Fifteen days, whoa

This morning began with window cleaners banging (aka washing) my windows. They also came into my flat to clean the insides of some windows? And since I was up by then they cleaned the inside of mine. Score! Then I said a very strange-feeling goodbye to Nicole. We generally get along really well, and besides being my PSV buddy, she's probably one of my closest friends that I've made in Auckland. Her flight wasn't leaving until evening, but I was out for the day and her super-paranoid boyfriend wanted to leave for the airport at 12:30 for their 5:15 flight. Yeah, I know. I think I talked to her for about a half hour, gave her three hugs, and then finally left. That was such a weird feeling to say goodbye to her. I really hope we stay in good contact or I can see her sometime in the relative future. Gahh so weird. Anyway.

I met up with another IESer Chloe (who, coincidentally, was my best friend from kindergarten Fallon's freshman year roommate at UPS) at the Skytower. Going up the skytower was really cool! Definitely not something one would want to do if they were afraid of heights though. It was interesting to get a bird's-eye view of Auckland. You could see everything - from the North Shore to the marina to every volcanic cone in Auckland to the Waikatere Ranges in the distance. A bit of vertigo when I stood on the glass below my feet, but I survived. We went up to the highest point (it was $3 more, why not?!) and leaned against the glass that extended diagonally from our feet. So crazy.

this is how you cross the street in Auckland.. diagonally

Afterwards we went to Corner Pancake, which I had heard about but never had. Basically, it's this stand that makes pancakes with stuff inside them. It looks kinda sketchy from the outside (Korean pancakes? Really?) but it was sooooo good and I have no idea why I hadn't gotten it before. Cheap too! I got a chicken & cheese and a chocolate one. Yum yum. We sat on a bench in Albert Park for a while until the bipolar Auckland weather downpoured and we took shelter in the Gazebo and talked to some Australians. I was stoked as because I could tell they weren't New Zealanders. But they must be Pacific Island Australians so that threw me off from me thinking they were Australians. (There are more Pacific Islanders in New Zealand than Aussie too.)

I really wanted to go get some coffee so we walked to the Stables where I ate at yesterday. I had to get another $1 sushi (SO GOOD, maybe I just haven't had good sushi before?) and a cappuccino and we sat and talked for a couple hours about everything from being blamed for being Americans to the academic discipline of religion to the creepy old man that we apparently both met in our hostels in Wellington (floor-length hot pink raincoat.. probably the same guy) to enjoying traveling alone.

I decided to walk back to PSV from Queen Street, which is probably a 35-45 minute walk, because it was barely raining and I don't know if I'll walk back from Queen Street again. Instead of looking ahead of me, I looked up. How is it that I hadn't noticed all of the detailed architecture along Customs Street before? Hmm. Taught me a lesson. I think I noticed everything and was amazed by everything at the beginning, but then it became more normal and I looked at the sidewalk instead of at the buildings because whatever, I live here. I'm glad I looked up today.
I got back to my flat and my flatmate and two of his friends were not watching LOTR [as I thought they would be] because they had a miscommunication about where they were getting a DVD player and could they please borrow my laptop? I would have lent it to them, but I wound up using it for a long time so they watched tv (i.e. Rachael Ray and Malcolm in the Middle) and I baked cookies for the second night in a row. They were drinking so they got sloppier as the night went on and so I cleaned up so they wouldn't spill things or smush food into the carpet. And I ate some of my flatmate's chips; I don't think he noticed :) They were not being smart. I mean, the girl wasn't eating (dumb) even though she was drinking alcohol and I had to force her to drink some water before she went to sleep because she didn't want to. Now to talk about the mud that my flatmate brought in with his shoes that's all over the carpet/walls.. he's going to be overjoyed while cleaning that tomorrow. I know, these kinds of things are fascinating for you all to read.

FIFTEEN DAYS TILL HOME

1. JetStar is still running. YEAH
2. Packing intimidates me. I think it's even harder because I have to save some things to bring with to Aussie. And I just remembered that you can't bring liquids over 3 ounces.. which means I have no shampoo since my travel bottles suck and leak. Gah.
3. I am awaiting the next SYTYCD episode.
4. Some of my friends are home already! What?!
5. I could go for doing some hot yoga right now.
6. I wonder who Gustavus is going to bring in for the Big Concert this year.
7. Also, it's the 150th anniversary of Gustavus. Bring on lots of celebrations!
8. There is sheep wool on my desk. Is that weird?
9. I really want to go outside and look at the stars right now. But it's cloudy, not to mention Auckland is not the best place to see the stars.
10. My iPod has been acting funny and I do not like it.
11. Food to eat in Auckland still: Chocolate Boutique, coffee again, sushi again, pavolva, hokey pokey ice cream.
12. I have been watching Dexter late at night. Fortunately it doesn't freak me out as much as it used to.
13. It rained in Auckland today. And for once, it thundered too. It was actually very startling because it NEVER thunders here but it rains all the time. (At least once a day usually, but more likely, in random 10-minute spurts every couple of hours.)
14. I have been practicing balancing and ankle-strengthening exercises. Hopefully dance will come back easier than I'm anticipating...
15. I love that people miss me. I think that's going to make it so much easier to come home, knowing that the people from home love and miss me and want me to come home too.
    

What? Why are my friends leaving tomorrow?

So today was a much more productive day than yesterday was. I woke up after a wonderful 8 hours of sleep (2 days in a row! yeahhhh), did some stretching and yoga in my room, and took the bus down to this really cute place off of Queen Street called The Stables to meet up with Maddi, Sarah (from Gustavus), and another IESer Kristen. When I was walking from where the bus dropped me off at Victoria Street, I passed by an area that I don't think I'd ever seen in broad daylight before - an area populated with trashy clubs that I only go to because they don't have cover charges. There was of course construction (as there always is in Auckland) but The Stables was really cute. It was set up like a food court (minus McDonalds, Subway, and Sbarro of course.. they don't have Sbarro here either haha) but way classier. I had a bizarre second lunch of one piece of sushi and a heated-up gooey chocolate cupcake. It was very bizarre because Kristen's flight left a few hours ago. In less than 24 hours, she will be home in the states. In 24 hours, most of my friends will be on flights home if they're not there already. Ahh. So. Freaking. Weird.

I had some errands to do at uni so I decided to use the time afterwards to walk around and take pictures of the University of Auckland. It was very bizarre to see the campus so empty, not having to wait behind a crowd of people to cross diagonally at the intersection of Symonds and Grafton. Not having to wait for a computer in the library to print something off. Not feeling too touristy taking pictures or having people constantly in the way. Very desolate. It was like that when I first arrived, but I'm just so accustomed to the busy-ness of being on a campus of 40,000 undergrads and never being one of few walking down the street. I walked around where some of my papers were held, down the paths I normally took to get to class, and tried to memorize it. While I may not have been the biggest fan of the actual academics of UoA, it truly is a beautiful campus. Here are some pictures so you can see it too. Yes, you need to see 25 pictures. I couldn't narrow them down enough.

inside Kate Edgar Information Commons

you wouldn't know it but this street was under construction from February-beginning of June

walking to dance class

this building was gorgeous six weeks ago

the building that my dance class was in, Kenneth Myers Centre

in Auckland, this is what we call winter

Clocktower! (I had a lecture here)

Symonds Street

these are academic buildings. Can I say cute?

the corner of Symonds & Grafton, where there were usually at least 100 people waiting to cross, is deserted.. strange

OGG, aka the business school part of UoA

the marae.. we had class in the building on the left

(it was awkward, there were people in the building when I was taking pictures)

really tempted to get up on the sign and take pictures like at Gustavus

I stopped at IH to say goodbye to a couple people who are leaving tomorrow on my way back to PSV, as well as stopping to take pictures of the Grafton Bridge, paying my dues for the PSV formal dinner, and taking a few pictures at the Auckland museum.

Grafton Bridge
(rumor has it they put these things up because people jumped off the bridge, which is over the freeway.. so sad)

Auckland museum, fountain in front of it

my view of the ocean to/from class

these stickers are from the Auckland museum. They cover the posts around the museumParnell Student Village from Domain Drivemy flat is the one in the background on the left. My window is the one on the second floor? (creep)

I got back to my flat, made dinner while watching Shortland Street with Andrew, hung out with Nicole and her boyfriend for a bit, watched some Dexter, and then Maddi, Caitlyn and Meagan came over to say goodbye. Maddi's moving into my flat next semester (my room actually) so she's leaving the things that she is moving in in the cupboard under our stairs. I swear she brought enough stuff over for at least two people. Sheesh. She's going to have to try hard to get that much stuff to fit into my teeny room she'll be living in next semester.

It was weird saying goodbye to them. Meagan and Caitlyn live in Wisconsin and Illinois so it's not like they're far, but I think it's because my friends actually going home means this is coming to an end soon. And Maddi? Well, she'll be in Auckland next semester and she's from San Diego so it's not like she'll be easy to see - though I'd love an excuse to visit San Diego so who knows.

Tomorrow I'll be saying goodbye to Nicole and Emily, who both depart late enough in the day that they'll be around in the morning for me to say goodbye to them. Nicole lives in Maine so I think that will be a weirder goodbye as well, like hey, when are you going to come visit Minnesota? Possibly never? But please come anyway? Gahh. I'm excited about my next few days in Auckland and the few plans I have made with people who will still be here, but it is so so so so so so strange to think we all won't be united in Auckland like we have been ever again. I'm getting the hardcore nostalgia now that some people have had for a week.

In brighter news, Jetstar has been flying trans-Tasman both yesterday and today. Things for Aussie are looking up! Knock on wood.

No need for 16 facts tonight, this post is long enough and I want to go to BED

seventeen

I didn't do much today. Woke up, fiddled around on my computer, did some research on things for Aussie, hope my flight to Aussie doesn't get canceled on Saturday because of the stupid Chilean ash cloud that is sitting above New Zealand, got some Kiwi music from my flatmate Kelsi, said goodbye to Kelsi and my friend Joe, called my mom, bought one of those daily deal coupons for Gelato for $1 ($1!!), watched some Dexter, did laundry. Not exactly a high-packed action day but you know, that's okay.

1. I'm really excited for my road trip with three of my Metro besties to go visit another Metro bestie Whitney who's in Ohio this summer. This will go down approx. 2 weeks after I get home. YAY.
2. I'm also really excited for backpacking with my best friend from kindergarten, Fallon. We're going for like 2 or 3 days? with another one of her friends on the Super Hiking Trail. This will go down between Family Camp and O-hi-o.
3. And obviously I'm excited for Family Camp, a week long filled with seeing my family/chosen family (and a few randoms) at the lake with beautiful sunsets, nighttime board games, folk dancing, questionable meals, and sand volleyball. I hope my jet lag isn't too bad still.
4. And on July 16th my Gustavus dance friends and I are having a pool party at my friend Emily's house! We did it last year but I think a few more people will be coming. Either way: stoked. As.
5. Also, if I can squeeze it in, I want to trip out to Medora, North Dakota, to visit another bestie, Chelsea, who's studying abroad in Greece in the fall and is my friend I'm going to Europe with next summer.
6. Yes, I think this will be a busy summer. This along with hopefully working at Cold Stone some, dealing with reverse culture shock and everything that goes along with that, working at the State Fair, taking dance classes to whip my butt back into shape, and seeing every other person who would be reading this (and those that don't) that matter in my life and live relatively close to home. Whew!
7. Also, I was looking at my schedule for the fall and it is going to be a 180 flip from my life this semester. Instead of wishing I was busier and had a job, I'm taking 20 hours worth of class (plus outside time for choreographing and daily homework for said classes), working 10 hours a week at the caf and 4 hours TAing Intermediate Modern, leading my own dance rehearsal and being in someone else's piece for Dance Gallery, and when Spring Dance Concert rehearsals start, doing that as well. And I want to be more involved with the Womyn's Awareness Center this year. As in, be involved at all. They sound like a group of amazing womyn and also, heck yes I would love to talk about women's issues! And issues relating to gender and sexuality. Maybe be more involved with Q&A too. And of course have fun, be social, spend time with friend. AGH so much busy. There's a reason I can function (key word: function) on such little sleep. Hopefully I'll be able to handle it okay.
8. I am really craving pizza right now. I looked up a place in Auckland that sells "New York pizza" so I may end up going there at some point. This craving is ridiculous.
9. Most of my friends are leaving Tuesday so I won't see many of them after Monday. That's so weird. I feel like it hasn't hit me that I'm realistically not going to see some of them again, and if I do, it certainly won't be for a while. Hmm. And my New Zealand friends? Yeah, even less likely. Minnesota isn't exactly a tourist hot spot when people travel to the States either.
10. There are still balloons up in my flat from my birthday.
11. I'm so excited about this gelato coupon. Yum.
12. Things left to do in Auckland: go up the Skytower, take pictures at uni/around Parnell (make myself be a tourist again?), go to the museum by my flat, get a really good cup of coffee and hang at a coffee shop. (How is it that I haven't found my favorite coffee shop? I guess it's cause I don't let myself get coffee that much...)
13. My luggage is so ugly. Seriously, it's hideous floral. My mom told me I picked it out when I was younger, but it really is quite ugly. However, at baggage claim, it's SO easy to pick out.
14. I haven't figured out the best way to pack my poi so it doesn't get squished. I mean it's jank enough to begin with so it doesn't need any more abuse than it already has.
    
15. I love the hat that I bought in New Zealand. It's red, white, and blue striped (really not in a Patriotic way, I'm sure you've seen pictures of me wearing it) but it's so warm and soft and wonderful. Huge fan.
16. I am an addict. Of chocolate. It's bad.
17. I think it will be a shock to come home and have it be light outside past 5:15pm. No, seriously, it'll be a shock to my system.
    

Exhaustion

I forgot how exhausting being academic is. I got up at 7:30am today and was studying by 8:30. Meaning I was pretty successful at eating half my fridge (why, Rachel, why?) and stopping studying by 11am. Total studying time: probably about 6-7 hours. Which actually feels like more than I actually did.. hmm.

My final actually went okay though! I was pleased. There were only a couple things I didn't know so I felt pretty good about the whole thing. However, an hour and a half after killing my brain, going through every crevice to pull out every possibly applicable fact (and a few unimportant ones for good measure) I was completely and totally exhausted.

I went to my friend Emily's flat to get my coat and give her $45 I owed her for gas money from our Northland trip and ended up sitting and talking to her for a long time. We talked about university and how neither of us were that impressed with the courses that we took. Intro level classes kind of skip the "intro" part and just assume that you already know it. Which is frustrating. And the grading system? You'd think it's be easier than the States, but I feel like in some regards it's harder. But, for the amount of effort I put into my schoolwork this semester my grades are much higher than they should be. I don't know.

I came home, made a very carb-licious dinner of rice and potatoes (starving college kid diet? maybe not starving, just college kid diet?) and then Meagan, Maddi, and Caitlyn came over and we just hung out. We were planning on going all out and going to town, but by 9:30 I was wiped. They left a bit ago to go to town, and while I'm slightly bummed that I'm not with them, I simply do not have enough energy to go to bars until early hours of the night, with loud music being blasted, while it is cold outside and I'm wearing shoes that give me blisters. So instead I'm blogging and talking to my friend Chelsea on facebook and going to bed soon. Maybe after I watch some Dexter. It may be my last Saturday night here (YEAH! In a week I will be in Aussie as long as that stupid Chilean ash cloud doesn't interfere) but I'm okay with it being low key. The last time I went to town was a few weeks ago and it was really fun, and I'm okay with that. I got to spend some time tonight with my friends and I'm so exhausted that I don't think I'd be able to fully appreciate town anyway.

I saw this on someone else's blog, so I'm going to do it too. I have 18 days until I return home (7 days till Aussie!), so here are 18 fun facts about Rachel that you may or may not know:

1. I wear my contacts more in New Zealand than I do in the States, and am hoping that that will continue because it's nice to have variety.
   
2. I hate getting advice but do not restrain giving it. Hypocrite? Only slightly.
3. On my desk right now: a half-eaten bar of chocolate, a bar of tissues, my New Zealand phone, a mirror, shells from Whitianga, my flash drive, my camera, wool from a sheep at Hobbiton, a drink jar I took from Rarotonga, tweezers, $10NZD, and my keys to my flat.
4. I am currently wearing a dress in bare legs because I legitimately do not have any clean or dry pants. That's how badly I need to do laundry.
5. I love Adele.
6. Souvenir shopping for other people is actually really fun.
7. I am looking at dance classes to take at Xenon this summer when I get home and I'm actually really excited.
8. The concept of actually packing all of my things up intimidates me because I've bought fragile things and don't want them to break - so how to pack them is the question.
9. A lot of people hate Auckland, but I don't. I like it.
10. Minneapolis is still probably my favorite city. So no worries, my 612 pride hasn't changed.
11. Speaking of pride, YEAH NEW YORK for legalizing gay marriage!! It's a big thing that such a big state legalized it. Now I'm just waiting on Minnesota.. come on guys, love knows no gender, there is not enough love in the world so why are some people trying to stop it, and marriage is not based upon reproductive body parts so let's legalize it already!
12. I really like bangs (or fringe as they call it here). Why did it take me so long to figure out they're awesome?
13. I think the worst part about flying home will be landing in LAX and knowing there's nine hours till I'll land in Minneapolis still. Stupid flying to Dallas and having layovers.
14. I love pilates. I like yoga, but love pilates.
15. So You Think You Can Dance has been really good this season. I love that even though I'm abroad I can still watch it - I just have to wait a few hours for someone to upload the most recent episode.
16. I'm a junior in college. WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN
17. Harry Potter comes out so soon! Nostalgia about a chapter of my childhood ending!
18. I'm a total co-op girl but I doubt I'll be able to afford grocery shopping at the co-op every week when I get back home. Did you know that in New Zealand they don't have co-ops? I don't think they need them because their food is already generally better - they don't use high fructose corn syrup or a lot of preservatives, and their animals aren't overall treated as poorly as many are in the States.

THAT'S ALL FOR NOW FOLKS. Look forward to next posts "fun facts about Rachel"!

After tomorrow, I will be academically free

Can I just say I'm looking forward to that?

Coromandel

After sunrise, we took this gravel road (the 309 Road) from Coromandel Town to Whitianga. We stopped to see Wairu Falls and a Siamese Kauri. The Siamese Kauri tree(s?) was so cool! We walked through this Kauri forest, and Kauri are these massive trees that are just straight up beautiful and tall and old and I think they're not found many places in the world but they're in New Zealand. The Siamese Kauri were actually two separate trees growing right next to each other, and as they grew bigger and taller, they actually combined to become one conjoined tree. Cool, right? I thought so. You can kind of see it in the picture.

Then we went to a couple lookout points, which were pretty. Honestly though, being in New Zealand so long, lookout points where you can see the beach and the ocean start to look the same. Always beautiful, but the same. I think it's because I've been traveling so much the past few weeks that they all blend in. Anyway.

It was still relatively early, so after stopping at Cook's Beach we decided to head to Cathedral Cove, even though low tide wouldn't be for a few more hours. It was the last thing on our to-do list, and as it was overcast, slightly cold, and sporadically rainy (as it is in New Zealand in winter) we didn't have anything else planned for the day and Joe and I both had finals to start studying for. After falling down the slippery wooden steps to get to the path for Coromandel (seriously, my camera flew out of my hand and into some bushes and I slid down like three steps. It hurt! But also was hilarious.), we trekked our way to the cove. We made a brief stop, in which we realized that it wasn't a brilliant idea to not bring our raincoats with us. We decided to keep walking to Cathedral Cove, talking about our majors and whatever else we talked about.

Cathedral Cove was pretty cool. It's this giant rock area where the waves have beaten it down. See pictures below. It was basically pouring when we were walking there and sitting there. Which means, of course, as soon as we walked up the 200 steps back to the path the sun finally came out. That would be our luck. Blue sky, sunny, beautiful. Yeah, whatever New Zealand weather.

you can't tell but it's raining

Cathedral Cove!

seriously so pretty when we were walking back... hmm

We took the Pacific Highway back to Thames, which was actually gorgeous. We drove along the water! Also, note: I have learned the art of falling asleep with my chin on my chest in New Zealand. I have no idea how this has happened, but it's happened on multiple trips. Hmm.
I got coffee in Thames and since Maddi was going to sleep, I played DJ from Thames to Auckland. We also sat in Auckland traffic.. not fun. I forgot how boring traffic is. And drove past a car that was on fire? Which was scary. We dropped Joe off at his homestay about forty minutes out of the city, and then I drove back to Auckland. Stopped at Countdown (last trip to the grocery store in New Zealand probably?) and dropped Maddi off at IH. Came back to my flat, watched SYTYCD (love this show), studied a bit, went to bed.

In the morning I got to return this SWEET AS dirty car (thank you 309 Road) to JUCY, the car rental company. It was odd to drive down Parnell Road, a road that I often walk down or take the bus down. It's farther down to the Strand, the main road, than I thought. Hmm.

But that about sums up my Coromandel trip. Today I spent some time studying, eating, watching the results show of SYTYCD, and not doing anything. AKA being a model student. :)

My final exam for sociology is tomorrow afternoon. I hope I'll do okay. I figured out what percentage I need to get credit from IES at the bare minimum (40% on the exam) and I'm pretty confident I can at least do that. I'm going to go study with a PSV neighbor to make myself actually study soon.

SO excited to be done with the school part of study abroad. Then I just have a week in Auckland, then nine days in Aussie, then one day, then HOME in nineteen days! What a perfect ending to studying abroad! Also, note: do not listen to local Minneapolis radio stations such as the Current. It will make you wish you were going home a little bit on Tuesday (like everyone else), in 4 days, instead of in 19. Why am I still listening to the Current then? Because it's awesome!

Hobbiton and Hot Water Beach

So, my trip was fun! Short, but well-worth it.

Joe and I picked up the car at 8am on Wednesday and headed off to Matamata. He said he wasn't too confident with giving directions, so I let him drive and became the designated map-reader. The drive to Matamata was filled with green, rolling hills dotted with sheep. It's so strange how something so simple can actually be so beautiful.

We got into Matamata and headed for the iSITE, where we arrived just in time to get on Gandalf, the big white Hobbiton bus. The drive out Matamata was again filled with beautiful green rolling hills and dotted with sheep while the mountains in the distance gave a subtle hedge above the hills. Now, I had to sign a confidentiality waiver saying that I would not mention anything to friends and family about what I saw and heard at Hobbiton, so that's about all I can tell you. I don't want to get sued. I can tell you though: not even being a huge LOTR nerd, it was really cool. I wish I could post pictures! Ah well. I have them for me to remember what I saw.

Gollum and me are besties

Gandalf, the big white bus

see guys? this is why I can't say anything about the Shire

After Hobbiton we stopped at the Shire's Cafe, where I saw a sheep getting sheared and bottle fed a baby lamb! I'm pretty sure I can post a picture of the lamb/tell you about that part because it doesn't have anything to do with the movie. Anyway, I took a bit of wool and fell in love with the little wooly babies. So cute.Joe and I returned to the iSITE at Matamata and then continued towards Thames, where we were meeting Maddi that afternoon. We stopped in Paeroa - got an L&P "world famous in New Zealand", which is a lemony soda actually produced by Coca-Cola - for a few minutes but besides that we drove to Thames and got Maddi. Maddi had gotten a lot of information from the iSITE people in Thames about things to do in Coromandel, so as it was about 3:30pm, we left straight away and headed to Hot Water Beach.

Hot Water Beach is this beach (obviously) where you can dig holes in the sand and the water is really hot! Obviously... We got there just as sun was setting so we got to dig our pool with little light but it was fun. It was crazy because some of the water was scorching hot, other were lukewarm, and others were cold. Regardless, Joe and I got our hands in the sand and dug out a small hole. However, the tide was starting to come in so it didn't last long. Also, I love the beach at night. Fact.
Since it's winter, the sun sets just after 5pm, so there's not much to do after the sun goes down. We stopped at New World for some food and cheap wine, parked at a picnic site just off the highway, and hung out in the car until we fell asleep. Sleeping was not the greatest - I was in the passenger seat and I swear I woke up every half hour. It was easy to wake up at 7am and get started with the rest of the day. We even saw the end of sunrise at the beach!