back to school...

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Still no touristy stuff, but we are making progress getting to know the city. We rode the bus to New Brighton the other day which is on the coast just outside of Christchurch (see link to map). There is a pier there and some surf shops but more importantly were the SURFERS! It was a very crummy day as far as weather goes and of course it is the equivalent of January yet they were surfing in the Pacific Ocean. It was nuts. There were also some kids fishing off the pier and they caught a little dog shark right in front of me. The kid just grabbed it off the hook by the nose as it was writhing around and flung it way off into the water. I wish I had gotten a picture… could’ve sworn it was a baby Great White. 😉

In other events… we went to an All Blacks game! They are the national rugby team and it’s a pretty big deal here - bigger than going to a Seahawks game at home. The match was against South Africa and we kicked butt. Going to the stadium was really fun too and we got to hear the NZ national anthem sung and see the Haka - the world famous chant the players do before kickoff. Watching the policemen grab drunken guys by their jackets and haul them out was entertaining too.

Classes started Monday. I am taking Animal Behaviour, Modern World History, Worlds of Art, and Bambi to Kong: Animals in American Popular Media. I am really excited for the animal classes of course, although we have talked about nothing but jumping spiders in Animal Behaviour so far which makes me shudder to say the least. In Bambi to Kong we watched the last 10 mins of Bambi and I never realized how horrifying that movie is! It was stressful lol. But anyway, grades here are based completely on 2 essays and the final exam so I am not looking forward to writing 8 huge essays this semester. I became a science major for a reason dangit.

I also joined the rec center on campus which offers free fitness classes. Since I’m not working I figure maybe I won’t have as many excuses for not going to the gym. Hopefully I will make it to the yoga and the spin classes but a lot of them are held fri-sun which is when we will be traveling every chance we get. Speaking of work, I searched for hours last night trying to find babysitting, petsitting, or dog walking around here but nothing so far. Hopefully some people will email me back and have an opportunity for me. I'm only looking for about one day a week.

We have reserved a rental car for this saturday to drive a couple hours north to Hanmer Springs and go in the thermal pools for the day. I am very scared to attempt driving on the left side of the road but I have 4 other girls watching out to make sure I will turn into the correct lane and such! I am going with Amy and then 3 other girls from Kansas, Alaska, and Missouri who all live in my apartment complex. After we split $39 five ways the car will be pretty cheap. Hanmer Springs is in an alpine village surrounded by beautiful scenery so it should be a great little trip for our first weekend. Once we can start planning ahead better we plan to go south to Queenstown and all around the South Island every weekend possible. I can't wait!

The weather has gotten a bit warmer since our first week here. It has been in the low 40s F during the daytime, so much more tolerable and nothing I'm not used to from home. I hear that it's pretty nice here by September but then again winter had a late start so we will see. It will be nicer soon enough and then you can all come visit!

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Comments

[Jennifer]

jamooo!
Aww I bet you are excited to travel! You look so cold in all your pictures! :( I hope you're staying plenty warm. Those surfers are hardcore! Burrr! Your classes sound really interesting! Well, you take care and I am really enjoying these blogs and pics! Have fun! :) Love, Jenn