I'm not really sure if anyone will read this, but I did promise one more post.. I've been home for just over a day now, and it has been so wonderful :) Apart from serious jet lag, i'm SO happy to be home!! I was greeted at the airport by my family and their homemade signs- gotta love them! My flights were all good, apart from almost having souvenirs confescated at customs in Auckland, they went well. I didn't sleep a whole lot, but the onflight gaming system and movie choices kept me occupied for most of the flight! I arrived home around the same time on tuesday that i left auckland so it's a 8 day week for me :) I've already gotten to see a lot of family and Jaci and hopefully I'll see the rest of my friends this weekend!
It is definitely a weird feeling being at home again after being in another country for so long, and i can't even being to start typing all my feelings here, but Auckland is definitely a place i'm going to miss but i'm definitely looking to my future and what's in store for me next! Graduating and grad school (gasp!) i know, i'm growing up..
it's been quite the journey. i couldn't have asked for a better 4.5 months! i've been so blessed and God is faithful. i can't wait to spend the next few months at home speding time with family and friends and working in the bakery again :) until my next adventure....
kia ora!
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Saturday, November 7, 2009
3 down, 1 to go
I'm now finished with three of my four finals.. last on is this coming Friday! It will be nice to stretch out the studying during my last, LAST?.. week here. This past week was a long week of studying and being sick. When I wasn't studying, I was sleeping but I'm feeling much better now! It could be one miserable flight home with a sinus infection! Mariel's dad is here visiting so we did go out for dinner a few times which was nice considering we're down to pasta and peanut butter :) Today is my friend Meredith's birthday so we're going to celebrate tonight with new york style pizza- we'll see if it's going to live up to it's standard! Other than that this week will be our final chance to do things around the city and say our goodbyes.
I have mixed emotions about leaving this place. I've called it home for the past 5ish months and it will be very hard to leave knowing very well that it will be a long time before I can come back again! I've met some great people with whom I will most definitely keep in touch with! I've cried twice already thinking about leaving (surprise, surprise right?) But I will leave this place with only good memories, GREAT memories, and an experience that I will carry with me for a very long time. I am just so blessed to have been here and can't thank you all enough for your love and support. As sad as I am to leave, I am absolutely thrilled to come home! I miss my family and my friends very much, and yes, even Walt's :) I can't wait to sleep in my own bed, eat dad's hamburgers and go to my own church on Sundays. I'll try to post some final final thoughts and photos again next weekend but if not, most definitely when I get home in 9 days. Thank you for "coming along" on all my travels and following my life here in Auckland!
Bec
I have mixed emotions about leaving this place. I've called it home for the past 5ish months and it will be very hard to leave knowing very well that it will be a long time before I can come back again! I've met some great people with whom I will most definitely keep in touch with! I've cried twice already thinking about leaving (surprise, surprise right?) But I will leave this place with only good memories, GREAT memories, and an experience that I will carry with me for a very long time. I am just so blessed to have been here and can't thank you all enough for your love and support. As sad as I am to leave, I am absolutely thrilled to come home! I miss my family and my friends very much, and yes, even Walt's :) I can't wait to sleep in my own bed, eat dad's hamburgers and go to my own church on Sundays. I'll try to post some final final thoughts and photos again next weekend but if not, most definitely when I get home in 9 days. Thank you for "coming along" on all my travels and following my life here in Auckland!
Bec
Friday, October 30, 2009
Fiji Vacation
Bula!! (Fijian greeting)
We could not have asked for a better week in Fiji. Our trip started off a little rough.. something was wrong with the plane's radar something or other, so we ended up being delayed about 4 hours. We did, however get 2 free meals out of it, so in the end it was good :) We arrived in Fiji and were greeted by our hostel's shuttle service. We spent our first and last nights on the main island in Nadi (pronounced Nandi). The morning of the second day we were shuttled from our hostel to catch the Amberley(boat taxi) from Lautoka about 30 minutes from our hostel. We had a 1.5 hour ride to Waya Island--apart from being a little choppy, the views were incredible! We arrived to Octopus resort and were greeted by the staff there with a welcome song and a refreshing glass of some sort of tropical fruit juice :) Each day the resort had different activities that we were welcome to take part of, some were free, others were not.. we stuck to the free ones (: Saturday we mostly just sat on the beach, and in the afternoon we learned how to weave bracelets out of pandanus leaves. Sunday, Mariel and I went to the local village to attend the church service. It was completely in Fijian, but it was still interesting and a good reminder that we all are worshipping the same exact God, just in different ways. The rest of the day we spent on the beach. Monday we rented snorkle gear for 5 fijian dollars and spent a lot of time in the water. There was a reef literally right off the shore- i felt like i was on finding nemo :) Tuesday we went to the village- went on a "tour" participated in a Kava ceremony, and visited the "craft market" the women all come to put out blankets and cover them with things they've made to sell. Great souvenirs! They offered jewelry making in the afternoon but i chose to keep reading. I managed to read 3 books in 4 days. ahhh.. I LOVE VACATION! The final morning we spent soaking up our last bit of sun, before our boat taxi left at 2pm. This was an all inclusive deal, so each day breakfast, lunch and dinner were served at certain times. Sometimes it was buffet and sometimes it was a sit down meal. The food was exceptional and the people there were just SO friendly. About 1/3 of the 340 or so people who live in the nearby village are employed by Octopus resort. The children on the Island go to a boarding school nearby so each Sunday they all pile in to one of the resorts boats and are taken over for the week. We had fresh flowers on our beds each day after the ladies came in to make them. Time really did seem to stand still while we were there. I can't put into words how beautiful it really was an how relaxe we were when we left...
Sidenote-- I'm consiering joining the Amish in light of my camera screen breaking on me while we were there. It seems to me that every piece of technology I have has now broken, so maybe God's trying to tell me something.. :) I was still able to get some good pictures tho! I wish i could share them here, I will try my best.
But for now, let the studying continute!! I already had one final and I have 3 more to go! I have one on Monday, Friday, and the following Thursday--prayers are appreciated! There is a cold front goign through the area right now, so it's back to sweatshirts and mittens, but hopefully our last weeks here will be warm before coming home to the cold! I hope you all have a great week!
We could not have asked for a better week in Fiji. Our trip started off a little rough.. something was wrong with the plane's radar something or other, so we ended up being delayed about 4 hours. We did, however get 2 free meals out of it, so in the end it was good :) We arrived in Fiji and were greeted by our hostel's shuttle service. We spent our first and last nights on the main island in Nadi (pronounced Nandi). The morning of the second day we were shuttled from our hostel to catch the Amberley(boat taxi) from Lautoka about 30 minutes from our hostel. We had a 1.5 hour ride to Waya Island--apart from being a little choppy, the views were incredible! We arrived to Octopus resort and were greeted by the staff there with a welcome song and a refreshing glass of some sort of tropical fruit juice :) Each day the resort had different activities that we were welcome to take part of, some were free, others were not.. we stuck to the free ones (: Saturday we mostly just sat on the beach, and in the afternoon we learned how to weave bracelets out of pandanus leaves. Sunday, Mariel and I went to the local village to attend the church service. It was completely in Fijian, but it was still interesting and a good reminder that we all are worshipping the same exact God, just in different ways. The rest of the day we spent on the beach. Monday we rented snorkle gear for 5 fijian dollars and spent a lot of time in the water. There was a reef literally right off the shore- i felt like i was on finding nemo :) Tuesday we went to the village- went on a "tour" participated in a Kava ceremony, and visited the "craft market" the women all come to put out blankets and cover them with things they've made to sell. Great souvenirs! They offered jewelry making in the afternoon but i chose to keep reading. I managed to read 3 books in 4 days. ahhh.. I LOVE VACATION! The final morning we spent soaking up our last bit of sun, before our boat taxi left at 2pm. This was an all inclusive deal, so each day breakfast, lunch and dinner were served at certain times. Sometimes it was buffet and sometimes it was a sit down meal. The food was exceptional and the people there were just SO friendly. About 1/3 of the 340 or so people who live in the nearby village are employed by Octopus resort. The children on the Island go to a boarding school nearby so each Sunday they all pile in to one of the resorts boats and are taken over for the week. We had fresh flowers on our beds each day after the ladies came in to make them. Time really did seem to stand still while we were there. I can't put into words how beautiful it really was an how relaxe we were when we left...
Sidenote-- I'm consiering joining the Amish in light of my camera screen breaking on me while we were there. It seems to me that every piece of technology I have has now broken, so maybe God's trying to tell me something.. :) I was still able to get some good pictures tho! I wish i could share them here, I will try my best.
But for now, let the studying continute!! I already had one final and I have 3 more to go! I have one on Monday, Friday, and the following Thursday--prayers are appreciated! There is a cold front goign through the area right now, so it's back to sweatshirts and mittens, but hopefully our last weeks here will be warm before coming home to the cold! I hope you all have a great week!
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Leavin' on a jetplane... TO FIJI!!
Oh, look! Another week is gone! This week was again filled with homework, and trying not to get wet in all the rain! We have had off and on patches of nice weather, but it still rained quite a bit! I was able to spend about an hour at Albert park ( right next to campus) laying in the grass under the sun on Thursday afternoon..There was a guy playing his guitar and singing about 20 feet from me.. I can't think of a better way I could have spent that hour!! :)
The city buses were on strike for just over a week, but the strike ended this week so we were able to take the bus to the Otara Markets, about 40 minutes away. It was a fun way to spend the morning buying souvenirs and experiencing a different part of the culture here in Auckland.
I'm finishing up my final paper of the semester right now and it feels great! I can spend the rest of my free time this week starting to study for finals! Hopefully the weather will be nice so I can spend more time at the park this week!
Friday we leave for Fiji. I thought this day would never come! We've been talking about it and looking forward to it since we got back from our south island trip! We are staying 2 nights in Nadi (on the main Island) and 4 nights on Waya Island on Likuliku Bay. Here's a map of where i'll be and a picture of the beach we're staying at for you to be jealous of... :o)
We leave Friday after classes ( which is Thursday night for you all ) Please pray for safety as we travel! We will have limited internet access while we are there however I do not think we will have cell reception except for when we're on the main island. Our "to do" list consists of: laying on the beach while reading and studying for finals. There is a lot to do at the place we're staying if you want to check it out here's the link! www.octopusresort.com
I also want to thank you all for the mail that you send. :) It really has made me feel loved and missed back home! I have consistently received mail while I've been here and it always makes my day when I open up our mailbox and find envelopes inside :) I love you all and can't wait to post again when we get back!
The countdown has reached 29 days...
Blessings to you all!
"The LORD is compassionate and gracious,slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us." Psalm 103:8-12
The city buses were on strike for just over a week, but the strike ended this week so we were able to take the bus to the Otara Markets, about 40 minutes away. It was a fun way to spend the morning buying souvenirs and experiencing a different part of the culture here in Auckland.
I'm finishing up my final paper of the semester right now and it feels great! I can spend the rest of my free time this week starting to study for finals! Hopefully the weather will be nice so I can spend more time at the park this week!
Friday we leave for Fiji. I thought this day would never come! We've been talking about it and looking forward to it since we got back from our south island trip! We are staying 2 nights in Nadi (on the main Island) and 4 nights on Waya Island on Likuliku Bay. Here's a map of where i'll be and a picture of the beach we're staying at for you to be jealous of... :o)
We leave Friday after classes ( which is Thursday night for you all ) Please pray for safety as we travel! We will have limited internet access while we are there however I do not think we will have cell reception except for when we're on the main island. Our "to do" list consists of: laying on the beach while reading and studying for finals. There is a lot to do at the place we're staying if you want to check it out here's the link! www.octopusresort.com
I also want to thank you all for the mail that you send. :) It really has made me feel loved and missed back home! I have consistently received mail while I've been here and it always makes my day when I open up our mailbox and find envelopes inside :) I love you all and can't wait to post again when we get back!
The countdown has reached 29 days...
Blessings to you all!
"The LORD is compassionate and gracious,slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us." Psalm 103:8-12
Monday, October 12, 2009
approaching the finish line
The end of classes is almost here.. we have the remainder of this week and all of next week and that's it! I have one assignment and one paper to write and then it's time to study for finals! Next friday we leave for Fiji until the following Thursday, and since it is still rainy and cold here in Auckland, we are VERY MUCH ready to leave :)
I probably shouldn't be counting the days.. but only 36 left... :( Apart from the one week of travelling we have left, we're pretty much staying in Auckland. The final exam period lasts for about 4 weeks, and from what we've heard, we're going to need all that time for studying!!
This past week was extremely busy for me, I had 2 rather large papers due and a long weekend of working on stats. they keep trying to tell us we'll use this knowledge in statistics in our everyday lives, but i don't believe them! :) i'm the only person i know that has taken this long to complete the assignment, but the good news is that i'm nearly finished :) the bad news is that my saturday this week will be spent at an 8 hour workshop in preparation for the final :(
I got my laptop back but they were not able to revive it. On the upside, they were able to back up my pictures for me :)
That's about it. Prayers are always appreciated :) We're still trying to enjoy every moment we're here:) I love you and miss you all and I can't wait to see you all soon!
"However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace." --Acts 20:24
I probably shouldn't be counting the days.. but only 36 left... :( Apart from the one week of travelling we have left, we're pretty much staying in Auckland. The final exam period lasts for about 4 weeks, and from what we've heard, we're going to need all that time for studying!!
This past week was extremely busy for me, I had 2 rather large papers due and a long weekend of working on stats. they keep trying to tell us we'll use this knowledge in statistics in our everyday lives, but i don't believe them! :) i'm the only person i know that has taken this long to complete the assignment, but the good news is that i'm nearly finished :) the bad news is that my saturday this week will be spent at an 8 hour workshop in preparation for the final :(
I got my laptop back but they were not able to revive it. On the upside, they were able to back up my pictures for me :)
That's about it. Prayers are always appreciated :) We're still trying to enjoy every moment we're here:) I love you and miss you all and I can't wait to see you all soon!
"However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace." --Acts 20:24
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Rain, Rain GO AWAY.
Well to be completely honest it's been a pretty crappy week. The weather has been nasty-probably due to the Tsunami that hit Samoa and American Samoa and Tonga- while i'm thinking about it, remember all those people in your prayers! New Zealand lives were lost in the tragedy as well as a lot of relatives and friends of many people from our University! but the weather just doesn't seem to want to let up, and I could use some sunshine in my life :)
Mariel and I opted out of a fun weekend staying on Rakino (an Island about 40 minutes away by boat) We both have a lot of work due this week and I had a workshop on Saturday that i needed to go to for Stats.
We did, however, spend a fun night out in Auckland this week while Jillian was still here! We went to see Mama Mia!! Tickets were ridiculously cheap- under $40USD and we had decent seats! Following that we got giapo ice cream and walked back to our apartment in the rain... i will now be singing those songs in my head for a good month most likely....
anyways, I'm sorry i don't have much exciting news to report this week, but the next weekends are going to be spent here in Auckland preparing for exams. We booked one last trip at the end of classes before the exam period begins.... TO FIJI!! The mere thought of lying on a beach in the warm sun with a good book in hand is what is keeping me motivated in my school work.. SO, that's that. 3 more weeks of hard work will pay off in the end! 12 more days of classes, 19 days til Fiji, and 43 short days til I'll be flying home :)
oh, and I havne't heard from the computer place yet, so hopefully this week i'll have it back. even tho it's broken for good, i'm hoping and praying they were able to remove the pictures from my hard drive!!
blessings! have a great week!
Mariel and I opted out of a fun weekend staying on Rakino (an Island about 40 minutes away by boat) We both have a lot of work due this week and I had a workshop on Saturday that i needed to go to for Stats.
We did, however, spend a fun night out in Auckland this week while Jillian was still here! We went to see Mama Mia!! Tickets were ridiculously cheap- under $40USD and we had decent seats! Following that we got giapo ice cream and walked back to our apartment in the rain... i will now be singing those songs in my head for a good month most likely....
anyways, I'm sorry i don't have much exciting news to report this week, but the next weekends are going to be spent here in Auckland preparing for exams. We booked one last trip at the end of classes before the exam period begins.... TO FIJI!! The mere thought of lying on a beach in the warm sun with a good book in hand is what is keeping me motivated in my school work.. SO, that's that. 3 more weeks of hard work will pay off in the end! 12 more days of classes, 19 days til Fiji, and 43 short days til I'll be flying home :)
oh, and I havne't heard from the computer place yet, so hopefully this week i'll have it back. even tho it's broken for good, i'm hoping and praying they were able to remove the pictures from my hard drive!!
blessings! have a great week!
Monday, September 28, 2009
Loooong Overdue...
Each day passes me by more quickly. I’m sure I sound like a broken record but the thought goes through my head each day that I’ve been here. I’ve done so many great things, and by the end of each week I always ask myself, “Where did the time go this week?” If there were a way to slow down time, believe me, I would. It has been nice staying around Auckland the past few weeks after travelling for so long. It gave us all a chance to plan the rest of our semester and catch up/begin our work for the remainder of the semester.
Last week was the “Air New Zealand Fashion Week” her e in Auckland and I found myself with a front row ticket to a runway fashion show. Now I’m sure most of you already starting laughing because the thought of me at a fashion show is quite comical. I never thought I’d be stressed over what to wear, but even I didn’t want to show up to a fashion show looking like an idiot, so the girls and I went shopping and I bought some “ cute wedges” to go with the outfit we salvaged from the clothes I brought with me. I did, however, walk there in my flip flops while carrying the ‘shoes of death’ in my bag :o) I wasn’t about to injure myself walking in heels…that phone call home would have been all too humiliating… All in all it was a fun day out with the girls—and now I can say 2 things.. 1. I really know nothing about fashion. And 2. I’ve done it once; I don’t need to do it again!
Last week Sunday was my beautiful roommate Sarah’s 21st birthday! Being the party animals that we are, we all made some food or dessert and sat around and talked all night. The night before we made our big trip to Foodtown to get all the food we needed –always a good time. Other than that the weekend was just filled with homework and relaxing- the weather wasn’t so great!
Tuesday evening Kate took all of us Arcadia students to see a play on campus called “The Pohutukawa Tree.” It was long and a little slow at times, but I still enjoyed it. It was good to see the other members of our group and as always, it was great to see Kate and get a “mom hug.” Plus a free night out beats out staying in and studying any day….
Mariel’s friend, Jillian (who we stayed with in Australia) is here visiting for a week! We’ve had a fun time hosting someone and have had some pretty legit dinners, too Saturday we rented our sweet 8 passenger van, and after a few problems with the rental company, we were on the road to Coromandel Peninsula to go to Cathedral Cove and Hot Water Beach! It’s about 2.5 hours away and of course, we had to stop because I got sick.. (NO more road trips for me) It rained on and off the whole day, but we still saw some sunshine. First we had lunch and a café and then headed over to hike about 35 minutes down to Cathedral Cove. We hung out down there for about an hour and hiked back up and drove over to Hot Water Beach. We rented a few shovels and headed over to the area where you’re allowed to dig! There are natural hot springs under the sand on some areas of the beach so when the tide is out, you can dig a hold and presto!..you’re own natural spa! Unfortunately we were extremely early for low tide so we didn’t end up actually digging a real hole, but I went in the freezing cold ocean and we dug our feet in the sand to feel the hot springs.. Very cool. We left about 6:30 pm and stopped in a little town for takeaways and headed back to Auckland. We took advantage of having the van and stopped at Foodtown to buy groceries! It was a long day and a late night, but it was a fun time!
Saturday night was also daylight savings here, so we “sprung ahead” an hour. Of course we all had it written down in our calendars but that doesn’t mean we were going to remember about it…so Mariel and I were a few minutes late in returning the rental van Sunday morning—and if we would have been on time we probably wouldn’t have had to walk back in the rain… We got back, made some coffee and changed for church! The Watomo Children’s Choir from Uganda, Africa was there to lead the service! We definitely enjoyed their ministry!
I do have a bit of bad news to share with you all. You know that delicious cup of coffee I mentioned earlier? Well, I was unable to enjoy most of it because it had an unfortunate run in with my laptop…..needless to say, I’ve switched to chai tea lattes for the time being.. I’m took up all the liquid as best I could, got some advice on how to save it, so now we’ll see if the repair people can do anything for me. At this point I’d just like the pictures from my hard drive. I can live without a computer, but those pictures are special Everything I’ve taken is backed up online—at least most of them! I’m staying positive about it tho—just means spending more time at the library and on campus using those computers! I’m finding it hard to freak out a ton over it because 1. It happened and I can’t make it un- happen and 2. I’m just so lucky to be here having this experience, I’m finding it hard to complain about the bad things. .. God has provided all my needs and then some, so I’m not worried! This same lap top survived the great candle wax incident of '07 so maybe I'll be just as fortunate this time :)
I continue to ask for your prayers as we finish up! Our coursework overall has proved to be a bit more of a challenge than we first anticipated and most of our classes have a final exam worth about 50% or more of our semester grades! Right now I feel great about all my classes besides stats. It’s just not clicking and I have to spend a ton of extra time on it.. So prayers for clarity and focus would be much appreciated!
Also, a prayer request from home.. My cousins Mike and Jenna Sluiter’s little guy, Jake is being hospitalized right now for a possible shunt infection. I haven’t heard any details or updates yet (some of you might know more than I do at this point) but if you could remember them and the doctors in your prayers, that would be great too!!
Well, I thin that’s about enough for now.. sorry (CORINNA) that it took me so long to update! Hopefully I can use a friend’s computer to put up some pictures and liven up this post and hopefully I’ll have another post after this coming weekend! Because I don’t have a computer accessible to me at all times anymore, communication might be down.. the best way to reach me might be via post or carrier pigeon.. Whichever you prefer I’ll try to stay as connected as possible with everyone back home! Have a great week! Until next time….
Last week was the “Air New Zealand Fashion Week” her e in Auckland and I found myself with a front row ticket to a runway fashion show. Now I’m sure most of you already starting laughing because the thought of me at a fashion show is quite comical. I never thought I’d be stressed over what to wear, but even I didn’t want to show up to a fashion show looking like an idiot, so the girls and I went shopping and I bought some “ cute wedges” to go with the outfit we salvaged from the clothes I brought with me. I did, however, walk there in my flip flops while carrying the ‘shoes of death’ in my bag :o) I wasn’t about to injure myself walking in heels…that phone call home would have been all too humiliating… All in all it was a fun day out with the girls—and now I can say 2 things.. 1. I really know nothing about fashion. And 2. I’ve done it once; I don’t need to do it again!
Last week Sunday was my beautiful roommate Sarah’s 21st birthday! Being the party animals that we are, we all made some food or dessert and sat around and talked all night. The night before we made our big trip to Foodtown to get all the food we needed –always a good time. Other than that the weekend was just filled with homework and relaxing- the weather wasn’t so great!
Tuesday evening Kate took all of us Arcadia students to see a play on campus called “The Pohutukawa Tree.” It was long and a little slow at times, but I still enjoyed it. It was good to see the other members of our group and as always, it was great to see Kate and get a “mom hug.” Plus a free night out beats out staying in and studying any day….
Mariel’s friend, Jillian (who we stayed with in Australia) is here visiting for a week! We’ve had a fun time hosting someone and have had some pretty legit dinners, too Saturday we rented our sweet 8 passenger van, and after a few problems with the rental company, we were on the road to Coromandel Peninsula to go to Cathedral Cove and Hot Water Beach! It’s about 2.5 hours away and of course, we had to stop because I got sick.. (NO more road trips for me) It rained on and off the whole day, but we still saw some sunshine. First we had lunch and a café and then headed over to hike about 35 minutes down to Cathedral Cove. We hung out down there for about an hour and hiked back up and drove over to Hot Water Beach. We rented a few shovels and headed over to the area where you’re allowed to dig! There are natural hot springs under the sand on some areas of the beach so when the tide is out, you can dig a hold and presto!..you’re own natural spa! Unfortunately we were extremely early for low tide so we didn’t end up actually digging a real hole, but I went in the freezing cold ocean and we dug our feet in the sand to feel the hot springs.. Very cool. We left about 6:30 pm and stopped in a little town for takeaways and headed back to Auckland. We took advantage of having the van and stopped at Foodtown to buy groceries! It was a long day and a late night, but it was a fun time!
Saturday night was also daylight savings here, so we “sprung ahead” an hour. Of course we all had it written down in our calendars but that doesn’t mean we were going to remember about it…so Mariel and I were a few minutes late in returning the rental van Sunday morning—and if we would have been on time we probably wouldn’t have had to walk back in the rain… We got back, made some coffee and changed for church! The Watomo Children’s Choir from Uganda, Africa was there to lead the service! We definitely enjoyed their ministry!
I do have a bit of bad news to share with you all. You know that delicious cup of coffee I mentioned earlier? Well, I was unable to enjoy most of it because it had an unfortunate run in with my laptop…..needless to say, I’ve switched to chai tea lattes for the time being.. I’m took up all the liquid as best I could, got some advice on how to save it, so now we’ll see if the repair people can do anything for me. At this point I’d just like the pictures from my hard drive. I can live without a computer, but those pictures are special Everything I’ve taken is backed up online—at least most of them! I’m staying positive about it tho—just means spending more time at the library and on campus using those computers! I’m finding it hard to freak out a ton over it because 1. It happened and I can’t make it un- happen and 2. I’m just so lucky to be here having this experience, I’m finding it hard to complain about the bad things. .. God has provided all my needs and then some, so I’m not worried! This same lap top survived the great candle wax incident of '07 so maybe I'll be just as fortunate this time :)
I continue to ask for your prayers as we finish up! Our coursework overall has proved to be a bit more of a challenge than we first anticipated and most of our classes have a final exam worth about 50% or more of our semester grades! Right now I feel great about all my classes besides stats. It’s just not clicking and I have to spend a ton of extra time on it.. So prayers for clarity and focus would be much appreciated!
Also, a prayer request from home.. My cousins Mike and Jenna Sluiter’s little guy, Jake is being hospitalized right now for a possible shunt infection. I haven’t heard any details or updates yet (some of you might know more than I do at this point) but if you could remember them and the doctors in your prayers, that would be great too!!
Well, I thin that’s about enough for now.. sorry (CORINNA) that it took me so long to update! Hopefully I can use a friend’s computer to put up some pictures and liven up this post and hopefully I’ll have another post after this coming weekend! Because I don’t have a computer accessible to me at all times anymore, communication might be down.. the best way to reach me might be via post or carrier pigeon.. Whichever you prefer I’ll try to stay as connected as possible with everyone back home! Have a great week! Until next time….
Thursday, September 17, 2009
things i've learned and some favorite pictures
It's been a long week of homework and class after a fabulous 2 weeks off! We've decided to stay here and do more work this weekend instead of going anywhere.. we need a break from traveling too :) So, I decided to post some of my thoughts and things I've learned now that my time here is over halfway finished..
1. museli > granola :)
2. road construction is everywhere in the world. there's no escape from it!
3. coffee "plungers" over normal filter kind
4. God is faithful in providing good friendships.. new ones here and continuing ones from home and school. I can't begin to explain what a blessing it is.
5. A.J. Hacktt is the MAN. (invented bungy jumping)
6. postcards and pictures of this place don't even begin to describe it's beauty
7. there's an opportunity everyday to witness.. something i've always known but has become more apparent to me living outside of a Christian community.
8. never walk across a wet surface in flip flops unless you want to fall
9. sounds cliche, but some risks really are worth taking.
10.my family absolutely rocks! I've received nothing but love and support from them! Thank you all :)
11. the Cubs are bad both when I am home and when I am not there...
12. I have to start thinking about grad school. prayers are appreciated!
13. SKYPE was a pretty sweet invention
14. A favorite verse from the past few weeks:
" Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." Galatians 6:12
15. I've been learning to rest in the comfort of Christ. He knows my life, my thoughts, my actions, my fears, my joys.. He knows _____. Fill in the blank. The future has a tendency to make me nervous, however I know I will be taken care of. God's timing is perfect and each day I live has a purpose. I continue to find joy in each day and to seek out my purpose in it.
Now, here are a few of my favorite pictures from the past few weeks... enjoy!
1. museli > granola :)
2. road construction is everywhere in the world. there's no escape from it!
3. coffee "plungers" over normal filter kind
4. God is faithful in providing good friendships.. new ones here and continuing ones from home and school. I can't begin to explain what a blessing it is.
5. A.J. Hacktt is the MAN. (invented bungy jumping)
6. postcards and pictures of this place don't even begin to describe it's beauty
7. there's an opportunity everyday to witness.. something i've always known but has become more apparent to me living outside of a Christian community.
8. never walk across a wet surface in flip flops unless you want to fall
9. sounds cliche, but some risks really are worth taking.
10.my family absolutely rocks! I've received nothing but love and support from them! Thank you all :)
11. the Cubs are bad both when I am home and when I am not there...
12. I have to start thinking about grad school. prayers are appreciated!
13. SKYPE was a pretty sweet invention
14. A favorite verse from the past few weeks:
" Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." Galatians 6:12
15. I've been learning to rest in the comfort of Christ. He knows my life, my thoughts, my actions, my fears, my joys.. He knows _____. Fill in the blank. The future has a tendency to make me nervous, however I know I will be taken care of. God's timing is perfect and each day I live has a purpose. I continue to find joy in each day and to seek out my purpose in it.
Now, here are a few of my favorite pictures from the past few weeks... enjoy!
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Australia/South Island Adventures
I hope you're comfortable where you are sitting because this could be a long post :) Surely I won't be able to write about everything we did over break, but I will do my best to hit the high points! My jaw dropped more than once on this trip. Even as I'm sitting here thinking about my trip, it's hard for me to even believe that I've been experiencing all these awesome things and visiting different places in the world.
I guess I'll just start at the beginning... Mariel and I flew into Sydney where here friend Jillian met us at the airport. We spent the afternoon walking to the Opera House where we had a great view of the harbor bridge and we also walked to the botanical gardens. We stayed the night at Jillian's friend Emma's apartment. She made us a roast lamb dinner that was delicious. The next day we took the ferry to the zoo and caught an early afternoon train up to New Castle where Jillian goes to school.
We stayed there for the remainder of the week. We went to trivia night at a local Chinese food restaurant/bar, spent an afternoon at the beach, went to a wildlife preserve, and walked around Jillian's campus. The afternoon we went to the beach, we actually ended up having quite an adventure! Mariel's cell phone ran out of credit and we couldn't find a pay phone that worked so we had no way of contacting Jillian (who was supposed to meet up with us after she was finished with her day at school) We ended up catching a bus ( longest ride ever) back near campus and walked the rest of the way to her house. When we go there we found out that Jillian had gone out looking for us.. Her roommate called her and in the end we all made it home safely. We were pretty proud of ourselves for making it back in one piece.. a little cold, but we made it!
Not only did we see kangaroos, we bought some kangaroo meat from the grocery store and ate it on pizza :) It tasted kind of like beef. In fear of getting sick, I of course cooked mine til it was basically black, but it was still delicious! We made homemade dough and had a fun night making the pizzas all together.
We spent our last day back in Sydney. We paid 7 bucks to store our luggage and decided to do a 'hop on hop off' bus tour. For 35 Australian dollars we were able to tour the whole city and get on an off wherever we wanted. A bus comes to each stop every 10-15 minutes, so it was a great way for us to see what we wanted in the short amount of time we had. We went to the Wildlife world where we were able to actually pet koala bears and get our picture with them :) They're not as soft as they look. It was still an experience tho! We also went to a place called Pancakes on the Rocks. This was recommended to us by our friend from Geneva who studied there last semester. We had a delicious lunch of the best pancakes!! I of course, got the chocolate lovers one..complete with ice cream! We had an absolutely gorgeous day to tour around the city, and fabulous weather all week! We had an evening flight out of Sydney to Christchurch where we met up with the rest of our friends.
We got to our hostel pretty late that night and were up early the next morning to catch our shuttle bus to where we'd be picked up by the STRAY bus that we traveled on for the remainder of the week. The ride everywhere was simply gorgeous! There was always things to look at and see and the land is just breathtaking down there! All of my photos just don't do it justice. The first day consisted of traveling and we stayed in a backpackers near the Franz Josef glacier for 2 nights. The second full day of our trip, we spent 8.5 hours hiking the glacier. Only guided tours are allowed on the glacier, and I can honestly say this was one of the coolest experiences of my life so far. I feel like I keep saying that, but this is something you can't experience everyday!
We arrived at the glacier guide place at 8am. We were suited up in boots, dry coats and bum bags with our crampons (fanny packs- but you're not allowed to call them that here) We dressed in plenty of layers that we actually didn't end up needing- it was an absolutely perfect day for hiking! When i pictured a glacier, I didn't exactly have the right image in my mind. I was picturing a giant flat floating piece of ice.. this is not the case! This was one of the most challenging hikes I've ever been on, but the most rewarding, and I would definitely do it again. It's hard to describe in words, so you'll have to just flip through all my pictures and see for yourselves! By the end of the hike, I had only fallen and slid down one "wave" and I had 2 blisters from the hiking boots they gave us, but that was the worst of the injuries. We were all COMPLETELY exhausted and we spent the next 2 days being sore and achy- but again, well worth it!!
The next morning, we got on the bus again and traveled to Makarora. This is a SMALL town. And by small I mean small. Population = less than 70 people. We went to the bar that night because there was supposed to be karaoke, however, being the nerds that we are, we had one drink and went back to our little triangle shaped hostel house and went to bed... the karaoke ended up starting way later than we thought and we we had to be up early the next morning for out jet boat ride down some rivers! This was quite the experience! We were frozen from the start, and got sprayed lots of times from doing 360s and it actually started to rain on our trip back to the "dock" -- it was actually anchored to the edge of the river by a big old tractor! We had lots of fun gliding along at top speeds and the boat was less than 6 inches in the water while moving!
Right when we got back from this the bus was again leaving to travel to Queenstown! We spent the whole day riding in the bus but we made plenty of stops for breakfast, lunch and photo opportunities! I should tell you a little bit about our bus driver, Tyke. He was awesome! He made the trip such a blast. He was actually in the army not too long ago and learned to drive a bus there. He took a job with STRAY and he tours the country full time: arranging hostiles and guiding trips on the north and the south island! He took very good care of us and kept us laughing! We made one stop that we were particularly excited about.. a waterfall used in the 2nd LOTR movie.
We made it to Queenstown and went right to book our adventures for the next 2 days! We were going to take a LOTR tour, however it didn't fit into the time we had put aside to go. In the morning we got on a bus, drove for 40 minutes and reached our destination. THE SECOND HIGHEST BUNGY JUMP IN THE WORLD. THE NEVIS BUNGY JUMP!! We all booked our NON REFUNDABLE tickets the day before, so there was no backing out! We were all pretty excited, but obviously terrified! I was the lucky one who had to jump first!! I'm kind of glad though! Here's the link to the video of me jumping. I'll just add that I was nervous deep down, but didn't want to show it so apparently it came out in the form of dancing..hahaha. It was an experience of a lifetime and I would do it again in a heartbeat!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2024404&id=151101508&saved#/profile.php?id=151101508&v=app_2392950137&ref=profile
After this we went back to town and went to Fergberger: one of THE best burgers I've ever had- but not better than yours, Daddy-o! It probably tasted so good because we were so hungry. None of us ate anything that morning for fear of getting sick before bungy jumping! After that we went back to the hostel and got ready to ride the gondola up the mountain to ride a luge. This brought us back to our youths but it was still great fun! We had 6 rides with our tickets so we spent a good couple of hours riding down in the luges and riding back up the ski lift! It was a fun day!
The next day we spent 5 hours on an Eco Bus tour that took us to the Milford Sound. The weather was pretty nasty, but it was still a beautiful place to visit; absolutely breathtaking! We had some rough waters and a few of us felt a little sick-- then we got back on the bus for a 4 hour ride back to Queenstown and I did get sick. The roads were windy and narrow and I was miserable. I still felt sick the next morning and got sick again as we headed out of Queenstown back to Christchurch. At our first stop i got a bottle of sprite and drank it with some tylenol pm- i then slept in the fetal position on the bus for the next 6 hours. I did feel better once we reached our hostel.
The bar attached to the hostel we stayed at just happened to be having a free pig roast that night so we got a free meal! It was delicious and reminded me of home :) We went to bed early and caught our shuttle to the airport in the morning and were back in Auckland in the afternoon! We had SUCH a great trip- no major problems, and were blessed with great weather and safe travels! This description of my trip doesn't do it justice, but I hope the pictures help! Here's the links to all my pictures that I've put up on facebook. I hope they work so let me know if they don't!
65 Days left. So much yet to do!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2024404&id=151101508&l=5f45a7fada
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2024405&id=151101508&l=66157a0012
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2024424&id=151101508&l=fc6c60a4c4
I guess I'll just start at the beginning... Mariel and I flew into Sydney where here friend Jillian met us at the airport. We spent the afternoon walking to the Opera House where we had a great view of the harbor bridge and we also walked to the botanical gardens. We stayed the night at Jillian's friend Emma's apartment. She made us a roast lamb dinner that was delicious. The next day we took the ferry to the zoo and caught an early afternoon train up to New Castle where Jillian goes to school.
We stayed there for the remainder of the week. We went to trivia night at a local Chinese food restaurant/bar, spent an afternoon at the beach, went to a wildlife preserve, and walked around Jillian's campus. The afternoon we went to the beach, we actually ended up having quite an adventure! Mariel's cell phone ran out of credit and we couldn't find a pay phone that worked so we had no way of contacting Jillian (who was supposed to meet up with us after she was finished with her day at school) We ended up catching a bus ( longest ride ever) back near campus and walked the rest of the way to her house. When we go there we found out that Jillian had gone out looking for us.. Her roommate called her and in the end we all made it home safely. We were pretty proud of ourselves for making it back in one piece.. a little cold, but we made it!
Not only did we see kangaroos, we bought some kangaroo meat from the grocery store and ate it on pizza :) It tasted kind of like beef. In fear of getting sick, I of course cooked mine til it was basically black, but it was still delicious! We made homemade dough and had a fun night making the pizzas all together.
We spent our last day back in Sydney. We paid 7 bucks to store our luggage and decided to do a 'hop on hop off' bus tour. For 35 Australian dollars we were able to tour the whole city and get on an off wherever we wanted. A bus comes to each stop every 10-15 minutes, so it was a great way for us to see what we wanted in the short amount of time we had. We went to the Wildlife world where we were able to actually pet koala bears and get our picture with them :) They're not as soft as they look. It was still an experience tho! We also went to a place called Pancakes on the Rocks. This was recommended to us by our friend from Geneva who studied there last semester. We had a delicious lunch of the best pancakes!! I of course, got the chocolate lovers one..complete with ice cream! We had an absolutely gorgeous day to tour around the city, and fabulous weather all week! We had an evening flight out of Sydney to Christchurch where we met up with the rest of our friends.
We got to our hostel pretty late that night and were up early the next morning to catch our shuttle bus to where we'd be picked up by the STRAY bus that we traveled on for the remainder of the week. The ride everywhere was simply gorgeous! There was always things to look at and see and the land is just breathtaking down there! All of my photos just don't do it justice. The first day consisted of traveling and we stayed in a backpackers near the Franz Josef glacier for 2 nights. The second full day of our trip, we spent 8.5 hours hiking the glacier. Only guided tours are allowed on the glacier, and I can honestly say this was one of the coolest experiences of my life so far. I feel like I keep saying that, but this is something you can't experience everyday!
We arrived at the glacier guide place at 8am. We were suited up in boots, dry coats and bum bags with our crampons (fanny packs- but you're not allowed to call them that here) We dressed in plenty of layers that we actually didn't end up needing- it was an absolutely perfect day for hiking! When i pictured a glacier, I didn't exactly have the right image in my mind. I was picturing a giant flat floating piece of ice.. this is not the case! This was one of the most challenging hikes I've ever been on, but the most rewarding, and I would definitely do it again. It's hard to describe in words, so you'll have to just flip through all my pictures and see for yourselves! By the end of the hike, I had only fallen and slid down one "wave" and I had 2 blisters from the hiking boots they gave us, but that was the worst of the injuries. We were all COMPLETELY exhausted and we spent the next 2 days being sore and achy- but again, well worth it!!
The next morning, we got on the bus again and traveled to Makarora. This is a SMALL town. And by small I mean small. Population = less than 70 people. We went to the bar that night because there was supposed to be karaoke, however, being the nerds that we are, we had one drink and went back to our little triangle shaped hostel house and went to bed... the karaoke ended up starting way later than we thought and we we had to be up early the next morning for out jet boat ride down some rivers! This was quite the experience! We were frozen from the start, and got sprayed lots of times from doing 360s and it actually started to rain on our trip back to the "dock" -- it was actually anchored to the edge of the river by a big old tractor! We had lots of fun gliding along at top speeds and the boat was less than 6 inches in the water while moving!
Right when we got back from this the bus was again leaving to travel to Queenstown! We spent the whole day riding in the bus but we made plenty of stops for breakfast, lunch and photo opportunities! I should tell you a little bit about our bus driver, Tyke. He was awesome! He made the trip such a blast. He was actually in the army not too long ago and learned to drive a bus there. He took a job with STRAY and he tours the country full time: arranging hostiles and guiding trips on the north and the south island! He took very good care of us and kept us laughing! We made one stop that we were particularly excited about.. a waterfall used in the 2nd LOTR movie.
We made it to Queenstown and went right to book our adventures for the next 2 days! We were going to take a LOTR tour, however it didn't fit into the time we had put aside to go. In the morning we got on a bus, drove for 40 minutes and reached our destination. THE SECOND HIGHEST BUNGY JUMP IN THE WORLD. THE NEVIS BUNGY JUMP!! We all booked our NON REFUNDABLE tickets the day before, so there was no backing out! We were all pretty excited, but obviously terrified! I was the lucky one who had to jump first!! I'm kind of glad though! Here's the link to the video of me jumping. I'll just add that I was nervous deep down, but didn't want to show it so apparently it came out in the form of dancing..hahaha. It was an experience of a lifetime and I would do it again in a heartbeat!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2024404&id=151101508&saved#/profile.php?id=151101508&v=app_2392950137&ref=profile
After this we went back to town and went to Fergberger: one of THE best burgers I've ever had- but not better than yours, Daddy-o! It probably tasted so good because we were so hungry. None of us ate anything that morning for fear of getting sick before bungy jumping! After that we went back to the hostel and got ready to ride the gondola up the mountain to ride a luge. This brought us back to our youths but it was still great fun! We had 6 rides with our tickets so we spent a good couple of hours riding down in the luges and riding back up the ski lift! It was a fun day!
The next day we spent 5 hours on an Eco Bus tour that took us to the Milford Sound. The weather was pretty nasty, but it was still a beautiful place to visit; absolutely breathtaking! We had some rough waters and a few of us felt a little sick-- then we got back on the bus for a 4 hour ride back to Queenstown and I did get sick. The roads were windy and narrow and I was miserable. I still felt sick the next morning and got sick again as we headed out of Queenstown back to Christchurch. At our first stop i got a bottle of sprite and drank it with some tylenol pm- i then slept in the fetal position on the bus for the next 6 hours. I did feel better once we reached our hostel.
The bar attached to the hostel we stayed at just happened to be having a free pig roast that night so we got a free meal! It was delicious and reminded me of home :) We went to bed early and caught our shuttle to the airport in the morning and were back in Auckland in the afternoon! We had SUCH a great trip- no major problems, and were blessed with great weather and safe travels! This description of my trip doesn't do it justice, but I hope the pictures help! Here's the links to all my pictures that I've put up on facebook. I hope they work so let me know if they don't!
65 Days left. So much yet to do!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2024404&id=151101508&l=5f45a7fada
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2024405&id=151101508&l=66157a0012
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2024424&id=151101508&l=fc6c60a4c4
Friday, August 28, 2009
Mid Semester Break Travels
Well kids, I'm saying goodbye to Auckland for 2 weeks and hello to Sydney, Australia and the South island of New Zealand! Mariel and I will be flying out in the morning-the 30th to Australia and spending the week there staying with one of her friends from high school who lives there ( yay for free housing!) It's supposed to rain a few of the days we are there, but we're praying for nice weather:) It's abnormally warm there right now for this time of year so we're hoping to soak up some sun!
On Friday the 4th of September we will fly into Christchurch, which is in the South island of NZ where we will meet up with 5 of our other girl friends! We are all meeting there and have booked the same backpackers to stay in for the night. Then early the next morning we'll be picked up by STRAY bus, and we'll spend the next week or so touring the South island.
I will detail more of the trip, of course when I return to Auckland on the 12th of September! Please pray for us and for our travels, we have been so blessed to be able to be here and to travel around to many places. I'm just so excited!
oh, and here's one picture from this week so I don't just bore you with my babble :)
On Friday the 4th of September we will fly into Christchurch, which is in the South island of NZ where we will meet up with 5 of our other girl friends! We are all meeting there and have booked the same backpackers to stay in for the night. Then early the next morning we'll be picked up by STRAY bus, and we'll spend the next week or so touring the South island.
I will detail more of the trip, of course when I return to Auckland on the 12th of September! Please pray for us and for our travels, we have been so blessed to be able to be here and to travel around to many places. I'm just so excited!
oh, and here's one picture from this week so I don't just bore you with my babble :)
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Hike a Volcano........ Check!
Yes, today we took the ferry to Rangitoto and hiked to the summit! It's a small island that is a volcano that has not erupted in over 600 years, with a trail leading to the summit. It was about an hour hike, and the view at the top was gorgeous! We had a perfect view of the city and some of the other places that we have been already. Again, I'm just amazed at creation and can't believe I get to experience this! We had a beautiful day, although not very sunny. It didn't rain and it wasn't cold, so in my book it was fabulous! This trip was through Arcadia, so the ferry was paid for, and as always, it was great to see Kate again :)
This was also on our big list of things to do. My friends and I actually did sit down in the beginning of the semester to make a list of all the places we wanted to go and all the things we wanted to see! I'm sure we have way more things on our list than we have weekend time for, but we're going to try to do as many as we can for sure! Here's a few pictures from our hike up Rangitoto.
I guess I'm backtracking, but Saturday night we celebrated my birthday! (We went out for ice cream on my actual birthday) We got semi-dressed up and spent a night in the city! Since I have a new found love for Indian food we went to Pankawalla, a restaurant in the Viaduct! I got mango chicken, and we all shared an order of naan bread.
After that we went to Minus 5-- an ice bar. (It's a bar made completely out of ice, including the glasses.) This was really fun! It was about $20 USD which included one drink. They give you huge winter coats, booties, uggs, and thick mittens and send you into the bar area. We weren't supposed to take pictures, but I did anyway without using a flash, so most turned out blurry. I believe the drink I had was called a "frisky penguin" :) It kind of tasted like a green jolly rancher. They let you stay in for about a half hour-- and I'm not sure we would have lasted much longer anyways! So, here's a few of the better pictures!
right to left back row-- Amanda, Meredith, Becca, Mariel, Sarah, front row--Katie, and Colleen
We went out kind of early so we were home by 9:30 :)Mariel and I stopped on our way home for some good old dunkin donuts coffee!! Meredith made a giant cookie and they all sang happy birthday! Then as we pigged out we watched Pride and Prejudice and called it a night! It was such a good way to end the week! I know I probably say this all the time but my friends here are really great and they made my birthday so much fun!
This week I have one paper due and a test! Then it will already be our mid semester break for 2 weeks!! Next week Sunday, Mariel and I are leaving to spend 6 days in Australia and following that we'll fly straight to the south island to meet up with the rest of our friends to take an 8 day bus tour! I'll write more about that next weekend! I also somehow got sick again. A few of my roommates were sick this week and I'm afraid they've passed it on to me... Pray that I feel better this week so that I can finish up my work ahead of time for break and that I'll be healthy for our upcoming trips!
Have a great week! I miss you all!
Bec
This was also on our big list of things to do. My friends and I actually did sit down in the beginning of the semester to make a list of all the places we wanted to go and all the things we wanted to see! I'm sure we have way more things on our list than we have weekend time for, but we're going to try to do as many as we can for sure! Here's a few pictures from our hike up Rangitoto.
I guess I'm backtracking, but Saturday night we celebrated my birthday! (We went out for ice cream on my actual birthday) We got semi-dressed up and spent a night in the city! Since I have a new found love for Indian food we went to Pankawalla, a restaurant in the Viaduct! I got mango chicken, and we all shared an order of naan bread.
After that we went to Minus 5-- an ice bar. (It's a bar made completely out of ice, including the glasses.) This was really fun! It was about $20 USD which included one drink. They give you huge winter coats, booties, uggs, and thick mittens and send you into the bar area. We weren't supposed to take pictures, but I did anyway without using a flash, so most turned out blurry. I believe the drink I had was called a "frisky penguin" :) It kind of tasted like a green jolly rancher. They let you stay in for about a half hour-- and I'm not sure we would have lasted much longer anyways! So, here's a few of the better pictures!
right to left back row-- Amanda, Meredith, Becca, Mariel, Sarah, front row--Katie, and Colleen
We went out kind of early so we were home by 9:30 :)Mariel and I stopped on our way home for some good old dunkin donuts coffee!! Meredith made a giant cookie and they all sang happy birthday! Then as we pigged out we watched Pride and Prejudice and called it a night! It was such a good way to end the week! I know I probably say this all the time but my friends here are really great and they made my birthday so much fun!
This week I have one paper due and a test! Then it will already be our mid semester break for 2 weeks!! Next week Sunday, Mariel and I are leaving to spend 6 days in Australia and following that we'll fly straight to the south island to meet up with the rest of our friends to take an 8 day bus tour! I'll write more about that next weekend! I also somehow got sick again. A few of my roommates were sick this week and I'm afraid they've passed it on to me... Pray that I feel better this week so that I can finish up my work ahead of time for break and that I'll be healthy for our upcoming trips!
Have a great week! I miss you all!
Bec
Saturday, August 15, 2009
"Animal Weekend"
Another week has just FLOWN by and now it's less than 2 weeks until mid semester break! Signs of spring are here, the temperature is getting warmer and we had a weekend full of rain. I missed home for the first time this week. I missed family vacation, which I've always gone on, and two of my very good friends got married. I really wish I could have been there for both things! We did have a really great weekend, despite the rain!
Here's the weekly recap! I had my first test (in STATS) on Monday; it went well! Other than that, classes went on like normal--my eyes hurt from all the reading we are assigned! Two of my classes have required movies to watch, so that is fun homework to do! Wednesday we ventured to a new area of the city known as "K Road" because no one can really pronounce the real name of it! First we got waffles for "waffle Wednesday" Now, I love ice cream, but I can't eat it for breakfast--and these waffles were more ice cream than waffle :) I stuck to a cappuccino instead! (and it was free, because she made the wrong drink for my friend and offered it to me for free) We heard of an Asian supermarket that sold good produce for cheap so we stopped there for some fresh "fruit and veg" and made our way to Foodtown* for the rest of our groceries. We also spent 4 nights this past week watching The Lord Of The Rings series.. I've done this once before--watching them all in one week, and I swore I'd never do it ever again, but I gave in and watched them. A few of my friends had never seen them before, and when we go to visit the South Island over break we're going to see more areas where the movies were filmed, so we thought that everyone should watch them! We all stocked up on some junk food to keep us sane while watching all 10+ hours of the movies because, of course, we only had the "extended versions" to watch! I'm putting it in writing this time: NEVER AGAIN WILL I WATCH THEM ALL IN ONE WEEK.
Here's a few pictures from walking around the city this week!
We deemed this weekend "Animal Weekend" Saturday afternoon we went to Kelly Tarlton's Antarctic Encounter Underwater World. We took a ride through the penguins habitat and rode a moving walkway underneath the big water tank to see all the creatures. I'm not much of an animal person, but it was pretty neat. The rest of the girls went to the zoo today (Sunday) but I passed. I've never been a fan of the zoo and it down poured the whole day! Here's a few pictures from Kelly Tarlton's.
Lastly, here's a picture of the building of S tPauls church. It's even more beautiful on the inside :)
I'm looking forward to my birthday this week Thursday--the big 22!! yikes! And it's kind of like I get two birthdays because I'm a whole day ahead of the States :)I'm planning on working hard these next few weeks to finish the assignments due just after our break ends so that I won't have to worry about them during break or even the weekend we get back!
92 more days here... I plan to make the most of them :)
Here's the weekly recap! I had my first test (in STATS) on Monday; it went well! Other than that, classes went on like normal--my eyes hurt from all the reading we are assigned! Two of my classes have required movies to watch, so that is fun homework to do! Wednesday we ventured to a new area of the city known as "K Road" because no one can really pronounce the real name of it! First we got waffles for "waffle Wednesday" Now, I love ice cream, but I can't eat it for breakfast--and these waffles were more ice cream than waffle :) I stuck to a cappuccino instead! (and it was free, because she made the wrong drink for my friend and offered it to me for free) We heard of an Asian supermarket that sold good produce for cheap so we stopped there for some fresh "fruit and veg" and made our way to Foodtown* for the rest of our groceries. We also spent 4 nights this past week watching The Lord Of The Rings series.. I've done this once before--watching them all in one week, and I swore I'd never do it ever again, but I gave in and watched them. A few of my friends had never seen them before, and when we go to visit the South Island over break we're going to see more areas where the movies were filmed, so we thought that everyone should watch them! We all stocked up on some junk food to keep us sane while watching all 10+ hours of the movies because, of course, we only had the "extended versions" to watch! I'm putting it in writing this time: NEVER AGAIN WILL I WATCH THEM ALL IN ONE WEEK.
Here's a few pictures from walking around the city this week!
We deemed this weekend "Animal Weekend" Saturday afternoon we went to Kelly Tarlton's Antarctic Encounter Underwater World. We took a ride through the penguins habitat and rode a moving walkway underneath the big water tank to see all the creatures. I'm not much of an animal person, but it was pretty neat. The rest of the girls went to the zoo today (Sunday) but I passed. I've never been a fan of the zoo and it down poured the whole day! Here's a few pictures from Kelly Tarlton's.
Lastly, here's a picture of the building of S tPauls church. It's even more beautiful on the inside :)
I'm looking forward to my birthday this week Thursday--the big 22!! yikes! And it's kind of like I get two birthdays because I'm a whole day ahead of the States :)I'm planning on working hard these next few weeks to finish the assignments due just after our break ends so that I won't have to worry about them during break or even the weekend we get back!
92 more days here... I plan to make the most of them :)
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Jumpin in the water....learning how to.. surf??
I seem to look forward to blogging every weekend after an awesome week! It's fun to think back and remember all the fabulous things we've done. I feel like each weekend I come back saying, "That was the most fun I've had my whole trip!" My time here just keeps getting better and better. It finally hit me this past weekend. I'M IN NEW ZEALAND. I can't tell you how many times I just sat quietly (I know, hard to believe) and just took in my surroundings. I'm just amazed each day that I'm here!
This week at school was a pretty typical week. I've been having trouble sleeping but hopefully the combination of some hot tea and my Disney lullaby CD (thanks, rach) I will help me to start sleeping better. I feel healthy and I'm not homesick so who knows!
This past weekend we had our "activity weekend" with our group from Arcadia University. Friday afternoon Kate came with a big van just outside of our building and picked us all up for our much anticipated weekend at the Waitomo Caves- to see the famous glow worms and Surfing on the West coast at Raglan (Tasman Sea). When we arrived in Waitomo(smallest "town" I think I've ever been in) we saw a documentary on glow worms at the information center and had a look around there for a while. Then we walked up the road to our "backpackers" where we stayed for the night. We were free the whole rest of the night so the group walked down to the only restaurant/bar in town to eat some dinner. We played some pool and had a fabulous meal! We were all exhausted and around 8pm we were all in our rooms ready to call it a night.
The next morning after breakfast of Milo(healthy hot chocolate made out of barley) and toast we headed our to The Legendary Blackwater Rafting Company for our "3 hour underground adventure where we worked our way through tight squeezes, took leaps of faith over cascading underground waterfalls and floated serenely down the river and enjoyed the glow worm show above our heads." That's not an exaggeration, it was AWESOME. Check out http://www.waitomo.com/cave-tubing.aspx -- if you want to see what we did. No cameras were allowed during the trip, however the guides did take pictures for us, so once I have those I will post them, but for now here are a few we took before.
us at dinner. not the best picture..it was a long day!
Mariel and I before we went caving. The wetsuits we put on were sopping wet and freezing. they included an overalls pants suit, thermal shirt, jacket, booties, boots and helmet with headlamp. We were basically frozen the whole time, but it was still an awesome experience. Not many people can say they've jumped backwards off a waterfall in an underground cave with an innertube attached to your butt..
Following our underground escursion we rinsed off in hot showers and they provided us with hot tomato soup and bagels to warm us up! The remainder of the afternoon was spent driving to Raglan where we checked into another "backpackers." We got there a bit before dinner time so we had a chance to walk around for a while.
**sidestory**
Mariel and I came to New Zealand wtih basically the same color coat, so everytime we're out people in our group always say, "just look for the green coats, or follow the green coats" On multiple occasions we've come across something green that matches our coats, and here is one of those occasions while walking around Raglan
We also took a walk over a bridge and along the shore for the sunset. It was beautiful, of course. Following that we had a homecooked pasta meal and we watched the movie Whale Rider. I would highly recommend watching it! It's about the Maori people! I also had a surprisingly good night's sleep on Saturday night. I think this is due to the bed slept in. This backpackers we stayed at was REALLY nice for a backpackers. We were able to stay in a two story house so I got to sleep in a queensize bed all by myself (and it was JUST like my bed at home) :)
Our day Sunday started early with our 9am surfing lesson! I never really thought I'd ever go surfing, but there's something about this place.. We got set up with our wetsuits, boards and instructors and soon we were off riding the waves! We stayed in waist deep water and took small waves, but it was still fun. Let's just say I'm not going to quit school and become a surfer, but I managed to stand a few times, and my wonderful friend Amanda, our photographer (b/c she has a knee injury) and she happened to capture a lot of good pictures.. here are a few of the group and a few of me as proof that i did it. :)
This was such a good weekend. My descriptions don't do it justice whatsoever! We arrived back to Auckland in time for the evening church service, too! We are still very much enjoying St. Pauls church. I would love to post more of my thoughts, but I'm exhausted and going to bed and hopefully sleep like a baby :)
Family, I love you and I miss you and even tho I'm in NZ I wish I could be enjoying beautful Silver Lake with you this week.....
Thank you for your thoughts and your prayers for me throughout my time here! I've really been blessed and can't wait for another week here in Auckland!
This week at school was a pretty typical week. I've been having trouble sleeping but hopefully the combination of some hot tea and my Disney lullaby CD (thanks, rach) I will help me to start sleeping better. I feel healthy and I'm not homesick so who knows!
This past weekend we had our "activity weekend" with our group from Arcadia University. Friday afternoon Kate came with a big van just outside of our building and picked us all up for our much anticipated weekend at the Waitomo Caves- to see the famous glow worms and Surfing on the West coast at Raglan (Tasman Sea). When we arrived in Waitomo(smallest "town" I think I've ever been in) we saw a documentary on glow worms at the information center and had a look around there for a while. Then we walked up the road to our "backpackers" where we stayed for the night. We were free the whole rest of the night so the group walked down to the only restaurant/bar in town to eat some dinner. We played some pool and had a fabulous meal! We were all exhausted and around 8pm we were all in our rooms ready to call it a night.
The next morning after breakfast of Milo(healthy hot chocolate made out of barley) and toast we headed our to The Legendary Blackwater Rafting Company for our "3 hour underground adventure where we worked our way through tight squeezes, took leaps of faith over cascading underground waterfalls and floated serenely down the river and enjoyed the glow worm show above our heads." That's not an exaggeration, it was AWESOME. Check out http://www.waitomo.com/cave-tubing.aspx -- if you want to see what we did. No cameras were allowed during the trip, however the guides did take pictures for us, so once I have those I will post them, but for now here are a few we took before.
us at dinner. not the best picture..it was a long day!
Mariel and I before we went caving. The wetsuits we put on were sopping wet and freezing. they included an overalls pants suit, thermal shirt, jacket, booties, boots and helmet with headlamp. We were basically frozen the whole time, but it was still an awesome experience. Not many people can say they've jumped backwards off a waterfall in an underground cave with an innertube attached to your butt..
Following our underground escursion we rinsed off in hot showers and they provided us with hot tomato soup and bagels to warm us up! The remainder of the afternoon was spent driving to Raglan where we checked into another "backpackers." We got there a bit before dinner time so we had a chance to walk around for a while.
**sidestory**
Mariel and I came to New Zealand wtih basically the same color coat, so everytime we're out people in our group always say, "just look for the green coats, or follow the green coats" On multiple occasions we've come across something green that matches our coats, and here is one of those occasions while walking around Raglan
We also took a walk over a bridge and along the shore for the sunset. It was beautiful, of course. Following that we had a homecooked pasta meal and we watched the movie Whale Rider. I would highly recommend watching it! It's about the Maori people! I also had a surprisingly good night's sleep on Saturday night. I think this is due to the bed slept in. This backpackers we stayed at was REALLY nice for a backpackers. We were able to stay in a two story house so I got to sleep in a queensize bed all by myself (and it was JUST like my bed at home) :)
Our day Sunday started early with our 9am surfing lesson! I never really thought I'd ever go surfing, but there's something about this place.. We got set up with our wetsuits, boards and instructors and soon we were off riding the waves! We stayed in waist deep water and took small waves, but it was still fun. Let's just say I'm not going to quit school and become a surfer, but I managed to stand a few times, and my wonderful friend Amanda, our photographer (b/c she has a knee injury) and she happened to capture a lot of good pictures.. here are a few of the group and a few of me as proof that i did it. :)
This was such a good weekend. My descriptions don't do it justice whatsoever! We arrived back to Auckland in time for the evening church service, too! We are still very much enjoying St. Pauls church. I would love to post more of my thoughts, but I'm exhausted and going to bed and hopefully sleep like a baby :)
Family, I love you and I miss you and even tho I'm in NZ I wish I could be enjoying beautful Silver Lake with you this week.....
Thank you for your thoughts and your prayers for me throughout my time here! I've really been blessed and can't wait for another week here in Auckland!
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Waiheke Island
well.. It was another great week here in Auckland. The more I am here the more I love and appreciate the fact that I AM here right now. Have I really almost been here a month already??? The time sure is flying by, but I've enjoyed every second of it!! I switched one of my courses this week. I was having trouble understanding my professor(her accent and the way she spoke)So now I am taking WOMENS 101! I've only been to one lecture, but I've already caught up on reading the 2 novels the rest of the class read within the first two weeks!
Saturday, I took my first ever ferry ride to Waiheke Island. Hard to believe, but this was also my first time riding on the ocean too.. My friends here couldn't believe that this was only really the 3rd time I'd been near an ocean :) It was a pretty cold ride; we decided to sit on the top deck for the views! It took about 45 minutes and we were there. We had big plans to go sea kayaking! I haven't been kayaking in probably 8 years so I was pretty excited! Our excitement dropped when we approached the shed and no one was there... We did call and e-mail ahead of time, but no one returned either of our attempts to contact them. We found out that due to the weather, they were not always open. So, we improvised and found an i-site (visitors centers) After speaking with a woman there we had our plan and we caught Bus#2.
We bought an all day bust pass for 8 bucks so we could get on and off as we wished. We stopped at a "vintage market" It was more like a rummage sale, but it was pretty interesting! They had a mini farmers market, too. People enjoyed crepes and snow cones while we were there.
We got back on the bus in plans of finding some alpacas..which we never did find. We ended up passing up the farm on the bus but they weren't out (because of the weather). We got off the bus at the end of the route which was right by a bay. A woman was also getting off the bus and she could tell we weren't locals :) She asked what we were looking for, and told us a cool hike to take, so she walked us there herself on the way to her weekend home.
We took the short hike down to the beach where it was part of a regional park. We collected shells and saw some rare protected birds, just as it began to rain down on us. We found this little bathroom hut thing so we stood under it for a while because not everyone had an umbrella. We decided that we should probably just make our way back to the bus stop, not knowing if it was going to get worse or not. We had a map and decided to try to take the road instead of the trail we took down to the beach because it was all mud! We actually ended up on the trail that we started up on because the road was taking us too far out of the way. It was a bit slippery and we were a little dirty by the end but we made it back to the bus stop!
Everyone was wet, tired, and cold and thought we should just go back, but I thought we should try to go to the Olive Oil tasting that we thought sounded cool. So the bus driver let us off in front of the place and we took a little tour of the garage where the olive oil is processed. It was a little family owned business, but very cool. We got to taste some different kinds too :) It turned out to be a good stop! After that we made our way back to the ferry and took the next one back to Auckland. We sat underneath this time, but it was a lot more rocky and a few of us definitely felt a bit sea sick and ended up falling asleep because if our eyes were open we felt too sick. All in all it was a fun outing tho! We got out of the city for the day and got to see some beautiful landscape!!
Some other things we did this week:
Friday night, Mariel and I went to the Overseas Christian Fellowship meeting where I met some leaders who are actually from Wheaton, IL. (go figure) It was a good time, and the first time since we've been here that we were able to meet other Christian people (besides at church). We also went to the evening service at St. Pauls where we found out is the service that most of the younger people go to as well. It has definitely been a challenge to be surrounded by all different kinds of people with different beliefs and different faiths or people with none whatsoever. If you'd like to pray for something for me this would be it. The opportunities to witness here are basically endless. Sometimes its hard to know what to say or not to say. So pray that mariel and I will have the words to say and the actions to accompany our faith. 1Peter 3;15 says, " Always be prepared to give an answer to anyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have."
Thursday our whole group that came here through Arcadia got to meet with one of our directors for coffee to catch up and meet some women from the U.S. who work for different schools/organizations that help students study abroad. It was great to catch up with Kate and share our experiences with those women. Plus, I never say no to a free cup of coffee :) We also went out for sushi. I got the Japanese equivalent to chicken fingers which were delicious! We also shared a vegetarian Korean pancake which was also delicious!
This week is another busy week of classes. Friday we are leaving in the early afternoon for the Waitomo Caves and Raglan. We'll come back late Sunday evening. This is a planned activity weekend through Arcadia so we don't have to pay anything!
Here's a few pictures to highlight our trip and our week!
Saturday, I took my first ever ferry ride to Waiheke Island. Hard to believe, but this was also my first time riding on the ocean too.. My friends here couldn't believe that this was only really the 3rd time I'd been near an ocean :) It was a pretty cold ride; we decided to sit on the top deck for the views! It took about 45 minutes and we were there. We had big plans to go sea kayaking! I haven't been kayaking in probably 8 years so I was pretty excited! Our excitement dropped when we approached the shed and no one was there... We did call and e-mail ahead of time, but no one returned either of our attempts to contact them. We found out that due to the weather, they were not always open. So, we improvised and found an i-site (visitors centers) After speaking with a woman there we had our plan and we caught Bus#2.
We bought an all day bust pass for 8 bucks so we could get on and off as we wished. We stopped at a "vintage market" It was more like a rummage sale, but it was pretty interesting! They had a mini farmers market, too. People enjoyed crepes and snow cones while we were there.
We got back on the bus in plans of finding some alpacas..which we never did find. We ended up passing up the farm on the bus but they weren't out (because of the weather). We got off the bus at the end of the route which was right by a bay. A woman was also getting off the bus and she could tell we weren't locals :) She asked what we were looking for, and told us a cool hike to take, so she walked us there herself on the way to her weekend home.
We took the short hike down to the beach where it was part of a regional park. We collected shells and saw some rare protected birds, just as it began to rain down on us. We found this little bathroom hut thing so we stood under it for a while because not everyone had an umbrella. We decided that we should probably just make our way back to the bus stop, not knowing if it was going to get worse or not. We had a map and decided to try to take the road instead of the trail we took down to the beach because it was all mud! We actually ended up on the trail that we started up on because the road was taking us too far out of the way. It was a bit slippery and we were a little dirty by the end but we made it back to the bus stop!
Everyone was wet, tired, and cold and thought we should just go back, but I thought we should try to go to the Olive Oil tasting that we thought sounded cool. So the bus driver let us off in front of the place and we took a little tour of the garage where the olive oil is processed. It was a little family owned business, but very cool. We got to taste some different kinds too :) It turned out to be a good stop! After that we made our way back to the ferry and took the next one back to Auckland. We sat underneath this time, but it was a lot more rocky and a few of us definitely felt a bit sea sick and ended up falling asleep because if our eyes were open we felt too sick. All in all it was a fun outing tho! We got out of the city for the day and got to see some beautiful landscape!!
Some other things we did this week:
Friday night, Mariel and I went to the Overseas Christian Fellowship meeting where I met some leaders who are actually from Wheaton, IL. (go figure) It was a good time, and the first time since we've been here that we were able to meet other Christian people (besides at church). We also went to the evening service at St. Pauls where we found out is the service that most of the younger people go to as well. It has definitely been a challenge to be surrounded by all different kinds of people with different beliefs and different faiths or people with none whatsoever. If you'd like to pray for something for me this would be it. The opportunities to witness here are basically endless. Sometimes its hard to know what to say or not to say. So pray that mariel and I will have the words to say and the actions to accompany our faith. 1Peter 3;15 says, " Always be prepared to give an answer to anyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have."
Thursday our whole group that came here through Arcadia got to meet with one of our directors for coffee to catch up and meet some women from the U.S. who work for different schools/organizations that help students study abroad. It was great to catch up with Kate and share our experiences with those women. Plus, I never say no to a free cup of coffee :) We also went out for sushi. I got the Japanese equivalent to chicken fingers which were delicious! We also shared a vegetarian Korean pancake which was also delicious!
This week is another busy week of classes. Friday we are leaving in the early afternoon for the Waitomo Caves and Raglan. We'll come back late Sunday evening. This is a planned activity weekend through Arcadia so we don't have to pay anything!
Here's a few pictures to highlight our trip and our week!
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