No Show, Just Tell

I tried to add some pictures to this blog, but for some reason it didn't work. Use your imagination.

I just finished reading a wonderful book called The City of Ember. It is already a new favorite. It's about a decaying city in a world where there is no sun, or moon , or stars, and the only light that exists comes from electric lamps. Intrigued??

Right now I am on spring break. We get two weeks off, but it's not a total vacation because I have essays and things due right when we are back in session. Pretty soon I will have to buckle down and read a book about the use of blackface in old musicals, write an essay proposal about the movie High Fidelity, and catch up on some other reading.

The last few weeks in children's church, I have taken up my guitar for one song during the singing time. It's been pretty fun and I think the kids really like it. Sometimes kids do the funniest stuff:
---I went over to a group of boys to wrangle them back to the group, and when I was close enough I realized they were playing Harry Potter and using coffee stirrers as wands.
---One little girl was quite wriggly during story time, but not really disrupting anyone, or so I thought. No one noticed until it was too late that she had taken of her shoes, stockings and underwear.
---One of the other leaders asked the kids to raise their hands if they like my American accent. Most of the kids raised their hands, but it made me wonder about the kids who didn't...

Current Playlist:
Sugarcane by Missy Higgins (Listen here: http://www.missyhiggins.com/)
Lies by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova
Stations by Denison Witmer
Rag and Bone by The White Stripes
The Park by Feist
The Funeral by Band of Horses
Yankee Go Home by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
I'm Sorry, But I'm Beginning to Hate Your Face by Eagle Seagull

24...

...is the age I just reached on my recent birthday. I feel old and young at the same time. Last year for my birthday I was in California: Kimi and Mike took me to see "Lady in the Water"; the rest of the gang surprised me with Red Lobster and ice skating; and the next day was Hawaiian Shirt Day in the Financial Aid Office. This year in New Zealand, I went out for lunch with some friends from church for Mongolian BBQ--it was a really fun day, and it was nice to celebrate with my new pals. I have decided that my birthday is the best holiday, except for Christmas.

I have a new batch of flatmates for this semester. We have representatives from the New Hampshire, France, Kazakhstan (no Borat jokes, please!), and New Zealand.

Here are my classes this semester:
Research Methods---not really exciting, but necessary
Documentary History and Theory---really interesting! I have a group presentation this week about Holocaust documentaries...
NZ Media Studies---good background info
Music, Sound and Media---the best class ever! I think I have found my calling in life---or at least an area to focus on for my thesis next year...

Next time: more stories from children's church, spring break plans, and more!

Fiji Stories

Bula!

That's 'hello' in Fijian. There is also a dance called the Bula Dance, but I think is just made up for tourists. Why do I think this? Well, parts of the dance are oddly reminiscent of the Macarena...


So here are some fun stories from my trip:

One afternoon we were told that there was going to be rugby match between two of the villages, and we were free to go watch. Nathan, Fiona, and I thought it would be fun to walk since we heard there was a path from the beach to the other side of the island where the match was being held. We asked for directions to start off, but basically we headed off without a clue as to where we were going... Right. So the first "path" we took led us nowhere but into the woods. On the second try was also wrong, but we did find a pig. The third path seemed promising enough but it led us into a hillside garden. Eventually we did find our way, and we had a fun adventure, but we felt pretty silly about all our wandering around... But it was worth it in the end, because the rugby match was great and the team from the village where we were staying won!





We went to a local church on Sunday which was a real treat. I didn't understand what they were saying at all, but it was so amazing to hear the Fijians voices lifted in song--really beautiful--without instruments or a band, just singing to God. Afterwards, each tourist that attended the service was invited to someone's home for lunch. Nathan and I ended up at the home of one of the church's pastors. They were really friendly and generous, and we asked a lot of (probably stupid) questions which they were kind enough to answer. Personally, I was really proud of myself for eating everything they offered--even the fish with the heads still attached!






We noticed a guitar in the corner of one of the offices of the resort on the second island we visited. I asked to borrow it a couple of nights, and my friends and I sat on the beach with a box of cookies and looked at the stars while I played and sang. You can't beat that.

One afternoon on the mainland we were able to go surfing! It was a beautiful afternoon, and not crowded at all, although the waves were a little flat. But it does not matter, because I can now officially say that I have surfed in Fiji. The surf shop had a friend of theirs named Rakesh who drives a taxi take us to and from our surfing beach. We love Rakesh! He was really open and entertaining and let us ask him all about Fiji and his life. He told us some really great stories, and I could not believe the amazing life he has had. He told us to look him up again if we needed a taxi again, so we got to see him again when we did some site-seeing. If you are ever in Nadi in Fiji, let me know because I know a really cool guy who drives a cab and he'll probably give you a really good rate.





Anyway, it was nice just now to remember my nice, warm holiday because now I am back in cold Auckland, with all new flatmates and classes...


More about that some other time I guess...

Pictures From Fiji

Too many pictures! I've tried to limit myself to a few good ones...

During high tide, this strip of sand is completely covered in water. During low tide, you can walk from one island to another....This is Nathan and Fiona, by the way.



One afternoon we climbed a mountain---I'm standing on the edge, laughing in the face of danger.

And here's the view from the top.


Here are some Fijians doing some spear-fishing...


You take a boat to get to the smaller islands from the mainland.
Some of the islands are incredibly small like this one we passed.

This was taken from the small boat as we approached the first island we visited.


This is where we stayed on the first island.


This is the center of Nadi, the largest city on the mainland. We spent a few days in Nadi walking around and finding new places to eat.

We ate here three times (they always gave us free drinks!) This is me with Fiona and Jen.


We spent a lot of time trying to take good pictures of the sunset. This one is my favorite...



There might be some more Fiji pictures and stories coming soon...

From the Mountains to the Sea

I turned in my last essay, and then skipped town with some buddies. We went to the Coromandel Peninsula where we hiked the Pinnacles:





We also spent some time at Hot Water Beach.. You dig a hole and hot water bubbles up, and it's like a homemade hot tub. Except when we went it was raining and cold, and therefore, not that fun...



We also checked out Cathedral Cove which is this huge tunnel carved into the side of hill basically...It's right on the beach and quite lovely...








Other things that happened on this trip:

--We met the current MVP of the NBA, Dirk Nowitzky.

--We ran over a possum with the car.

--I had some really good food at the local establishments.


Next up, Fiji!

Waking Life...

I've been absent from my blog for a while--sorry! In my defense, I have been writing essays for the past month. I only have one essay left which means have completed 1/4 of my Masters. Sweet as!

This Wednesday will be the start of my winter break. Here are my plans:

---sleep!

---finish reading The Ground Beneath Her Feet by Salman Rushdie

---bake ginger snaps

---watch some movies (just for fun!)

---clean the flat before new flatmates come

---check out a thrift store I found

---write a new song

---see the new Harry Potter as soon as humanly possible

---and go to FIJI! I'm heading off for 10 days with some friends, and I'm really excited. It will be a lot warmer there than it is here, and I'm hoping to work in some surfing...I promise to take some sweet pictures.

I am just now recovering from a case of insomnia. The last two nights in a row have been good, but for the past two weeks I could not fall asleep for anything. And when I did, I had the strangest dreams (time travel, mops, homework, flying like a bird over Pangaea).

This past weekend I went with some friends to see Warren Miller's Off the Grid. It was about skiing, which I know nothing about, but I was told that it was one of the better ski movies out there.

Did you know that in Japan they have snowball fight championships? Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZU1BLotGpU&mode=related&search=

A few more Kiwi words:

choice = cool, sweet, or awesome

batch = a summer home, or second house

flash = fancy, dressed up, expensive looking

"dob in" = tattle on (At church, what happens is if you know that someone had something good happen to them in the past week, you dob them in by standing up and telling everyone during sharing time. Then you both get a kit-kat bar. From what I understand, it's an Australian phrase...)

Random Rules:

http://www.avclub.com/content/randomrules

I love this game! Since I have been writing this blog, here's what came up randomly on my iTunes (no skips!):

Cold Truth by The Guggenheim Grotto

The Times They Are A-Changin' by Bob Dylan

50 Ways to Leave Your Lover by Paul Simon

Punkrocker by Teddybears featuring Iggy Pop

Wise Up by Aimee Mann

Lesson Learned by Ray LaMontagne

Surviving Life in a Movie

Just in case you wake up one morning to the discovery that you are living in a movie, here are some tips to surviving:

--When traveling through time, DO NOT touch anything or talk to anyone, especially your future or past self. Doing so will destroy life as we know it and you will spend the two hours fixing it.

---Don't worry about bombs. Any bomb can be diffused by cutting the correctly colored wire, and you will always be able to guess which one.

---Don't pay a cab driver, unless you fling the cash at him without counting it beforehand--you always have just the right amount.

---If you are driving, don't pay attention to the road. Just concentrate the conversation you are having with the other passengers.

---Remember to save your best secrets for your dying words.

---Never trust anyone who has a big scar on their face.

---Don't worry about children--they never die. But they may be much smarter than you or evil.

---Don't tell anyone if you are dying from an incurable disease. Let them find out after you have already been admitted to the hospital. They will have no clue you were even sick because your disease will not have any symptoms, except maybe extreme paleness.

---Don't try to retire from your life of fighting crime. Something will happen on your last day (probably during your goodbye party) to prevent it.

Good luck! And remember, sequels are nice, but trilogies are best.

http://www.moviecliches.com/index.html