Having pulled the purple curtains from the window I looked through the glass to a gloomy morning. Dull. Dark. Damp. Dim street lamps let off a caliginous musty yellow which would have been long since obsolete had the clouds not been opaquely blocking the 7 o'clock morning sun. Clanking of dishes in the kitchen jarred my still-waking mind. I just wanted to curl up back in my purple covers and bury my head under purple pillows and fall swiftly back into sleep and dream of non-purple things. But I knew I couldn't. Curse schedules.
Hoping that the view unfiltered by glass was somehow better than watching the gloom with my elbow on a window sill, I opened the window and cautiously strained my neck out until I could feel the breeze hit my ears. Just as I suspected: a drab morning. Poking my head out of the window did nothing to improve the view but it surprisingly did improve my morning. I could smell the rain on the pavement. It smells the same here in New Zealand as it does at home. It smells refreshing and clean but better than laundry detergent. I could better make out the distinct droplets on the yellow roses framing my brick perch. I could have reached out and flicked the droplets off the petals but opted instead to keep the water beads sitting contently on the blossom. I preferred it that way.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Hopefully you could see the scene I just described. As a writer, I strive to interpret and translate my feelings and thoughts into words so that the audience is connected to my senses. My job as an author is to make you feel as I want you to feel, to see and think the way I want you to think. When people read my pieces I want them to feel emotion: joy, peace, distaste, fear, anxiety, worry, love, passion, grumpy, exhausted, enthralled. Language is a delicate art. I am not a dancer. I do not paint or sculpt. I have but 26 letters, 14 punctuation marks, and the few bold layers of life inside me.
We all have the same 26 letters and 14 marks but I wonder why some take great care in the way they display them while others carelessly toss them around the garage. It bothers me when people do not treat these same tools with respect. I hate abbreviations used in texting. I hate when people type emails or blogs or notices with no punctuation or capitalization. I hate movies with a bad script. Language is power yet few seem to use it in daily life. Language was not meant to be ripped out and shoved in a blender.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Friday, February 22, 2008
Crossed Off
This is a long story. But some times stories deserve to be told.
*FLASHBACK* Last year, on President's Day weekend 2007, my best friend and I made lists because, well, I'm a list person. I made a list of things to do while I'm single. (Check out my list blog: listitup.blogspot.com This particular list was posted in December and updated just last night) I was venting that so many of my friends were engaged. "Married! You can't get married this early in life! There's so much to do while you're single. Like....kayaking. Yeah. I refuse to first experience kayaking as a married woman." And so kayaking made the list.
So a few months later I see this poster to go study abroad in my program with a kayaking class. I applied. I got my acceptance letter and then I wasn't entirely sure if I wanted to go to New Zealand. So, like any good BYU student, I made a pro and con list.
Cons
It will cost a lot of money
I'll be far away from my family
I'll have to get in shape
Pros
I'll go kayaking and cross it off my list
I'll have an awesome experience
I'll leave the country and also get to cross that off my list
So, like any good BYU student, I prayed about it. I said to God, "Seeing I live on the philosophy that I invest in memories and experiences and that my cons list is really lame, I'm decided to go to New Zealand. Will Thou confirm if this is Thy will?"
And then I flipped open to Doctrine and Covenants section 61. I read the chapter heading. It said that Hyrum and Joseph crossed the Mississippi River in canoes. I could be wrong, but I think canoeing is about as close as you can get to kayaking in the scriptures. God had spoken. I was going to New Zealand.
*FLASHFORWARD TO PRESENT DAY*
Monday (the 18th) I went kayaking in the Matarwa river in Gore. This was my 3rd lesson, 2nd in a river and it was scary last time. It's kind of scary to go to a new river every time. I always feel like I'm charting new waters....maybe because I am. I think I've had a few near-death experiences because of kayaking. I didn't go into detail in the last post but the last time we were in the Oreti River and I attempted doing a T-rescue. I found the boat and could see the surface but I couldn't lift my head. I was an inch away from air and I couldn't get it. I could see air. I could see birds flying in the blue sky and the whispey clouds jetting accross the atmosphere. I could see freedom. But a thin layer of water separated me from breathing. The thing about water is it doesn't matter how thin that layer is if you're under it. Transparency means nothing. If you can't breathe, you can't breathe. It's quite a dumb statement, really; yet so alarmingly true. I couldn't poke my noggen past that layer and I had to bail.
But I forget how to bail.
My arms were flailing around in a frenzy. Carbondioxide clamored to be released from my panic-ridden body. Blood raced through my body and I became increasingly aware of each pounding pulse and each palpitation in my chest. My nose burned to inhale and I had to do everything in my power to fight that instinct, knowing that water-though vital for life-if inhaled, would fill my lungs with fluid and drown me. My mind cringed at the image buried in the back of my head; the image of my body flowing downstream in an upturned kayak and the newspaper article reading FREAK KAYAKING ACCIDENT, GIRL DIES.
Luckily the instinct to live kicked in and somehow I managed to surface.
Limitations are for those who can't breathe and when you're under water, you can't breathe. You're TOTALLY limited. It's amazing how fast you can fall from one level of Maslow's hierarchy of needs to another in a split moment. One minute you're drinking in sunshine and thinking about that delicious meat pie sitting in your lunch pail and the next thing you know you're upside-down in a floating coffin tapping on your boat and just praying that your lungs can once again expand with air.
We have two instructors: John looks like Aladdin and Jason looks like Heath Ledger (the guy on A Knight's Tale). Jason told us he would barrel roll us if we went over. (We call it HOG...Hand Of God) So Monday, when we were at Matarwa River, I went over right in front of John and tapped on my boat three times as is custom when one flips over. Nothing. I tapped again. I knew John was right next to me. Still nothing. So I bailed. After wiping my dripping hair away from my eyes I looked at John while cocking my head to the side to maximize visibility with a helmet flopping over my eyes. "I was right there" John said with a kind, patronizing tone.
Apparently John didn't get the memo to barrel roll us. He put his boat against mine for the T-rescue expecting me to grab the boat and flip myself. I'm sure if I had just held my breath for a bit longer he would have eventually rolled me. But it was SO scary. When you're upside-down under water you instinctively want to arch your back to kick your legs under you and push up from the bottom. But you forget your legs are floating above you and everything is so disoriented and you panic. I was waiting for a hand of God and it never came.
Later that day I was practicing railing and peeling out of an eddie and tipped over yet again. This time Jason HOGed me. Everyone cheered because I didn't bail. That felt pretty cool. I got back in line to peel out again. And that's about the time I had a mental brake down. I couldn't even lie to myself and tell me that I wanted to kayak. I thought big people weren't afraid of things. I thought the older you got the fewer tear ducts you had. I was terribly mistaken. I'm 20 and there I was, crying in my kayak like the time I lost the student body election in 6th grade. Clouds of fairies and unicorns couldn't have made me feel better. I wanted only to get out of my floating torture trap and walk to the other side, dragging my coffin behind me. It was certainly shallow enough but Jason wouldn't let me do that. Instead, he escorted me and Haeree (she has more problems kayaking than I do, if you can imagine; she was shivering with cold and she can't remember the last 10 minutes in the river) to the other side and we got out before the rest of the group.
The problem with near death experiences is not the experience itself. When it's over you know that it was only a near death experience and not an actual death experience. Your mind, however, doesn't like living so close to the edge. Even if it's actually safe with instructors and lifejackets your brain says, "Put your hands in the air, step away from the kayak, and no one gets hurt." Your body usually listens to your brain and when it doesn't, that's when you have problems.
Wednesday was the last day for kayaking. The group went to Waiau river. I considered aligning my bodily condition with my mindset by hitting my head on a large rock so as to provide a decent excuse to avoid the river excursion. But the better part of me; the part that is not easily deterred by fear and motivated by challenge, followed through. I had to get over such a mental hump-no, mental mountain-to even get that skirt on and sit in a kayak even while beached on pavement. But I did it. I entered the water (perhaps timidly) and came out on the other end. I went through rapids And I didn't even cry..
I have inspirational 70’s posters decorating my walls at home. One poster depicts a kayaker paddling down intense white water while the accompanying caption reads, “Courage is mastery of fear, not absence of fear.” I always thought it was poetic but only recently have I internalized those words; coincidentally by doing the same activity on the poster. I am courageous. I am Spartacus. I can do hard things. I can do scary things. I can kayak.
I can do anything.
"Kayak" is now crossed off the list.
*FLASHBACK* Last year, on President's Day weekend 2007, my best friend and I made lists because, well, I'm a list person. I made a list of things to do while I'm single. (Check out my list blog: listitup.blogspot.com This particular list was posted in December and updated just last night) I was venting that so many of my friends were engaged. "Married! You can't get married this early in life! There's so much to do while you're single. Like....kayaking. Yeah. I refuse to first experience kayaking as a married woman." And so kayaking made the list.
So a few months later I see this poster to go study abroad in my program with a kayaking class. I applied. I got my acceptance letter and then I wasn't entirely sure if I wanted to go to New Zealand. So, like any good BYU student, I made a pro and con list.
Cons
It will cost a lot of money
I'll be far away from my family
I'll have to get in shape
Pros
I'll go kayaking and cross it off my list
I'll have an awesome experience
I'll leave the country and also get to cross that off my list
So, like any good BYU student, I prayed about it. I said to God, "Seeing I live on the philosophy that I invest in memories and experiences and that my cons list is really lame, I'm decided to go to New Zealand. Will Thou confirm if this is Thy will?"
And then I flipped open to Doctrine and Covenants section 61. I read the chapter heading. It said that Hyrum and Joseph crossed the Mississippi River in canoes. I could be wrong, but I think canoeing is about as close as you can get to kayaking in the scriptures. God had spoken. I was going to New Zealand.
*FLASHFORWARD TO PRESENT DAY*
Monday (the 18th) I went kayaking in the Matarwa river in Gore. This was my 3rd lesson, 2nd in a river and it was scary last time. It's kind of scary to go to a new river every time. I always feel like I'm charting new waters....maybe because I am. I think I've had a few near-death experiences because of kayaking. I didn't go into detail in the last post but the last time we were in the Oreti River and I attempted doing a T-rescue. I found the boat and could see the surface but I couldn't lift my head. I was an inch away from air and I couldn't get it. I could see air. I could see birds flying in the blue sky and the whispey clouds jetting accross the atmosphere. I could see freedom. But a thin layer of water separated me from breathing. The thing about water is it doesn't matter how thin that layer is if you're under it. Transparency means nothing. If you can't breathe, you can't breathe. It's quite a dumb statement, really; yet so alarmingly true. I couldn't poke my noggen past that layer and I had to bail.
But I forget how to bail.
My arms were flailing around in a frenzy. Carbondioxide clamored to be released from my panic-ridden body. Blood raced through my body and I became increasingly aware of each pounding pulse and each palpitation in my chest. My nose burned to inhale and I had to do everything in my power to fight that instinct, knowing that water-though vital for life-if inhaled, would fill my lungs with fluid and drown me. My mind cringed at the image buried in the back of my head; the image of my body flowing downstream in an upturned kayak and the newspaper article reading FREAK KAYAKING ACCIDENT, GIRL DIES.
Luckily the instinct to live kicked in and somehow I managed to surface.
Limitations are for those who can't breathe and when you're under water, you can't breathe. You're TOTALLY limited. It's amazing how fast you can fall from one level of Maslow's hierarchy of needs to another in a split moment. One minute you're drinking in sunshine and thinking about that delicious meat pie sitting in your lunch pail and the next thing you know you're upside-down in a floating coffin tapping on your boat and just praying that your lungs can once again expand with air.
We have two instructors: John looks like Aladdin and Jason looks like Heath Ledger (the guy on A Knight's Tale). Jason told us he would barrel roll us if we went over. (We call it HOG...Hand Of God) So Monday, when we were at Matarwa River, I went over right in front of John and tapped on my boat three times as is custom when one flips over. Nothing. I tapped again. I knew John was right next to me. Still nothing. So I bailed. After wiping my dripping hair away from my eyes I looked at John while cocking my head to the side to maximize visibility with a helmet flopping over my eyes. "I was right there" John said with a kind, patronizing tone.
Apparently John didn't get the memo to barrel roll us. He put his boat against mine for the T-rescue expecting me to grab the boat and flip myself. I'm sure if I had just held my breath for a bit longer he would have eventually rolled me. But it was SO scary. When you're upside-down under water you instinctively want to arch your back to kick your legs under you and push up from the bottom. But you forget your legs are floating above you and everything is so disoriented and you panic. I was waiting for a hand of God and it never came.
Later that day I was practicing railing and peeling out of an eddie and tipped over yet again. This time Jason HOGed me. Everyone cheered because I didn't bail. That felt pretty cool. I got back in line to peel out again. And that's about the time I had a mental brake down. I couldn't even lie to myself and tell me that I wanted to kayak. I thought big people weren't afraid of things. I thought the older you got the fewer tear ducts you had. I was terribly mistaken. I'm 20 and there I was, crying in my kayak like the time I lost the student body election in 6th grade. Clouds of fairies and unicorns couldn't have made me feel better. I wanted only to get out of my floating torture trap and walk to the other side, dragging my coffin behind me. It was certainly shallow enough but Jason wouldn't let me do that. Instead, he escorted me and Haeree (she has more problems kayaking than I do, if you can imagine; she was shivering with cold and she can't remember the last 10 minutes in the river) to the other side and we got out before the rest of the group.
The problem with near death experiences is not the experience itself. When it's over you know that it was only a near death experience and not an actual death experience. Your mind, however, doesn't like living so close to the edge. Even if it's actually safe with instructors and lifejackets your brain says, "Put your hands in the air, step away from the kayak, and no one gets hurt." Your body usually listens to your brain and when it doesn't, that's when you have problems.
Wednesday was the last day for kayaking. The group went to Waiau river. I considered aligning my bodily condition with my mindset by hitting my head on a large rock so as to provide a decent excuse to avoid the river excursion. But the better part of me; the part that is not easily deterred by fear and motivated by challenge, followed through. I had to get over such a mental hump-no, mental mountain-to even get that skirt on and sit in a kayak even while beached on pavement. But I did it. I entered the water (perhaps timidly) and came out on the other end. I went through rapids And I didn't even cry..
I have inspirational 70’s posters decorating my walls at home. One poster depicts a kayaker paddling down intense white water while the accompanying caption reads, “Courage is mastery of fear, not absence of fear.” I always thought it was poetic but only recently have I internalized those words; coincidentally by doing the same activity on the poster. I am courageous. I am Spartacus. I can do hard things. I can do scary things. I can kayak.
I can do anything.
"Kayak" is now crossed off the list.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Hard Core cuz I Live Hard Core....with an Orange Bandana
NOW UPDATED WITH PICTURES AND DETAILS!
Monday 11
Ropes course. I am an animal. I fell off an
d had to pull myself up. My arm is bruised and I win for the biggest bruise. I am Sparticus!
Monday 11
Ropes course. I am an animal. I fell off an
d had to pull myself up. My arm is bruised and I win for the biggest bruise. I am Sparticus!Those few tires you see are part of the vertical playground. If you're wondering how you get from one tire to the other, then you should probably watch me do it. My partner, Megan, and I showed them tires who's boss!
Tuesday 12
Near death experience. It's a touchie subject and I choose to no longer discuss it.
Tuesday 12
Near death experience. It's a touchie subject and I choose to no longer discuss it.
Wednesday 13
Surfer girl. That's me....well, minus the stay on the board part. Regardless, I want to throw my life away and be a beach bum.
Thursday 14
Valentine's Day party at the branch and that's good because I get service hours for it. Wahoo!
Friday 15
We took a group trip to Queenstown. The city has an atmosphere a lot like Park City. It's the recreation capital of the world. I went to the Lord of the Rings store and took a lot of fun pictures....that are on other people's cameras, of course. We did a lot of shopping, had a lot of fun in our gorgeous lake-side hotel, and had some adventure-duh.
This is me jumping from the bridge over the Kuwaru river, otherwise known as AJ Hackett Bridge. It’s the birthplace of bungy jumping..That’s right. I went bungy jumping. I brought my BYU bookstore bag because they have a photo contest for the best picture with one. I think I’ll have a good chance.
Bungy jumping was actually not scary for me at all. I don’t know what was wrong with me. Here I am about to jump off a bridge and other people are shaking like leaves and all I can think about is how to keep that stupid bag on me.
Do you think I can have the bag when I go sky diving? ;)
As I went down I sang "And I'm freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, free falling" (It's a song by Tom Petty). I'm SO hard core!
Saturday 16
Shopped in Queenstown
Sunday 17
Biked to church in the windiest wind ever. I'm going to have massive quads when I get home.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Kayaking 101, Waitangi Day, and Respecting Recreation
Tuesday, Feb 5
I started kayaking lessons. I am so cool. I don't know if you know this but when you kayak you have a skirt-ish thing that also goes over the kayak. This creates the "I'm a paraplegic" illusion. So our instructor is sitting in a kayak in the pool and he flips over so he's basically drowning. Then our other instructor, Bill (we call him Scuttle), flipped him back over.
And that's how you get back up if your boat flips over and you're attached in it.
You should be asking yourself, "What happens if you don't have a person in the water to flip you over?"
Again, John flips over and just like a magic trick, gets out of the water alive. ("I will now escape from a kayak under water" *Ooo!) Really all you do when you're in that situation is pull your skirt and swim out from under your kayak.
I'm happy to know I, too, can escape from flipped over kayaks.
While we were all in Splash Palace learning to kayak (yes, in a swimming pool...I love kayaking class!) all of our red bikes were parked outside. The local newspaper The Southland Times took pictures of our bikes.
Wednesday, February 6
Happy Waitangi Day! It's the day the Pakiha (white men) and the Maori signed a treaty. I'm in favour of it because it means there's no school.
We met at the fountains at Queens Park and started making Valentines. We like to plan ahead. We made them out of coloured paper. It reminded me a little of Stargirl by Jerry Spinneli. After a Turkish Kebab for lunch and some quality blogging we celebrated Ryan's birthday. He's one of the grandkids. He said he went bungy jumping with his girlfriend. I think I can do it. I'm mentally psyching myself up for it.
Thursday, February 7th
Guess who made front page of the Southland Times.
We did.
There's a big picture of Ashley in our group trying to find a space to park her red bike in the already-taken up bike rack. I wish I could post a link but I can't seem to find the picture and/or article in the online version. Bummerface.
I tried a new cereal today. I think I'll stick with Tropical Delight.
Tyler broke his hand. Mark had him and Cameron go to the front of the class. Cameron told the story: "Tyler attacked me, I grabbed his hands and bent them back and broke his finger."
It's actually quite hilarious. Cameron says it almost like it was deliberate. But he's the nicest guy in the world. The irony is hilarious.
Class was awesome. I had my family and recreation class this morning. We talked about how recreation is a scoffed at major because people think we just play all day. Sometimes that's true. But that's not why we choose this major. Second to your health, what you do during your free time is most important. It's what molds you and makes you a person. It includes how much time you devote to spiritual stuff and sports, clubs, meetings, and community involvement. This major is about enriching your life and promoting growth and development. And how much time a family spends together and what they choose to do during that time can make or break a family.
I've been thinking about this a lot today. This class is teaching me activities that all ages can do together instead of just the parents or just the kids; also to avoid parallel activities like watching TV. Joint activities are best.
Cameron and Tyler told me one organization might light us play in the street to get money for them. I went home around 3, talked to Georgina and Jason. I showed them pictures of my family and told them why I have duct tape on my fingers. To take off warts, of course. Jason has a lot of warts so he took some of my duct tape to fix that. His mom is going to think I'm weird.
I took a delicious nap. Haeree told me how she and the Jackapo clique worked out painting a playground tomorrow to get rid of graffiti. I'm excited to get involved in the community like that. Dinner was stir fry (without rice?) and the regular potatoes and the best broccoli and cheese sauce. I LOVE New Zealand cheese. Pudding was a sponge cake with caramel, banana, whipped cream, more banana, and some crushed flake bar. It's called banoffi pie. Mmmm!
After tea Haeree went to Splash Palace. I stayed home because I'm not feeling 100%. ( Pauline and her kids came over to do a project for Harrison. He had to take pictures and print them and just couldn't get any to print at home. They gave me a copy of the pictures. I love these kids. I drew a picture of mountains for Georgina. She's a cutie. Ryan came. It's his birthday today. I made him a giraffe balloon animal. I tried teaching them others how to do it. They're beginners so they're supposed to be abstract. They said I should teach it for my service hours. Good idea.
Haeree came home and we went for a short run. Probably about a mile.We stretched on the grass and talked. Life here is incredible. Haeree and I were talking about why it's so awesome here. The landscape in Invercargill isn't that amazing. Classes are fun but it's not what makes New Zealand awesome. We've come to our conclusion: We have no commitments.
I don't have a job. I don't have a cell phone. I don't even have a watch. I've been plopped h
ere and God has given me what every person dreams of: a second chance at childhood with all the perks of being old enough to cross the street by myself and swim without floaties.
I use a landline phone and ask if my friends can play. We go to the park and swing or play touch rugby. We always meet at the fountains. I have next to no cares. Someone else does my laundry and packs my lunch and makes dinner. I ALWAYS get cookies in my lunch (I was always jealous of the kids who had dessert in their lunches everyday) and I don't have to worry about budgeting my life around rent and Ramen.
I think the best part is I have 34 friends. I can play with any of them. I don't have to worry about being cool, doing my hair (we all suffer from helmet hair every day) or even putting make up on. I'm just going to swim it off, any way.
I am going to have a hard time going back to a life of stress.
Haeree and I also want to make dinner one night. Our list of possible entres include quesadillas, sloppy joes, 7 layer bean dip, smores, rootbeer floats, funeral potatoes, and chili fries.
I started kayaking lessons. I am so cool. I don't know if you know this but when you kayak you have a skirt-ish thing that also goes over the kayak. This creates the "I'm a paraplegic" illusion. So our instructor is sitting in a kayak in the pool and he flips over so he's basically drowning. Then our other instructor, Bill (we call him Scuttle), flipped him back over.
And that's how you get back up if your boat flips over and you're attached in it.You should be asking yourself, "What happens if you don't have a person in the water to flip you over?"
Again, John flips over and just like a magic trick, gets out of the water alive. ("I will now escape from a kayak under water" *Ooo!) Really all you do when you're in that situation is pull your skirt and swim out from under your kayak.
I'm happy to know I, too, can escape from flipped over kayaks.
While we were all in Splash Palace learning to kayak (yes, in a swimming pool...I love kayaking class!) all of our red bikes were parked outside. The local newspaper The Southland Times took pictures of our bikes.
Wednesday, February 6
Happy Waitangi Day! It's the day the Pakiha (white men) and the Maori signed a treaty. I'm in favour of it because it means there's no school.
We met at the fountains at Queens Park and started making Valentines. We like to plan ahead. We made them out of coloured paper. It reminded me a little of Stargirl by Jerry Spinneli. After a Turkish Kebab for lunch and some quality blogging we celebrated Ryan's birthday. He's one of the grandkids. He said he went bungy jumping with his girlfriend. I think I can do it. I'm mentally psyching myself up for it.
Thursday, February 7th
Guess who made front page of the Southland Times.
We did.
There's a big picture of Ashley in our group trying to find a space to park her red bike in the already-taken up bike rack. I wish I could post a link but I can't seem to find the picture and/or article in the online version. Bummerface.
I tried a new cereal today. I think I'll stick with Tropical Delight.
Tyler broke his hand. Mark had him and Cameron go to the front of the class. Cameron told the story: "Tyler attacked me, I grabbed his hands and bent them back and broke his finger."
It's actually quite hilarious. Cameron says it almost like it was deliberate. But he's the nicest guy in the world. The irony is hilarious.
Class was awesome. I had my family and recreation class this morning. We talked about how recreation is a scoffed at major because people think we just play all day. Sometimes that's true. But that's not why we choose this major. Second to your health, what you do during your free time is most important. It's what molds you and makes you a person. It includes how much time you devote to spiritual stuff and sports, clubs, meetings, and community involvement. This major is about enriching your life and promoting growth and development. And how much time a family spends together and what they choose to do during that time can make or break a family.
I've been thinking about this a lot today. This class is teaching me activities that all ages can do together instead of just the parents or just the kids; also to avoid parallel activities like watching TV. Joint activities are best.
Cameron and Tyler told me one organization might light us play in the street to get money for them. I went home around 3, talked to Georgina and Jason. I showed them pictures of my family and told them why I have duct tape on my fingers. To take off warts, of course. Jason has a lot of warts so he took some of my duct tape to fix that. His mom is going to think I'm weird.
I took a delicious nap. Haeree told me how she and the Jackapo clique worked out painting a playground tomorrow to get rid of graffiti. I'm excited to get involved in the community like that. Dinner was stir fry (without rice?) and the regular potatoes and the best broccoli and cheese sauce. I LOVE New Zealand cheese. Pudding was a sponge cake with caramel, banana, whipped cream, more banana, and some crushed flake bar. It's called banoffi pie. Mmmm!
After tea Haeree went to Splash Palace. I stayed home because I'm not feeling 100%. ( Pauline and her kids came over to do a project for Harrison. He had to take pictures and print them and just couldn't get any to print at home. They gave me a copy of the pictures. I love these kids. I drew a picture of mountains for Georgina. She's a cutie. Ryan came. It's his birthday today. I made him a giraffe balloon animal. I tried teaching them others how to do it. They're beginners so they're supposed to be abstract. They said I should teach it for my service hours. Good idea.
Haeree came home and we went for a short run. Probably about a mile.We stretched on the grass and talked. Life here is incredible. Haeree and I were talking about why it's so awesome here. The landscape in Invercargill isn't that amazing. Classes are fun but it's not what makes New Zealand awesome. We've come to our conclusion: We have no commitments.
I don't have a job. I don't have a cell phone. I don't even have a watch. I've been plopped h
ere and God has given me what every person dreams of: a second chance at childhood with all the perks of being old enough to cross the street by myself and swim without floaties.I use a landline phone and ask if my friends can play. We go to the park and swing or play touch rugby. We always meet at the fountains. I have next to no cares. Someone else does my laundry and packs my lunch and makes dinner. I ALWAYS get cookies in my lunch (I was always jealous of the kids who had dessert in their lunches everyday) and I don't have to worry about budgeting my life around rent and Ramen.
I think the best part is I have 34 friends. I can play with any of them. I don't have to worry about being cool, doing my hair (we all suffer from helmet hair every day) or even putting make up on. I'm just going to swim it off, any way.
I am going to have a hard time going back to a life of stress.
Haeree and I also want to make dinner one night. Our list of possible entres include quesadillas, sloppy joes, 7 layer bean dip, smores, rootbeer floats, funeral potatoes, and chili fries.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Playgrounds and Pals
This picture is from when we went luging in Rotorua on my birthday.Friday, February 8
Today we met early for service project signing up. I signed up for Habitat for Humanity and helping at elementary schools. We had class and I participated a lot. We played psychiatrist and the thing was words for the Star Spangled Banner. It was pretty witty. I looked like a gypsy today with my earrings.
I had a quick meeting about the post NZ stuff. Then I came home, ate some, talked with Pauline and Joyce, then went to the park to help paint. I did a lot of the weeding and got to know Janelle better. She's majoring in food science and this past summer she worked at McCormick and she and another scientist created a new salad dressing: honey mustard vinaigrette. It should be coming out in March.
Then Janelle and I had some curry roll. The lady in the shop asked us if we were with the group at SIT. She saw our bikes in the paper the other day. (Wahoo!) Then we went to the church and played volleyball. The sisters and elders were there. It's kind of weird to see missionaries playing volleyball.
Saturday, February 9
Joyce is really good about helping us find ways to get our service hours done. We went with her friend out to the Marae. It's a Maori meeting house out in Riverton. If you've seen the movie Lilo and Stitch and you remember the scene at the beginning when Lilo is at hula lessons rambling about Pudge the fish, then you have a pretty good picture in your head of what this place looks like.
We helped prepare food and then we got to eat it. It wasn't really different stuff: lunch cuts, some noodles with sauce, scalloped potatoes, and some buttered bread. The coolest part is when they decided to clear out the flax and show us how they use it for weaving. One lady with a crazy name that would have made me flunk first grade if I had to write it on my paper every day made me a bracelet out of flax. It's a bit big but it's awesome!
We got to greet the Maori's by doing the classic cheek-to-cheek not-really-a-kiss thing and then also the nose-to-nose greeting.
I'm so awesome.
While I was there helping I met Andrea from Singapore. Long story short I invited her to watch Transformers with us at the park.
Right now it's summer time here. Duh. But the kids are in school and there are summer festivals going on. So we met at the park to listen to the free live music.
I love live music.
I love free live music with the fiery passion of a thousand suns.
I assume it has been slightly evident throughout my writing-perhaps not so much on this blog but definitely on others-that I have plenty of friends but none to hang out with. I've just always been the friendly person without any friends. It's quite lonely, actually. I've since learned to accept that I'm probably going to be like that for the rest of my life.
It's not like that here. I went to the park yesterday and danced and sang and sat on blankets in the drizzling rain listening to free live music and watching a free movie. And I did it with a group of people. (Andrea came as well and ended up getting quite the missionary discussion!) It's like after a tediously long day at work when you come home and all you want to do is take off your shoes and sit. That moment of sheer bliss when a smile creeps across your face and your feet-oh your feet!-they feel so liberated and free and at peace just to be feet that are appreciated but not used, welcomed but not obligated.
That's how it feels.
Tyler had to use a port-a-loo without a light, Haeree and I rode home and some drunk guy tried to scare us off our bikes, and I went to bed counting 34 people as blessings.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Perpetuating Childhood
Saturday, February 2nd (Groundhog Day...but it means nothing in this country)
I'm convinced Yarrow is the best street in the world to live on. There are just enough shops around to cover the necessities in life: meat pies, ice cream, a bank, and the Bargain Barn. The Bargain Barn is by far the best secondhand store I have been to. I got a killer set of earings. And I mean killer. They could stun even Medusa.
But the highlight of Saturday was not the killer earrings. Actually, it was the meanest picnic Invercargill has ever seen. Joyce and Neville came as well as many of the grandkids. Sponsored by the LDS branch here we had hamburgers, ice cream, sac races, three-footed races, missionary tag, and an egg toss. I love playing childish games and chasing ducks. Life is good to me.
Little known secret: I'm a little obsessed with childhood. I believe childhood should continue throughout life. Certainly you must grow older but growing up will always be a mere option. I intend to wonder at the clouds and curiously explore life until the day I die. I won't go quietly. I'll gasp for air after playing games for second-graders and wildly wave my arms about when sliding down slick slides wettened by rain.I am a firm supporter of neighborhood picnics.
(Tyler, Chase, Jackapo, and Cameron grill up some grub)
(Kirsten, Ali, Stefanie Tanner, Stephanie Richards enjoy banana-jaffer icecream)
(Below Jessica and Taylor battle for the title)
(Below Jessica and Taylor battle for the title)
Sunday, February 3rd
Twelve years ago I was baptised. Church was good. Sister Ngahooroo told us how she married a man in blind faith. She didn't like him, let alone love him. But she married him anyway. They've been married for 15 years. You-of course-just got the short version of the story but the point is God is a master planner.
Monday, February 4th
Haeree and I ran to Kracker Jacks and back. (Jordan, we can TOTALLY go running together when I get home.) It was the first day of SIT. There were other students on campus today and we met our instructor John Kapa today. He's pretty chill. Tomorrow we start learning kayak basics.I met Gail from Yaks and Yetis. If you're ever looking for a genie outfit to impress a date, this would be the shop. Gail is cool. She said I could busk in front of her store. Perhaps I will.
Chase had a birthday party. His mum, Naomi, had a bucket-load of meat left over from a work barbeque so she invited the lot of us to come to a barbeque and eat.I have yet to have a homemade hamburger on a bun or with anything other than meat. We eat our hamburgers with buttered bread (??? I will never understand why they put butter on every sandwich) and perhaps some tomato sauce. Never tomato and lettuce or pickles. Pretty simple. The meat tastes amazing so it's okay. It's just different.
I taught everyone Boogedy Boogedy Boo. It's always a crowd pleaser. I'd be understating if I said everyone loved it. Everyone was laughing long and hard. I'm basically sure Stephanie Richards is the funniest person in the world to watch. Cameron was busy taking pictures so I'm sure I'll get some at one point or another.
Friday, February 1, 2008
Exeloo and Escapees
Sunset and Sheep. That's New Zealand in a nutshell.Friday, February 1, 2008 marks the first day of class. It was pouring rain this morning and I was very grateful for my rain pants and jacket. Haeree wore her jacket over her backpack. With her matching green pants and jacket and a big lump on her back she resembled a Ninja Turtle. Class today only lasted about an hour. We went over what our schedule is going to be and the syllabi. Joyce made me a pita sandwich with beets inside. Old people put weird things in sandwiches but they're still good. (Both the sandwiches and the old people, that is)
Megan Bird, Janell and I walked around town. I hit up a few stores and then I had to use the toilet. The Exeloo is a public toilet. It talks to you. You push a button and the door opens. Then the door closes and a man over the loud speaker says "You have ten minutes." And then the elevator music starts and you hurry and do your thing because you're not quite sure when the door will open. Every Exeloo is wired to play an instrumental rendition of "what the world needs now/is love, sweet love". You have to push a button to feed you toilet paper and then the toilet flushes when you wash your hands. It's the best toilet I've ever been in.
There are 33 of us with matching red bikes. We all bike everywhere because we really don't have a choice. Yesterday we biked to Oreti beach. It was really funny to see all 33 of us biking in a single line. We could take over round-abouts and possibly small villages. (That's Stefanie on her bike at the shop. She's good at taking lots of pictures)
I spent time hunting for perfect shells I have absolutely no use for. I am developing a nice tan and my hair is lightening. I'm basically going to be a babe when I get back to the states.
On our way home we stopped at Kracker Jacks and I made Katie Jo, Jessica, and Megan Bird all have a meat pie. Meat pies are good. And Kracker Jacks is awesome because they only cost a dollar there which is about 73 cents American. After tea time (money bags are amazing!) we went to support Janelle and Kathy in their rugby game. We cheered loud. We're proud of our loud heritage.
In case you didn't get why Kathy and Janelle are playing rugby: Ged is their homestay dad. The first thing he did when we met our families was take the girls to a rugby game at the stadium. Janelle is on the women's rugby team and Kathy took a rugby class when she went to BYU Hawaii. That's Part 1.
Part 2. Ged used to work in the prison and he coaches a city rugby league. Since it's coed, there always needs to be two girls on the field. So one day Ged comes home from the pub and says he was talking to some of his mates from the prison and they signed Janelle and Kathy up to play Thursday at 6. Welcome to the team!
The team name is SKPs. (Escapees...like escaping from prison) It was good to see how a rugby game is really played. Janelle tried to teach us Wednesday night when we were at the park. It's chaos when we play. Well, speaking of rugby, I gotta go. The World Seven Series is on and India is playing Australia.
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