Learning New Zealand: Escaping teenage pregnancy: birthday weekend!

Okay, so I told my mom that what people say when they turn 20 nowadays is "congrats, you've escaped teenage pregnancy", which, officially, I have. She then didn't understand and replied with, "Hm... Way different than I remember! Not only did I escape teenage pregnancy, but with you, I escaped 20s delivery as well. Is there a saying for that?"and a friend of hers posted "I only had deliveries in my 30's, and the last one at age 40... what kind of statistic group does that fit?". Clearly, they didn't get my point. There's not really much to say when you turn twenty besides that it's a bit of an awkward age and you're in your 20s? Woohoo? I'm no longer a teenager, I'm in my 20s now, but [in the States at least] I'm still not given the responsibilities of an adult - like the ability to buy or drink alcohol. However, being that I'm in New Zealand, I do have those responsibilities for another month before I go back to the States and am told that I am not responsible enough again. Great. I love being told that. Anyway.

After I last posted, I skyped my parents for the first time in a couple weeks and was especially excited to hear that my dad has applied for student teaching in the fall! All my friends here know how proud I am of my dad being in grad school to become a special ed teacher so that was probably the highlight of talking to my parents. So strange being away from home and not knowing these things.. I was late to Kapa Haka and got there literally dripping with sweat. It was raining too, and my raincoat does not breathe. After Kapa Haka I came home and made dinner; then Maddi came over and she, Andrew, Adi and I went to see Hangover 2! It's weird because when we got to the theater the movie was sold out so we had to wait for the next showing. The movie theaters assign seats here (because only the schmancy theaters do that back home), and strangely, this movie theater had about five rows in it. No wonder it was sold out. New Zealand is a country of only four million people, but still...

Friday I got up and went to class (huzzah!), came home and hung out until Maddi and Meagan came over - we were going to watch Never Say Never - but sadly, Maddi had forgotten to take the DVD out of her computer. :( Friday night was not the best. My friends left me for the majority of the night to bake me a cake (meaning Maddi was baking me a cake and everyone else was just hanging out). Even though it was an incredibly nice thing to do for me, I was still feeling ditched and rather upset.. But my friend Joe came over and we hung out and watched Glee for a bit. After Joe went home I watched some Grey's in my room while everyone was hanging out in my lounge. I went upstairs around 11:45pm and they sang me happy birthday at midnight, which was sweet. And then I rang in the first hour of being 20 in the bathroom, taking care of one of my friends who had had too much to drink. (It happens; I didn't mind taking care of her.) And then I slept for a solid eight hours. That sleep was awesome.

AND THEN I woke up around 11am on Saturday, May 28 (BIRTHDAY) to make breakfast. I made a delicious breakfast of french toast, bacon, and juice with some of my lovely friends. Then my flatmate Adi and I went to the French farmer's market where I bought some bananas, spinach, broccoli, pears, and mozzarella cheese. On the way back to PSV we stopped at the Chocolate Boutique, and Adi bought me an iced mocha for my birthday. I also got two truffles - chili chocolate and dark chocolate rum - which made it all the more wonderful.

When I got back to PSV my bedroom was covered in balloons! Some of the balloons even had some of my stuff in them - like my sunglasses, multivitamins, and poi - which was interesting to say the least. I didn't feel very well that afternoon (boo) so I sat on my balcony and wrote in my journal for a good part of the afternoon to get some fresh air and clear my head.

A few of us met early to go out to dinner for my birthday so we walked down Parnell Road and decided on La Porchetta - which I think is like New Zealand's version of Olive Garden. Only the sign is really tacky-looking, unlike Olive Garden. I got some peppermint tea (to help my stomach) and a mushroom pasta dish. I was pleased with my food and it was nice to go out to eat with some of my friends. My IH friends had their residence hall "Christmas dinner" that night, so they left to go to that about halfway through dinner. It was nice of them to walk all the way to Parnell to eat appetizers with me though! Anyway. When I got back to my flat I hung out with some people in PSV and taped up the balloons that had been in my room randomly around my lounge with Joe - who was the first person to arrive in PSV for my masquerade party that was only sort of masquerade.

Eventually, more people showed up and I got to parade around in my mask with a feather and pink fuzzy crown. We hung out and ate homemade apple crumble (that Rob made) and homemade ice cream birthday cake (that Maddi had made me). I even got a few gifts, which were entirely unexpected but very sweet and I will treasure them (besides the chocolate, which I will eat) always. Aww. And then (drumroll please) we actually made it town! It ended up being only four of us (Nicole, Maddi, Caitlyn & I) but we met up with a few other IES people in town. I also discovered that the McDonalds on Queen Street has a bouncer and does not appreciate it when "happy birthday" is being sung very loudly in the building at 12:30am. Can't believe we were almost kicked out of McDonalds.. but we left and went to one club and I got three free drinks from people I met at the bar (nothing sketchy, no worries) so that was exciting. I got home at about 4am, exhausted but happy and very pleased with the way my birthday ended up.

I woke up the latest I have in months the next day, Sunday. 2pm! I guess I did go to bed at 5am, but still. I can't really remember what I did on Sunday, actually. I think I started typing up this blog (and four days later I finish it) and watched videos on youtube all night and dutifully ignored any schoolwork that should have been done. Ah, well. And I went to Burger Fuel because I had a coupon I needed to use by Sunday. And got coffee. It was outrageous. That was also the night that I couldn't sleep for the life of me and ended up falling asleep around 7am, it was so miserable, though I did do some research on traveling. But I will leave my birthday weekend at that and give you some pictures to look at!

yummy, breakfast.