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:
No comments:
Post a Comment