off soon. I first have to decide who gets them, then I will write them and those special people will receive them. Besides getting up for my 9am class, which was pointless as usual, and having 3 more hours of class after, it was a good day. I am just now sitting down to that work I was going to do on Monday before I got distracted by Oprah. AAAAnd I got to talk to Sarah this morning which was wonderful since she lives in a land where the internet does not reach and she has basically been MIA since May... off to homework land now!