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!