Two Months and Just Fulbrighting Around

Serving up Indian food at the Aro Valley Fair. A patron

asked what I was in NZ for and when I said the Fulbright, he said

I was the first Fulbrighter he'd ever met and that he was honored.

I could get used to this....It was almost as good as when someone

here told me my accent was exotic.
My new car
Just enjoying a Monday afternoon stroll on the beach, ten

minutes from my flat

Today marks two months since I arrived and I thought it an appropriate moment to reflect on some of the New habits I've developed here in New Zealand:

-Eating ice cream every night, and sometimes cake, and always a dark chocolate bar (mostly Alice and Aaron's fault. Having never been a big sweet eater before, I'm getting pretty used to this)

-Exercising, walking, generally moving about much more that I'm not stuck behind a desk all day (I'm hoping this counteracts my ice cream eating)

-Watching Mad Men, also thanks to Alice and Aaron. I never even saw one episode while in the States, but now I see what all the fuss was about

-Making my bed everyday, not living in an attic means people actually see my room

-Not flying, this is the first time that I have not been on a plane in two months in over 2 years

Now that you're getting bored, a few other items of note this week to mark my two months:

I finally defined my "research question" and turned in my proposal for the Masters by Thesis, so cross your fingers they let me skip a year and bang this out by December

I also finally made contact with the iwi (tribe) representative he seemed willing to let me in on what they're doing. The catch - he wants me to provide support to them on biofuels. Oh biofuels, I'll never escape you....

When I met a new person this week and I said, "I'm Elizabeth". They said, "Can I call you Beth?"

What? Wouldn't I introduce myself in the name I wanted to be called? This isn't roll where you then inform the teacher your nickname, I'm introducing myself. Why don't you call me Larry for that matter.

LJ's advice of Facebook stalking to make friends paid off. Finally met up with my stalkee for trivia night, where I quickly proved my worth by getting a bonus question for our team - In what century did knitting begin and the English adopted the abacus from China?

What better way to bond on a Laura Jack tip than trivia?

They say the Fulbright opens doors, well behind door number one is a fellowship position at UNESCO in Paris, reserved just for us (6 positions for all 2,000 of us). So I applied for that this week - the catch, I now need to add French while relearning English and trying to pick up Maori...

Now that I've been studying hard for four weeks, they've decided to give us three weeks off for autumn break. Although I've really enjoyed not packing for once, I'm going to pack up and head off to Auckland and the Winterless North to chase down the end of summer for the next two weeks.

The Fulbright stipulates cultural exchange as one of the goals/values of the program. Well, while I'm touring NZ over the next two weeks, Alice and Aaron are off to California. Cultural exchange = done and done.

One other small item of note - found out that Jermaine from Flight of the Concordes also lives down the street. Aro Valley = Hollywood Hills

Stay tuned for updates from the road and upcoming dates of my limited city U.S. tour in June

Week 6, Learning English as a Second Language and Mastering the Hongi

I know you were starting to think they

didn't exist. Well here they are - Alice and Aaron,

on their two year anniversary today.
I promised to add a manly photo of Aaron after letting

his Project Runway viewing out. Here he is ripping two full flax

plants out of the ground with his bare hands.

At a Haiti Benefit concert featuring Little Bushmen. This guy

is mesmerized by the music, it was that good. Also, expect to

see this shirt a lot as it is one of the only warm shirts I have with me

Running along the beach towards Wellington.
At the marae with 100 students.

Sorry about not posting so that you could pass Friday at work reading about my exploits here, but I was busy finally getting a car and doing the hongi....

The car:

The model is the same as the last - a Mitsubishi RVR (because I couldn't get the awesomeness of a combo of 4x4, with a van door, and station wagon size out of my mind). This one is a bit older (1994), and its a bit more Momish in color (maroon), but it does have a sunroof and an alarm (hopefully no more thefts in my future) and I paid for it in my hard won cash from BoA. Walking down the street and then handing someone hundreds in cash was a bit unnerving, but that feeling went away as soon as I was singing Lady Gaga at the top of my lungs while reminding myself to stay left. I've really missed the sound of my own voice, as its not really acceptable to walk down the street singing aloud to my iPod. This also means exposure to the radio, which you may think is antiquated but if we've discussed rental radio before, you understand.

Learning English as a Second Language

This week I've been corrected on my pronunciation of Nissan and oregano, and the use of the word period to finish a sentence (this was accompanied by giggles, they apparently use "full stop") among other words. Isn't Nissan a Japanese word and lets just say oregano is an Italian word. And no form of punctuation should require more than one word (okay question mark, easy there).

As I may have mentioned previously, I'm taking Maori 101 in an effort to at least learn a little bit of te reo Maori so that I can hopefully offend the people I'll be conducting research with slightly less, by telling them how many siblings I have and what my favorite color is. People have told me the vowels in Maori are just like Spanish, so I thought perfect, this will be easy to pick up. Well, one thing people failed to think about is that Maori is of course obviously taught by Kiwi with NZ accents. In my class the other day, I was practicing my introduction (mihi) with a Kiwi dude in my class, and he kept correcting my pronunciation of the "o" in my Maori words and said, "Its like the o in pour", and I said "No, its like the "o" in your pour, but we pronounce the r". Later in the class, the instructor was trying to help us with the ng sound in Maori, and said its like the ng in singer, which Kiwis pronounce "singa". So I guess I need to learn English again, in order to learn Maori....

This past weekend, I went to a marae (a traditional meeting house of the Maori) for the weekend with another of my classes. At the marae, as I explained previously, you sleep on mattresses on the floor in a big room. Last time, I shared this sleeping space with Americans with sleep apnea and crying babies. This time I was with about 100 college undergrads. We were instructed to bring something of significance to us as part of our introduction. As we know, not much made it over here with me, other than about 50 tank tops and 5 containers of Old Bay, so I was at a loss of what to bring....

However I did remember to bring the sleeping pills. I've never taken sleeping pills before, and given my "issue" with sleep walking/talking, I was a bit worried about taking them for the first time while sharing a room with 100 people. But again, I was sleeping in a room with 100 people, so I decided the risk was worth it. I may have not been a good role model for the kids by pill popping at the marae, but while everyone else was complaining the next morning and exhausted, I was ready for more marae learning.

While I've still had no hugs, I'm excelling at the hongi, which is the maori greeting after the welcome ceremony. The hongi entails pressing your nose against the other person's nose and holding for a brief second. This is in order to share the same breath so that you're okay with one another, meaning not going to make warfare and that you're no longer "tapu". I think I'm good on hugs for awhile, since I'm hongiing away.

Next marae trip is in about a month. I will be doing three more before June. I'll either never need another hug again or become addicted to sleeping pills.

A few updates:

-Total Bret sightings to date - 3, one which included me walking directly by him on our street

-Still hanging onto my office

-In other school news this week I had to write an essay about my identity formation, and I struggled - who am I???

Week 5, This week could have been awesomer

From my deck after a huge hailstorm

I had high hopes for this week, I mean it was the one year anniversary of my trip to Italy, which was pretty awesome. Well the way this week went, I was missing Italy even more. Here's a recap:

First, the bad news

-As you read in the previous post, I spent quite a bit of time battling with Bank of America, and as I finally wrested my money from them, I received a phone call that my car was stolen. Now, I guess I can be thankful that I hadn't actually picked the car up yet (thanks BoA), so I'm really not out much, except my precious time when I could be at the beach, or hiking, or I guess doing some of my research. So in case you missed it - No Car, back to square one

-I had been planning to write a post about how awesome Magic Jack is, I mean they really helped me this week with enabling me to scream at BoA for free, and coach my Mom through texting for free. Well Magic Jack stopped working on Wednesday. I spent 3 hours on tech support and they still couldn't figure it out. Just as I was signing off with them, I decided to try my own tech support of deleting and reinstalling and it worked - so for now, Magic Jack you're forgiven, but don't act up again

-Both of the above happened in the same day, so I ate some prosciutto and put on my stripes in honor of Italy anniversary day and I started to feel better, because frankly when don't prosciutto and stripes make you feel better. Without going into the details, the rest of that day I got caught in the rain in white shorts, and I had left my laundry on the line, so suffice it to say I would have much rather been in Milan eating risotto, gelato, and sipping red wine while looking for TI.

The Good News:

-Found a volunteering position at the Aro Valley Community Center where they have put me in charge of managing the organic gardening after-school program. I think they may be surprised how little I actually know about gardening, but I'm excited to learn while I teach the kiddies

-In my research methods class this week, we learned about Copernicus. Really? Its like this course was made for me. Last week DDS, Copernicus this week - I don't see how I can't get an A. For those of you not up to speed, these were two of my nicknames in high school, yes I was/am a huge nerd. Something stressed in class was how everyone ignored Copernicus' theory, until Galileo came along and took credit for it and just because he lived closer to the center of the world at the time (Rome), everyone gives him credit. Hmmm, you may want to remember that when discrediting any of my theories while I'm way over here in NZ. Also funny how everything leads back to Italy this week....

-In my Maori Business class, the professor who is also a former business owner, told us a story about how they had been attempting to make sausages more healthy given the bad rap sausage was receiving, so they added CHEESE (of course, that makes everything healthier) and renamed them Sizzlers. Pure brilliance.....next week, fried pies....

-Found out that Bret McKenzie, from Flight of the Concords, is my neighbor, meaning he lives about 6 houses away. I walk by his house everyday. I was informed that Kiwis "don't do celebrity". I think this means that while I'm not allowed to ask for an autograph, I can stop by with some carrot cake.

A few other random things of note-

-Kiwis don't mix chocolate and peanut butter, they just don't do it. Reba, this is your paradise.

-Still zero on the kiwi hug counter, LJ's paradise. Anyone want to take the over/under on my first hug from a kiwi?

-Personal learning for the week, I don't excel at group work. I'm too bossy, impatient, and a nerd. This week I just did all the work and then sent it to the rest for comments. I find this method more efficient.

-Made a German friend in gym class (specifically Fight Do which is basically Mortal Combat as a workout, lots of upper cuts and elbows). She warned me ahead of time that the instructor stunk, so I gave her my number.

Today there was the first huge rainstorm, actually there was hail, and I got stuck in it, of course, came home and put every warm layer I brought with me on and got into bed and was still cold. Then just an hour ago, huge rainbow. So, the ultimate cheese factor moral for this week is - at least when there is rain, there are rainbows

Mid-week moment for Bank of America

Now maybe its my fault for not realizing long ago, since the name is Bank of AMERICA, that ol BoA actually hates the rest of the world, so much so, that they will try to not let you spend your own money there. A few of you have heard of my trials with BoA over the last three years, which after each time, I have sat them down and tried to see how we can resolve things for the future so that I can actually access my own money. Here are a few of the conversations we've had:

-Me: I'm trying to access money and my ATM card is not working. BoA: Yes, we noticed that you were trying to withdraw money in South America so we shut off your card. Me: Yes, I work in South America, as we've discussed, so I need to be able to withdraw money here.

-Me: I'm trying to access money in X Casino and my ATM card is not working. BoA: Yes, we noticed someone trying to access money in a casino so we shut your card off. Me: Yes, thats ME! I didn't realize I needed your permission for gambling.

-Me: I'm trying to access money in Venice and my card is not working. BoA: Yes, we noticed many prosecco and risotto transactions so we shut off your card. Me: Yes, I'm on vacation in Italy, am I not allowed prosecco?

Now, while I appreciate the idea of BoA's vigilance, I've repeatedly asked for them to stop it. I can look out for myself without big brother BoA helping me out.

But now they have decided that I will not get a car today - with my own money - because I don't have a U.S. mobile phone number for them to text me a Safe Pass code. When I inquired whether they could maybe email this code to me or do a transfer over the phone, they first asked me if I had informed the person that I was transfering money to that the transfer would be coming through. Yes I informed myself, well informed. They then informed me that they could only do that if I was in the U.S. What? Why would I need to transfer myself money if I was in the U.S.?

I should also mention, that I first went along with their whole Safe Pass text system, and actually walked my Mom through receiving a text on her phone in order to play BoA's game. Well wouldn't you know it, they canceled that transaction because their system went down. Maybe this is BoA's way of teaching my Mom to text. They aren't satisfied with just parenting me, now they're after my Mom.

Moral of the story - BoA, when I do get back to AMERICA, I'm becoming an emanicpated minor.

One Month! - A week of firsts and Swedes

My new car!
A view from Victoria's campus, its all about the views in Wellington.
My favorite shop in Wellington that I walk by on my

way to my office. Yes, these signs are all for one shop - cufflinks,

a barber, cigar bar, dry cleaner, and tailor, all in one - the gentleman's destination shop! I fantasize about what the women's destination shop would be....a pedicure, champagne, subs...

First day of school, ready to pretend I'm 21 again.

As you know, because of course you read last week's blog post, this was my first week of school, in which I also experienced a bunch of other firsts:

-First going to a movie alone - I mostly went cause I ate too much at dinner and decided I should walk it off, and then I got there and the movie was in SWEDISH. I definitely would not have gone had I known this, even though I love my Swedish heritage, I don't speak it. Also the subtitles were in white writing which made it so I couldn't read them most of the time. Oddly, I felt like Swedish was a lot like Spanish, this may have been a stretch. Thank god I already read the book (yeah the book is better than the movie as that goes). Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, in case you're wondering

-Bought my first car by myself (thanks Mom and Dad for all the previous mobiles) - and at that I bought it via text, hilarious. Its a 1996 Mitsubishi RVR (they don't sell them in America). In my car search, I had a lot of advice. From the Americans, well mostly Brad, told me not to worry as much about getting everything checked out because "kiwis are trustworthy". From the kiwis, it was all about buying a (tidy) small car or a station wagon (hugely popular here). And while I tried as I might, I just couldn't buy a station wagon, so I really owned my Americanness and bought an SUV, or more like a quasi SUV. It has a van door, but only one row of seats and its four wheel drive. And as my friend Stephanie said, "Now that looks like an "I live in New Zealand car"". It is automatic which bummed me out, but I think I will appreciate it on the hilly roads of Wellington. I mean driving on the other side is enough to think about. What ultimately sold me - a 3 year old girl of the family invited me to her room to see her toys = trustworthy.

-First cricket game watched - with the helpful commentary of my roommate Aaron. I'm sure my questions must have been annoying him. Now many people equate cricket to baseball to explain it to Americans, but its like who would watch a 5 day game of baseball? Aaron equated it to golf for me, where you go for maybe only one day, or a few beers, and then keep an eye on the final tally. Super helpful. Well the other night was an abbreviated version (just 3 hours) and it came down to the final bowl, where a guy they nicknamed "The Virus" made it to beat undefeated Australia! While I won't say I'm hooked, it was exciting for those last ten minutes...

-First day of school in over ten years - I forgot what a bureaucracy universities are, but its even worse when you don't really know the system. I think I waited in about twelve lines, and had people tell me different things every time and act like I was the one confused. Finally got my ID today, student discounts here I come! Also, my first week of class I had Research Methods (mandatory for masters apparently) where we learned about the Dewey Decimal System and researching on the IN-TER-NET. Hoping this course expands quickly. Alternatively, Maori 101, was outdoors with free lunch and a quiz about culture, including who won the most medals at the Olympics. In my group (only American) I said the U.S., since I didn't see much of the Olympics, and of then of course looked like the typical American thinking we're the best, when Canada really did it. Au Canada...

Kiwi life this week -

-New Zealand has an even shorter history than the U.S. (only about 170 years, 1840 Treaty of Waitangi) so its nice being somewhere where America isn't the newest kid on the block. Craziness is NZ doesn't have a Constitution, only 1 of 3 countries in the world that doesn't. This also plays out in the tensions between Maori and Pakeha (and my research)

-People don't say bless you - random, but I don't get it. I've said it a few times when people have sneezed and no one says anything. Then I decided to wait for Kiwis to say something and nothing. Now I'm happy to learn something else to say (Salut, Tshui (sp), etc) but nothing?

-Went to see Cirkus Cirkor put on by the NZ Arts Festival, which is a big deal here in Wellington. Now as it happened, this is a Swedish production, big week for the Swedes. Tickets are expensive, so I bought the cheapest (with another Fulbrighter) which they warned would have views obscured in the Wellington Opera House, but was great. I guess if you have a kid that says they want to be in the circus you should feel better that this is where they could end up...super impressive and entertaining, would be proud to say my kid was in it

-The use of the English language - They say "Good on you" instead of "Good for you", and everything is something AS, but you're left to imagine as what. For example, "That car is cheap as" or "That would be sweet as". They say "drink driving", and call courses "papers" but also papers papers, and they call fries "chips" but also chips chips. They also call soccer, soccer, not football like their English buddies. Enjoying all the differences....

Friends - some of you have been concerned about my apparent lack of friends, (what gave it away, all my photos of just me, or my Beall jokes?), well I want to reassure you:

-I'm really enjoying the alone time. As many of you know, I love making big list of things to do, and then accomplish about ten percent of them, well now I'm looking at more like 75% production rate, which fits well with all I've lined up to do. A lesson I've learned from my dear friend and college roommate, Rebecca, is I need to put myself out there a bit more for new friends. I may have been becoming a bit insular. But as my wise friend Meredith said, if I had less alone time I wouldn't be able to come up with all my witty banter on my blog, so again trade-offs

-Alice and Aaron, my wonderful roommates. We make dinner together (alternating nights) and they love shows like Project Runway, Americas Next Top Model, the Good Wife, etc., even Aaron, although he may not like me blasting this to my huge readership (all 3 of you). My roommate Alice stayed home from work the other day cause she was sick, well while sick she made bagels and chocolate cake, from scratch! Who does that? And they've also lived in the U.S. so we have fun discussing gun laws, prostitution (legal here), gay rights (civil union legal here), and you know your general dinner discussion. I had to make sure they were okay with me having mace with me this week...

-Making friends - Although I'm doing just fine, I would like to make some friends over the age of 25 other than my roommates. My good friend, and co-woman of international residence in a country where they speak English but aren't American, Laura Jack, suggested stalking people on Facebook who may live in Wellington who went to my University. Well I really appreciated her creativity, although it carries a certain creep quotient. Note to self, maybe don't follow this advice at 4am when you can't sleep, which adds to the creep factor. So far, I've emailed one girl, and tonight I got a response! Thank you LJ and all your wisdom

-Progress - In my class today, we had to form groups, and I got a UK guy, a Brazilian guy (yey Latins!), and a kiwi girl who used to work on a yacht for five years (my future career move), so making progress....

You may have noticed a bunch of mentions of certain people, thats to show you I HAVE FRIENDS, you just don't live here, so come visit!

Next week, more on making friends, being a student, and I was hoping to travel this week but I don't have the car in my possession yet, so hopefully next week will go somewhere....

-

Week 3, Hard at "work"

Yes it is possible to send me flowers here! This gorgeous

bouquet arrived to welcome me to my new home (thank you!@).
Reading up on climate change in NZ, while trying

not to get sunburned
My home office, also with a view

So this week I promised you all some pictures of me hard at work, and as you can see I've been doing my best. Also a few of you have asked how "work" is going. Just to clarify, I don't actually work here (I'm actually not allowed to per the Fulbright) so I can still get in my 12 hours of sleep a night if I choose. That said, I've been trying to cut back to 9-10.

So what am I doing here, other than tramping, eating kiwis and avocados, and petting sheep? Well, this week I started to figure it out. The thing about the Fulbright is, you write a proposal and then you don't actually go to the country (if in the Southern Hemisphere) for a year and a half, so as you can imagine, a lot changes..... My proposal in a nutshell (working on the nutshell part) is to research the business development opportunities in the Central North Island land settlement of the Maori, within the context of climate change. Now a few things I've noticed about said proposal since I've arrived:

1. Its extremely controversial, the whole settlement process of Maori land claims is controversial, and then throw in the fact that I'm Pakeha (white) and not kiwi, makes everyone sort of grimace. Now I knew that it was somewhat controversial, but someone may have wanted to warn me off

2. My academic advisor is not actually closely involved with any part of my proposal, which makes it hard for him to advise, that said he's been very welcoming. When I met with my Maori advisor he suggested wine and learning Maori songs and dances (this is, of course, part of my "work"). Somehow he knew the way to get me to dance and sing was to offer me wine

3. Because its so controversial and a hot topic, if I am successful, it could be very useful, or at least I'll keep telling myself that

This week I tried to convince the Victoria Management School that they should give me a Masters degree for this research so that my time here can be a bit more useful (called a Masters in Commerce and Administration by thesis), and while it seems that I will be able to do this, I first have to take a research methods course in order to ensure that I know how to do research (hmmm, but okay). After having this conversation, the Management school decided maybe I'd rather be with the other "students" rather than have my own office. Umm, no, thanks for asking. So could be Masters for loss of office, trade-offs....

Okay enough of all that work stuff...what else did I do this week:

-drove on the left-hand side for the first time. Shifting with my left hand is the weirdest part, no car purchase yet, but maybe soon

-made mexican lasagna for Aaron and Alice, not as good, still figuring out Celsius with cooking

-went to Wellington's version of Screen on the Green, free movie in the botanical gardens

-laughed at a few more of my jokes

-went to an NZ Association of Americans happy hour, where one my fellow Fulbrighters had to explain that climate change is real, in other words it felt just like home

-found out that in order to enroll in papers (courses) I have to physically go to each professor and have them sign me in, so I decided while making the effort why not enroll in two more papers than originally planned, including Maori language 101

-watched highlights of the Olympics where the NZ sportscasters just take a piss (make a joke) about each of the events. While I may not be getting the coverage you guys are, I have seen some good interviews with Bode Miller about camper vans, and some good aboriginal ice dancing jokes

-signed up for a tramping club (yes, you have all made this joke, very clever)

-got Magic Jack up and running so feel free to call anytime (its free)

-finally made contact with some of the friends of friends that people put me in touch with here

-Kiwi hug counter = still zero, but one hug from a Brit and two American hugs

Tonight, trying to muster my energy to go out with the youngsters (other Fulbrighters) since i have yet to go out since I've been here ....Next week, first week of school!!!

Feb 20, Week 2 in NZ

Finishing Round the Bays 7km on Sunday, always wanted

one of these photos
8 Durham Crescent, new apartment, off the road, this is part of the little path that goes up
This way to number 8 Durham Crescent, no way to miss it
The side yard with the view to the harbor behind me, my room looks out on this yard.
The view of the harbor from the living room, its the reward

for the steep climb up the hill.
Sad to leave Marlborough Sounds on the first gorgeous

day since I arrived there
I'm on a BOAT.....
Twenty nine! The Irish staff at the hotel all gasped when I said I was 29 which I took

to mean a) 29 is old, and b) I'm so youthful
Celebrating 29 with champagne
And another rainbow at sundown on my birthday, that was number 28
First thing I saw on my birthday, a rainbow - my Mom said

there was a rainbow the day I was born, awwww
My dinner after my hike, they gave me all these condiments

without me asking! I was still 28, fries and beer acceptable

dinner after hiking 23km
In case I was feeling so good I wanted to walk/swim all

the way back to Wellington.

Thought this was a kiwi, got real excited, then the biker

yelled that there were plenty, at which point I deduced it was a weka.

The birds walk on the ground here because there are no native predators. A young lady back home told me to beware of bears, but there are none, not even any snakes here...makes tramping and camping pretty worry free

View from the top, maybe along km #10, not sure,

all gorgeous
23km, needless to say I was nervous, but also notice

how it says 9 hours, well I did in 5.5, take that QCT
Sunset on Marlborough Sounds, this in addition

to the spa, really made my day
Kayaking around Marlborough Sounds, this is called the Gap, its about 20m wide between the two bays, so back in the day they could carry canoes through here instead of going around the point

Made it to the top of day one, QCT, about 15km
First stop, Portage Resort on Queen Charlotte's Track in Marlborough Sounds, luxury tramping since they transport your bags by boat along the way

Pot Belly in Kaikora! Checked and no mushroom

melt unfortunately...
First time with toes in Pacific from this Hemisphere,

in Kaikora, South Island, not as cold as I was expecting.
My valentine, on the Peninsula Walk in Kaikora on V-day.
Enjoying some Sauvignon Blanc, sun, and music, at

the Marlborough Wine Festival.
Rocks in a gumball machine, some things

aren't as awesome in NZ
Pulling into Picton, South Island
The ferry crossing to the South Island
Hey Munros! Thinking of you while eating this ice cream
Leaving Wellington behind for a few days.

So since I last posted about ten days ago, I went to the South Island, the Marlborough Wine Festival, Kaikora, hiked part of the Queen Charlotte's Track, became a year older, moved into my new flat, and did a 7km run to benefit heart disease called Round the Bays in Wellington.

Here's a bit about my adventures over the week and few new things I've learned-

There's a few things that spending so much time alone will teach you:

-Your back will be perpetually sunburned in a weird finger splotchy way in the areas you can't quite reach

-NZ law prohibits you from renting a sea kayak alone (I know you're excited Mom), so you have to find a buddy (I convinced a chef at the resort to go with me)

-Spending so much time alone, you end up laughing it your own jokes which makes you think you're really funny (dangerous in my case), but hey they say if you don't like spending time with yourself, who will. Well, I've determined I'm a blast

-I've realized I need to think things through a bit better especially in terms of packing. For instance, hair dryer never needs to be included for weekend trips, did I ever use a hair dryer in the U.S.?, no, so who knows why I packed it for my last week away. Also, not a good idea to pack the sheets you're going to return in a backpack to run 7km (when you don't run at all normally), just because it will be more efficient. And now that I've finally unpacked at my new place, I'm really unclear what I'm going to wear once its not summer, hopefully I can find some wool around here......but good news, I did finally get a towel, actually have two now

-I've had crazy dreams every night that I've been here. Its like a parade of all the people who've been in my life every night, so its been good to see you all, at least while I'm sleeping. This might also be why I'm sleeping 12 hours a night, I'm too entertained.....

-What I love about New Zealand the most so far - how few people are here! Its really wonderful how uncrowded and how much open space there is. I'd be willing to add a few more if you all were here...Oh and I love how cheap avocados are here.

-What's been most shocking about New Zealand - how little culture shock there is and just how easy of a country it is to live in (so far, and I know I've been mostly vacationing rather than real "living", so we'll see how this goes)

-Most frustrating thing is how expensive certain things are - like books ($45), and the worldwide web ($2 for 10 minutes or 20$ per day, or $15 for 2MB of use), but hopefully this will grow less so since I got a library card and now I have a home where monthly internet is much cheaper

Here's a brief synopsis of the photos you saw above and the week in review:

-Took the ferry from Wellington with 2 other Fulbrighters, Brad and Rachel, takes 3.5 hours to the South Island, about $50 each way.

-Stayed in Blenheim for the Marlborough Wine Festival, Blenheim sort of looks like it got hit by a strip mall on fast forward, but there are some cuter parts. The backpackers (like a hostel) we stayed at was nice, on a river with free canoes and nice Irish people who were in our same room

-Wine festival, great, but you pay $50 just for the bands (Ladi6, Gin Wigmore, Liam Finn, etc) not for anything else, so all tastings are at least 3$ and glasses are 6$. By the end of the day it also sort of becomes a mess. People on the shuttle back to town were singing Know When to Hold Em and the national anthem of New Zealand. There was also a girl sitting behind me threatening to throw up the whole time.

-Kaikora, about 1.5 hours south of Blenheim, for Valentines Day, good walk along the coast and up around the peninsula, saw seals, orca, and had my first fish and chips here. Other Fulbrighters went back to Wellington.

-Water taxi from Picton to Queen Charlotte’s Track, luxury tramping where the boat takes your luggage from point to point

-Hiked about 15km, kayaked, swam, met some American guys who'd just spent four months in Antarctica, made me realize I was less isolated than I thought

-Hiked 24km to the next lodge, supposed to take 9 hours, took me 5.5, cause I’m a champ

-On my birthday, I slept 12 hours cause I can, woke up to rain and sun and many rainbows, and a full day of showers mixed with sun and rainbows. My Mom said there was a rainbow the day I was born, well Mom I think I counted 29 today, fitting J.

-Woke up to a rainbow, but also to someone stealing my food. Good experiences at backpackers till now....and still overall not bad, basically had the place to myself the second night.

-Rained all day, could have been depressing and lonely, but I used the time to organize pictures so it was like you all were with me....

-Had some bubbles and cake with the staff here and stuck a match in the cake to wish myself happy birthday and called it a night

-Woke up to a gorgeous day, unfortunately had to go back, but had a good boat ride back to Picton, ate some green shell mussels and got on the ferry back to Wellington

-Moved into my new flat, found out I needed to buy linen for my bed, really wishing that bedding made it now

-Ran 7km Round the Bays in Wellington on Sunday, finished in 45 minutes which I was pretty happy with. Got my bedding, went to farmers market, went to dinner at new roomates' parents house, made lunch for tomorrow, headed to bed. Good week

You may be wondering when I'm actually going to start working on what the Fulbright (aka you taxpayers) are paying for me to be here for, well don't worry, I get down to work tomorrow, so this next week I promise many pictures of me working away ......still to come pictures of my new roommates Alice and Aaron, and now that I have a home, I'm going to work on buying a car....