Hey-o, back from the outback

Well, not really the "outback" since I was on the eastern, highly populated cities of Australia, but I am back! I will blog about Aussie later, hopefully when I'm on the plane so I can post it as soon as I'm in internet access or something. We'll see I suppose.

Today I've done a lot of repacking of things and just having a chill day. I got into Auckland at 5:20am to pouring rain (which felt very comforting since Auckland has become my home, the intense rain and wind symbolized coming home) and have been awake ever since. And I slept for about 20 minutes on my flight - which, I was sitting next to an Aussie actor who's the star on a tv show Spartacus? He was really nice. And neither of us were able to sleep on the flight - stupid JetStar being so ungodly uncomfortable and of course departing late.

I got into my flat, checked things, and skyped with my mom for a couple hours. I met another one of the flatmates who moved into my room, a Danish guy! I of course told him that I'm half Danish and the couple places that I remember that my relatives are from. He seems pretty cool. So far, I'm completely jealous of this flat next semester. As far as I can tell, there aren't any people that aren't wonderful.

I tired of going through souvenirs and packing after a while and decided to go out to lunch. I went to this cafe down Parnell Road called the Strawberry Alarm Clock - it's in my "Let's Go!" book and I always wanted to try it. The panini and salad that I got were delicious. I approve. I walked up around the museum to take in the look and nostalgically reflect upon this past semester, and eventually the gusting winds gave me the idea to go into the Auckland Museum, if only for fifteen minutes. I'd never been and it's two minutes from my flat. It was cool. I walked around the Maori exhibit.

Then I came home and brought the Danish guy to Countdown for groceries, partly because I had to go for food anyway, partly because he had no idea where Countdown was, and partly because I like to show people around. I would seriously be such a good tour guide in any college admissions office. I bought some Kiwi candy and some hokey pokey ice cream, and after helping Casper (that's his name I think?) locate some essentials in the supermarket we walked back to PSV. Apparently, Casper lived in Wisconsin when he was a child? His English is actually superb. I can hardly hear his accent at all and he seems to have a large vocabulary, excellent grammar, and excellent comprehension of everything I say. That or he's really good at pretending to.

I made pancakes for dinner! First time ever making pancakes and let me just say that it was successful! Woot. I have a half-eaten black and white brownie pie in the fridge, and to continue the health streak, hokey pokey ice cream in the freezer! But I'm going to clean up before I eat these because a shower is extremely necessary.

In 13 hours, my shuttle to the airport will be picking me up. AHHHHH. So crazy.

Auckland, you have been amazing and I will miss you greatly; you are one of the most exciting decisions I have ever made and gave me more than I gave you. However, Minneapolis, WATCH OUT. I'm coming home, I'm coming home, tell the world that I'm coming home...

:)

1. I have grown a fondness for rain in spite of my deep distaste of Auckland bipolar weather.