Life is again mundane

Besides the fact that I'm in a different country around the world where the people speak with Kiwi accents and are from a different culture and I had to make a post-it note to remember when my skype dates with the people I normally would see everyday day are. Besides that, mundane again. At least in comparison to the last three weeks of my life.

Yesterday was nothing to brag about. I got my test for sociology back (did decently, woot), went to class, watched a movie for class, came home and made macaroni and cheese in the microwave, went to bed. Today I went to dance class and sat out for half of it (I woke up this morning and my back was killing me. I tried to stretch it in every way possible and tried to take class but my back wasn't having it. I think it's because I woke up and was sleeping really strangely..), went to my Italian tutorial, came home, had an impromptu 3-hour skype date with Whitney, made dinner, watched Hell's Kitchen (seriously, that show stresses me out - too much yelling) and Shortland Street, went to the Chocolate Boutique with one of my flatmates (delicious chocolate mud cake and a zebra truffle), came home and downloaded a TON of music. I'm especially excited about the new Adele and Atmosphere CDs I downloaded - though listening to Atmosphere only reminded me that I'm missing Soundset (the outdoor hip hop festival over Memorial Day Weekend that I love and have gone to the last three consecutive years), which made me a little sad. Maybe bittersweet is a better word because on May 29th, it will be my birthday weekend, and I'll finally be twenty. I've already decided that this birthday is going to be great since my last two birthdays weren't and I am going to not just have fun on my birthday but all weekend. Maybe I'll go bungy jumping again :)

I apologize for the not-very-exciting factor of this blog. My life is back to being less exciting, at least during the week.

And if anyone who didn't get my email (sorry!), if you have any recipes, please email them to me! I'm a desperate college student and appreciate any and all recipes! Pasta w/cheese and tomatoes cannot be what I eat every other day!

And for some New Zealand information that seems like common knowledge to me now:

1. Not all Kiwis have been bungy jumping. For example, I am the only one in my flat of three Kiwis and a Canadian who has.
2. Kiwis listen to almost as much American music as I do - and their top 40 is pretty much the same as the States.
   
3. I was told (in my Italian class today) that Americans have big houses with large backyards - this is one of the many American stereotypes. I then raised my hand and said that my house and backyard were not as big or as green as that in the film we watched. Not saying my house is teeny, but thought I'd point out that not everyone in America is wealthy and lives in spacious suburbs. Then again, if you know me, I don't plan on living in spacious suburbs anyway.
4. 21st birthdays are a big deal here. I've yet to totally understand why, since unlike the States, there is nothing new that you can do when you turn 21 here.
5. I don't really know how everyone feels about Osama's death, but my flatmates were pretty pleased with it. Immediately following, I got emails from to US Embassy and IES giving me warnings about potential anti-American terrorist attacks and what I can do as an American overseas to avoid such acts. Great. Love hearing I need to hide the fact that I'm American now. I don't think I have much to worry about in New Zealand, but still. Not very reassuring.
6. Auckland actually had a tornado today. Tornados pretty much don't exist in New Zealand? It touched down on the North Shore, which isn't near Parnell or the CBD, but a man died. Scary. First an earthquake in Christchurch, then a tornado in Auckland? And then I was told there's a 5% chance that a volcano will erupt in Auckland in the next 50 years and cover the city? WHAT IS WITH ALL THESE NATURAL DISASTERS.