I'm sitting at my desk very unmotivated yet fully aware I have a big project due in little more than a week. This project will take a lot of time but for some reason or another I really just don't care. To be honest I really feel like I'm done with school in New Zealand but unfortunately that is not the case and I really have 5 more weeks left. I'm sure that time will go by quickly, but right now I kind of want to pack up and go home. I know I'm not the only one here who feels like that though. Most of the other exchange students feel the same way so hopefully the next few weeks will go by quickly and without too much stress. However, due to my lack of motivation I'm sure the next couple of weeks will be pretty stressful.
Some good news though. A couple of my teammates just told me that I am the new captain of Cornell Rugby Football Club. It will be a honor to be the captain for the coming year and I am excited to bring a new system and structure to the club. I have been actively remembering plays and drills for us to use next year and I hope everyone else is as excited and geared up as I am to bring Cornell back to winning ways.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Easter Break
Alright...it's been a long time since I've last written so there is a lot to catch up on. To be honest I really need to get started on my Soils project but this is a good enough reason as any to procrastinate just a little bit longer.
Beginning of break: Went to Queenstown, very much a tourist town but a fun little place nonetheless. I already wrote about the Nevis, but we also went to an Icebar which was made completely of ice, including the cups. Another highlight was eating a Fergburger, a really large and wonderfully delicious burger that has become famous for a good reason.
Came back to campus Sunday evening, chilled Monday, and flew out Tuesday to visit Melbourne.
Melbourne: Australian customs are really really uptight about letting people into Australia. I did not know Michael's address so wrote down his phone number only to be told that I had to know where I was staying by law. Then when questioned why I was in Australia, visiting friends did not seem like a valid reason. After completely unpacking my bag and me telling them I think he lives in Western Melbourne they let me through. However to be fair if someone told you that they were visiting a friend for a week that they knew from Cambodia I might be a little suspicious too.
Michael picked me up from the airport on his bike, and with the duffelbag on my shoulders and not holding on properly I almost fell off when the throttle opened at the first light. Saw a really nice night skyline of Melbourne on the way back to the house. Over the next couple of days Michael, Messi (his housemate), David (a friend), and I really enjoyed ourselves. From just relaxing and hanging out to going to different clubs and seeing the nightlife of Melbourne we had a really good time. Some of the highlights of the trip:
Going to the Casino: lost my $20 pretty fast, so basically I am really unlucky and I am not too stoked about trying Casino again.
Get together at Michaels and Messi's house on Thursday: It was a fun house party, relaxing, talking, and meeting other friends. Later we went out on the town which was also a lot of fun.
Meeting up with Lynette in the middle of Melbourne: On Monday night Michael, Lauren, and I met up with Lynette in Melbourne and went out to eat at Shanghai Dumplings. It was a really interesting place tucked away in a back alley. The food was really good and the service was as inpersonal as possible. They were really trying to get rid of everyone as fast as possible. However it was a lot of fun. Lauren unfortunatley had to go home, but Michael, Lynette, and I went and got Gelatto icecream, sat outside the State Library and later went to a bar to play some pool. Overall it was great seeing Lynette again and I hope she enjoyed it as much as I did. It's funny that although we were meeting up across the world from where we normally run into each other it really did not feel any different from back in Ithaca.
Overall it was a fantastic trip and I'm planning on returning to Melbourne for Michael's 21st birthday. Atleast this time I will be able to write down where I will be staying.
Beginning of break: Went to Queenstown, very much a tourist town but a fun little place nonetheless. I already wrote about the Nevis, but we also went to an Icebar which was made completely of ice, including the cups. Another highlight was eating a Fergburger, a really large and wonderfully delicious burger that has become famous for a good reason.
Came back to campus Sunday evening, chilled Monday, and flew out Tuesday to visit Melbourne.
Melbourne: Australian customs are really really uptight about letting people into Australia. I did not know Michael's address so wrote down his phone number only to be told that I had to know where I was staying by law. Then when questioned why I was in Australia, visiting friends did not seem like a valid reason. After completely unpacking my bag and me telling them I think he lives in Western Melbourne they let me through. However to be fair if someone told you that they were visiting a friend for a week that they knew from Cambodia I might be a little suspicious too.
Michael picked me up from the airport on his bike, and with the duffelbag on my shoulders and not holding on properly I almost fell off when the throttle opened at the first light. Saw a really nice night skyline of Melbourne on the way back to the house. Over the next couple of days Michael, Messi (his housemate), David (a friend), and I really enjoyed ourselves. From just relaxing and hanging out to going to different clubs and seeing the nightlife of Melbourne we had a really good time. Some of the highlights of the trip:
Going to the Casino: lost my $20 pretty fast, so basically I am really unlucky and I am not too stoked about trying Casino again.
Get together at Michaels and Messi's house on Thursday: It was a fun house party, relaxing, talking, and meeting other friends. Later we went out on the town which was also a lot of fun.
Meeting up with Lynette in the middle of Melbourne: On Monday night Michael, Lauren, and I met up with Lynette in Melbourne and went out to eat at Shanghai Dumplings. It was a really interesting place tucked away in a back alley. The food was really good and the service was as inpersonal as possible. They were really trying to get rid of everyone as fast as possible. However it was a lot of fun. Lauren unfortunatley had to go home, but Michael, Lynette, and I went and got Gelatto icecream, sat outside the State Library and later went to a bar to play some pool. Overall it was great seeing Lynette again and I hope she enjoyed it as much as I did. It's funny that although we were meeting up across the world from where we normally run into each other it really did not feel any different from back in Ithaca.
Overall it was a fantastic trip and I'm planning on returning to Melbourne for Michael's 21st birthday. Atleast this time I will be able to write down where I will be staying.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Nevis Bungee
At 134 m it is the highest bungee in the Australasia region and the 2nd highest in the World. 8 seconds of free fall, count out 8 seconds in your head...that is a long time. Overall it was ****ing Awesome! Jumped with my eyes wide open the whole time. Canyon and water rush up at you at over 120 km/h and you just don't stop. The second bounce is over 60 meters long...once again ****ing Awesome.
Smile for the camara
Look at that view...
And it just keeps coming
and coming
You stop 10 meters from the bottom
Its a long way down, you cant even see the bottom in this picture
The Nevis bungee.
Smile for the camara
Look at that view...
And it just keeps coming
and coming
You stop 10 meters from the bottom
Its a long way down, you cant even see the bottom in this picture
The Nevis bungee.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Kaikora
Hey everyone, it has been a while since I've updated you all on my activities so here goes.
Kaikora: Last Weekend I went with Nathan, Lori, Kendra, and Tenise (Kendra is Nathans cousin and Tenise is her friend) to Kaikora where we met up with Allison, Alex (it was her birthday weekend), Brad, Jen, Mandi, Sarah, Hannah, Julia, and Rachel. The busride was uneventful but scenic as always. Upon arrival we met everyone at a nice cafe and had a deserved breakfast, which was really good, after having gotten up at 6am and driven into town for the bus by Nick and Tracy. After getting our things put away in the hostel we all decided to go on a walk around the penninsula however instead of turning right we turned left and procedded to walk a long way down the beach in the wrong direction.
Although we eventually figured out our mistake we decided to keep walking since it was really relaxing and peaceful.
The beach was a black pebble beach and the pebbles were almost grains of sand, but not quite so they were really easy to dust off and pleasant to lie down and play in. After spending a while there messing around we cunningly left Nathan and Hannah on the beach leaving them a stick message of our new destination.
Later that day Brad, Rachel, Lori, Julia, Mandi and I went sea kayaking with NZ Fur seals. That too was really enjoyable. We got to get really close to the seals, less than a meter away and follow them through the water.
They were two person kayaks and since I was in the back I could control the rudder with my feet, however it took a while to get used to controlling it because unlike conventional rudders if you pressed right the kayak would go right. On the way back to land Mandi and I also saw a couple cows grazing on what I would deem a cliff. I now assume that cows in NZ have been bred with mountain goats.
When we got back to the hostel we all quickly jumped in the hot tub since everyone else was busy cooking one of the best meals I have ever had. It was Alex's birthday dinner and we ate pasta with a really good sauce, salmon, risotto, salad, and shrimp. Jen provided some good wine and for desert we gave Alex a birthday cake along with champagne for everyone and then finished off the night with Amarula which everyone really enjoyed.
Later that night we all went out to a pub called Strawberry Inn where we danced the night away to every genre of music and had a really good time.
Luckily our weekend was not done yet. We decided to go on a sunrise walk around the peninsula, so at the ungodly hour of 6am and only a few hours of rest we woke up to walk around the peninsula. Along the way I carried the girls over a small river so they wouldn't have to get wet, watched the sunrise, got really really close to awakening fur seals and had a really nice walk. We got back at around 10 and had breakfast. The six tuplets aka Mizzou girls and Brad left at noon but Nathan, Lori, Kendra, and Tenise had to wait till 3:30 for our bus. We went to the beach and lay there till it was time. At one point Lori and I were bored so we made some more stick messages. Kaikora was really beautiful so I will now just add pictures and you can get a better feel about what I am writing about.
Overall that weekend was:
Kaikora: Last Weekend I went with Nathan, Lori, Kendra, and Tenise (Kendra is Nathans cousin and Tenise is her friend) to Kaikora where we met up with Allison, Alex (it was her birthday weekend), Brad, Jen, Mandi, Sarah, Hannah, Julia, and Rachel. The busride was uneventful but scenic as always. Upon arrival we met everyone at a nice cafe and had a deserved breakfast, which was really good, after having gotten up at 6am and driven into town for the bus by Nick and Tracy. After getting our things put away in the hostel we all decided to go on a walk around the penninsula however instead of turning right we turned left and procedded to walk a long way down the beach in the wrong direction.
Although we eventually figured out our mistake we decided to keep walking since it was really relaxing and peaceful.
The beach was a black pebble beach and the pebbles were almost grains of sand, but not quite so they were really easy to dust off and pleasant to lie down and play in. After spending a while there messing around we cunningly left Nathan and Hannah on the beach leaving them a stick message of our new destination.
Later that day Brad, Rachel, Lori, Julia, Mandi and I went sea kayaking with NZ Fur seals. That too was really enjoyable. We got to get really close to the seals, less than a meter away and follow them through the water.
They were two person kayaks and since I was in the back I could control the rudder with my feet, however it took a while to get used to controlling it because unlike conventional rudders if you pressed right the kayak would go right. On the way back to land Mandi and I also saw a couple cows grazing on what I would deem a cliff. I now assume that cows in NZ have been bred with mountain goats.
When we got back to the hostel we all quickly jumped in the hot tub since everyone else was busy cooking one of the best meals I have ever had. It was Alex's birthday dinner and we ate pasta with a really good sauce, salmon, risotto, salad, and shrimp. Jen provided some good wine and for desert we gave Alex a birthday cake along with champagne for everyone and then finished off the night with Amarula which everyone really enjoyed.
Later that night we all went out to a pub called Strawberry Inn where we danced the night away to every genre of music and had a really good time.
Luckily our weekend was not done yet. We decided to go on a sunrise walk around the peninsula, so at the ungodly hour of 6am and only a few hours of rest we woke up to walk around the peninsula. Along the way I carried the girls over a small river so they wouldn't have to get wet, watched the sunrise, got really really close to awakening fur seals and had a really nice walk. We got back at around 10 and had breakfast. The six tuplets aka Mizzou girls and Brad left at noon but Nathan, Lori, Kendra, and Tenise had to wait till 3:30 for our bus. We went to the beach and lay there till it was time. At one point Lori and I were bored so we made some more stick messages. Kaikora was really beautiful so I will now just add pictures and you can get a better feel about what I am writing about.
Overall that weekend was:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)