Monday, June 30, 2008

Plans!

Yay! Today I finished my last day of tutoring for the semester. The day never seemed like it would end as we calculated the final grades for each of the 400+ students in the course. But, thankfully, we got it all done which means I am officially on holiday!

So here are my plans for my time off:
---Road Trip with Friends:
I am heading on a 4 day trip with some of friends from my building. We heading south to Rotorua, Lake Taupo, and Mt. Taranaki for tramping and sightseeing.

---Road Trip by Myself:
After that I will take a 12-day trip to the South Island where I will make my way from Christchurch, through the mountains, to the Franz Josef glacier, to Queenstown, and then back again. It will probably be cold and wet, and maybe even snowy! Expect some amazing pictures when I get back. It will also be a good time to recharge my batteries before my final semester.

---Read Books:
Here's what I have in the queue to read:
Emma by Jane Austen
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken
Midwinter Nightingale by Joan Aiken
The Birth of America by William Polk
Beware of God by Shalom Auslander
By the way, book recommendations are always welcome!

Check back in mid-July for some sweet pics!

Friday, June 20, 2008

Halfway Point

The semester is nearly over! Looking forward to a much-needed break...
I am actually fighting of a cold today (it's winter here), so I'll try keep this brief:
So far, I have written about 20,000 words of a rough draft of my thesis, so I've made some good progress.
I finished tutoring for the semester, except for some exams I have to mark. It was a great gig, and I'm hoping to get re-hired for next semester.

I am learning German! Well, sort of. I have several German friends here right now, so I have been learning a few phrases---another unexpected experience that comes from living in New Zealand.

Here are some tunes I have been spinning in high rotation lately:
"Skinny Love" by Bon Iver
"Everybody Here is a Cloud" by Cloud Cult---check out the entire album Feel Good Ghosts (Tea-Partying Through Tornadoes)
"Go to Hell" by David Ford (not as angry as the title suggests!)
"OK, It's Alright With Me" by Eric Hutchinson (thanks Bethany!)
"I Love the Rain the Most" by Joe Purdy (again, thanks Bethany!)
"The Cure for Pain" by Jon Foreman
"Loose Lips" by Kimya Dawson
"Crown" by Mason Jennings
"Sun Down" by Nik Freitas
"Bag of Hammers" by Thao

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Sailing!

Here are some pictures from a recent sailing trip I went on.


My friend Marleen invited me to go with her friends, and we had a lovely day.


We caught fresh mussells and ate them right on the boat!


Yum!



I wanted to climb the mast like Jack Sparrow, but that was not allowed...


Ahoy!