"The good times are killing me. Here we go! Got dirt, got air, got water and I know you can carry on. Shrug off shortsighted false excitement and oh what can I say? Have one, have twenty more "one mores" and oh it does not relent. The good times are killing me." ~modest mouse

I went to church this morning; I found a Presbyterian church here that I love. It's really small, and the people are incredibly nice. It's mostly an older population. Today I sat with a retired minister and his wife and I talked to them for a long time after the service, about all kinds of things. Everyone's so friendly here.

It's my turn to cook tonight, and I'm making pizza. I know, what a cop-out, right? It was Scott's idea when I couldn't think of anything else. And everyone loves pizza.

I talked to my parents today; I haven't talked to them in a while and it was good to hear their voices. I can't wait 'til my family gets here. One more month. I miss them a lot.

Going to the grocery store here is so much fun. I mean the actual walk to the grocery store, not the shopping part (though I like that, too). There's a botanical garden directly behind my flat, and I walk through it to get there. It's perfect; it's about a 20-minute walk through the gardens and I emerge directly in front of the store. I probably look pretty strange walking back through the gardens carrying my grocery bags because everyone else is there hiking and exploring with their families, but I don't care. Have I mentioned how beautiful it is here?

"Just get the world off your shoulders, And close your pretty blue eyes. Hey monkey, what's life without an occasional surprise? Got nowhere but home to go, Got Ben Folds on my radio right now. I'm in trouble for the things I need, Hey monkey don't you want to be needed, too?" ~counting crows

Fun fact: That song is about Courteney Cox Arquette (she was just Courteney Cox when it was written, though).
Another fun fact: Adam Duritz has dated 2 Friends cast members (Courteney Cox and Jennifer Aniston).
I wish I could remember academic information as easily as I remember stupid music facts. I can rattle off more than you'd ever want to know about a good number of bands, but ask me to remember a few historical dates and I'm useless.
I love my friends. Especially the ones who send me real mail. And the ones who haven't forgotten about me. I think I take them for granted a lot, but I really am so glad that certain people are in my life. :-)
I also love my hot water bottle. That's an amazing invention. It stays warm for, like, 12 hours. I don't know how it does that.

"With the windows clear and the mannequins eyes, Do they all look like mine? You know you could, I wish you would, Come pick me up..." ~ryan adams

That is quite possibly the saddest song I've ever heard, but it's so beautiful. It's a shame Ryan Adams can't get his act together (read my Rolling Stone entry from a while back). Counting Crows do a great cover of that song, too. It's especially enhanced by Adam Duritz's comments on how miserable and horrifying life is.
The other day Matt took Perrine and I up to Mt. Cargill, where there's a great lookout. I'll post one picture (I took tons, but it takes forever to upload them). It was really beautiful.

I need to take some pictures of my flatmates to show you guys. I've posted one with Perrine, but I don't have any of the guys yet. I'll work on it.

"But when we're broken, we hate to be broken. It's hard enough to breathe in and out, Or is hard enough to come down from the clouds. Did you ever find your way back home?" ~adam pascal

I miss home. I miss New York, I miss my family, I miss my friends, I miss my dog, I miss my room, I miss my house...I feel like I'm missing out on everything. I've been in a funk I guess. I wouldn't exactly say I'm homesick...it's more like I'm...tense, because I'm afraid things are slipping away from me. My friend sent me a message trying to make me feel better, and it made me cry. But in a good way. It really made my day. It just felt so good to know that someone cares about me. I really, really needed that. So thanks. :-)
Here's a picture of Josie, my baby. I miss her.


Today just got better and better, starting with that message, and now I feel pretty good. Matt was at a wine & cheese event tonight and came home really, really drunk. It was fun to talk to him. I'll get to make fun of him tomorrow morning because of it.

Tomorrow night I have my own wine & cheese event to go to (although I plan on arriving home much less intoxicated than Matt did tonight). It's with the mentor program, which is a group of International students and Kiwi mentors that have been assigned to them. I find it strange that most of the events organized through the program are centered around alcohol; I wouldn't expect that of school events. But the drinking age is 18 and drinking seems to be a major part of social life here, so I guess it's a cultural thing. It's just interesting.

My family's coming to visit in a month and I can't wait. It's when I have a week off of school. We're going to see a rugby match, it's New Zealand's national team against South Africa's national team. Perrine's coming with us to that. And we're going skiing in Queenstown, where I also want to go bungi (sp?) jumping (this is where it originated) or sky diving. I'm really excited to see them.

"You, you're not allowed, You're uninvited, An unfortunate slight." ~alanis morissette

Oh. My. Gosh. Why do I get myself into these situations? This guy from my Music Industry class is exhibiting some seriously stalkerish behavior. I won’t go into all the details because you don’t need to hear about all that and I don’t feel like explaining everything, but I’ll give an example: he called me 6 times today. 6 times. In one day. He won’t leave me alone. I’m really bad at rejection and I don’t know how to get him off my back. I told him I have a boyfriend back at home (I lied), but he still doesn’t get it and won’t leave me alone. I guess I was too nice because I told him that I’d still like to be his friend (I didn’t want to hurt his feelings), but he still hasn’t let up since then. He’s planning trips to the movies and wants me to come over so he can cook me dinner and wants to take me out to the bars here…I’m having trouble coming up with excuses. And now my favorite class ever has lowered in value because he’s in it and I’ll have to deal with him everyday. There are a few guys I’ve met here that I definitely wouldn’t mind going out with, but he’s just not one of them. I’m just not attracted to him. And I don’t know how to get rid of him without making the rest of the semester in that class awkward. Any suggestions (or commiseration) would be appreciated.

Okay, I'm adding an update. You know how I said he called me 6 times in one day? Make that 7. And HE TOLD ME HE LOVES ME. And, when I was speechless, he had the nerve to ask if I loved him. I don't believe this. I've done nothing to lead him on, I've told him I don't like him, I told him I love my boyfriend (my nonexistent boyfriend, but he doesn't know that), and I've been increasingly cold and distant with him. And he won't leave me alone. I do everything I can to avoid him, but I don't want to have to be on guard all the time. My flatmates are being cool (even though Matt and Rich tease me about it) by telling him I'm not home whenever he calls. But I can't deal with this much longer.

"I wanna fly, and never come down, And I live my life, and have friends around. We never change do we? No, no, We never learned to bleed, So I wanna live in a wooden house, Making more friends would be easy." ~coldplay

Wanna see a funny picture? It's a screen shot from the Coldplay concert I went to; if you watched it on TV, this is a snapshot of what you saw (basically, me looking like an idiot). Can you see me? I'm the loser drooling over Chris Martin while he's right in front of me.


Today's a picture day. A lot has gone on in the past few days but I don't really feel like writing about it (not that it's bad stuff, it's actually been some really fun things, but I'm just not in a writing mood). So here ya go, some photos from a hike I went on. I didn't feel like being around people, so I snuck out to go on my own little hike (actually, it wasn't little, it took me 6 hours). Just me and my iPod. I love listening to my iPod on shuffle; the order of songs is always so amusing. At one point the sequence went like this: Bright Eyes, Blink 182, Joni Mitchell, Violent Femmes, Counting Crows...your mind gets into one mood based on the song and then it suddenly switches gears when a completely different style of music comes on. I love it. So I had a great time on my hike; I felt like I was in The Lord of the Rings. I know it was filmed somewhere on the south island of New Zealand (which is where I am), and based on the scenery I felt like I had stepped directly into the movie.
A view of Dunedin (the city where I live):

Another view (you can see the Southern Alps in the upper right hand corner if you look closely):

A miserable attempt at self-portraiture (have I mentioned that the wind here is insane? especially on top of a mountain):

"We take all kinda pills That give us all kinda thrills, But the thrill we’ve never known Is the thrill that it gets ya When you get your picture On the cover of the rolling stone." ~Poison

I'm not sure if the American Rolling Stone is the same as the Australian version, but if it is, you should go out and buy it because it will give you the best laugh you've had in ages. It seriously had some of the funniest stuff I've read in a while. First, there's an article on Rivers Cuomo (from Weezer), and he's one of the strangest people in the world. He's been celibate for the last two years and is really dedicated to all this crazy meditation stuff; I've heard weird things about him, and this article furthered his characterization as an incredibly interesting and unfathomable person. I don't know how Weezer has stuck together for so long because it sounds like no one gets along with Rivers. But they still make great music, so I guess that's why they're still together.
Then there's an interview with Ryan Adams. Now, everyone knows Ryan Adams hates interviews; there have been some pretty funny ones in the past. But this one is right up there with the worst of them. That guy only gets crazier and crazier. I saw him in concert two years ago, before he fell into the downward spiral that he's in now, and he seemed pretty normal. Since he fell off the stage in the middle of a concert due to intoxication and broke his wrist, he's just gotten worse. I can't even count how many times he curses in the interview. It's a phone interview, and he abruptly leaves midway through, giving the phone to his drummer. He comes back later and takes the phone again, saying, "Hello? I'm better. I was half asleep, I was literally dreaming when they took the phone in my bunk. Listen, do me a favour and don't pull any quotes of me talking about like, 'I'm physical karma and I'm going to bust the journalist's tooth out.' I know, in some way, it would make for good print, but I was just being cranky. I bet you're cranky when you wake up too." Unfortunately for him (and fortunately for readers), they printed all his ramblings about how he hates journalists and about wanting to punch them and how he harasses them. It's great.
Finally, there's an interview with Coldplay. I love Coldplay, I've been rambling about how I was less than a foot away from Chris Martin since that concert, but this really gets me. Here's a snippet of them talking:
Jon Buckland (Coldplay's guitarist): We've got nothing to fear. Except fear itself.
Chris Martin: Yeah. Except for fear itself...What film is that from? 'Nothing to fear except fear itself.' I like that.
Seriously? I mean, I know he's not American, but "what film is that from?"???? I don't expect him to know everything about American political history, but that quote is a pretty famous one from a pretty famous speech by a pretty famous President.
Anyway, the new issue of Rolling Stone is highly amusing and interesting. There's a really good article about Oasis, too.

I finished the newest Harry Potter; I read it all weekend. I loved it, because I love Harry Potter, but I didn't like it as much as the 4th and 5th books. I thought it was predictable; I immediately guessed who the half-blood prince was and I also predicted some other main plot elements that I won't spoil for those who haven't read it yet. I cried a little, but not as much as I did during the 6th book. It just made me more excited for the 7th book. That one will be good. I can't wait.

"I recommend biting off more than you can chew to anyone, I certainly do. I recommend sticking your foot in your mouth at anytime, Feel free. Throw it down (the caution blocks you from the wind), Hold it up (to the rays), You wait and see when the smoke clears..."~alanis morissette

I finally finished downloading the recording of the Alanis Jagged Little Pill Acoustic concert that I went to. I cried while I was listening to it. I'm not sure why, I guess I was just in a really vulnerable mood. It's not the best recording, but I thought it was a really great concert so it got to me. That was such a fun spur-of-the-moment thing, and I love surprises like that. Nicole managed to score a pair of tickets for less than half of face value the day of the concert. I wasn't anticipating it at all, so I wasn't wondering what songs she would perform or anything like that. The fact that she sang every single song from Jagged Little Pill made it really cool for me. I think that was the first album I ever bought for myself. Anyway, I've already rambled on about this concert so I'll stop now. I'm just really glad to have the recording.
This morning Perrine and I went to the Cadbury Carnival, which was a bit of a let-down. I did get my picture taken with a giant panda, though. Here ya go, me and Perrine with the panda:

On the way home from the grocery store this evening, Rich and Matt decided to take me to see the steepest street in the world (it's in the Guinness Book of World Records). It was reallllyyyy steep. We turned onto it and I looked up in awe, then Matt started driving up it. I didn't think we would make it. Then once we got to the top, he turned around and drove right back down. It was pretty cool. People live up there; I can't imagine driving up that street every day. It's officially the steepest street in the world! Anyway, it was a fun experience. I'll have to go back and get a picture of it.

"Bows and flows of angel hair and ice cream castles in the air. And feather canyons everywhere, I’ve looked at clouds that way. But now they only block the sun, they rain and snow on everyone. So many things I would have done but clouds got in my way. I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now, From up and down, and still somehow It’s cloud illusions I recall. I really don’t know clouds at all." ~joni mitchell

I have pictures! It takes about 10 minutes to upload one photo with this miserably slow internet connection, so I'm only posting a few (I've taken tons). Here they are.
My flat from the outside (the middle one):

The view upon entering the flat (part of the kitchen and living room:

My room:

The view from my window (it's much prettier on a nicer day):

The view from the top of the hill on which my flat is situated:

Pretty scenery:

The ocean (see the people down there? That look like specks? I was down there when it started raining and hailing like crazy. You can read my lovely account of it a few posts back):
Reading Harry Potter a day before everyone in the U.S. got it:


Okay, that's all for now. Tomorrow morning Perrine and I are going to a chocolate bruch at the Cadbury Carnival. :-)

“’Cause it’s a bittersweet symphony, this life.” ~the verve

Did anyone see Richard Ashcroft performing that song with Coldplay on Live8? It was pretty cool. Have I mentioned how much I love Coldplay? My love for them skyrocketed after I won tickets to the MTV LiveLeak concert and was less than a foot away from Chris Martin (if you don’t know the story, read my second entry in here, it'll be under the June archive).
Last night our flat went to a party at Matt’s friend’s flat. It was really fun; I played a lot of cards and met some cool people. I met a guy from New Jersey. Today (Friday) I don’t have class so I slept in really late and basically haven’t gotten out of bed all day except to go downstairs and get some food. It’s been raining on and off all day and that puts me in a stay-inside-and-bum-around mood. I don’t know what I’m doing tonight, probably just hanging out here. This coming week is the Cadbury Chocolate Festival, which sounds exciting. There’s a Cadbury factory here (I love walking by it and smelling the chocolate), and throughout the week there are going to be chocolate-themed events going on. I really don’t need to be eating any chocolate, but it’s SO good here.

“Radio turns to gold, And paves the way To find my home, When I'm alone…Oh no, here I go my friend, I'm repeating, But the heart is for bleeding. And I've said all I can say, I am retreating, on my way. Music box, play my song I'll sing along To that bitterly sweet tone, When I'm alone...” ~carbon leaf

It’s an absolutely beautiful day here; it must be at least 60 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s amazing how quickly the weather can change. Yesterday it was snowing, today it feels like spring, and tomorrow it will probably be snowing or hailing again. I walked around a lot (for hours) because I couldn’t bear to stay inside. I ran into Nicole and we walked around for a while. Apparently every month the school has a rummage sale of everything left in the lost and found. It was going on today so we checked it out (didn’t buy anything, though). School hasn’t gotten really busy yet. Tutorials haven’t even started, and I have a little reading to do so far, but not much. It’s a lot different here; so much of the focus is on final exams. In all of my classes the final exam is worth at least 50% of my grade, usually more. There really aren’t any assignments throughout the semester. I don’t like that so much. It seems harder to stay motivated and involved when you’re not being assessed on what you learn as you go along. It’s an interesting change, though, and I like experiencing another country’s educational system.
I’m waiting for Matt to get off the internet (I’m typing this in Word); I have a feeling that he’ll be a while. He’s already been on it for what seems like forever. Arg. Alright, I’m giving up and I’m off to read Mary Barton (for Victorian lit.). It’s not due for a couple of weeks I think, but I have to get ahead because after this weekend I will be devoting myself entirely to the new Harry Potter. I pre-ordered it from the local bookstore so I’ll get it on Saturday and won’t put it down until I’ve finished it. You have no idea how excited I am. Yes, I am obsessed and proud of it. I cannot rave enough about the genius and magic that is Harry Potter.

“As we drive along this road called life, occasionally a gal will find herself a little lost. And when that happens, I guess she has to let go of the ‘coulda, shoulda, woulda,’ buckle up and just keep going.” ~sex and the city

The Kiwis are here! Matt and Rich arrived on Sunday, and I’m really glad to have them; the flat feels complete now. They’re both very friendly. Rich is training for the duathlon World Championships in September; he’s quite an athlete (the duathalon is like the triathlon except without the swimming, so it’s biking and running). He’s off running or biking a lot. We seem to have similar schedules, so I’ve gotten to know him a little bit while hanging around the flat. He’s really funny. They both seem like great guys. And we have a cooking schedule; we each cook dinner once a week (on the weekends we fend for ourselves). It’s nice to not have to worry about what to do for dinner every night. And I already love sitting down and eating together, it feels like a family. So flatting is going really well.

My classes are going well as well. The Music Industry is the best class ever; I already know it’ll be my favorite class I take in college. The tutor (that’s what they call the professor) is amazing. He’s a bass player and has played with some really famous names. He’s played with and is really good friends with Pete Townsend, for one. How cool is that?! I love going to class and listening to him talk about what is, to me, the most interesting stuff in the world. And get this: our final exam is writing an essay about the movie “This is Spinal Tap.” Writing about an awesome movie is something I would do for fun! Anyway, I love it.
My Victorian Literature class seems like it’ll be really interesting, but difficult. We’re reading some good books, though, like The Woman in White, so I think I’ll like the class.
New Zealand Society and Religion will definitely be very challenging, especially because I know nothing about New Zealand history (which you’re kind of expected to know when you’re taking a 300-level course). But the tutor is a really cool guy; he seemed drunk in class. He’s so energetic and I know he’ll keep me interested. He promised to enrage us all multiple times, and I like that.
I haven’t had The Reading Process yet (I have it later this afternoon), but I’ll let y’all know how it goes. I was going to go out and buy my books, but it started snowing so I decided to stay in here for now. Maybe tomorrow.

Random Revelation: New Zealand accents are really difficult to understand (much moreso than Australian accents).

“Why do we play with fire, why do we run our finger through the flame?
Why do we nod our heads although we know the boss is wrong as rain?
Why should we blaze a trail when the well-worn path seems safe and so inviting?
What does it take to wake up a generation?
How can you make someone take off and fly?
Why would we rather put ourselves through hell than sleep alone at night?
Why do we follow leaders who never lead?
Why does it take catastrophe to start a revolution if we’re so free, tell me why, someone tell me why so many people bleed.” ~an assortment of questions to ponder from Tick, Tick…BOOM!

Scott, Sam, Everett, and Carter (all Middlebury guys) are hanging out downstairs. I was down there with them for a while but the conversation got too guy-oriented for me, so I’m hiding out up here. Sam is the only one in their group who I feel like I can really talk to. I’m spending way too much up here writing, and I really have nothing to write about because I’m up here all the time. What a paradox. I know no one will end up reading all of this, so I’m basically writing it for myself. I don’t know what to do with all my free time. I really do make an effort to get out, though. This morning I went to the farmer’s market with Nicole and her flatmate. It was really cool; I bought lots of fresh food at really cheap prices. They have it every Saturday, so I’ll definitely go back. And I’ve gone out at night a few times with people; there are lots of bars around here. I finished the two books I brought with me. I listen to too much music. I’m in love with music. Right now I’m listening to Tick, Tick…BOOM! It always makes me want to cry (but I never do) because it makes me think about Jonathan Larson. It’s a really good show.
My courses and my schedule were confirmed, so here’s what I’m taking: Victorian Literature (English), The Reading Process (Education), New Zealand Society and Religion (History), and The Music Industry (Music). The first three all count towards my major and minors, which is good. They all sound fun to me. I actually am pretty excited for classes to start. The earliest I start is at 9am, which isn’t so bad, and I have no classes on Fridays, which is great for weekend trips.
I should be able to post all this soon because I registered my computer with the school’s network. Once it clears, I’ll be able to plug my laptop in at the library and connect to the Internet there. I’m not sure if I’ll end up getting Internet service in the flat. Scott and I were looking into installing it, but now he’s talking about getting wireless service for himself, which won’t work for my computer. It’ll probably be good for me to not have Internet access here, because if I did it would just give me another excuse to stay in my room and be anti-social. I think the rugby game is on tv now, so I’ll go be social and watch some of it with the guys. I used to play rugby at camp, and I was pretty good at it. I was really good, actually.

Random Revelation: I hope 30/14 isn’t so difficult for me. Hm, that doesn't sound as cool as 30/90 (go buy the TTB cast recording if you don’t get that reference).

“Didn’t have a camera by my side this time, Hoping I would see the world through both my eyes. Maybe I will tell you all about it when I’m in the mood to lose my way with words….Today I finally overcame trying to fit the world inside a picture frame. Maybe I will tell you all about it when I’m in the mood to lose my way but let me say you should have seen that sunrise with your own eyes, it brought me back to life. You’ll be with me next time I go outside, no more 3x5s.” ~john mayer

I have a feeling this is going to be a really long entry, so sit tight.
Today was the trip to the peninsula. All the International students (about 500 of us) piled on multiple buses and they drove us out there. The trip only furthered my inkling that this is the most beautiful place in the world. We went to an albatross colony (the only place in the world where albatross rest on the mainland) and to a few beaches and just drove around the hills. The buses were on different rotations so that we weren’t all at the same place at once. Here’s some picture highlights, even though they don’t adequately capture the beauty. We were all in awe.

It was a beautiful day for most of the trip. Then when we were at the last beach, it started pouring. Now, to get to this beach, we had to walk down this long trail and down a huge hill of sand. I mean huge. It took twenty minutes to get down to the beach. When it started raining, we had to walk back up to the road and to the bus (the uphill trip was much longer). So I found myself climbing up this mountain of sand in the pouring rain. It was raining so hard it was horizontal rain at one point. And then, when I was about halfway to the bus, it started hailing. It really hurt my face, so I turned around and walked uphill backwards. I had to stop a few times because it was coming down so hard and I couldn’t even move because I was going against it. By the time I made it up to the bus, I was completely soaked. My shoes were filled with water, my jeans were drenched and dripping, and I was just a complete mess. And I couldn’t even go home to get warm and dry (not that I can ever get warm in the flat) because we had to go to a “barbeque” (in quotes because Kiwis really don’t know how to throw a proper BBQ). But even though I was wet and uncomfortable and freezing for the rest of the time, it was actually a really fun day. I made a new friend, a “real” friend. I’ve met so many people here and have had the same exact conversation with each of them (What’s your name? Where are you from? What year are you? What are you studying? Why did you decide to come here? Do you like it so far? Who do you live with? Etc.) but haven’t really made any true connections that I know will last (besides with Perrine hopefully). But Nicole and I got along well and we’re going to the farmer’s market together tomorrow. So I’m happy I met her. It made the trip worthwhile.
We had a party at our flat tonight, and I had an awesome time. We played Screw the Dealer (not usually my favorite game) and Spoons. Luckily Bobby (he goes to Richmond) was the unlucky dealer of the night instead of me. There were lots of people crammed into our flat, and usually big parties aren’t my thing, but this one was different. I found my own little niche of people to hang out with and had a good time. Now the flat is a mess (we’ve got about 100 beer cans and bottles strewn around the living room/kitchen and a few spills on the carpet) but I don’t mind cleaning it up.
Storytime: I know I’ve been complaining about the cold weather non-stop, but it’s hard to ignore. Anyway, it made me think about the coldest I’ve ever been. January 11th, 2004. The coldest day of the year in NYC. Also the day (or night, I guess) that I camped outside for SNL tickets. Don’t I have perfect timing? It was one degree outside. Looking back, I realize how insanely stupid I was in my preparations. I was wearing long johns (top and bottom), jeans, a shirt, a sweater, and a jacket. A lot of layers, but not nearly enough for staying outside all night in 1-degree weather. I think I had a blanket and a cushion to sit on. I had forgot to bring a hat into the city so Uncle Don gave me one before I left for Rockefeller Center, and I left it in the cab. So my head wasn’t covered, which I think was my worst mistake. Anyway, I froze. I can’t even describe how cold I was. I’ve never been that cold before and I hope I never am again. It hurt to move my body, but I made myself jump around every once in a while. Carrie and I tried to keep each other occupied by talking nonstop and by making each other laugh, but it didn’t help much. We camped outside Friday night because on Saturday morning at 7am they gave out stand-by tickets for that night. After they gave out the tickets (well, they were actually just numbers) I went back to Don and Sheila’s apartment and slept. I turned the heat all the way up (you can control the heat in the individual rooms) and piled tons of blankets on me. It took me a couple hours to thaw out. I actually felt like I was thawing. My body gradually got less stiff. When the heat had actually warmed me up a little, my body stung. You know when a part of your body falls asleep and then it stings when you start moving it again? My whole body felt like that, like I was being pricked all over with pins and needles. It was the strangest sensation. My body was still sore more than twelve hours later, when we had to go back to get in line for the show. I think it was worth it, although I’m not sure I did at the time. What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger, and I got to see a really good show. It was the first show after the winter hiatus, so they had lots of material to work with. Britney Spears’ wedding (her first one, the quickie one followed by an immediate divorce) was one highlight. And it was Jimmy Fallon’s last season, so I’m glad I caught him before he left. Anyway, that’s the coldest I’ve ever been, even though this feels almost as bad because it never ends.

Random Revelation: I got nothin’.

“Is everybody happy now? Is everybody clear? We could drive out to the dunes tonight, ‘Cause Summer’s almost here.” ~counting crows

I wish summer were almost here. They should have made that song a single. There was a petition for making it a single (I signed it). Obviously it didn’t work. Anyway, it’s a really good song. I don’t know why so many people don’t like Hard Candy (the album). I think it’s their second-best album (nothing can beat AEEA). Despite its inclusion of the atrocity that is Big Yellow Taxi. That song really isn’t so bad live, when Vanessa Carlton isn’t “ooohhh, bop bop bop”-ing along. I think the reason that most CC fans hate Big Yellow Taxi is that non-fans love it. People hear that one stupid song on the radio and claim to love Counting Crows when they really know nothing about the band. That’s one of my pet peeves, people claiming to be big fans of bands that they hardly listen to. Go buy their albums (and not just greatest hits albums) before you start raving about them and claiming to be an expert. Sorry, I don’t know how I got into that rant. I’ll move on now.
Last night was an International student party at a nearby pub. They had this Maori band, and they were pretty good. They almost sounded Hawaiian (and they even had dancers in hula skirts). When the band started playing, I found myself surrounded by five Richmond people. It’s strange how we congregate when we’re halfway around the world. I finally saw Betsy and got to hang out with her for a while.
This morning was course approval. It would be so much easier if they just used the Internet like Richmond does. Instead they had advisors from the different departments at tables set up around the Student Union building. You had to go get signatures at each department in which you were taking a class. There was lots of waiting in line. I eventually got through it and I got my student ID card, which means I can use the school’s computers. It was great to get on the Internet for a while; I’ve been feeling so cut off from the world. I still don’t have Internet here at my flat so I can’t get these entries online yet because I’m typing them on my computer in Word.
I had coffee with Anna today and it was good to talk to her. She said I’ll be able to come over to her house (she lives in town with her parents) and have home-cooked meals every once in a while. I’m sure that’ll be much better than the awful food I’m managing to put together.
On Tuesday Perrine and I walked up the hill that our house is on. There’s a really old cemetery up there, and a beautiful view of the ocean. The botanical garden borders the cemetery, so we walked around it a lot. It must be so beautiful in the summer. I walked back up there today because it’s a clear day and I brought my camera with me. Pictures can’t really capture the atmosphere here, but I'll still probably post them later.
Tomorrow they’re taking the International students on a trip to the peninsula. I’m nervous because they warned us how cold it will be out there and instructed us on what clothes to wear, but I think it’ll be fun.

Random Revelation: drunk people are funny

“The Road goes ever on and on, Down from the door where it began. Now far ahead the Road has gone, And I must follow, if I can, Pursuing it with eager feet Until it joins some larger way Where many paths and errands meet. And whither then? I cannot say.” ~jrr tolkien

I’m in a foreign country with plenty of time to explore, and instead I’m sitting here in my room. Isn’t that awful? The view from my window is so beautiful, though, that I’m content just sitting here and looking out into the city. I have so much free time I don’t know what to do with it. Orientation starts tomorrow, which will take some of this time off my hands. I’ve walked around town so much in the past few days that I can’t bring myself to go out again right now. Perrine is getting groceries and Scott is off buying a car with some of his friends. When Perrine gets back, we’re going to explore some more and walk up the hill that our flat is on. It looks like we’ll have a great view from the top of the hill. I’m glad to live in a city. I often wish I went to school in NYC, and I’m moving there the second I graduate from college. This is nothing like New York, but it’s a step forward for me. It’s so different from Richmond. Our flat is on a busy road and there’s the constant noise of cars driving by. I kind of like it. And I can walk anywhere (even though it’s usually a long walk).
Perrine’s home now, so off I go!

Random Revelation: guys smell really, really good.

“He found the truth and now he was looking for something better.” ~smash

Today (the fourth of July) our other international flatmate arrived. We were told that it would be a girl, but it’s a guy. His name is Scott and he’s from Vermont. He has a bunch of friends here from his college and we hung out with them. A group of us went to buy beer, and I legally purchased alcohol for the first time. After looking at my ID the cashier said, “Al’ right, you’re cool, mate.” It was thrilling. J Then we went to this barbeque at someone else’s flat. There must have been at least thirty people there, all American except for Perrine. Afterwards she told me she really didn’t understand much of what was being said. Americans do speak pretty quickly. Three people from Richmond were there. I knew Chris, and I had seen the two others around campus, Reed and Tommy, but didn’t know them. It was strange to wind up in an apartment in New Zealand with three other Richmond people who I didn’t even know would be at the party. The people that I was hanging out with all went to a bar afterwards, but I wasn’t up for it (my body is still adjusting to the time difference) so Perrine and I came back here. It was good to meet some new people; they were all really nice, even though they seem a bit wilder than me (not that that’s saying much). It’s a little strange, though, because it seems like everyone knows each other. Scott has all his buddies from Middlebury and they’re all, like, best friends. I have trouble opening up to new people (I even have trouble opening up to people I know well), and when they all know each other already, that’s difficult. But they’re all incredibly friendly and I’m sure it’ll get easier. I’m excited for all the New Zealanders to get back. Right now it’s basically just international students in town because we have to be here early for orientation. The natives will be back this weekend because classes start next Monday (a week from today) and I’m excited to hang out with them. Now I’m going to be a bum and climb into bed and read my book.

Random Revelation: you should not be able to see your breath when you’re inside your house.

“The past is a foreign country, they do things differently there.” ~smash

I arrived in New Zealand yesterday (Sunday, July 3d) and I’m finally settled in enough to write a little bit about where I’m living. Unfortunately I can’t get the internet to work, so I’ll be posting this a while after I wrote it. Let’s see, where to begin…this will be a long entry, so get comfortable. J I flew from Newark to LAX to Auckland to Dunedin, for a total travel time of about 26 hours. On the flight to Auckland, I happened to be sitting next to a girl who’s also studying abroad at Otago this semester! It was really great to talk to her and ask each other questions, and I’ll email her once I connect the internet because it’ll be fun for us to hang out here. When we arrived in Auckland and I stepped outside (we had to go outside to get to the domestic terminal), the change in temperature hit me. I could see my breath. It’s cold here. It actually felt nice when I first stepped outside, but I’m rethinking that now. Anyway, at Dunedin, a van from the school picked up eight of us studying abroad here. It was about a twenty-minute ride to pick up our keys, and no one spoke that whole time. It was kind of surreal. It wasn’t really uncomfortable silence; it was more like the silence of contemplation and awe. I stared out the window the whole time, just taking it all in. This is quite possibly the most beautiful place in the world (which I’ve heard before). I thought it would be similar to Australia, but it’s not. If I had to compare it to anywhere in the world I’ve been, I would say it’s a little like Turkey, but greener. It is SOOOO hilly. There are 14 sheep for every person, and I confirmed that fact on the drive into the city. You can’t even imagine how many sheep there are; they’re everywhere. We were driving through the countryside, and then we entered the city of Dunedin. It’s not really a city, at least not compared to what I’m used to, but it’s a very cute area. We picked up our keys at an office and then the driver took us around to our flats. My flat is on the edge of the city. It’s really close to a botanical garden, which I’ll have to explore. There are three flats where mine is, and they’re supposedly three of the newest ones. This means that it’s one of the nicest flats available to students. It’s ten times better than a Richmond apartment. And twice as big, too. There’s a nice living room with two couches and a tv, a kitchen, an eating area, a laundry room (with our own washing machine and dryer), two bathrooms, and five bedrooms. I love my bedroom. It’s all blue (the walls, the carpet, the bedding) and right in front of my desk there’s a huge window overlooking the city. I have a double bed, and the person in the room before me left me two comforters, pillows, and a space heater, which was very nice. The ceiling slants over my bed, and there’s another window over my bed. And I have a walk-in closet. Of course I can’t make good use of it because I don’t have that much stuff. Figures. Anyway, I love my room. I’m still working on personalizing it a little. It seems so empty. I don’t have any posters with me, so I’m hanging up random pages from magazines for now just to fill some wall space. I'll post some pictures later.
Only one of my flatmates is here. Her name is Perrine and she’s from France. She’s very nice. Maybe I can practice my French with her. There’s another girl from the U.S. who will be living with us, and two New Zealand guys, Matt and Richie, who will be back next weekend. Yesterday Perrine and I walked into town. It’s about a 15-minute walk to the main street. That street is the center of town and it seems to have everything on it. Restaurants, K-Mart, banks, lots of clothing shops. It was bustling with people. Later I went to the grocery store by myself. It’s about a 20-minute walk, and the trip back was not fun. It was dark (it gets dark here by 5pm) and I was hauling these incredibly heavy bags. It took me about half an hour to walk back, and I seriously can feel it in my arms today after carrying those bags. It’s gonna be hard to cook for myself all the time, I’ve never done that before. And to shop for food for myself. I guess I’ll get better at it.
It felt SO good to take a hot shower and crawl into bed. I was exhausted. I basically hadn’t slept for 40 hours. I tried to sleep on the plane, but that never works well for me. I dozed off a few times but never for long. Last night I went to bed at 8:30 (it was hard for me not to fall asleep before that, but I’m trying to set myself to New Zealand time) and woke up this morning at 6:30. I sat here at my window to watch the sun rise as I type this, but it’s too cloudy. I’m freezing, by the way. There’s two things that really get to me about the weather: 1. It’s hard to go from 90-degree weather to 40-degree weather in a day. That’s a big change. Usually we have autumn to adjust to the coming of winter, but dropping 50 degrees in a day isn’t easy to cope with. I’m afraid it’s making me sick (my nose keeps running). 2. There’s no central heating. It actually feels colder inside than it does outside. I have a space heater in my room, but it doesn’t do much and we’re supposed to conserve energy by not using it too often. Perrine and I are walking around the flat in our winter coats. It’s especially cold when you step out of the shower. And I usually take a shower before I go to bed and just sleep with wet hair, but there’s no way I can do that here. I would freeze to death. So I have to dry my hair before I go to bed.
If you made it this far in the entry, good for you. I’m gonna go get breakfast. Today I have to go to the bank and the International Student Centre, and I’ll explore some more. If it doesn’t rain. Which it is supposed to do.

Random Revelation: life is expensive.