Going to church in Christchurch haha. Funny. Put on make-up and staightened my hair today. Went to church. The church is the same all over the world. After church went to the Botanical Gardens for a few hours. Listened to a band "The Unfaithful Ways." How Sabbath appropriate ha. Alex put on her Zentai suit when we got back to camp and ran around. It was hilarious. Watched Nacho Libre in the van. It was a good day. Happy Birthday Robert..
DAY TWELVE: Christchurch to Greymouth
Driving through beautiful land, as usual. We lost some bags out the back of the cheap trailer. Driving around looking for them listening to Weezer and Jack's Mannequin.
Didn't find the bags :( Made it to the Top Ten Holiday Park. It's RIGHT on the beach. Sun bathed, swam, played a beach rugby game. Went to the jade store and saw some amazing jewelry. Went to the beach for the sunset. Experimented using other senses to remember where I am. Closed my eyes, felt the moon on my face, the wave breeze in my nose, the rocks under my hands and feet. It smells good here.
DAY THIRTEEN: Greymouth to Cromwell
Great day today. Nine hour drive in store but my van was able to hit Franz Josef glacier AND Fox glacier. Only hiked to the first one but that's ok. Fox was pretty much the same...amazing. Worked on making an anklet in the van but got car sick. Spent the rest of the BEAUTIFUL drive with my head out the window, camera ready, music on, smile wide, drool flying, cheeks flapping. Drove by some hay fields and I kept my eyes open for some cribs because I saw a haying tractor that I've driven in Wyoming. Didn't see any cribs but saw a bunch of other cool stuff. Most beautiful drive EVER.
DAY FOURTEEN: INVERCARGILL!
Woke up to Julianne coming INTO the tent. She opened the flap and I told her she smelled good. She hadn't showered or put lotion on...it was the outside air! It smells like tropical, flowery goodness.
FINALLY AT INVERCARGILL! We're here in our "sleep-out." Yes, we have our own little apartment detached from the main house. Our own bathroom and everything. Our host parents are young and have three adorable kids, 6 1/2, 5, and 3 1/2. They are adorable.
DAY 15: January 28, 2010
I think it's clinically proven you drool a million times more during a nap then during the night. It's a quarter to 6 and I just woke from a nap. We went to a friends of Anna's and James' (host parents) for lunch. We drove out of town through unnamed streets to a farm. I walked into the old, mismatched house and had to pause for a sec. I was sure I was at the ranch. It was wonderful :)
Got our bikes today! Rode to the beach, stayed for a few minutes, rode back. Ate a wonderful dinner, observed Anna. She is such a great mom and I'm trying to soak in her mannerisms.
We all met up at a park and played some rugby. Bought some chocolate on the way home. YUMMY!
DAY 16: January 29, 2010 Friday
Just rode our bikes around town today, getting to know the little town of Invercargill. We went to Queen's Park and it was fantastic! I have a feeling we'll be spending most of our free time here. We saw an ostrich, llamas, and reindeer, (all caged in, of course.) Came home and played "New Zealand Monopoly" with the kids. It was awesome! Same game but the places on the board are places in New Zealand. "Waitomo Caves," "Picton Ferry," "Mount Maunganui," and the pieces were flip flops, a laptop, a cell phone, a dog, a SHEEP, a plane, a jar of VEGEMITE, haha. I was on Isaac's team (6 1/2 year old) and we dominated. Jumped on the trampoline a little bit. I love it here. *smile and sigh.
DAY 17: January 30, 2010 Saturday
It's been a good long day. Got up at like 8, got ready for the day, rode 40 mins to Donevan park for a branch bbq that started at 11...but we were the first ones there. It was scheduled from 11a.m. to 4 p.m. We didn't even eat until 2:00. Welcome to Maori culture I guess. We had plenty of games of volleyball and cricket in the mean time ha. After that, I went to a park and lost my all-time favorite article of clothing; my black quarter zip polyester jacket. :( Oh well.
At 6 some people met to get Fish n' Chips at a Takeaway. Yes, they give it to you in newspaper...well, the same type of paper. Just no print. I have hated fish my entire life but I'm determined to learn to like it here. I'll do it.
Went to a park with a ZIPLINE! It was so cool. The parks here are a lot cooler than the ones in the states because no one sues anyone here.
DAY 18: January 31, 2010 Sunday
Anna and james drove us to church today! We were a little ahead of schedule so we stopped by the sunday Farmer's market. It was so fun! Church was rough. Sacrament consisted of a lot of cliches and mormon parables that circulated the U.S. a year or so ago. BUT, it also consisted of the sacrament, blessed and passed the same way it is blessed and passed throughout the world. The Lord's way.
After church, Alex and I went to Bluff with the family and ate at a friend's. We had smoked flounder and I didn't mind it at all! I would almost say I liked it! Then we went around to the touristy stuff and it was fun. Pictures on facebook. Skyped with the fam and saw little Charlotte. I miss her :) Alex and I stayed up and talked about the group drama going on. Another wonderful day ha.
DAY 19: February 1, 2010 Monday
First day of school! It was a joke. Went to the beach with a ton of people. Hard first day ;) Met the fam's next door neighbor, Kathrena! Cutest little old lady ever. She was awesome. Watched a movie at Carly, Ariel's, and Sarah's. Just a chill day.
DAY 20: February 2, 2019 Tuesday
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday are our SIT (Southern Institute of Technology) courses. Those are the kayaking, rock climbing, tramping, surfing classes. Then Wednesday night and Thursday are our BYU classes. You are in two of the three BYU classes (Wednesday night from 7-9:30, Thursday morning from 8-11:30, or Thursday from 1 to 4:30). I'm in the Wednesday night and Thursday morning classes; History of the church in NZ, and SFL. Today, Tuesday, is an SIT class. For the SIT classes, they split the 35 BYU student populous into Group A and Group B. Group A is doing something today and my group, Group B, has a "self directed learning day," aka do nothing.
A bunch of us went to Queen's park and Isaac set up his slackline. It's like walking on a loose tight rope. It was really hard but it comes quickly. Alex and I came home and found the kids on the trampoline with a sprinkler. Without missing a beat we hoped on. Another tough day at school :) Ate dinner then headed BACK to Queen's for a birthday party for Ann. Cake and games. Another great day!
3 comments:
Brian kindly pointed out last night that when I was your age, I was scrubbing toilets at 5:00 a.m. every morning.
You may be the second-born, but landing this program proves you got the top brains in the family. Sounds like the experience of a lifetime!
Breathe in some of that tropical goodness for me!
Oh. And you better bring us something cool. Really cool. If you will recall, it was I who suggested you study abroad, and it was Brian who suggested the New Zealand program! You owe us. Big time. :)
p.s. Charlotte misses you, too. We love you!
Tell Ann that Feb. 27th is a good day to celebrate being born.
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