Taupo, among other things

Yes, this is a week overdue, but what can I say? It's nearing the end of the semester, and I am becoming very busy. I ran into one of my friends last week, and we were both like, "We HAVE to sit down and catch up - but not before next Friday!" Next week is the last week of class, and then the finals period begins. I have three tests next week (one on Monday, two on Thursday), so I will be working hard. Thankfully, I only have one final (on October 19 at 9:30AM), so that won't be terribly stressful.

Unrelated note: electronics woes are (hopefully) behind me! I have my mobile back, all repaired, and I have a new camera! Insurance finally released the purchase orders for both the camera and memory card, so I picked both up today from Camera House. I am so happy to finally have a camera again. It was very annoying to 1) not have one and 2) have to deal with the insurance company about replacing it. Crazy thiefs, I wonder if they ever think about that side of it when they steal something. Do you reckon they think, 'I am going to cause this unknown person so much irritation at having to deal with the insurance company for 6 weeks.' Irritating.

Anyways, to the topic at hand. Last Friday I journeyed up to Taupo with three other girls (Amy, Meredith, and Lauren, an AustraLearn student from Wisconsin), where we met Alicia, another Ambassadorial Scholar from Texas in Auckland. The drive up was crazy. First, our rental car was a bit dodgy. Meredith drove, and she said that she had never put her foot all the way to the floor before. This car had no acceleration whatsoever. It smelled like a smoker's car, as well, so that was a bit irritating. Also, because of logistics (dropping off cars, classes, etc), we couldn't leave Wellington until right before 5PM. We hit a huge traffic jam, and it took us an hour and a half to get to just Paraparaumu! We made a lot of jokes about there being only one road to go anywhere in New Zealand , that's why there was so much traffic. We stopped in Bulls for a kebab and made it to Taupo around 11:15PM. We found the YHA, piled out of the vintage (as we began affectionately calling the white car), and found our room. Alicia was already there, so we did what all girls do and sat down to have a big gossip/catch-up session. Apparently, we were a little loud and got a knock on the wall from our neighbours, but it was fun all the same.

What nobody would talk about was the fact that less than 12 hours from seeing each other, we would be jumping out of a plane. Yup, that's right. I went to Taupo to jump out of a plane, and it was amazing. We couldn't have asked for a better day on Saturday. It was fairly warm, perfectly clear, great sun, everything right. We used a highly-recommended company called Skydive Taupo, and I say everyone should use them. They were so friendly. They picked us up at the YHA in a pimp 80s-style limo and took us to the metal shed that they use as a base. OK, so it is more than a metal shed, but that's about all. They were really cool, really relaxed, and made it very enjoyable. We decided to jump from 12,000 feet. We went in two groups: Amy, Meredith, and Alicia went up first, and Lauren and I went second. We had a lot of fun putting on our gear, striking poses, and generally hanging around. We all also got the personalized DVD. One of the cool things is that you can pick your own music, and they have you talking on the ground and in the plane and in the air and everything. I have the Top Gun theme, the "Whoohoo" song by Blur, and Alive by Pearl Jam on my DVD.

I never got nervous about jumping out of the plane. I was never thinking about not doing it. It is just something that I have always wanted to do, that I have always known I would do, and I went and did it. Now, let's be honest here, are any of you actually surprised that I did it? I love flying, and this was an extension of that love. I never thought about not going out of the plane. That's the thing about doing a tandem skydive; you don't push yourself out of the plane. One second we were in the plane and the next we weren't. The first time you go skydiving, it is a sensory overload. I am so happy I have the DVD so that I can look back on it and really remember. You are going so fast, up to 200kph,the wind is rushing by, your face is freezing cold, and everywhere you look, you see such a beautiful landscape. Skydiving over Taupo was an excellent idea because you get the lake, the mountains, and the city, all at once. It was exhilerating and peaceful all at the same time. It never crossed my mind how I was (basically) plummeting to earth. I was drinking in the scenery, the feeling of flying through the air. After the 45 second freefall (12000 to 5000 feet), the parachute opened, and we floated down for about 5 minutes. Everyone should do this at least once, if not multiple times. Find some amazing scenery, hop in a plane, and then jump out of it. The girls who were more nervous about doing it said they would do it again; it is that awesome of an experience.

After skydiving, my weekend took a turn for the worse. We went out for lunch, and crazy people put some sort of milk in my eggs, even though I requested no milk. I think what happened is that they put cream in the eggs. You would be amazed how many people think that cream, or cheese, or other dairy products, are not made with milk. I can't tell you how many times I have had to explain that, and it seems fairly obvious to me. Well, whatever, there it is. I spent the rest of the afternoon in bed or in a chair reading back at the YHA while the girls went up to Huka Falls and explored Taupo. Aside from being sick, it was an enjoyable afternoon. I had a new book that I was excited to read, so that was nice. Also, the view from the deck was magnificent. I felt somewhat better the next day, so, although I didn't eat anything substantial, I was able to walk partway along the Two/Three/Four Mile Walk around Lake Taupo.

We finished the walk, and then tried to leave Taupo. First, the battery was dead, and we were saved by some very nice Kiwis with jumper cables. Then, Lauren had left her jacket on the ground, so we doubled back to retrieve it. On the way home, we stopped for dinner in Palmerston North. This was a little out of our way, but we wanted to see the city. It really is quite charming, even on the Sunday evening when most things are closed. A funny thing happened in the cafe. Amy has a sparkling, radient personality, and she attracts people to her, even people who don't even know her. This manifested itself in the cafe when an unknown person joined us for dinner. It's the sort of thing that always happens to Amy, and it makes for a good story now. It wasn't an unpleasant meal, chatting with someone from a different walk of life, and it is entertaining now. We made it back into Wellington in the rain on Sunday night at some undetermined hour (meaning I can't remember).

The following week (i.e. this past week) was mainly about schoolwork. I had a speech in Heretaunga on Wednesday, and that went well. This was the most male-exclusive club at which I have spoken, and it made for a different feel to the club. When you visit so many different Rotary clubs, you become sensitive to the different variations and nuances that seperate one club from the next. It was a fun evening, and I enjoyed the ride with Ian (the Rotarian who picked me up in Wellington). We ended up being early, so he gave me a brief tour around Hutt City before arriving to the meeting.

That's about it for here. I probably won't be posting much over the next week because I will be so busy studying for my exams. Then it is all over, though! Of course, I have the exam, and I am taking summer papers, but in my mind, summer starts next Friday.

Weekly Pictures (delayed)

This is from my speech at the Paraparaumu club on the Kapiti coast. I am exchanging my Rotary flag for theirs with the president, Geoff Gregory.

I stayed the night with the Gregorys, and the next day they took me around for a bit of sightseeing. One of the places we went was a wildlife sanctuary and native flora preserve, and it had fantastic views of the mountains to the east.

Of course, being a wildlife preserve, I got to see things like kiwi birds and swans and owls, but there was a fair amount of ducks waddling around, as well.

Now, Paraparaumu was two weeks ago, on 12 September. This past weekend I went up to Taupo. This is a mountain nearby Taupo (I don't believe it is Mt. Ruapehu, I believe Ruapehu is a little to the left), and Lake Taupo seperates us from the mountain in the picture.

Now, what did I go up to Taupo to do? To go SKYDIVING of course! This is me and my 'tandem' Phil right before jumping in the not-so-stable plane to fly up to 12,000 feet.

I don't have any pictures of me from really high up (although I do have a fantastic DVD), so this is the best we are going to get. We had 45 seconds of free fall from 12 to 5000 feet, and then we floated down on parachutes. I believe here we are actually spiraling down quickly to lose altitude.

Working Backwards

I haven't posted much about my life recently, and I do have a lot to tell. I am going to work backwards through my week; hopefully I won't forget anything.

First thing, I have once again realized tonight what an awesome organization Rotary is. I was just chilling in my room when this Asian kid knocks on my door. Turns out he is a former multi-year Ambassadorial Scholar who is also living in my accommodation. He recently visited the Tawa Club, a club I have been to twice, and he rode out to the meeting with Brian Blacktop, the same guy who drove me. Brian mentioned that I was an Ambassadorial Scholar in Wellington, and Harufumi looked up my information on the district website. Since he lives in my dorm, he recognized my phone number and found my room based on my extension. Smaller world? One of his friends here, Colin something-or-other, who lives on the floor above me, is a Georgia Tech student as well. He is here for the trimester. Crazy, huh? There has been a GT student living above me all semester, and I had no idea. This kind of thing is what makes Rotary so amazing; it brings together random strangers from all over the world who happen to have the same organization in common. I have all my Rotary banners of the clubs I have visited hung up on my wall, so we got to talk about where each of us have been and what the clubs are like. It was very cool to make that unexpected connection.

Earlier this evening, I went to the World of Wearable Art Awards Show with Amy, Meredith, and Lauren. I don't think I can sufficiently describe WOW without pictures, but I will try. Imagine a fashion show crossed with Cirque de Soleil. Crazy costumes, amazing choreography, great lighting and sets, but no acrobatics or circus tricks (at least, not many, and not the focus). The costumes are astounding. So original, truly walking works of art. Please check out http://www.worldofwearableart.com. Amy and Meredith had gotten some sort of email about going, and luckily they included me as well. We got all dolled up and went down to the events centre on Queen's Wharf. It was a good enjoyable evening. This show was just so cool!

Backtracking even earlier in my day, I heard a speech from Terrance O'Brian in my POLS 244 class today. He is the former New Zealand ambassador to the United Nations. Typically, this wouldn't warrent a post. I know about how the UN works, and while it would be interesting to hear about how exactly NZ has been instumental in the 80s and 90s as a UN Security Council member, it wouldn't be first on my list to include in a post. So, here I was, halfway paying attention in class (you know, taking notes with a wandering mind), when I suddenly become very focused on what he is saying. This was supposed to be a speech about the workings of the UN and how NZ fits into that model, but it ended up being a speech about how badly the United States is behaving. The United States is bringing down the UN, leaving to work unilaterally (not incorrect, at least), not willing to work for the common good and compromise its interests, etc. The bad boy of the 193 member states. I am glossing over a lot of what was said, but it was a very anti-american speech. Typically, when I am prepared for anti-americanism, I can handle it pretty well; I was prepared for it when I heard Keith Locke, an MP for the Greens, speak, and I was ready with questions. I wasn't expecting it from Terrance O'Brian, and it really unsettled me, more so than any anti-american speeches have before.

Yesterday I gave a presentation to the Hutt Valley Rotary Club. Hutt Valley meets at 7AM on Wednesday mornings, and Mark was outside Mckenzies waiting to pick me up at 6:20. So early! That is officially the earliest I have woken up since coming to NZ (5:10AM, by 1 minute). I was crazy tired for the whole rest of the day, despite a nap around 11:30, but it was worth it. The people of Hutt Valley were incredibly nice and welcoming, more so than I would expect at 7AM in the middle of the week. My speech went really well. Mark came with me because he had not seen my presentation before (he was away on business), and I am glad that he did because not only has he now seen it but he flipped my slides for me! I was too far away from the computer and projector to do it myself. This was also the first time I have not had my computer right in front of me, so I couldn't see the powerpoint while I was giving the presentation. Even with all that, I feel like the presentation was one of the better ones that I have done, and it was very well received. It was a good morning, even if it was really early.

The next thing prior to that meeting is the wrapping-up of my technological troubles. In case you forgot, my mobile phone broke almost immediately after my digital camera was stolen. I sent my phone off to get fixed, but it took forever. My landline doesn't have an answering service, so the mobile fone repair (MfR) company never talked to me so I could give them the go-ahead to fix the phone or tell me when to pick it up, even though I had asked them to email me. So, it takes about a month to get the phone fixed. I get it back earlier this week, and when I check my messages, low and behold, the insurance company had left me messages about two weeks prior saying that they had forwarded my claim to a camera store in Lambton Quey (a shopping district in Wellington), and could I please contact them to follow up on the claim? The camera store also left me messages, asking me to follow up. I call, tell them yes, I still want to claim the camera, and they order it! That simple! They said it should be here in a few days, so I am really hoping it will be in tomorrow. I am a little irked that everything took much longer than it should have, but at least my technological woes should soon be resolved.

As a sidenote, my international students' insurance is really coming in handy. It was $445 for the entire time I am here, including travel time. So far, I have claimed $25 for a doctor's visit, roughly $449 for replacing the camera, $129 for the 512mb memory card, and I just sent in a $140 claim for fixing my cell phone. Thank goodness for insurance!

I believe the only thing to say came before all of that but after the last time I posted was the chilled weather earlier in the week. Spring came rather early, so everything was in bloom, it was getting warmer, and the lambing had begun. Then, SNAP! Cold weather is back. Crazy frosts, bone-chilling southerlies, and gusting winds. Yes, I almost got knocked over one day when I wasn't paying attention. It was also really rainy in the beginning of the week. Thankfully, that has cleared out some, and the sunshine has made it warm up some more.

Also, tonight was a really nice night, one of those nights that makes me realize all over again how much I love living in Wellington. I walked home down Lambton Quey and Willis Street, and it was nice, all the stores were closed by the cafes were open and inviting. I stopped in to New World Metro to pick up some dinner (I hadn't had a chance to get it earlier), and the late-night grocery people were so nice. I really do love living in Wellington.

Also, in other news, I have an awesome little little sister now. My little is happy, and others approve, so I am happy. Sadly, I can't spill the secret of her identity just yet (Revelation is still a week away), but it is going to be great. A real rockstar addition to the coolest Alpha Chi family. :)

Now, off to bed. I am tired and still need to clean and pack. I am going to Taupo for the weekend, so I won't be around til Sunday night at the earliest.

There's something about MMP ...

There is something about the MMP (Mixed Member Parliament) system that is leaving countries deadlocked in elections this season. Both New Zealand and Germany have heads of political parties fighting to be strong enough to form a stable government.

Before I get into this whole election thing, I want to say that it has been a very entertaining election. The campaign period is 6 weeks long, and it has been a crazy six weeks. There have been leaked emails, secret meetings, accusations of National policies being dictated by American think-tanks, a candidate betting his left testicle on the outcome of the election (which led to National leader Don Brash asking his candidates to not mention their testicles), harrassment charges, another candidate threatening to run naked through the streets of Epsom if Rodney Hide was re-elected, and so much more. It went right up to when the ballots were being counted! On election night, someone stole a plane from an airfield in Auckland, theatened to crash it in to the Sky Tower (the tallest building in Auckland), before crashing into the harbour, all supposedly in an attempt to get his wife back. Staying home on Saturday night to watch the results come in was very entertaining.

One more thought before I begin. New Zealand is all in one time zone, which means all the polls open and close at the same time. I think this is much better than in the United States. First of all, there can be no campaigning on election day. All billboards must be covered up, all bumper stickers removed, all leaflets trashed, etc. Supporters can only wear the party colours, not specific names. Also, all media coverage starts when the polls close. I think it is a bad situation when, in the United States, you have coverage beginning three hours before people in California stop voting. If I was a left-leaning Californian who heard that Bush had carried most of the East Coast, it would possibly get me out to the voting booths whereas before I wouldn't have voted. It can also swing the other way. If I was the same voter and saw the Bush had carried so many states that mine probably wouldn't matter, I may be discouraged and stay away from the polls whereas before I may have voted. Therefore, media coverage before polls close skews voter turnout. I believe everyone should vote (especially because I say you can't complain if you don't vote, and everyone always wants to complain), but I also think the media should lay off until the polls are closed.

Now, on to MMP and New Zealand (and Germany).

For those of you who don't know (and that probably includes the majority of you Americans!), MMP is a style of government which, in practice, allows the smaller parties to play a larger role in politics. Every Kiwi has two votes; one vote for the party you most wish to see in control of the government and one vote for who you want your political electorate representative to be. This means that you can vote for two different parties in the same election. All elected representatives are guarenteed a seat in Parliament. Each party also receives seats proportional to its percentage of party votes. So, if there are 100 seats in Parliament, and Party A got 20% of the national vote, it would get 20 seats. Now, pretend that 10 candidates from Party A won their electorates. This means that Party A gets to pick its next 10 highest party members (called "list candidates") to take the remaining allotted seats in Parliament. Additionally, in New Zealand, a party must poll at least 5% of the vote or win at least 1 electorate seat to take a place in Parliament. Otherwise, its votes are discarded. (The Greens had a close call with this, polling something like 5.07% and winning no electorates.)

One thing about MMP is that you can vote strategically, as many Kiwis did. Let's say that Party A is in control of the government, and you want a Party B controlled government. However, you support your local Minor Party C candidate and want them back but know that nationally the party won't poll 5% of the vote. This is what happened in Epsom. The people of Epsom voted to return Rodney Hide, a member of the ACT party, to Parliament, but overwhelmingly used their party votes to support National (National would be linked to Republican, Labour to Democrats, Labour is the incumbant controlling party). The Epsom-ites knew that without winning their electorate, ACT would be out of Parliament, thereby reducing the number of coalition options for National. Mr. Hide, despite being written off early in the election, swept Epsom and will be returning to Parliament.

New Zealand Parliament has 120 seats. There is an overhang, though, because the Maori party won 4 electorates but only enough percentage of votes for two seats in Parliament. This means that there are 122 seats in the new Parliament. A stable government needs to have at least a majority of 62 seats or a minority coalitions where it has support from the smaller parties without a formal coalition. Labour has held a minority coalition with the Greens (think way left wing tree huggers) in the last Parliament with support from NZ First and United Future. This worked because National polled its lowest percentage ever (I think) in the last election.

Now, there are problems similar to what has happened in Germany. Here is how it stands:

• Labour squeaked by with 50 seats.
• National more than doubled its MPs with 49 seats.
• NZ First, led by the boisterous Winston Peters, saw a loss and returned with 7 seats. (Incidentally, this is the first time in 21 years that Winston Peters did not win his electorate.)
• The Greens are next at 6 seats, all from list candidates.
• The Maori party is a new party and showed well with 4 MPs, all winners of electorates.
• ACT has two MPs, Rodney Hide and someone else based on polling percentages.
• Jim Anderton's Progressives are still in with just one seat, Jim Anderton.

Now, these numbers may change a bit. Nearly 200,000 "special" votes (meaning votes cast outside home electorates) have not been counted and will not be released until early October. They will probably end up leaning more towards the left as they have done in past elections. This is because most of those votes cast outside electorates are students away at university, a sector that traditionally votes left (Labour and Green).

Clearly, no one has a majority. Labour is probably keen to continue to work with the Greens and the Progressives, both of which have clearly expressed interest in a formal coalition (the Greens even want cabinet seats). This gives Labour 57 seats, still far from a majority. The next option would be talking to NZ First. Initially, this sounds OK, seeing as how Peters has pledged to support whichever party garnered most of the votes, but our problem lies in the fact that Peters and the Greens don't get along at all, and NZ First probably wouldn't support a formal coalition with the Greens, especially not with Green members in cabinet positions. The Maori party would be more likely to go with Labour than National, although it has had its differences with both. Helen Clark even snubbed the Maori Party during the election, referring to it as 'the last cab off the ranks' in coalition potential. ACT will work with National, it can be assumed, and although United Future said it would talk first to the party with the most votes, it looks more likely to 'cozy up to National' than Labour, to quote the daily newspaper, The Dominion Post.

In my opinion (and I am no political strategist, I am getting a lot of this from what I have read), with that one extra seat, Labour has more momentum and potential to form a stable government. Helen Clark (the current PM and leader of the Labour party) could form a minority government with lots of confidence and supply deals and agreements from the different parties, much as she has done for the past three years. However, I don't think Labour won the election. Don Brash, the leader of the National Party, just led a revitalisation of his party, doubling the number of MPs it is bringing to Parliament and creating a lot more support than it has had in previous years. National will be a formidable foe in the next Parliament and a strong opposition member.

From what I understand, this is nearly exactly what is happening in Germany right now, just with different parties. Angela Merkel beat Gerhard Schroeder by less than one percentage point, and now the race is on the be able to form a stable government. I personally want Angela Merkel to win based on the fact that she would be the youngest chancellor, the first woman chancellor, and the first chancellor to have grown up in East Germany. I don't pretend to know the policies of either of the major parties, nor what would be best for Germany, but it is amazing that Ms. Merkel could rise so far, so fast (15 years), from political anonymity.

I will keep you updated on whatever happens, no worries. Consider this your world politics lesson for the day.

Fiji Pictures: Bounty, sailing, and Beachcomber

Alas, we have reached the end of the Fiji pictures. As I do not have a replacement camera (still working with the insurance company on that one), I don't know when I will be posting pictures again.

In other, better news - I have my old mobile back! +64 021 0795178.

This is the 'Pirate Ship' on ... Bounty, I believe. It was rather nice. You could walk out to the end and watch the bazillion schools of fish swim around and underneath the boat. It added to the atmosphere of the island.

I took this picture after breakfast on our first day with Amy's camera. I really like how it turned out. The huts provided some nice shade when needed, although we weren't on Bounty long enough to need it.

I thought you needed a picture of me, so here you go. Me, in my sarong, with the random Fijian-culture-for-tourists statue.

This is what Beachcomber, the 'party island' of the Mamanucas, looked like, It wasn't as nice as Bounty, but we lucked out and got a good room, so it worked just as well for us. This island had good electricity since it was so close to the mainland; it even had a live band.

I just realized this is the only 'sailing' picture I am posting. Our sailing trip had several stops, one of which was to a 'traditional' Fijian village. We participated in the kava ceremony, shoppped at the market, then went back to the beach to wait for the dinghy to transport us back. While waiting the three of us climbed around a bit, hence you have the above picture. :)

You Know You're In Wellington When ...

Two posts in one day. I came across this in the Mount Victoria Rotary Club bulletin for 14 September. I have been meaning to put it up because I think it is really funny. I hope that you can still find it funny even if you have never been in Wellington, and trust me, it is funnier when you live here.

You know you're in Wellington when:

• you can wake up during an earthquake and think that it's just the wind that's shaking your house.
• you can say, "Wellington is full of ferries" and not be considered homophobic.
• you can recognize half the city's population when walking down the street.
• you can afford a $1000 suit but still flat in a house that requires three sets of clothing and two dehumidifiers to stay warm.
• you see someone traveling 100kph on the motorway and you complain how fast people travel these days.
• you walk from the Railway Station to Willis Street without ever checking for traffic.
• "Just turn left at the first Star Mart [think Golden Gallon or other convienence store], walk down the street till you get to the third Star Mart, turn right, go 3 Star Marts up, and you're there."
• seeing the Brooklyn Wind Turbine not turning is a newsworthy event.
• it takes you 20 minutes to drive around the block in peak traffic due to the 'one way system.'
• boarding a Stagecoach bus is a hazardous activity.
• you take a bodyguard down Courtenay Place in case you bump into a drunk politician.
• the centre line is negotiable, especially on the Brooklyn and Hataitai hills where parked cars can take up 80% of the road.
• you get altitude sickness going from your car to your front door.
• you have to leave the city to do your shopping.
• any wind that doesn't threaten to take your roof off is just a 'bit of breeze.'
• you can detect 27 different shades of black suit.
• when an earthquake hits, instead of hiding under your desk, you hold a bet with your workmates on the force, focus, and epicentre.
• when giving directions to tourists, you point up.
• you go out for your $5 coffee with friends and complain about how expensive Auckland is.

Scheduling, Elections, and WWOOFing

Very characteristically, I have spent a good portion of the past few days figuring out my schedules for both Vic Uni and GT. This may also have something to do with me diligently avoiding my work.

Anyways, the good news is that everything I am doing in New Zealand can be transferred back towards my INTA minor, and I am on track to graduate December 2007. This is partially due to the fact that Molly Cochran, the director of the INTA program, is amazing and a hero in my world. Currently, I am taking POLS 244: International Relations and New Zealand, POLS 248: Conflict Analysis (with a focus on the Asia-Pacific region), and GEOL 113: Fundamentals of Geology. I am going to take MAOR 216: The Treaty of Waitangi and PASI 101: The Pacific Heritage next term. I emailed Molly, and she said that both POLS courses, MAOR 216, and PASI 101 can all be transferred back as INTA 3xxx. Also, I am taking HTS 2602: China and the Modern World next summer when I go to Singapore/Beijing, and Molly said I could count that towards my INTA minor as well. This means that when I get back to the states, I have fulfilled all the requirements of my minor! Now, assuming that everything is still working out for me to do Singapore/Beijing next summer and the German LBAT during summer 2007, all I have left at Tech are PHYS 2212, MATH 2602, CS 4400, ISYE 3044, 4009, 3133, and 4106, three engineering sciences, german 3xxx, and a global economics. That's only 12 classes, easily broken up into three semesters. This means I get to graduate in 4.5 years on the International Plan with a major in Industrial and Systems Engineering, a minor in International Affairs, a certificate in German Studies, and four semesters of study abroad.

Needless to say, this information completely made my day earlier this week. It will all probably change, but it seems to be a good plan now.

On a different topic, the national election is in two days (Saturday, 17 September). I have been enjoying reading the reports on the candidates, watching the polls, and learning about the different voting and parliamentary style of New Zealand. It has been entertaining to watch the different elections promises, such as Labour saying they will scrap all interest on student loans without there being too much cost to the government. Without showing too much bias, I think that is economically unsound and unsustainable.

(Sidenote: It has also been interesting for me to learn about the school systems here. The testing is different, the way courses work is different, and the range of degrees is different than what I am used to. Student life is also very different. Universities back home have a mostly on-campus feel, with many social acitivities happening on campus. Here, students typically commute in, so social acitivities are planned through hostels. This may be different across NZ, but that is how it is at Vic.)

Anyways, back to the election. The election is on a Saturday here, which actually makes more sense because then business-people don't have to take time out of their day to vote. Also, there is a more in-your-face campaign to get out and vote. There are people on the streets telling you to enrol to vote, heaps of commercials encouraging you to enrol to vote (featuring a Cingular-esque Orange Man), notices all over campus, fliers, everything. The atmosphere seems to be more politically charged here than back home. It reminds me of when I was in California near the election time. There have been rallies up on campus and everything.

I think that the size of New Zealand has a lot to do with this politically charged atmosphere. It is easier for candidates to be in your face and personally known here because the population is smaller and they have less distance to cover on the campaign trail. It is an hour from Auckland to Wellington, 45 minutes from Wellington to Christchurch, and another hour or so to get to the tip of the south island by plane. Not a very big country. It has a population roughly the size of the greater Atlanta metropolitan area. Everything is more personal. The campaign is also much shorter, lasting only 6 weeks.

Final change of topic: WWOOFing. Let me preface this with describing my summer term. My last class of this semester is on 6 October. I have a final on 19 October, several Rotary speeches planned, and my mother is coming to visit from 25 October to 3 Novemeber. MAOR 216 meets on 19/20 November, 10/11 December, and 15 January from 9 to 4:50. PASI 101 meets from 30 January to 10 February from 9 to 2:10. I am scheduled to leave New Zealand on March 16. Aside from Rotary appearances, I have nothing else to do! I am very excited about all of this free time because I get to travel and do everything I want to do, but I don't have the finances to sustain traveling that much. I heard about this WWOOFing program (Willing Workers On Organic Farms). This is a program where, in exchange for food and accommodation, you work on organic farms for a couple of hours a day, helping out in the day to day chores. There are over 800 wwoof farms in New Zealand, and they are situated in every area. I have been looking at a few up in the Bay of Plenty and Auckland regions. I have never worked on a farm, and this would be a good way to experience something I doubt I will be able to again while traveling around New Zealand. Many of the farms are bed and breakfasts, so they have amentities like kayaking, horseback riding, etc, that you can use in your 'off' time. I am sure that my parents are shaking their heads right now, with thoughts of "Katie? On a farm?" running through their minds. This will be a cool experience, and besides, I need some way to pay for travel all over the place! I have talked to some people who have done it or heard about it through word of mouth, and it seems to be a very positive experience. You can check it out at http://www.wwoof.co.nz.

That's about it for my end. This post ended up being longer than expected, so I hope you read all of it. 'Til next time!

Paraparaumu

I was invited to speak at the Paraparaumu Rotary Club on 12 September. It is about an hour outside of Wellington, so it was arranged that I would take the train from Wellington to Paraparaumu and then spend the night at the president's home so that I could do a bit of sightseeing the next morning.

I can't remember the last time I have been on an actual train. I think it was the train we took on choir tour from D.C. to somewhere in Georgia, the overnight train. I was very excited about taking the train. Michelle, my friend in my POLS classes, was laughing at me in our tutorial on Monday, saying I shouldn't be excited because the trains aren't that nice. I caught the 3:20 train, and it was a 55 minute ride. I was on the correct side of the train to see the gorgeous scenery as I traveled up the west coast. I had my mp3 player and my daily newspaper and had a very enjoyable train ride.

Geoff met me at the train station (I am happy I made it off at the correct stop!) and drove me back to his house. We dropped off my overnight bag and chatted for awhile before leaving for the rotary meeting. My presentation went very well, and the club was very inviting. It is an older club, so it was a bit quieter than some of the other clubs I had seen. They get a lot of speakers from Wellington, so the speaker is nearly the first thing on the program, before the fines and everything. This is so people can make the drive back to Wellington and not get home too late.

After the meeting, we went back to Geoff and Ann's house. They were so nice and accommodating for me. They even went out and bought some soy milk for breakfast, just one meal! I couldn't have asked for nicer hosts. They had recently purchased a Nikon 4600 (the kind that I had stolen from me), so I taught them how to use some of the cool features. We sat around with hot chocolate and coffee and tea and talked for a long time. They have a daughter and her family in Springfield, Missouri, right now, so they talked about their last trip over there. We talked about what I had done in New Zealand, what I wanted to do, and a whole lot of other random things. I started to get tired early, so we all went to bed around 10.

We left the house at 9:30 this morning to do a bit of sightseeing. Paraparaumu is basically New Zealand's version of a retirement beach community. It is on the Kapiti coast, and it is gorgeous with a mild climate. As we were driving around, I was strongly reminded of my grandmother's retirement community in Florida, The Villages. There were subdivisions that looked exactly like the maze of identical houses that makes up the areas of The Villages. More and more people are retiring to the community to live full-time, but there is still a large portion of people who just come up for the weekend.

The first thing we did was the drive over to the Otaki Gorge. There is a one lane bridge that goes over the river, so first we drove over it. I wanted to take pictures, so we parked the car and walked back onto the bride. Some Lord of the Rings scenes were shot here, mainly from the first film (leaving Hobbiton, etc). While we were standing on the bridge, a woman came driving along. She stopped to chat with us, and when she found out I was a tourist, she told us to continue on up the lane to go wander around her gardens. She said the rhododendrons and magnolia trees were magnificent right now. This is a lady we had never met, who had never met us, inviting us to basically tour her home. "Just ask for Pierre," she said, "He's cutting down trees outside." Well, we went on over and toured around her 'gardens.' What she really has is a couple of acres planted with grape vines, apple trees, lemon treets, tomato trees (yes, there is a kind that grows on trees), an olive grove, etc. It was beautiful. It was high enough up so there was a nice view of the sea as well. She had a large house, and it was very quiet and peaceful; no sounds of the city here! This is a prime example of how friendly Kiwis are. This woman had no worries about a group of strangers wandering around her gardens while she was at her pilates class. It was very nice.

After this stop, we continued on down to follow the Otaki river. We were in an old (late 80s?) Corolla driving on gravel roads that would have been more comfortable in a 4-wheeler, but no matter. We drove right down to where the river forks (rather, comes together from three seperate streams). It hasn't rained in over a month and a half in this area, so the river was the lowest than Ann and Geoff had every seen it. I still enjoyed the drive, though. Everything is so green in New Zealand. I was told today that in the height of summer, the grass will die in some places and turn brown, so it is just about the opposite than my grass back home.

After driving back out, they took me to a nature and wildlife reserve. It was very nice. I saw all kinds of birds and native flora. There was a nice bush walk around the whole property, and I climbed to the top of the lookout. The view reminds me a bit of the views I saw in Wyoming, with rolling farmland meeting tall mountains. I also saw a real Kiwi bird! Strange little animal, waddling around. There were ducks and geese and eels and owls and all kinds of other animals. When we were leaving, a lamb had gotten loose from the adjoining paddock and couldn't figure out how to get back in. That was an experience, trying to get a scared lamb to climb through a wire fence!

We drove Ann back to get her car (she had a prior community service commitment), and then Geoff and I went out to lunch. We ate a cute little cafe, the Beach Deli, right on the coast. The sun was streaming in the windows, there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and we got to watch the people walk by. After lunch, he drove me back to Wellington. He does part-time freelance work still and coincidentally had an engagement in Wellington that day, so I didn't have to take the train back.

Overall, it was a very nice overnight trip. I would definately enjoy going back to the area and exploring more of the coastline, perhaps visiting Kapiti Island. The entire island is a conserve, so you have to get permission to visit, and you have to go with a specific service because only so many people per day can visit the island.

In other news, I have been working on my schedule for this summer. It looks like I will have plenty of time to explore areas of New Zealand, so I am happy with that. I also sat down and figured out what courses I have left before graduating. My major has recently undergone revamped itself, so there have been a lot of changes there. I have also been accepted into an International Plan program, so I have new requirements for my degree. Oh, well, I will graduate eventually. Let's just travel around 'til then!

Fiji Pictures: Kuata

I know I usually post pictures every Sunday, but Hey! It is still Sunday in America! I was so busy yesterday that I just wasn't in my room enough to post. I am at university, so I can't upload more pictures (I am not on my own computer) which means you have to be satisfied with these three. We're still on the Fiji pictures, as you can tell.

This is from our first night on Kuata. The western side of the island had some amazing rocks to go climb on, and the sunet was perfect. The cloud cover kept a lot of the reds out of the sunset, but the yellows and blues and grey colours were stunning.

This is the sunset on the next day from about the same point on the island.

I know this seems like a sunset, but don't be fooled. Meredith, Amy, and I got up at 5:40 to hike up a mountain to see the 6:30 sunrise. The hike was more challenging than we had expected, but that may have perhaps been because we were not quite awake. It was a great experience to be so high above everything so early in the morning, to be able to see the sun rise like that. I will never get over how amazing the sun and moon look rising and setting over the ocean.

Weekend Update

I am behind on this post, and I really want to get it up before I head out to Paraparaumu this evening. I have a post-it list of everything I wanted to talk about because I knew I would forget.

First, my geology field trip was a lot of fun. I was expecting to be annoyed with having to do geology things all day on a Saturday, but I was pleasantly surprised. We left early at 8:30 AM, all loaded into a coach bus to drive us over the Rimutaka Mountains. We were heading out in the Wairarapa region (I am at uni and can't look this names up, so I hope I am spelling them correctly), and the area we were going to be surveying was 2.5 hours away. We took a pass over the mountains that was very curvy, very gorgeous, and a little dodgy in winter time. I would not be keen to drive along the ridges in winter with the snow and ice. Anyway, we made it over the mountains and first stopped at the mouth of the Hurupi River (and when I call these things rivers, I really mean streams; they have the potential to be rivers after some rain, but there was not much water when we were there). We dropped half the class off at that river and then continued on to the Putangirua River. We began by talking a bit about the lithologies of the rocks we were going to encounter, then we hiked back up along the river bed, carefully observing the rocks along the way.

We stopped for lunch at 1PM at the farthest contact point we were going to observe. During lunch we had the opportunity to hike up into the Pinnacles, and it was so cool. Imagine rocks that have weathered away to look like castle points. It was so peaceful and serene. You couldn't hear anything except the birds and me munching away on my apple. This was also a cool experience because it was a Lord of the Rings set. This was where the Paths of the Dead scene was shot, when Aragorn is talking with the dead army, in The Return of the King. Very exciting for me, I can assure you.

We spent the next 2-3 hours traversing down the river bed. This involved teams of 3-4 where one person holds the compass, one person goes to the next point, and one person is the designated 'pacer.' You take a bearing from you to the next person and then the pacer walks in a straight line from you to the other, counting his/her double paces. We did a lab exercise the week before so I know exactly how many meters a double pace is for myself. We did this all along the river, taking notes on dips and strikes of the rock and contact points and classifications. It could have been very boring, but I enjoyed my group very much. We were joking around, having a lot of fun with it (the pacer kept having to walk through the river, so his feet got all wet, and we laughed), and it was such a beautiful day. It was actually hot. Also, this region typically has a strong wind through the gully we were in, but it was remarkably quiet. My river finished before the other, so we sat on the beach for about an hour, skipping rocks and playing on the sand. As we were driving home over the mountains, the sun was setting, and it was absolutely gorgeous. Fantastic day, really.

I hung out with my flatmates and some of their friends that night while I was home, and that was nice. It was good to be around them in social situations, to really get to know them and their friends, to not just be coexisting in the same flat. I am going to miss them when they move out for the summer. I hope I get flatmates that are as easy to live with as they are!

I got up the next morning to go to church. Amyw as singing again, and she brought Lauren with her. Lauren is an exchange student from Wisconsin studying design at Vic who is going skydiving with us at the end of September. I had not met her before, so it was good to get to know her before traveling to Rotorua and Taupo together. I stayed for the church meeting and lunch afterwards, which was interesting. I have never been to an official church meeting before, so it was good to see the administration and finances of the church. I also got to catch up with Annette, the lady who took me tramping not too long ago. After the meeting, Amy, Lauren, Alan (a guy who also goes to the church), and I walked up to the top of Mt. Victoria. It was a gorgeous day, perfect for the hike. We tried to take a part of the southern walkway but got a little off course and ended up walking along the road. No matter, it was still a good walk. We enjoyed the view for awhile and then took the southern walkway back down. The four of us were starving afterwards, so we hit up Satay Kingdom for some good cheap food. Amy and Alan had never been there before, and Lauren not often (it is on the other side of the city from where they live), so it was good to bring them to a place I go so much! I deviated from my traditional meal of Roti Chenai, and while my Mee Goreng was good, I am going to go back to the bread and curry meal.

That night the youth group at the church was having a fundraiser to benefit the plight of the Sudanese. They were showin Hotel Rwanda at the church, and since Amy, Alan, and I had not seen it, we made plans to go. I would highly recommend this movie, but you have to be warned. It is a serious drama and a very emotional film. There are several heartbreaking scenes. The cinematography does not gloss over the horrors that occured there in the mid-1990s. I have seen my fair share of heart-breaking movies, but I have never encountered a scene that was so physically heart-wrenching as the final scene of the movie. Those of you who have seen it will know what I am talking about. I could feel the tugging on my heart, like I couldn't breathe. It was that emotional. I would definately say that you should see it, but be prepared for what you are about to see.

That's about it for here. I uploaded a few pictures earlier today, so I am going to try to post those very quickly, but I have class soon and may not be able to. I have a speech up in Paraparaumu this evening, so I am taking the train up there and staying the night with the Rotary president. I believe I am going to be able to do a bit of sightseeing tomorrow, which is exciting. 'Til then!

Lazy Friday

Fridays are so lazy for me. I go to the gym in the mornings between 9 and 11, and then I typically don't have any plans. It is always open. Today, it was filled with shopping. All of my jeans have worn through (in the same spot, too) so I had to go and buy new jeans. That was an experience, what with totally different brands and sizes. Expensive, too. And everyone knows that jean shopping can be a terrible experience. The saleslady was incredibly helpful, though, and we worked out the best fits. Whoohoo!

In other news, I went to the Tawa rotary club on Tuesday evening. I had been there before, but this time I gave my presentation. I feel like I need to work on it a little for my next presentation (Paraparaumu, Monday evening). When I get really excited about something, I tend to talk fast. (I know, I know, big surprise, right?) I love living in Wellington and exploring New Zealand, so if I don't check myself, I talk very quickly during my presentation. I have a feeling it is a bit of a whirlwind for my audience if I don't make an effort to speak slowly. Everyone at the Tawa club seemed to like it, though, and they invited me back, so it couldn't have been that bad. I really liked everyone at the Tawa club. They were very welcoming and easy to talk to. I would very much enjoy going back.

I don't have any schoolwork to do now. I had a test and a project due this past week, so now my schedule is pretty open. I have a geology field trip to the Wairarapa region tomorrow from 8:30 to 6:30. This means I need to leave a little after 8 and won't get home til 7. Long day! It should be a good trip, though. I haven't been to that region before, so I am excited to explore new areas. We are mapping a river that we are going to traverse, or something like that. I am sure you will hear about it eventually!

Phil Goff, Katrina, and Monday evening

I forgot to mention in my last post that the honorable Phil Goff came and spoke to my POLS 244 class last Thursday. Phil Goff is the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade as well as the foreign affairs and judicial spokesperson for the Labour party. His equivalent in the United States government is Condoleeza Rice, so having him speak was a big deal. I think it says something about the closeness of the government to the people that he came and spoke with our class. You would be hard pressed to get Ms. Rice in a college lecture hall two weeks before the national election, I think. Now, Mr. Goff didn't say anything incredibly spectacular. He spent half his time presenting Labour's foreign affairs viewpoint and half the time discounting National's foreign affairs viewpoint. (As it is so close to the election, you can't imagine he would stop campaigning for a minute, especially not in front of a roomful of legal voters.) While he didn't say anything earth-shattering, like the United States is responsible for all the world's problems, he did strike me as a very personable person. He had an easy manner of speaking and was willing to take questions past his time allotment. Of course, he is a spokesperson for the Labour party, so his foreign affairs views were, while not quite anti-American, definately against America. Even with this dissenting viewpoint from my own, I still came away with a good impression of Mr. Goff, and I think that speaks well for his charisma.

I am on the other side of the world, but that doesn't mean I don't keep up with the news back home. Everyone needs to send their thoughts and prayers to the Gulf Coast region. What has happened in Katrina's wake is astonishing. It is in all of the papers here, it is the top stories in online news, and it is still taking up the first half of the World section of the local post every day. It is ridiculous that the most powerful country in the world was so unprepared for a disaster like this. It had to happen sometime. There should have been plans for New Orleans being flooded to the extent that it has been, there should have been evacuation plans, there should have been a lot of things.

Hindsight is 20-20, though. No one expected Katrina to hit as hard as she did, especially after causing minimal damage in Florida. Everything was wiped out, meaning that supplies and reinforcements had to come from neighboring cities and states, and there was not likely to be protocol in these situations. It took a while to realize the extent of the damage because the true damage didn't happen until at least 24 hours after Katrina passed by (with the levees breaking in New Orleans). It is still unexcusable to have so many people trapped in such filth with no easy way out.

Now that I have said my peace about that, it brings me into another topic, one I didn't ever anticipate. I was expecting to encounter anti-Americanism and was even 'trained' to specifically deal with anti-Bush sentiments before leaving for my year abroad. I knew I was going to be in debate situations about American policies. I am discovering, though, that it is more complicated than I thought. I have no problems in defending American policies that I believe in. I always knew I was conservative, but I am learning exactly how conservative and how much of a realist I am while I listen to myself in debates. The problems come when I disagree with American policies. When around non-Americans, I feel uneasy about dissing American (for lack of a better term). For example, when I criticize the US government's efforts in hurricane relief, I feel as if it opens the channels for more American criticism. "Oh, the American is criticizing America, it must be OK for me to do it, too." I feel uneasy when I criticize American policies, as if I should always be defending what happens. I am not sure if I would feel this way if a Democrat was the president. Am I uneasy about criticizing not only because I am outside the United States but also because I am a conservative as well? Food for thought, and something I will be working on while in New Zealand.

I got to go to my host Rotary club tonight. Mark picked me up about 6 and we drove out to Eastbourne for the 6:30 meeting. The speaker was very intellectual. He discussed science, religion, evolution, creationism, and how they all fit together. It was a bit hard to follow and a lot deeper than I was anticipating. The speaker was very thoughtful, though, and presented his ideas well, so it was easier to follow his speech. There were some intriguing questions asked afterwards as well. A small debate was begun, almost. All in all, an exciting Rotary club meeting. Mark drove me home afterwards, and I got home in time to catch the second half of Desperate Housewives. There are always several people in my flat watching it, so it makes for a fun Monday evening. I feel like I have such power because I already know everything that happens, so I can answer questions and generally just be the all-knowing person in the room. Lots of fun.

Now, it is getting late, and I still have work to do tonight. Test and project this week!

A Whole Mess of Things

Hm, where to start? Day by day, I suppose.

I saw Crash at The Embassy last Tuesday. I think that everyone should see this film. It is a drama, a social commentary, on making snap judgements based on race. Prejudice, racial profiling, etc. It is very well written. You follow a group of people through a day in L.A. and see how they all interact with each other, see how a prejudice against one can come back to hurt you. I missed it in the film festival, so I am glad I got the chance to see it. It comes out on DVD in the USA on 6 September, so check it out! It will make you think, but don't be scared of the film. You will be drawn in to the lives of all of the characters. It has a couple of big names as well.

Nothing terribly exciting happened on Wednesday. I got back my geology test. I got an 87, which is an A+, and pretty good, judging by the reactions of the people at my lab table. Thursday I ran some errands and went to class. My conflict analysis presentation was Thursday afternoon. Abi and I had met on Monday evening to research the topic, and then we met again on Wednesday to put it all together. We were supposed to cover the conflict between China and Japan. It was more complicated than we realized. There is not much physical conflict any more; it is more of a psychological conflict and thus harder to pin down. Our presentation went very well, though, and I think our tutor (T.A. for you Americans) was impressed. He said we did a very good job. This makes it a very good week academically for me!

Thursday night I went to Primal and saw a lot of my friends. It was nice seeing everyone again after being gone for two weeks holidays in Fiji. It was especially nice because, as I have no mobile now, it is hard for me to get in contact with anyone. When everyone depends on texting to communicate and you break your mobile, it can be hard to track people down! I am dealing with it.

Friday I saw a couple of movies (Bewitched in theaters, Ocean's 11 in my flat) but ended up turning in early. I had to get up early on Saturday morning for a geology field trip. We went out to Princess Bay / Island Bay and Red Rocks. It was a beautiful day. Legitimately warm, little cloud cover, no wind - amazing for being on the south coast! We spent the day climbing over boulders and examining the rocks by the coast. I know all about the bedding, degree of dip, composition, fossil contact, etc.

I got home around 4, rested for awhile, took a shower, then headed down to dinner. Once again it proved too inedible (right word?) for my tastes, so I headed to the trustworthy Satay Kingdom for some roti chenai. I ran into Alex on my way there, so we came with me to get takeaway and we met plans to meet later at Hotel Bristol to watch the All Black's trounce the Wallabees. It was the final test of the Tri-Nations tournament. Congrats to the new champs, the New Zealand All Blacks! Anyways, we left Hotel Bristol and wandered down to Hopes Bros. Bar. This place has a nice balcony, so we got drinks and people-watched for awhile. I had the best amaretto sour I have ever had. The bartender made it with an egg white, among other things, and mixed it very well so that there was a nice foam on top. It was amazing. I really love people-watching as well, so I was pretty happy.

I woke up a bit early this morning (truthfully, I haven't slept in in a long time) to go see a special showing of The Return of the King. It was showing this morning at The Embassy, where it had its world premiere, so of course I had to go. It happens every once in awhile, and I told myself I was going to go the next time they showed it. I mean, what kind of fan would I be if I lived in Wellington and didn't see it where it premiered? I know, a crazy-bad one!

Now, I should be doing work now. There are only 5 weeks of class left, but they are a packed 5 weeks. I have a Rotary presentation every week as well as something major due academically. This week, I have a presentation for the Tawa club on Tuesday, a POLS 244 test on Thursday, and a big geology project due on Friday. I have enough time to get everything done if I could make myself focus more! Silly Wellington, always enticing me to do other things besides schoolwork.

That is about it for this side of the world. Keep everyone along the Gulf Coast in your prayers as they try to sort through the wake of Hurrican Katrina. You know, they finally name a hurricane after me, and look what happens. No one is forgetting this one any time soon.

In case you missed it, I also published a post earlier today with my weekly picture update. I still don't have a camera, so I am posting Fiji pictures. A big thanks to Amy and Meredith for them!

Fiji Pictures: Manta Ray

I am still without a digital camera, so I am happy that I have so many pictures to post. This is your weekly pictures update. All of these photos are from Manta Ray. I think that for the next couple of weeks you will be getting Fiji pictures as your weekly update. Cross your fingers than the insurance company comes through soon!
This is Amy and I on the balcony of the main area right at sunset. It was perfectly lovely, watching the sun go down, drinking a glass of wine (Happy Hour, you know), and just talking with the people we met there.

This is what we could see from where we were standing in the above picture. You can see how the main building is raised up on the island since you are looking down into the bay. This is where we ate all of our meals and hung out in the evening.

Simply gorgeous. The sunsets in Fiji were just amazing. I love seeing the sun rise and set over the ocean, and the palm trees make it that much better.

This is Amy getting artistic and creative with her camera. I think it turned out very well!

Manta Ray has two beaches. There is the east beach and the west beach (Manta Ray Island is long and thin, running north and south, with the thin part being the east-west direction, so you can walk between the beaches in a matter of minutes). Meredith and I went exploring and climbing over the rocks before realizing that the tide was going to trap us, so we turned around and went back.

My current desktop background. I have no idea at what time of the day this was taken, I don't know who took it (although, it was either me or Meredith, I think, as I took it off her camera), and I don't even know for sure that it was on Manta Ray. It was in the folder from the day we were on Manta Ray, but it could have been before we left Coral View for Manta Ray. Either way, it is gorgeous. The water is especially distinct; you can see the individual swells and the texture of the surface of the water.

So, there is your weekly photo update. I am going to post again tonight, so look for that soon.