Where Toilets Flush the Other Way

Tutira Mai Nga Iwi

2011-01-10T18:09:00.002+13:00

Three years ago TODAY I left for New Zealand. You can read all about my New Zealand adventures at my blog: Where Toilets Flush the Other Way.
This is a Maori song I learned when I was living in New Zealand. You can find the sheet music here.

A
Tūtira mai ngā iwi Line up together, people
D A
Tātou tātou e All of us, all of us.

Tūtira mai ngā iwi Stand in rows, people
B7 E7
Tātou tātou e All of us, all of us.

A
Whai-a te marama-tanga Seek after knowledge
D A
me te aroha - e ngā iwi! and love of others - everybody!
D
Ki-a k' tapa-tahi, 1 Think as one,

A
Ki-a ko-tahi rā. Act as one.

E7 A
Tātou tātou e. All of us, all of us.

(Sing it all a second time.)
Then finish with...

D E7 A
Tā - tou, tā - tou E!! All of us, all of us.

Hi aue hei !!!

Message in a Bottle/Ratu

2009-01-14T23:51:00.000+13:00

After we visited Manly Beach in Sydney on Friday, April 18th we split up: Stephanie, Brooke, and Mary went back to Paddy's Market for more shopping while Erin, Megan, and I decided shopping was a bad idea because we were out of money. So the other three left us stranded; to our own to get lost. We decided to stroll around the harbor.

"Hey Erin, I think you should jump over the edge and see how deep the harbor is," said I.

"Um...okay," replied Erin.

So we move to a part where the wall is a little shorter and Erin hops over. She starts backwards-rock climbing

Then she loses her shoe. Mean while people are walking by us and wondering what is going on. We just point and say, "She lost her shoe" as if that was what took her over the wall to begin with. I took a picture of them.

Lo and behold Erin cut her foot on a shell on her way up. Yeowch!
Being a prepared girl scout I had bandaids. BUT this job was far too big for a little bandaid. NO, this is a job for tissue and ducktape.

So now Erin had her foot ducktaped together. Awesome. Except the part where she has flipflops. Flipflops with webbed toes=no bueno. Solution: use a different shoe.

Megan is easily 6 feet tall. This means her feet are bigger than Erin's feet. So Erin is wearing one of her own flipflops and one of Megan's too-big-for-her crocs. Megan is wearing her own croc and a too-small-for-her flipflop.

We continued on until we saw some rocks. I said, "Megan, I think you should climb those rocks."

"Um, okay."

So on slick rock (it had been raining that morning) and in a mismatched pair of shoes Megan crawled her way to the top.

Yay Megan!

So we kept walking and when we came to "The Queen's Chair" (a wannabe throne in the rock) we elected Megan to go ask the Asians over there to take our picture. Erin and I waited on the "throne" while Megan, towering over the woman, asked the Asians if they could take a picture of us. The Asian looks at Megan as fear overtook her. Then she got really excited, handed her own camera to her husband and posed for a picture with Megan. After the shot Megan motioned to us and indicated she wanted a picture for us. So Megan hands her camera to the Asian woman and she takes our picture.

But then the woman hands her camera to her husband and comes to be in a picture of us. And then they switched places and the woman took a picture of the man with us. And then I got up to take a picture of the man and woman with Megan and Erin and it was CRAZY! It was like we were Asian celebrities. We were laughing SO hard about how many pictures we just got taken of us.

No sooner had we walked twelve steps when this other Asian comes up to us, putting his arms around our shoulders and in a thick accent says, "Thank you! Thank you!"
"You're welcome?" And then we look up only to see ten other Asians all with their unsheathed cameras. Someone took a picture of us with the Asian and then they switched places. We must have been standing there for a good 5 minutes with Asians just swapping in and out. We laughed SO hard, trying desperately to hide it behind our fixed smiles

We continued to walk around the harbor and came to some rocks jetted out into the sea. Megan says, "I want a picture like Ariel." So off she goes to find a rock and pose like Ariel from Disney's The Little Mermaid.

Well that was good, but not good enough, so Megan continued to find the perfect rock. She ended up with this:While she battled the rocks Erin found Pride Rock and I found sea glass.
If you don't know much about me, know this: I hate litter. I hate the way it ruins landscapes. I hate the way it ruins pictures. I just hate it. And I know as well as anybody else that hating something does nothing to make the situation better. So I put my hatred to good use and I make an effort to pick up rubbish everywhere I go. This is me picking up rubbish in Sydney Harbor

And in my efforts to pick up trash I found a PERFECTLY GOOD VODKA BOTTLE. It was empty. It still had the lid. More importantly, it wasn't broken in the least bit. And what do three Mormons in Sydney do when they find a perfectly good vodka bottle? They send a message in a bottle. Duh.We carefully crafted a letter. This is what it read:

Getting the message actually in proved to be a bit tricky. We kept it rolled up with a hairtie, threw in an Idaho Spud pin and stuffed a trashbag in the neck so as to help prevent the bottle filling with water. We ceremoniously threw it off and watched it drift further and further praying it would make its way to Madagascar or New Zealand or at least Melbourne.

Our time together ended with us enjoying an intimate moment with the Opera House and the Sydney Bridge. Don't worry, when we met up with the other half of our six-some we bragged about our AWESOME day: first aid, celebrities, and sending a message in a bottle.

-----------------------------------
In Fiji on Tuesday, April 22
I think I got even more bug bites in the night. After the temple today I think I'll count. We ran to the bus to go to Suva but then realized it was the wrong bus. So we sat in the lobby in the while and waited. When the correct bus finally came we all moved toward the back. I sat next to a guy named Ratu. When I asked his name I wasn't sure I heard it right. He said, "Ratu. Romeo. Alpha. Tango. Unicorn." It means chief. He's going back home to Suva. He's been gone 4 years because he's in the army in the Midlands-not London.

What I learned about him:

He's in the army...the British army
He's been travelling straight for 24 hours and he's so excited to see his family he hasn't been able to sleep.
He dives, surfs, and harpoons his own fish
He likes Backstreet Boys and Timbaland
He's the best looking Fijian man I've seen

This picture makes it look like he has braces. I assure you he looked better in person.

Conversations we had...and just plain awkward moments:

My favorite food is chicken fettuccine alfredo. He didn't know how to make it or what it is so I told him, "First you get chicken and you grill it. Then you cook noodles and you cover it with white cheese sauce. Eat it. And you smile for a week.
His favorite birthday was his first...even though he can't remember it
How to say "if you like chicken raise your hand" in Fijian
'Kevaka o vinakata na toa laveta va ligamu"
He showed me a British pound. I showed him my American dollar and he kept it
Ratu told me he has a cell phone. I pretended to sound impressed. (Who doesn't have a cell phone?) Then he asked if I had one. I said no. (Who brings a cell phone to Fiji?). He asked if he could have my number. I told him he would need a calling card. He offered to give me his number. I told him I didn't have a calling card. He asked what I was doing on Friday. I said I was going to the beach with my friends. He asked if I had email. I did. I gave him my address and said maybe we could do something on Friday because he'll be down there anyway.
He grabbed my braid and said I had long blonde hair. I rubbed his head. He has fuzzy black hair.
When I put my hand on the seat in front of me to brace myself when the bus went over bumps he was quick to embrace my arm
I took hold of my forearm and asked if I had good muscles. I flexed. SO naturally I did the same thing to him. Wow. The man has muscles, what can I say?
He plays rugby and showed me the house of some Fijian who now plays for the Brisbane Broncos.
We were talking about scars and I showed him the one I have on my lip. He touched it.
When we stopped he put his arm around me, pulled me to the window and pointed out his mom and sister.

We got off the bus and he greeted his family while I sat with my friends. We snuck this picture of him.

I was telling the other girls how good looking he is when suddenly he appeared behind me and introduced me to his mom-who hugged me when I was going for the handshake. Then he introduced me to his sister. I went for the hug. She kissed my cheek. Then I gave him a hug and he totally kissed my cheek.

Stephanie told me he was aiming for my lips. Everyone agrees he's the best looking Fijian. They all want him to come to the beach with us on Friday.

We went to the temple and when we got back to our hotel I emailed Ratu.

The next day I checked my email.....

NOTHING! Nothing but a returned email. What? Oops. I had sent it to yahoo.com instead of yahoo.co.uk. Silly me. I quickly righted that wrong and resent my message.

The day after that (Thursday) I checked to see if Ratu was coming the next day. I opened my email and started screaming hysterically. It sounded a lot like this: aaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Everyone within earshot thought they knew what just happened.

"Guess what!"

"Ratu's coming!!" Oh, they were so hopeful.

"No! Even better!"

"Ratu's coming and he's bringing friends!"

"No! Even better!"

"Ratu's coming and he's bring his family and you're getting married!!"

"No! Even better! SOMEONE FOUND MY MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE!!"

Time Warp: April 25th

2008-11-28T00:49:00.001+13:00

This is a direct excerpt out of my journal. (Good thing I am a meticulous journal-er)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Friday, April 25, 2008 10:25 PM
I'm in the Nadi airport right now. I'm wearing my carefully planned going home outfit. I'm wearing a teal Sydney Opera House shirt, red boomerang earrings from Australia, my orange bandanna, a multi-colored sulu from Fiji, and my pink turtle necklace from New Zealand. MOst of us are in sulus. Kathy and Taylor are in Aladdin Pants. Steph is sleeping. Jacapo is talking to some random person. (Kathy and her Aladdin Pants)

Everyone is in their own peace. We're all trying to grasp the idea that we're going home.

Today we packed up and put our luggage in the storage and went in the van with Christ. First stop: ATM. KPax unfortunately lost her card to a hungry ATM machine. It took us 40 minutes to get it back.

We did some souvenir shopping down the main street. KPax got a sweet wooden mask for $6. We met up with Chris and started to the Indian temple. It's very colorful-I think every color of the rainbow. We found out it cost $3.50 so we decided against going in and just went to Natadolla. On the way Chris pulled over, ran to a sugar cane filed, chopped down a stalk, pulled the leaves off, and gave us raw sugar cane.

Who ever thought of using sugar cane was brilliant. It looks like a hard stick. You have to peel back the bark with your teeth before you gnaw on the white, chunky middle. Kira Elliott would be jealous.

We got to the beach and Johnny "horse man" was there. He talked to Chris for a while then Chris called to me, "Marzie, here is yor freend" and pointed to Johnny. I thought this was weird because last time we were at the beach I barely talked to Johnny at all. He mostly talked to KPax. Maybe he just remembers me better because I'm blonde.

The beach was great but more crowded than last time. Erin and I took pictures with my snorkel, mask, and flippers and BULA written in the sand. Two native boys Gina and Tima were selling things and we got them in our pictures.

I ate my can of soup-chicken noodle-(which I let warm up in the sun) and tried my pineapple that I bought on Sunday. It was so gross I couldn't eat it.

I brought my snorkeling gear because Mary said she was going to. I decided to use what I brought and went snorkeling. I had a heck of a time getting past the breaking point. There wasn't much to see. Just sand. But it had cool patterns. I took pictures with my waterproof camera. I had gotten back to the breaking point. SMASH&CRASH. I lost my goggles. I had 'em on my arm because Myron (my SCUBA instructor) said to keep your mask on your neck or on your arm-never on your forehead. I went under the wave, felt it moving off my arm, and came up. It was gone and too sandy to see. I had managed to save a $10 camera but not a $100 mask and snorkel. Dang.

(This is the last of you will ever see of this mask and snorkel)

I was so mad that I was so close to shore, knew when I lost 'em, but couldn't get 'em back. Brooke asked me how it went. I looked out at the sea and yelled, "Damn it!"

That's the first time I've sworn. That's also the first time I've written a swear word in my journal. I don't like it.

I was way mad. I blew bubbles for a while until I could be positive. I consoled myself by thinking ....

-I can buy new ones

-I was lucky to have lost it on the last day, not before my scuba dive

-some little fishies will find my mask and love it

After that I went skinny dipping...in Fiji.

That was also a first.

I had to pee so bad I went in the ocean. Don't tell Brooke because I always get mad at her for that.

That is yet another first.

We came home and stopped at McDonald's to get 55 cent ice cream. That was amazing. I got pictures with Chris and gave him a thank you card I made last night.

We all showered in the outside showers at the hotel and took pictures with Mala.

I played Nertz with KPax. Then I played Uker (spelling?) with Kirsten, Ramsay, and KPax. I still don't get that game.

We had to go to the airport in two shuttles. I was in the first group. The shuttle was the last one from our hotel that night so we had to take the 6:30 shuttle even tough our flight isn't until 11:20 tonight. Check in isn't until 8, so we found some couches and sat to wait for our check in time.

"In two hours, we'll be home."-Jacapo

Isn't that crazy the way time works? I'm leaving in the future and arriving in LA in the past.

While we were in line to check our baggage I talked with KPax. I asked what she was most afraid of going home. She simply said, "Being replaced." I thought that was a good answer. Poetic, even.

My fear is that everything I want to be consistent will have changed and that I'll revert back to the mundane ruts I so willingly abandoned on January 10th.

We went threw baggage and found our way to the airport luggage. And there we sat.

I feel like I did when I was getting to leave the US and go to New Zealand: I don't know what I'm getting myself into. Going to Australia and Fiji was different-those were just fun jaunts. I don't feel like I'm going home. I feel like I'm seeing my family and that's it. I don't really have a home anymore. Perhaps. Perhaps not.

(Continued after boarding the plane)
Air New Zealand has the best meals. Real dishes, (blue bowls for salad & desserts, orange tea cup, wine glass, and the best plasticware ever.) This meal was chicken and rice, potato salad, roll, New Zealand cheese <--so happy! and blueberry crumble-seeds of which are currently wedged in my teeth crevasses.

Anticipated Adventures for Utah
- job -$ -room -$ -concert -$ -scholarships -money
and that about sums it up.

Friday, April 25, 2008 4:53 PM

I went to sleep after I wrote in my journal yesterday...I mean today. This time travel thing is weird. Right now I'm just getting out of the outside shower in Fiji.

Well after waking up at 8AM Fijian time and 1PM L.A. time I had a breakfast of scrambled eggs with a gravy, sausage, a tomato, apricot yogurt, orange juice, and a raisin roll. I got an apple juice and some Milo :) Kirsten, Haeree, Caity, Erin came to visit me up front. Steph sat in front of me. Ramsay in back of me. I talked to Erin and I said, "Remember that one time when we were in Fiji and saw Polynesian fire dancing? My next door neighbors the Tiatias did Polynesians dancing and would practice in their back yard. My brothers and I would watch from the bathroom window. That was a long time ago. The End. Thank you for caring."

Erin said, "Didn't you say that yesterday?"
"You mean.....today?"

I've been planning that for a LONG time.

We landed. Coming in I got a glance out the window. LA is gross. It's all city. I haven't seen that much city in a long time.

Customs went unusually fast. I didn't have to get anything checked. The line to get our passports checked was long and I have never been so racially confused. USA is a melting pot. In Invercargill everyone was New Zealand. In Australia they all look like Aussies. Everyone in Fiji is either Fijian or Indian. Here there are Mexicans, Africans, Germans-or so they all look, but they are all Americans.

I'm in the LA airport now. This is the longest day of my life-quite litterally.

I didn't give anyone a goodbye hug. I didn't realize it. It didn't occur to me that I won't see them. Taylor is staying in LA for a while then going to Hawaii. Haeree is going to Devner. Kirsten to Indiana. A bunch like Caity, Ramsay, and Jacapo are going on Delta instead of Southwest.

So here we are: Brooke, Kathy Jones, Mary, Stephanie Richards, KPax and me keep waiting for more of our group to walk around the corner.

But no one else is coming.

(I finished the following after I got home)
We finally boarded the plane from LA to SLC. It was delayed 20 minutes. That wasn't so fun. I was number 47 in group B. The way Southwest works is you get to choose where you sit.

The plane ride was short. I sat next to KPax and we made our LIVE SIMPLY list (click on the link). I was antsy the entire flight. I wore my sulu and took off my shoes and socks because I wanted the full island effect when my family saw me. I saw snow on top of mountains and I got teared up when our wheels touched the ground of Salt Lake City.

We were the last ones off the plane. I walked rather briskly through the airport to the baggage claim. KPax kept pace-even with scuba fins and a didgery doo flopping out of her pack. I got to the escalator and saw a blonde head in the distance. Then a bunch of people started jumping up and down. THAT'S MY FAMILY!

I pushed KPax aside and ran down the escalator in my bare feet and I didn't stop running until I ran smack into a hug. I cried a little. I saw Brooke, KPax, and Steph's family though I didn't talk to them. Sadly, Taylor was still at a play instead of the airport. Jordan had a rugged poster for me. We picked up my luggage and got in Mom's purple van. I walked out of the airport and clung to Dad because it's so cold here. They showed me pictures of the family trip to Manti. I'm sad I missed that.

It's been a long time since I've seen so many temples or mountains or a lot of things. It was weird to see bilingual Spanish signs in the airplane.

We picked up Taylor on the corner. Everything is still under construction.

It was 10PM when I got home. I made a taco for lunch...well, lunch in Fiji time. We have new glasses, we use BYU creamery milk with an orange lid instead of the familiar blue or green lid. Dad doesn't buy ranch packets any more. He gets that pre-made at the creamery as well.

Oh how things change.

I handed out gifts and told some stories. This is a busy week because Dad is running for school board, Taylor has the play, and Sarah has the soccer tournament. Mom says she could really use a 3rd driver and she needs me to take Sarah to soccer in the morning.

My room is still messy. The toilet still takes talent to flush. The shower still has no cold knob. Some things never change.

Fiji: April 19-24

2008-11-27T22:33:00.001+13:00

We arrived in Fiji around 8 o'clock Saturday night and met Ramsay and Jacapo at the dinky airport. We went through a joke line they call customs. I swear they would have let me bring in a rabid pit bull if I had one. Mostly we were just happy to be greeted by some more of our fellow Kiwis. Nothing is better than seeing a New Zealand friend you haven't seen in more than two days

We went to church Sunday morning (the 20th). Well, what I meant to say is that we showed up at the building and waited for three hours. No church today. (We later heard a rumor that they met up with another building but I have my speculations.) So while we waited we ate coconuts. You can easily find one in a gutter and not-so-easily open it. Fresh coconut is pretty good.

Fiji is just like I imagined it except with more litter. The road has old cars and palm trees and coconut trees overhang the edge. Everyone wears a sulu (a skirt like a lava lava) and tropical shirts. I thought only cheesy tourists in Hawaii wore those. I was wrong. They are very much worn by the local population. We stick out like soar thumbs because there's a lot of us white kids hanging out together. Locals pass by and say, "Bula! Bula!" Bula is the Fijian word for hello. That's the literal translation, anyway. What it has come to mean is, "Hi! You look like a tourist. I think I'll swindle you into buying some jewelry or a horse ride." I later learned to hate the word Bula but in the beginning I loved how friendly the people were.

And boy is it humid!

This is what our bunk room looks like. Imagine you are taking this picture and right behind you is another bunk bed and to your left is the bathroom and to your right is the door.

Remember that one time when I saved a bunch of granola bars? Well, they're all gone now. So I have to resort to buying food. Luckily things are cheap here. The exchange rate is AWESOME! But we didn't have any facilities in our backpackers hut to cook. So I ate lukewarm oats with some bananas for breakfast every day. That wasn't so tasty. Some things really should have sugar.

We ran around near our place and caught newts and frogs. I had never caught frogs before.

Monday (21st) rolled around and we spent the day at the beach: Natadola Beach, to be exact; the 7th best beach in the world!

Just for your information, in Fijian words, there is an imaginary n before a d. So words like Natadola are pronounced Natandola and the Nadi is pronounced Nandi. Got it?

(Note: I really did take this picture. It's not stolen from a calender)

Tuesday (the 22nd) was cool because we went to the only temple in Fiji. This took a 4 hour bus ride. I sat next to a man named Ratu. You'll hear more about him in a later post. (Ratu and I pictured below)

So after a 4 hour bus ride we went from Nadi to Suva. Then we took a taxi to get to the temple. We met this adorable lady outside. Her name is Sister Bale. She was quite the lady! Her smile STILL warms my soul. She was just so thrilled to "see so many young people coming to the temple." We did baptisms for the dead in the temple and go figure, most of the temple workers were senior missionaries from the States. We learned interesting facts about the Fijian temple. The land was actually owned by the Australian government and then the US government wanted the land for an embassy. Because of how long it takes the bureaucracy to get decisions made the Church was able to snatch it up. Also, the temple is so prominent that ships coming into the harbor look for the light from Moroni. I'm sure this information could be used in a lesson some time.

We went in to the temple and it was sunny. We got out and it was cloudy. By the time we got on the bus to go home it was pouring.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Breakfast: Three delicious rolls.

We met at 7:50 am at the front of the hotel and waited for the bus that would take us to South Sea. On the bus we met a guy from Michigan. He called us "Stormin' Mormons" and we shot down a lot of stereotypes and told him the truth about polygamy. *sigh* Oh how I love preaching the truth!

We got to the port, boarded a big yellow ship, and headed off to South Sea Island. The island is about the size of my home church building+parking lot. It's tiny! As we got off the boat and on the island a Fijian band greeted us with their ukuleles.

There was SO much to do on South Sea Island! We ate REAL food (not rolls or oats) I went on my first REAL scuba dive and I held a REAL starfish and touched a REAL sea cucumber. It was incredible. We dove near a sunken ship and saw Moorish idols (fish) and banner fish and I touched a soft coral. (It looked like an anemone but it wasn't'. It kind of stuck to my fingers.) I touched a giant clam and some weird jelly thing on the reef. One gigantic cod fish lurked around and I saw a sting ray and the fattest starfish I've ever seen. The colors were fantastic! Fish in every nook.

(Me, Erin, Mary, Stephanie Richards, KPax, Caity Smith, Brooke)
(Tiennus, Jo, Erin, Me, Eddie)

Thursday, April 24

Shh! It's a surprise. Today is Kirsten's birthday and she has been hanging out around the hotel because she has no money to do anything. So we are kidnapping her and paying for her ticket to join us on another day cruise.

At 7:52 we walked into her room (and by room I mean the bunk room where 6 people sleep) and we sang Happy Birthday to her. She thought we just came in to sing to her and say goodbye for the day. WRONG! We better believe we dragged her into the bus. I think she's pretty excited about it.

Next stop: Robinson Crusoe Island.

I love when they greet you in song!We went snorkeling an I had a nifty underwater camera.

(Above: Erin Below: our snorkeling guide)
Then we watched Ziggy climb up a tree and get everyone a coconut to share with a buddy

Then we ate and watched a dancing show. Here's a segment from the fire portion. Oooo!

If that doesn't make you want a Fijian man, I don't know what will.

After the show we had a bunch of activities like crab racing. I'm proud to announce that my crab was number 1. (That's right, raise the roof!) And that is why I am wearing a necklace and flower in the picture below. I won them fair and square. My favorite part of the day was the dance Ziggy taught us. I wish I could remember it because it's probably the most awkward line dance you will ever do.

When we got home we threw a party for Kirsten. Mala helped us out. Actually, Mala helps us out a lot. (Mala works at the motel. She's pretty much amazing.) Mala managed to find candles to go in the cake (which we purchased for $2 Fijian).

Side story: Last night the hotel had crab racing. Winner got a free drink. Taylor Porter in our group won but since she doesn't drink they gave her orange juice. Mala told us that all the staff was absolutely shocked that there were 12+ Americans all together, all college age, who did not drink. We gave her a Book of Mormon.

To finish off the night some of us had kava. Blech. Kava is a drink made from a mushed up root. No, it's not tea. No, it's not alcoholic. We checked before we had some. It tastes kind of chalky.

Sydney: April 15-19

2008-11-19T23:30:00.000+13:00

We got to the Brisbane airport and laughed for a considerable amount of time at the signs for Virgin Air.

At the airport in Sydney we met Matt Krok and Ben and Abby.
Who is Matt Krock? Matt Krok and his family are saints. Sister Krock was serving a mission in Invercargill. Upon hearing that we were traveling to Sydney she opened up her parent's house to us. Her parents are also serving a mission (in Japan?) and so the house is lived in and operated by friends and family. This is code for "this house is always full of young single adults.)
At this particular time the Krok resident was a hotel for about 14 NZ kids. Dang. They really were looking out for us. I truly learned a lot about being a good Samaritan during my time in Australia.
Matt took our bags to his house and so we could go see the city. So we didn't waste any time. First stop: Darling Harbor. Okay, so it wasn't actually our first stop. We may or may not have gotten a bit disoriented at the Central Point For some reason I really struggle when I can't navigate by mountains. AND it was drizzly. I had no idea where the sun was so I had no idea where East was. So we wondered around buildings that eerily reminded me of Wall Street. Until BAM! There it was. Shopping central: Darling Harbor. We saw this really awesome swirling fountain of doom.

(Across the harbor and near the tall buildings is where the Aquarium is. Just for future reference)

We also hit up Chinatown. I really think that China will one day rule the world. They just keep staking out major cities. One day, you just wait, they'll all blitz the place and suddenly we'll find ourselves waving the red flag with yellow stars. But until that day, we can all appreciate the cheap shopping such Chinatowns provide. I got some magnets, postcards, boomerangs, kangaroo crossing signs, and some sweet earrings.

And then at 3:42 we had to start walking because we have no rented car. :( We are reliant on the public system and the bus doesn't run very late. Public transportation now holds a special place in my heart. I have grown very close to the bus schedules and train patterns.

Town hall= get on train, ride for a long time, off at...
Parrmatta= take bus 603 to .....

Castle Towers = wait for a long time next to the bench where the birds filled the trees. And I mean filled. I felt like I was in the Alfred Hitchcock movie The Birds. The sound was deafening. Get on the 639 bus and this is the only bus NOT covered by our pass so we had to pay $4.

I told the bus driver, "If I have to pay that much every night I'm a goner. What if I make you cookies?" *laughter*

"Where are you from?"

"The States-Utah"

"You Mormon? Yeah my brother is there. Actually I knew you were either Christian or Mormon when you offered cookies."

That bus driver's name is Tony.

Here is a few of our crew enjoying one of our many hours on one of our many buses.

Then we hopped off that bus to get right on another bus. We didn't get off at a stop or anything, the bus drivers just tell us that our transfer is here and then we transfer onto the other bus on the street. I guess they're all just tight like that.

So we got on this other bus and I saw a girl holding flowers and asked her if it was for a special occasion. She said it was her 21st birthday. I said, "Well, what's your name and we'll sing to you." So we sang happy birthday to Caitlin. We were only there just long enough to sing and then we were told to get off the bus (because our transfer was there, not because of our singing) and then we got on the

last bus with the old man driver who had to get directions to our stop from a teenage boy.

Then we were off at Jones St. and looked for number 6.

And after 4 hours of public transportation we finally found the Krok's house. Wow. It's a mansion. I feel like I'm back in America: the house is adorned with pictures of Christ, stars, a pool table, 3rd flor stairs hinding in a closet, a home theater, and it's HUGE! No wonder the place is always running wild with visitors.

Wednesday, April 6th

I'll spare you the details, but we took 4 hours of public transportation getting to the city. The highlight of today's agenda: Opera House. This is Erin inside the Opera House. I took the picture and right behind me there is a guy washing the windows outside the Opera House. Check out my listitup blog to see Cool Things You Probably Didn't Know About the Sydney Opera House.

We also got to see Kurt Elling rehearsing. Can I say that almost nothing is better than free live music.

After the tour we had lunch and checked out the Botanical gardens.
Here is us at the Wishing Tree. Instructions: walk around three times forwards and three times backwards and then make a wish.

We also made a point to find (or make) 42 Wallaby Way, as in the very 42 Wallaby Way of P. Sherman from the movie Finding Nemo.

Then Brooke, Stefanie, and Erin went to a show at the Opera House while Megan, Mary, and I checked out the bridge and went home. We spent a lot of time talking to Paul. Paul also lives in the Krok's house. (Below is the view of the Opera House from the Bridge)

Thursday, April 17

Paul rode with us on the bus. He works at a bakery.

We are actually getting to know a few bus drivers. They love us. Maybe they just love us for our accents.

After we did an awesome job with our buses and trains we got to see the Sydney Aquarium. That is a real shark you see pictured. They have gigantic tubes you can walk through and you are surrounded by sharks. That was a pretty cool thing to see but didn't make for such cool pictures.

Then we hit up Paddy's Market. This means more shopping for souvenirs. I was wandering around and came across a kebab stand. Just in case you are not aware, kebabs ARE the BEST thing EVER to have entered my mouth....perhaps with the exception of orange juice. So I was salivating over a particular kebab and then reminded myself to keep walking. I had gotten just down the aisle when I heard some man calling, "Pretty girl! Pretty girl!"
I turned around. He was talking to me!?
He said, "You want a tasty kebab? They are so delicious"
"This man is going to swindle me into buying a kebab," I thought. But that was okay because it was a kebab.
He turns to the lady behind the counter and says, "Whatever this girl wants she gets. Okay? It's all on me"
And then it occurs to me that I am being hit on by NOT the store owner. Yikes! He offered to take me in his jeep to see the city tomorrow night.
I ran away.

Friday, April 18
Today we took the ferry to Manly Beach. It was drizzly and so it wasn't the best day. But that didn't stop us from having fun in the sand.
And of course you have to look MANLY on Manly Beach

Then we split up: Brooke, Mary, and Stefanie went to Paddy's Market again while Megan, Erin, and I had the most amazing adventure. In fact, this adventure is so amazing that it must be written in a separate post.

Since it takes us 4 hours to get home and the latest one of the buses runs is around 7:30, most of our days end around 4. That kind of puts a damper on a vacation. And that REALLY bites if you want to see the Opera House at night.

Solution: rent a car.
So we rented a car for one night and got to see Sydney thriving in the dark.

Note: the picture does not do it justice

Saturday, April 19
It's a good thing we rented that van because the buses don't run on Saturdays. Whose idea was that? So we packed the car with as much luggage as possible and then Mary and Erin drove us to the nearest train station. Erin and Mary took the luggage and met us at the airport. Megan, Stefanie, Brooke, and myself lugged what didn't fit in the car as we took a few trains to the Sydney airport. It looks like a fairly simple procedure when typed in an orderly paragraph but I assure you that today was nothing short of hectic.

We met KPax and Haeree's group at the Sydney airport. That was a joyous reunion if I have ever had one. Yelling and hugs and songs all around. No one really understands the bond we all share. I'm not even sure if any of us in the bond understand it. But for some reason we just love each other. A lot. And if we cause a scene in a major airport, who cares?

We flew from Sydney to Auckland and we left Megan there where she will be for 5 days...alone...while she waits for her family to come enjoy New Zealand with her. That was heartbreaking. She cried. We cried. We left. She stayed.

And then we landed in Fiji....

Brisbane: April 11-15

2008-04-27T18:26:00.003+12:00

I have no soul. It's a proven fact. Why? Because I did not cry when I left New Zealand. I just kind of accepted that I was going on another adventure through life. The Invercargill airport was commical. There are only two desks for tickets/luggage. As for security, what security? No metal detectors. No guards. No sniffing dogs. Nada. Janelle and Kathy came in Ged's old rugby jerseys. Joyce and Christie had coffee together. I waited for our flight-the ONLY flight that leaves Invercargill-while watching THE plane land. We hopped on a plane and waved goodbye.

And that was it. I didn't even get to say goodbye to my grandkids. I didn't even get to say goodbye to half the group because they're on diferent flights. Since the program is over we're all split up. Some of us are going to Brisbane and Fiji. Some are going to Sydney and Fiji. Some are staying in New Zealand for a while longer with their families (American families, not Kiwi families), and some are going straight home. The girls in my group and I are going to Brisbane, Sydney, and then Fiji.

We flew from Invercargill to Christchurch, Christchurch to Auckland, and Auckland to Brisbane. I waved goodbye to Joyce and found myself to an older man with a beard. He was rough. A true biker. He was flying to Christchurch to see his mate get a new leg.

Yes, a new leg. He lost it in a biking accident.

It was good to see Invercargill from up high. I saw the bright yellow Pack N Save and the pokey-upy church on Jed St next to SIT. (I think it's a Baptist church building). I saw the racecourse and was able to locate my house; my home in New Zealand. I took one last look at Invercargill.

I'll probably never be back. That pricks my heart a bit.

In Auckland we had to pay a departure fee of $25 to leave New Zealand. That's just one more reason to stay in the country. We followed the blue-painted line to take us to the international terminal. The flight was good. I slept and had delicious dinner of crumb chicken, potatoe salad, and honey icecream. I love Air New Zealand. The food is good, the service is great, they have sturdy plasticware, and if you ask for it they'll give you Milo. :)

We got to Brisbane and my group (Me, Megan Bird, Mary, Stephanie Richards, Erin, Brooke)
said goodbye to Becky's group (Becky, Janelle, Ashley, Julia, Katie Jo) and Cameron and Tyler. We're all going to be in Brisbane but then my group is going to Sydney while Becky's group is going to Fiji and the boys are going around Australia. Ashley's parents met her at the airport. She's hanging out with them and then going to Fiji with the rest of her group.

We rented a white van and played the fun game of stuffing it with 6 girls plus their luggage. We each had 2 bags and a backpack. We had a lot of stuff. If you think about it, I had all my belongings. Everything I lived with for the last 3 months was in the van. Between the 6 of us we had snorkeling gear, tramping bags, tents, and at least a hundred granola bars.

We stayed with Tido and Bada, friends of Jess Setu from the Invercargill branch. Saturday we went to town to work out scuba diving. I didn't go because I really had a bad feeling about it. I don't know why. I was kinda mad because the whole reason I went to Brisbane was to dive the Great Barrier Reef. But I heeded the promptings of the spirit and while the other girls went diving Brooke and I laid out at the beach (Deception Bay on Sunshine Coast) and had Red Rooster for dinner.

Sunday we went to the Brisbane temple. It was so pretty. As chance would have it, the stake was watching Conference in the chapel adjacent to the temple. All the missionaries were there. Brooke ran into an elder from her high school. I asked an elder is he new Zach Powers. He said yes so I wrote a quick note for the elder to deliver to Zach. Small world. The Church makes the world small.

After that we went to the beach: Surfer's Paradise on the Golden Coast. I took heaps of pictures. We tried to take pictures of us jumping in the air and attacking each other. I think I've become quite the photographer.

That night we stayed with Maree and Will. They have two kids. Monday rolled around and we were at the zoo at approximately 9:07. I don't know if you know this about me, but I am master at planning theme parks and zoos. I had the day down to a T. I factored in toilet time and mathmatically deduced we had 4:37 at each exhibit. Cameron and Tyler joined us at the elephant feeding. High lights of the day included:

Holding koalas
Sneak-patting a wombat
Feeding elephants
"I don't want to pat a koala" -Cameron through clenched teeth telling Tyler that he'd rather see the otter show than seeing the koala show
Feeding kangaroos
Crocodile show, I was the best monkey dancer
Kookaburras
3-minute camel appreciation

I have a new love for Cameron and Tyler. They're funny. They bought us icecream (boysenberry and fudge....they just don't have boysenberry icecream in the States) and we ate it on the way home. Tyler and Mary ate more than their fair share :S

For a list of Cool Animal Facts from Australia Zoo see my other blog: listitup.blogspot.com

On Tuesday the 15th we woke up at an insane hour (5am) so we could start packing up the van by 5:30 and leave by 6. We were a lot faster at packing than we were at the airport 4 days ago. We were all sitting in the van when Will came out. He laughed at our stuffed van. We started to get ready to backout and he gave us last minute driving instructions...

...and a hundred dollars.

We refused and said we really couldn't accept money from them. We stayed with them for free, used their phone for free, and showered for free. If anything we should be paying them. But Will wouldn't let us leave without taking it. "To turn it down would be offensive in my culture" he said. So we took the $100.

Wow. This was a defining moment in my life. I don't think I've ever met any one so giving. We had stayed with them only 2 days; hardly enough time to form a strong relationship. Yet they were giving us money like we were friends of the family. Will is a painter. They live in a small house. Maree is pregnant with a 3rd child. Yet they handed us a crisp hundred-dollar bill. I want to be more giving like the example set forth by Maree and Will. I want to give to the point I can feel that I gave something. I want to offer my house to any one who needs it. My home will always be open for others.

What a Wonderful World

2008-04-10T23:24:00.002+12:00

"I see trees of green, red roses too"

New Zealand undoubtedly lived up to every postcard or brochure I've seen. I've seen sunsets and sunrises on beaches. I have drunken from glaciers, skipped rocks on still lakes, swam with wild dolphins, and tread mountains of waterfalls. I've seen mossy forests blurr by. Green mountains sprout directly out of the fjord. Ferns line gentle rivers.

I have seen true beauty.

"Skies of blue, clouds of white"

The clouds are so close here you could stand on a ladder and lick them. The sky is more open. No mountains block the view of sunrises in the East. They move fast, like white stags racing. They're indecicive. They don't form into shapes. Sunrises and sunsets cause the clouds to spread a pastel hue through the expanse of sky.

"Brightness of day and the dark, sacred night"

When the brisk air whisks down your nose you know that it's going to be a good day. You can tell when you look out the window and see blue sky beckoning you. You know it when the cabbage trees stick out like pompoms and the warmth from the sun somehow makes the grass a little greener. But once the sun goes down it's a different world. I had never seen the color silver in the wild before-out of it's metallic state-but I saw it in New Zealand during a midnight stroll down the beach.

With a full moon.

The silver shimmers on the wave as it curls but is up-staged by the crashing white foam.

"I see friends shaking hands saying, "How do you do?" They're really saying, "I love you."

By far the best thing in New Zealand has been the 33 other students who ride red bikes and wear green helmets. We are one. We take over bike racks, round-abouts, libraries, and occasionally small villages. There is never an excuse to be alone on a Friday...or a Tuesday or Sunday for that matter. I have met so many amazing people here. I've met locals and I see them when I head over to Yaks and Yetis. I've changed lives and they've changed mine. I love them.

I'm leaving in approximately twelve hours to hop on a plane and go to Australia and Fiji. Time flies. I'll blog more in a few weeks. Oh the suspense!

Stabbed by a Spaniard

2008-04-04T11:08:00.002+13:00

Our Adventure Southland instructors have recently been covereing the topic of hiking. It doesn't sound to complicated, right? You find a trail and walk. Third-graders could do it. But oh no, my friend. This is not hiking. This is tramping. It's like hiking but different:

1) No taking trails allowed
2) You will be given a grid reference and will have to get there using whatever means necessary (ie crawling through prickly forrests, chopping down trees, tresspassing golf courses and shooting ranges, hopping over barbedwire and electric fences)
3) You will only be given a map and a compass
4) Sometimes we will give you only a compass
5) Sometimes we will give you only a map
6) Rain and wind must always come with it

And so this has been class during the last few weeks: tramping with or without a compass and a map. Every day I pack my essentials (http://listitup.blogspot.com/2008/04/things-to-always-have-with-youin-new.html) and wear my thermals, basket ball shorts, and hiking boots. Once we stopped by a river and made a floating fire holder by weaving flax together. I like flax.

Just the other day I returned from the Three-Day Tramping Extravaganza. I'll be honest, I was little grumpy the first day. Not because I don't enjoy tramping, I really do enjoy wandering away from the trail. But I was just sick of being surrounded by people all the time. I love all these people but a little alone time sounds mighty delightful sometimes. (I am SO excited to go ALONE to Borders when I get back to the States). We crossed a swing bridge made of chainlink fence. I saw Red Beeches. Those are the trees used as Ents in Lord of the Rings.

I'm not gonna lie, the first day was pretty bad. I just wanted to be alone. It was taking everybody so long to decide on bearings and directions and counting steps and I absolutely hate waiting. I hate standing in lines. I hate red lights. I hate standing around doing nothing. And we were doing a lot of that.

We got to camp and had to make a bivvy. This is short for bacavala (or something like that). It means "hut you make from what you got". So using a tarp, rope, rocks, and a few clove hitches we made one communial sleeping area for 18 people. Boy did we cuddle it up!

I was one of the elite few who got to sleep on the edge. The tarp was right at my face and dripped condensation and the rain during the night nailed my sleeping bag pretty good. Thank goodness I was warm and dry inside my bag. It kept raining the rest of the morning. I didn't mind it so much. I woke up a lot happier on the second day. I started to remember how much I love these people.

We tramped in the rain. I led the group up the river until it ran into another river at which point we went straight up the mossy ridge. Moss is gorgeous. I love the way it coates trees. I love the way it's soft to sit on. I love the way it gives when you step on it and it makes your knees feel better when you're going down hill. I do not like the way it gives when you're going up hill. But I managed.

After we passed the tree line we had to cross over to the other ridge to meet group A. It was windy and with each step everyone would grab hold of the nearest plant so that if you fall at least you'll be holding on to something. And that's when I was stabbed by spaniards. Several of them. They were everywhere! They look nice but they have knives at the end of their leaves. They will stab you in the butt and arms and anything else they can jab. So now I'm holding on for dear life on all the soft grassy plants and trying to avoid to Spaniard bushes. I've never been so reliant or afraid of plants before.

Don't worry. We found group A...but then had to hike the never-ending mountain. Just when you think you reached the top you would see more mountain. It hailed (but it's better than rain because you don't get wet) and my knees were killing me. I found it hard to balance on falling rocks with a big pack. It was a little anerving. When we got to the bottom we all hudled next to a big rock. I really like scroggin mix. (Trail mix). It's times like these when I'm hudled for warmth next to a rock that I really appreciate my peanuts and raisins.

Two hours later we were at camp and this time made our bivvy in record time because we had learned from the night before. Brooke, learning from last night, decided it would be wise to sleep in her sleeping bag and then inside her pack liner so that rain wouldn't get her wet. Smart.

Frost. Everywhere. The condensation on the tarp. The ground. My socks. My shoes. The bra on the tree left to dry from yesterday. Stoves. Pots. Bags. Granola bars. It had all frosted over. Including Brooke in her unbreathable pack liner. Secretly I laugh.

That last day was great. I learned to really use mother nature as a toilet. We hiked on the last day because we got to follow a trail. (Yay!) And then we got to the vans. I love the vans. I feel like home in the vans. I have really come accostomed to being a passenger with 11 others in big white vans. I think I've spent a solid two weeks-104 hours-in a van...if not more.

At the end of the hiking we did mini presentations about what we have learned from our outdoor courses. Team A did the "I love the mountains" song but replaced the words with things like "I love the Tony coats, I love sleeping in the rain, I love the weather clouds, I love surfing with Wayne. Boomdiada, Boomdiada..."

Team B (my team) reinacted the good and bad experiences from each class.

Kayaking

Good-Jackapo rolling himself in a kayak
Bad-Me in the kayak

Surfing

Good-KPax and Stephanie getting the knack really fast
Bad-Jessica breaking her toe

Rock Climbing

Good-lead climbing
Bad-Haeree and Jackapo falling

Tramping

Good-gigantic spooning fest under a tarp
Bad-gettingstabbed by Spaniards

Lord of the Flies

2008-04-04T10:47:00.002+13:00

"'Kill the pig! Cut his throat! Kill the pig! Bash him in!'"- William Golding, Lord of the Flies, Ch. 7

I have learned a lot during my New Zealand experience. I've grown some. I've definitely become more liberal. Taboo subjects aren't so taboo anymore. (It's bound to happen with 28 girls) And playing with a dead pig isn't so disgusting.

For my Family Recreation 301 class we had to do a class project. We chose to do a hangi on March 29, Saturday. Hangi: noun. a lot of food for a lot of people. Katie Paxton headed up the food commitee and I took the game commitee. Thanks to Katie's awesome planning we were able to make a lot of food for a lot of people. I must have minced twenty onions for the stuffing. We had kumura and pumpkin and steamed pudding.

And pig.

Two pigs.

And we butchered them ourselves.

You know those scenes in movies when they bring in a blackened, cooked pig on a platter with an apple in it's mouth? Yeah, well we made one of those. The smaller pig was used for the umu. (That's when you cook the pig above ground.) First you roll the dead pig around in the fire to singe off all the fur and then you scrape off all the singed hair. After the blood was drained from the pig we cut a square in it's belly and pulled out the guts. You have to be careful to tie the butt off so that poo doesn't come out. Out came the stentch along with the intestines, spleen, liver, and stomach. You have to really pull hard to get the lungs and heart. I held the liver and touched the stomach. To cook the meat inside the pig you put a hot rock down into the pig's throat. I heard the muscle tissue sizzle when we stuffed it in. Then you do the same thing in the body cavity and then follow the rocks with cabbage.

The other pig was significantly larger. The difference with the gib pig is that you butcher it and stick it in tin baskets underground. We chopped the head off and I held it. (Pictures just might have to wait until I get to the States) Then Stefanie Tanner, Katie Jo and I played with the little piggie feet. We did dancing with them like you would with a Barbie doll. Then we gave each other high-hooves and played the slapping game. I had blood all over me.

Four hours later we ate the meat from the pigs. The branch members and homestay families all ate until they couldn't move.

The highlight of the evening might have been the variety show. Sister George did some polynesian dancing for us. (She's from the Cook Islands). The primary, young women, and single adults all did some polyneisan dancing. Some BYU students did a poi ball dance they learned. Something happened and I ended up being in four acts. I played the guitar ("Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and it was a big hit), then did a "synchronized" dancing routine with Cameron and Tyler with a balloon in my hood so no one could see or breathe, a magic show with Katie Jo, and then I did a joke off with the audience, thanks to Ben. (Chase was actually a really good emcee)

We all got some good laughing in and I was happy to share my talent and see others do the same.

"'after all we aren't savages really...'"- William Golding, Lord of the Flies, Ch. 11

Twenty-seven SGB

2008-03-28T21:15:00.005+13:00

New Zealand's best kept secret is undoubtedly Anderson Park. A magnificent white mansion full of artwork overlooks a lilly pond, rose garden, a brick pathway weaving through New Zealand foilage, and neatly trimmed hedges. The tui bird drums his call and any listener is captivated by the unique click. The day after I got back from the Dunedin trip was still spring break. That's nice because BYU doesn't believe in spring breaks. I sprung out of bed on Tuesday the 25th because I knew it was going to be a good day: we were going hedge jumping.

There are two ways to reach the top of the hedge: "rock climb" your way up the side or find a hole in the hedge and climb up the inside of the hedge and carefully displace your body weight so as to avoid falling back in. I chose the latter. It was the safer route in the long run. (This is Chase, Maggie, Ben and I on top of the hedge) Once on top of the hedge you can stop to see the scenery. You can admire the lilly pond, rose garden, and the brick pathway weaving through New Zealand foilage. Or if you perfer you may cast your eyes heavenward. The clouds look even faster when you're fifteen feet off the ground.

But you can't stay captivated by the view for long. You have to make room for the other friends making their way up the hedge-perhaps in riskier conditions. KPax took the rock climbing route. She managed to gnarl up her foot pretty bad. Meanwhile Chase and I went all the way to the edge of the hedge. This involved avoiding many hidden "escape routes" (aka holes of death). But we managed. We're cool like that.

So there we were-all twelve of us-minding our own business on top of a soft green hedge when I see a man below us with a candy-apple red vest and dark sunglasses emerge from the white mansion make a bearing for the hedge. "Uh...guys...I see an authoritative figure coming over here." I announced to the twelve hedge-high sunbathing students. "Look natural."

I guess we just didn't do a very good job acting natural on top of that hedge. Maybe we looked too much like tourists. I don't know but for whatever reason the man spotted us and requested we get off the hedge, claiming that hedges just aren't made for that. Silly man. Doesn't he know hedges were made for the soul purpose of having naps and picnics on?

Classes began again on Wednesday. We went tramping. Jason and John have us take a map and a compass and find our way through the brush. Katie Jo and Maggie and I are really good at Jason Bourne-ing our way through the brush.

Yesterday we went tramping again but this time they only gave us a map...no compass. That was exciting. When we got to the bend in the river we made floating fires and our huts out of flax and sticks.

Each morning I hit the snooze button a bare minimum of four times, kick my way through my purple bedsheets, rub my eyes as I walk down the hall to the kitchen, and help myself to a nutritious way to start my day. After taking my dishes to the sink I grab the lunch Joyce had packed in a semitransparent tupperware and take it back to my purple room. Then I open the lid of the semitransparent tupperware, take out the granola bar only to stash it in my suitcase in my closet that has an awkwardly high handel. Today I reached 27 SGB...stashed granola bars. I'm excited because that means I won't starve to death in Australia.

I just finished some more volunteering hours by playing games at a Methodist church. Stefanie taught us some jump roping. I learned how to double dutch. I feel very accomplished today.

Bourne and Baldwin

2008-03-25T17:50:00.007+13:00

Monday, March 24, 2008

All good things must come to an end. Today, was the last day of YSA Conference in Dunedin. We started the morning by having the entire group go to the hill with tires. The boys tried to hit the girls while they cartwheeled across and also positioned themselves like pinball buzzers. Then the girls rolled the tires while the boys formed a human pyramind and a ramp. The ramp was by far the most entertaining.

After that we took group photos and started cleaning. Brother Price (age 68) started having a waterfight with Lennox even though he had a stroke two days ago. Crazy man. But I love him. While we were done with our cleaning but waiting for something else to happen Katie Jo, Maggie and I decided to climb on the roof. So we did. We got ontop and our hands were all black from the black roof...go figure. This provided a natural war paint. We basically Jason Bourne-ed that roof and rolled across it. We're so hard core. There is no end to the hard core things I can pull out of my hat.

We gave hugs to our chocolate thunder men and our Maori girls with funny names. It's sad to say goodbye when you know it's a final goodbye. The Invercargill group saddled up and made our way to Baldwin street. Baldwin Street, in case you were wondering, is the steepest street in the world. We sure showed our true American tourist colors.

Heather, me, Ben, Brooke, Katie Jo, Stefanie, Maggie

After Baldwin street we went over to Cadbury Factory. We get to this one part when you go up to a silo and the perky tourguide, in hopes to create a Willy Wonka-ish ambience, says, "Now watch your step. It gets a little slippery and don't put your hand on the railing because you will get chocolate on your hand."

She wasn't joking. Not heeding her reply I stuck my hand on the railing and when I found out it was chocolate I was not deterred. I ate chocolate off of a handrail. When we got to the top they turned on the chocolate fall. Oh. My. Gosh. I got splashed by the fall and had a streak of chocolate running down my face and hair. On the way down the lady warned us not to eat the chocolate off of the railing because it's eleven months old. Oops. Oh well. If I die, it'll be death by chocolate.

A Pun on Eggs

2008-03-25T17:20:00.003+13:00

Sunday, March 23 -Easter
This experience in New Zealand has taught me that holidays really can be celebrated without boiling and dying eggs. Granted it didn't feel like Easter, but it was a magnificent day. We had sacrament in our foyer and had a testimony meeting. I said that the cool thing is that the church is true no matter where you are-even if you're on the bottom of the world. It was sunny in contrast to the few days prior when threatening clouds choked the light. It's days like this when I am most contest to play guitar outside with my bare feet in the grass. So I did. A few people joined me and we all rocked out to Accidentally in Love.

After lunch we went to sea the view of the ocean with all the sailboats out. Katie Jo, Heather and I found a bunch of tires holding down saliage and decided to run through them like football players. We explored a cave. We're so hard core.

We got back from the hike and did some work shops on goal setting, finances, and dating. (What else would you expect) I'm not exactly sure where the time went after the work shops. We had dinner, played some more guitar, played Nertz, talked with the twins David and Michael, and had a question panel (which made kayaking look enticing. It was SO boring)

At midnight President stone asked if we wanted to go to the beach. Duh, yes. The full moon made the water reflect a glossy silver that I had never seen before. In the dark it's impossible to see the waves rolling in until they break and the white suddenly becomes apparent in the dark. It was very beautiful and I don't use that term lightly. Katie Jo and I danced on the beach in the moonlight as well as do yoga and played marrionette and puppetier. Katie Jo and I are really good at having fun doing really simple things. I'm super STOKED for us to be roommates in Provo.

We got back at maybe 1:30 in the morning and the two married men (Eric from Orem and Matt from Canada) were out in the back of the camp rolling tires down the hill. Naturally Katie Jo and I had to join them because how many times can you roll tires down a hill...in New Zealand? Eggactly (Exactly.) Then Katie Jo had the brilliant idea to step into the tires and roll down the hill. So naturally, she did. That girl had a good 8 or 9 tires around her. You couldn't see her head when she was standing. The difficult part was getting her from the standing position into the lying down position but somehow we succeeded. I had a lot of fun just watching a solid line of tires roll down a hill and judging by the giggling coming from the tires I suspect Katie Jo had a terrific time....probably akin to zorbing.

And that was my Easter: church, music, people (chocolate people, nonetheless) moonlight beach party, and fun with tires.

Window Escape

2008-03-25T16:08:00.003+13:00

Wednesday, March 19
The first day of Spring Break that I've had in a few years. I started the day by cleaning a cemetery and then ate my weight in pizza at DaVinci's. I fed ducks at Queens Park and saw the wallaby. We went to the museum and saw the tuatara. The day ended with Katie Jo, KPax, and I sneaking into an abandoned haunted house. And that's about the time my bike seat broke so I had to ride home standing up all the way from Tramway to home. Haeree left to go tramping.

Thursday, March 20th
I volunteered at New River school all day. I get there (after biking ALL that way standing up, of course) and introduce myself and the teacher says to the class, "Let's all guess what country Marcie is from."
"Dunedin?" asked a little girl
"No. That's still in the South Island. Nice try."
"China?"
"Auckland?"
"Chile?"
That's about the time we gave up and told them that I'm American. (Do I really look that racially confusing?)

During morning tea (morning recess) the teacher asked me if I wanted to go to the teacher's lounge for a cup of tea or coffee. I politely declined and went to the playground instead. This blond girl looked up at me and cocked her head to the side. "Are you a kid?"
"Yeah."
"You don't look like a kid. You look like an adult."
"Well I'm not. I'm a kid."
"Okay. Do you want to play tag?"

Basically I love playground politics and how the kids just adore me simply because of my height and accent. I'm cool.

Friday March 21
Good Friday. (It's not a big deal in the States but here it's a compulsory holiday and even grocery stores are closed.)

Brother Price picked up Me, Ben, Brooke, Maggie, Katie Jo, Stefanie Tanner, Heather, and three Polynesians Evan, Trio, and Annie and off we went to Dunedin. We watched a surfing competition. That's us cheering. You can see a lot of black dots out there in the ocean warming up for their heat. We snagged a picture with Dwayne (some random surfer) but I'll have to find who has it. I love the beach. I love the music they play at the beach. I love being at the beach in Dunedin on my way to a YSA conference and watching a surfing competition.

We met up with other YSA at the church. We divided into teams and recieved bandannas. I was given a blue bandanna and joined the other blue-bandana folk: Ronnie (rugby star), Stacey (enthusiastic), Erin (unenthusiastic), Nathan (29 year old drummer), and Jimmy (skinny Asian). I brilliantly came up with the name Shark Bait (oo ah ah!) and our cheer "wanahaka wanahaka wanaka LUGEE! *spitting noise*)

We left the church and started heading out to Girls Guide Camp out in Otago. We stopped for lunch and I had a Kiwi Burger from McDonalds. It has hamburger, egg, cheese, beets, and the standard lettuce and tomato. Once we found the camp we played Boogedy Boogedy Boo, Zip Zip Bong, and Samarai.

Kool Kiwis at the Camp
Lennox: He's 18 and about as funny as they come. Brooke says we should get married.
Ronnie: Rugby Maori man Brook wishes she could marry
Terenamu: She has a really cool name (pronounced tea-rain-a-moo)
Kotuku: Brother of the above
Kala: From Niue Island. Her full name is Kalavatagaloa.
Sam: Helpful
Mikey: Visually impaired and the leader of the group
Kaho: from Tonga
Matai: from Tonga, BIG man from Tonga

Apparently I have a newly discovered talent: I kick butt at Mafia. Factoring the direction of the echo, the motives behind kills, and past behaviors I could predict-with my eyes closed-who the mafia was. Don't mess with this.

We met a married couple (they were kind of chaperons) who were from the states. He grew up in Orem and Maggie and Ben knew his cousins. Small world. What are the odds we find this guy....in New Zealand?

Saturday March 22
I hopped out into the foyer while still in my sleeping bag. Why? Because it was comfy. I did the worm in my sleeping bag and then Brooke and I started arguing about how to say patronizing and then next thing I know she's tickling me and I can't go anywhere because I'm in a mummy bag.

Shortly following we went to the beach to pick up trash (one of my favorite pastimes) Katie Jo and I found natural bubble wrap (seaweed pods) and probably had more fun than we should have while popping them. One massive sprong of kelp had washed itself on the beach and wouldn't you know we walked around with it on our heads like hair. It was pretty great.

We also played games on the beach: chicken fighting on steroids and putting one lucky soul balancing on a board with the board across other team members and all the unlucky souls rolled over to get the board moving. I'm pretty sure I could have died. I took a dip in the frigid Tasmanian Sea and stepped on a crab. Luckily it didn't latch on.

We drove back to camp and packed more people in the car than for which the car was manufactured. We're getting really good at that. We went to a hangi. This is code for "eat a lot of food that's all been cooked together in a rubbish bin underground" The dessert was pretty good and they made a cake for Brooke because her birthday is tomorrow.

A few of us helped to do the dishes after the hangi while the others dutifully decorated the foyer for our dance. Katie Jo and I sat in the room for a while, tired from the hangi and not wanting to go to the dance. But we had to pee. And we would have to cut straight through the dance and that would be awkward because it's not a very big foyer. So we opted to escape through the window, army crawl across the big window, run around the building, and use the alternative toilet entrance. Jason Bourne would be proud of the way Katie Jo re-entered our room by going head first. After that the dance was pretty good. Heather has the best hip hop moves. I put my hair in a high pony tail for an 80's song and I pulled my neck. It was worth it though because I got some sweet moves.

3-Day Rock Climbing Field Trip...in New Zealand

2008-03-17T15:10:00.006+13:00

New Zealand is incredible. Not because of the sunsets, lush hills, myriads of waterfalls, or even the cheese. New Zealand is amazing because so many perfect days fall into place one right after another. Most of my days-if not all of them are perfect. "And Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man." Those are the elements to a good day: learn, exercise, spiritual growth, and being social. I realize that physical activity has been largely minuscule (great oxymoron) in my life now that I can compare it to biking every day and going to classes like kayaking, surfing, and rock climbing. I did some rough estimates last night and I think I've biked 303.6 miles since I've been in Invercargill.

I love that field trips here include being whisked away to lake-side bays for three days and being graded on tying knots. The 34 of us pitched tents next to Lake Wanaka on Glendhu Bay. When we got there the lake was perfectly reflecting Mount Aspiring. This stillness was later disturbed by the violent wind, but for our arrival it provided the perfect location for skipping rocks. Twenty-seven is my new record and I have two witnesses-Heather and Stefanie.

The next three days consisted of rock climbing. Rather unashamedly, it is my new love. I want so much to go home and invest in a harness, helmet, caribeaners, and a few slings and some rope. I want to practice tying water knots, clove hitches, figure eights, and alpine butterflies. I love clinging to a rock with shaking fingers and trying to grope my way around for a new hold. When you're not on the rock climbing you can eat, tell stories, belay a fellow Kiwi, read, or meet climbers from Germany, Italy, or Australia passing by.

Class discussions are usually held on the ground sitting cross-legged and occasionally trying to shake out a tingling leg from falling into that painful sleep. One night we had our debriefing and followed that by learning about the stars in the Southern Hemisphere. Orion comes in upside down and one uses the Southern Cross for navigation in lieu of the Polaris.

I slept outside of my tent. My face got a bit chilly from the persistent wind but it was well worth the view of a cloudless sky and a brilliant Milky Way. It's been a long time since I've seen so many stars. Views like that make you wonder why streets have to be lit at night and why cities have to poison the night sky with the street lights.

Apart from the scenery, it was just plain fun. I loved being with the entire group instead of divided into A and B groups. Taking over kitchen areas is just as fun now as it was during the first two weeks of camping. Playing kick-the-can in the dark and dodging other campers might be my new hobby. Playing tag in the dark with flashing headlamps is nothing more than a laugh attack. Getting to the top of a climb and earning the right to be belayed down is rewarding.

After having reached the top of my climb-which was the first time I reached the top, mind you-I was belaying Becky. She was frustrated at the same ledge I was stuck at for quite some time. Attempting to offer words of encouragement I shouted, "Everything you want is just out of reach from your comfort zone." I thought a minute about what a smart thing was to say. I believe the same thing equivocates to life: you have got to stretch yourself further than you want to if you want to work your way up.

The weather was bipolar. It would rain and then I'd be dying of heat wishing I didn't wear thermals. Then it would rain again and I'd hug the rock in hopes it would shield me from droplets. On the last day some of us did lead climbing. Haeree is a freaking ninja and can scale any wall. Kirsten and I went bouldering which made me oh so very happy. Megan Bird makes me laugh. Katie Jo and I have a lot of similarities. Kathy climbed with one hand and the other with only three usable fingers and one foot because she had to get stitches on the other. Katie Merrill giggles me with her word choice. Brooke is an inspiration because she actively seeks ways to overcome her fear of heights.

I'm here with the best group ever. These people are inspiring and accomplished. Janelle helped invent Honey Mustard Vinaigrette. Stefanie Tanner is a world-class jump roping champion. (She's been on Bill Nye!). Collectively we are musical, rugged, daring, ambitious, smart, and united. I love the spirit our group brings. I love that I just had a 3-day rock climbing field trip...in New Zealand.

One with the Waterfalls

2008-03-09T15:02:00.015+13:00

Maori belief is that everything has vibrations; that the water flowing through you is connected with the power flowing threw everything else. Water and flowing is very important in the culture and it is evident in their dances, weavings, and greetings.
This was my first time backpacking. I like it. I can honestly say that I didn't care I was wet. I was hiking threw New Zealand doing the Routeburn trail. I've seen more waterfalls in three hours than you'll see in your entire life.

I looked so hard core with my orange bandana. Stefanie had me make a critter face for the picture with my headlamp. My braids (plats, as they call them here) were a big hit. I also just happen to be wearing a real, live NZ army shirt. It's a wonder the things I can find in my closet.

The first night we stayed in a hut and bunked with people all over the world. The man accross from me was from Holland. We played Mafia while listening to water crashing down the mountain.

The next morning we looked out to the view and discovered that the night rain had brought a few more waterfalls. Such was the case throughout the entire tramp. So we all geared up in our multi-colored rain gear, believing it would be impenetratable by little drops of water.

*****
I have sometimes wondered how anyone can be as connected with water asMaori culture presents. Such is no longer a mystery.

I lived in a cloud for three days. It rained more than I've ever seen rain. I've hiked up waterfalls, down waterfalls, over waterfalls, under waterfalls, and I have become a waterfall. For the first while we were all stepping on rocks in streams. After a while we didn't care. My socks were wet. And I'm sure my rain gear helped some, but after the third swim I was wet.

That day we hiked a good 5 of 6 hours, meeting a man from Germany in a rest hut. This rest hut is just a small room with a toilet on the other side. This man was shivering and wet and so he crashed there during the night instead of making it to the bunks. He was dry when we met him but we told him not to bother putting on dry clothes. Best he just starts out wet.

The second night we camped in tents. We hung our long johns around the pavillion (as you can see in the backround of the pictures) and proceded to heat up our water. Stefanie Tanner, Erin Muir and I ate a feast of rice over our bunsen burner. We had some chicken soup in our tin bowls and it was so nice and warm to hold! Naturally we used it to heat up our cold noses.

We set up camp and all got ready for bed. It was only 6pm. Stefanie, Me and Erin decided to pitch our tent under the pavillion. We got a lot of grief from Jackapo saying that we weren't hard core. I say we were using our resources.

To pass the time we chatted and ate chocolate-covered almonds. I loved the chocolate-to-almond ratio.

The next morning we heated up water and had oatmeal. We lit Katie Paxton's shorts on fire. Well, we didn't mean to. It just sort of happened. This was the last day hiking. We only had to go 4 hours. We crossed through a massive waterfall, so massive we had to take the flood detour and even then I felt like I was in a hurricane.

It's kind of funny how your legs stop working the minute you're done tramping. It's a miracle I can walk. My poor little legs have been abused. All in all, it was the best tramping experience I've been on!

Routeburn

2008-03-01T19:42:00.003+13:00

Make sure you re-read my Crossed Off entry. Tell me if you feel like you're there. I'm trying to improve my ability to evoke specific emotion in others through my writing.

COMING SOON: *to be read aloud in movie-announcer voice*
Backpacking the mountain of a thousand waterfalls. One cloud. Three days. Eleven people. Will they drown while climbing up a cascading water wall or freeze to death wearing wet socks? Most importantly: do they have any cool pictures?

26 and 14

2008-02-27T10:42:00.003+13:00

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.

Crossed Off

2008-02-22T14:01:00.013+13:00

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.

Hard Core cuz I Live Hard Core....with an Orange Bandana

2008-02-19T16:02:00.005+13:00

NOW UPDATED WITH PICTURES AND DETAILS!

Monday 11
Ropes course. I am an animal. I fell off and 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.

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.

Kayaking 101, Waitangi Day, and Respecting Recreation

2008-02-10T16:25:00.000+13:00

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 here 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.

Playgrounds and Pals

2008-02-09T00:33:00.000+13:00

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.

Perpetuating Childhood

2008-02-05T13:38:00.000+13:00

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)

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.

Exeloo and Escapees

2008-02-01T16:23:00.002+13:00

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.

Suspended on Clouds

2008-01-29T19:15:00.000+13:00

Do you think you can walk yourself to death?

Probably.

I walked everywhere yesterday and my foot hurts. Not the kind of hurt from when you have just been walking for a while and your feet want to do nothing more than kick off those well-worn stepped-in-poop shoes and plop stockinged feet on the couch. No. I hurt my foot somehow and it sends a hate-message of pain every time my left foot feels the pressure from the ground. Ouch.

Anyhoo, Haeree and I ran to Kracker Jacks yesterday and went to the watertower and Queens Park and then back again. We went to the campus at 1PM to get our ID cards and then we went to a secondhand clothing store. We checked out some other stores around town and found a lolli shop with American foods like peanut butter M&Ms and A&W rootbeer. I got some rootbeer to give to Joyce and Neville's grandkids so they can know the beauty of the greatest fizz ever.

On the pilgrimage home we ran into one of the grandkids on the street. It's really cool to run into people on the street who aren't from BYU. It makes me feel like I belong here. I gave him the can of rootbeer and told him to share with his siblings when he gets home. I wish I could have seen his face when he tried it

I love the variety of beaches I've seen here: white sand, black sand, little pebbles, and big rocks. Today we went to a wood beach. A petrified forest. A disgusting amount of kelp had worked its way into a wee inlet and with every gush of every wave it looked like ginormous noodles about to overflow a rocky pot. Black birds with orange beaks and eerie red eyes scampered around. There were little pools of sea weed and I touched the beady, slimy things. Lisa found a dead crab in one of those pools and we decided to give it a proper sea burial. It was a beautiful service. (That's me and Lisa finding the crab)

I have been trying to take in life unfiltered. More frequently I find myself laying my sunglasses aside and looking at the green grass. It's a different shade in real life. The sky is much darker behind my purple lenses. I like it the way it truly is. And when the blue contrasts with the green I swear I can hear music in the meadows.

The clouds over the ocean try so hard to seamlessly blend into the sky. They don't make any shapes. It's like they're in a limbo between stratus and circulonimbus.

Enough of cloud talk.

Approximately 432 sheep later we found ourselves at the Curio Bay. I ate the delicious lunch Joyce packed for me. I feel like I'm in elementary school all over again with someone else packing my lunch for me.

I swam with wild dolphins.
Look closely in the wave. The dolphins are surfing in it.

I am jealous of myself. Ever since I was a girl I wanted to be a marine biologist and be swimming with dolphins. My own dreams are coming true right before my eyes. But my dreams come true while I'm awake.

Hard and Fast

2008-01-27T23:48:00.000+13:00

Monday, January 21
We packed up camp in Picton and headed for Kaikoura. We hiked the Queen Charlotte Trail and went to the beach. I held a funny crab. On our way to Kaikoura we stopped at a black sand beach. I saved a rock. Then I broke my sandal. The waves were massive and crashed wildly on the dark rocks. I saw sea lions on the rocks. Wild sea lions.

In Kaikoura we stayed about a 5 minute walk from the beach. We met some locals. They don't have one-dollar bills here but rather $1 coins and $2 coins. They all think it's so weird we have $1 notes. I showed them my American money and one boy wanted my dollar notes and I told him I needed it. He offered to pay me $1.50 for it. Being as we get NZ dollar for ever eighty-three cents I figured it was slightly in my favor so I gave him a useless $1 and got a very valuable $1.50 back. Those coins will come in handy for laundry or a toilet fee.

Tuesday, January 22
We woke up and packed up the tent. (What else is new?) and had wheat bix (a cereal) for breakfast and left for Kaikoura and went to Christchurch. This place is kind of like Boston in the sense that it is a good-sized city and it has the settled-in-the 1800's feel to it. We saw the Botanical gardens. They don't have maple trees here but they have massive pine-ish trees with branches sprouting out just inches from the bottom.

We got to stay in a motel for the 2 nights we were in Christchurch. That's lucky for us because those two nights it rained. That's the first we've seen of rain in New Zealand. They're having a drought. We stayed in a motel (Holiday Park) and it rained a bit so we were grateful not to be tramping around. Christchurch is definitely a happening town. They have a big pillow bubble on the campground. A girl bounced off of that and onto the sand and got the wind knocked out of her. Another dislocated her thumb. One girl was on the slide, fell off and smacked her face on the ground. She chipped her tooth and she was going to get it filled but it cracked all the way up so they pulled it out instead. Poor lass is missing a front tooth.

One of the drivers parked in a bus only zone and he got towed. So he had to hitch-hike to the towing company to get the car back and he somehow managed to talk himself out of 50% of the fee. Another driver got pulled over by a cop standing in the street and fined for not having his seat belt on.

So much drama in so little time!

Wednesday, January 23
Christchurch is a bigger city and they were having the World Busker Festival while we were there so there were lots of street performers. We saw the juggler who plays songs on the piano with his balls and walked the town at night. It kind of has a NYC feel to it except most of the shops close at 5. Most of New Zealand closes at 5. Very few stores are open 24 hours.

We went up to the top of the cathedral. Everyone is talking about Sir Edmund Hillary's funeral (he climbed Mt Everest and was the first to do so). I had a meat pie. They are pretty tasty.

I got home and circled my bug bites. I have 49 of them. I hate sand flies. They're worse than mosquitoes because you don't feel mosquitoes when they suck your blood. Sand flies bite so you feel their dirty teeth cut your flesh and then it itches like mad.

Thursday, January 24
We left Christchurch and went to Greymouth. This means we went to the West coast of New Zealand. We drove down really steep curves with 16% grade. (The steepest I've seen in the states is 8%). We hiked Devil's Punchbowl and saw the waterfalls. There are lots of waterfalls in New Zealand. And moss.

Greymouth is one of my favorites (Waitomo, Rotorua, and Picton coming in close seconds) We stayed on the beach. Well, not really. We stayed at the Holiday Park and the only thing separating us from the ocean was a row of trees. We just took the path and 10 steps later I was on the rocky beach watching the sun set on the Tasmanian Sea. We all thought it was the perfect setting for those romantic pictures so we all borrowed Ben and tried to take romantic pictures. It was hysterical.

Sunsets in New Zealand are different. The sky is still light even though the sun is not in sight.
At home the east side of the sky is a few shades darker than the west where the sun is slowly hiding behind the mountains. Not here. The sky is the same sky-blue color until it all turns dark. This lattitude is very weird. It only takes 15 minutes in the sun to burn. Wear sunscreen!

Friday, January 25
Greymouth to Cromwell. It was a lovely 8 hour drive. My bum is sore and I had more junkfood in those 8 hours than I've had in a long time. Sensation cookies...I mean biscuits...are delightful. Clunkers are like Whoppers. Crunchies are amazing and I'm sure I'm bring heaps of them home. Don't waste your money on gummies. Chase rigged up his laptop to watch movies and we had the car adapter so the sound went to the entire van. We watched "Stranger than Fiction" and "The Guardian." We also made a couple stops at glaciers.

GLACIERS ARE HUGE! The glaciers are the color of blue cotton candy. They make you feel small as a human being. Just when you think you're on top of the world the world reminds you you're just a pipsqueak. I can say that I've drunken glacier water from a waterfall and been at the beach all within two days. Cromwell looks a lot like Utah.

Saturday, January 26
Cromwell to Invercargill. It's only a 3 hour drive but it seemed to drag on forever. We stopped at Katarua Bridge and for you bungee jumping enthusiasts who already know, this is the birthplace of the thrill sport. It doesn't look that bad. I stood on the bridge and looked down and 100 feet really doesn't seem all that scary anymore.

We picked up a German hitchhiker named Judith. She's country-hopping for 6 months. Saturday was a weird day because we were all meeting our families. Everyone was nervous. It felt like I was being adopted. Kind of because I was being adopted. We FINALLY got to Invercargill and got a brief orientation. The bottom of the South Island was founded by Irish and Scottish so the accent is very different than the other parts of NZ. They say things like "wee" a lot. The first man showed up wearing a shirt that said "Save water. Drink Beer". That is Janell's and Cathy's pop. They told us today at church that their pop (named Jed) went to the pub last night and he was talking with his mates and he signed up Cathy and Janell for some touch rugby. (He knew Janell was on the women's rugby team)

I met my family. I have Neville and Joyce. I definitely live with old people. I'm just really happy to have sturdy walls that don't collapse every morning, bed sheets, and real silverware. Simple convieniences that I've been without for two weeks.

My room is purple. Purple curtains with purple bedspread. There are nicknack's and creepy dolls everywhere. The toilet is in the laundry room and the bathroom has no toilet. Mirrors are in random places and never where you expect them to be. Haeree and I got here and Joyce gave us both late birthday presents. I got a ballerina bear trinket with a garnet. Cute, huh? We had quiche and homegrown tomatoes for dinner.

I got homesick for the first time last night. The first two weeks were just like I was on vacation in Florida because everything is so American here it's like I never left the states. Not until I got settled in and realized that I'm surrounded by people who talk fast and staying in a room that isn't mine did I realize that home is a LONG ways away.

Don't worry. I have my blanky.

Neville works fork lifting tires. Joyce works in the post office. We talked awhile about the different words we have for things.
Footpath=sidewalk
Have a lion=sleep in
Jandals=flip flops
Sausages=hotdogs
Hotdog=corndog
Chips=French fries
Crisps=chips
Candyfloss=cotton candy
Lollies=candy

Mostly they accent funny parts of words like a garage is a Gar-adge. They laugh at the way we say Addidas. They say toe-matto.

Their grandkids came for a bit. Georgina is 9, Harrison is 11, and Jonathan is 13. I wrote in my profile that I play the guitar so Joyce made sure to have Jonathan bring his. It's electric. And left handed. Everything is backwards. I had a handstand contest with Georgina and we played a little Crickett. Harrison tired to explain rugby to us.

THINGS I NEED TO SHOW THESE POOR DEPRIVED CHILDREN:
rootbeer floats
7 layer chip dip
fry sauce
funeral potatos
symphony bars
Sweedish fish (NO Sweedish fish??!!! What's wrong with the world?!)

Sunday, January 27
Today (Sunday) Haeree and I went to church with the other 34 of us. We easily doubled if not tripled the branch. The Relief Society sisters tried to teach us to read Maori. The e makes the sound like ay. Kind of like the first part of egg. We all told each other about our families. Stefanie said that her lady keeps asking every hour if they would like some hot Milo (like Ovaltine) or some hot tea (herbal because they all got the "What Mormons don't Eat" pep talk). She was in bed and the lady walks in, "Milo?". Jackie keeps saying yes when her family offers her something to drink and so she has to use the toilet all the time. Most of the home stays are older ladies. Some are older couples and seldom have children at home.

After church we went to the farm for Kylie's birthday. (She's a grand daughter of Neville and Joyce) I swam in the creek and did cannon balls off the side. Haeree and I had to change into our swim togs behind some trees. We fed moldy bread to the sheep and tried mighty hard to sit on one. I got my legs straddled on one for wee bit. (I'll already picking up the accent! But it's more Scottish than the soft New Zealand.) We played spring ball. It's like teatherball but with a spring instead of a straight pole and a tennis ball instead of a teatherball.

We had trifle and pudding and jelly (jello) and wonderful sausages (hotdogs) and hamburgers. I'm sure I had enough chocolate to last a long time, and showed everyone American money. They told us that they never sing the national anthem at rugby games or have bands or anything. Haeree and I sang our school fight songs for them and the Star Spangled Banner. They don't even take their hat off for the flag here. Gah! I really want to listen to a big brass band here. Because the weather is so warm it feels like it's summer. And summer means Independance Day and bands. It's really hard to realize that it's still January and we just finished Christmas. Groundhog day is in a week.

Summer for me is going to last a good 7 months. I'm already getting a better tan than what I had.

It's kind of weird to be settled. I have been living out of a suitcase for 2 weeks but it feels SO much longer than that. Days here just seem to stretch on forever. Despite driving on the right side of the road there are a few minor but drastic differences between here and the states. For starters there are almost always two faucets in sinks. One spits out hot water and the other cold. There is no option to turn both knobs and make warm water.

The toilet tank is set above the seat rather than right behind it. Light switches are more like the lock and unlock buttons in the car. The dial tone on the phone sounds weird so I never know if the phone is working or giving me the busy signal. Grocery stores are interesting. There is one entrance and it forces you to walk through the bakery and the fruit. Eggs are not refrigerated here. Avocados are pretty cheap. The cheddar cheese is INCREDIBLE because they don't color it orange. They keep it white.

Despite what Mark said, Mexican food is not that hard to find. We've had tortillas and chips every day. Simple American mustard is, however, a real find because everything here is honey mustard. I don't think New Zealanders know what a dill pickle is. Most roads are really curvy. There are more sheep here than people. Libraries are pathetically small. Drinking fountains do not exist. (I have found only 2 in the past 14 days).

As for not having a camera, Becky in our group is going to make us all DVDs with all the pictures and everyone has been downloading their pictures on her laptop so I get pictures with other people and it's not bad and I know I'm going to get the pictures later. Life without a camera, cell phone, or watch has been liberating. I actually rather like experiencing life hard and fast and without worrying about recording it. I like slurping up life like I devour orange juice through a straw; fighting for the last droplet.

One Week Down!

2008-01-20T21:12:00.001+13:00

This has been an incredible week in New Zealand. Here's a short recap of my life:
Thursday, January 10
I took the longest plane ride of my life to Auckland, New Zealand. Air New Zealand is the only way to fly. They use REAL dishes instead of plastic stuff.

Friday, January 11
Never happened in my life

Saturday January 12
We landed in Auckland and drove to Whitianga (pronounced Fitianga) and played on the swingset at a park and I had fish and chips.

Sunday January 13
They have incredible cheese here and they don't color it orange so it's all yellow. I've spent a lot of time in the car road tripping across the country. We went to the temple in Hamilton and had a little guitar/singing fest with some natives we found. Then I broke my camera. It's been broken ever since but I had a great picture of the temple! We went to Waitomo (my favorite place so far)
Monday, January 14
I went Black water tubing and saw glow worms. I saw a rabbit get sheared. It's the fluffiest rabbit I've seen in my life! That's me and Stefanie after it lost it's fluffiness. Other people have taken on my habbit of picking up trash. I met a real mandolin player who took guitar lessons from Andy McGee. We went on a cool hike that was all jungly. I swung on a vine. I explored caves. It smelled like mint. We heard the calls of exotic birds like the ones you hear on cds of the Amazon. I saw a possum and at midnight we brought in my birthday.

Tuesday, January 15
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME in New Zealand. I found some cards my mom had packed away and they made me happy. We had french toast with fruit. Definitely the best breakfast yet. My tent mate gave me baloon animals. Everyone sang to me. I'm basically sure I've heard every version. We went luging in Rotorua and I swung into a creek from a tire swing and went kayaking and picked up trash. We also tried to make the perfect diving picture. Do you think we got it?

Wednesday, January 16
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME in the United States. I went to the Agrodome and went zorbing and it was basically worth every penny. They let us all get ran over by a zorb. I'm the one lying down closest to the ball. They would never let you do that in the states. I went to town and saw the library of Rotorua. It's a pretty snazzy town. I also saw the Maori dances and did the whole cultural experience thing.

Thursday, January 17
We left Rotorua and left for Taupo and went swimming in the clearest lake I've seen in my life. I swam to the buoy.

Friday, January 18
I hiked the paths of Mordor! And I did it with Legolas hair. That's me with a waterfall. I taught a lot of people guitar.

Saturday, January 19
We left for Wellington, the capitol. Then we hopped the ferry to go to the south island and I've got to tell you that is one incredible ride. The lushful green mountains just pop out of the blue ocean and it's about as gorgeous as you can get.

Sunday, January 20
We went to church and had sea urchin with the members after. I also touched an eel. It's SO pretty here and the weather is surprisingly warm for January.

Agnew Family

2007-12-22T16:03:00.000+13:00

I got my rooming assignment for New Zealand. I'll be living with Haeree (pronounced like Eddie with an H in front). She's from Wyoming. We'll be living with the Agnew Family. They sent me a picture of them on a word document so I can't load it on. From the picture all I can tell you is that I'll be living with Neville and Joyce, two white grandparent-aged folks. It's not quite like living with the brown-skinned Kiwis I imagined but I'm praying that they'll have accents.

New Zealand or Buts....I mean Bust!

2007-11-10T08:46:00.000+13:00

Behold the country of my inhabitance for the next four months.

Looking at the map (click on it to enlarge), we'll start in Auckland and slowly work our way down to Invercargill. We'll visit the Mormon temple in Hamilton. I'll go backpacking on Stewart Island which is probably as close to Antartica as I'll ever get.

I don't plan on posting on this blog for a while but I intend to diligently post on this blog once I'm down where toilets flush the other way. But yeah, that's where I'll be next semster. When the program is over I will be going to Australia and then Fiji and arrive home on the 25th. Don't hate me!