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Published: March 8th 2006
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House Kitchen
Our cute little kitchen I am now sitting at my computer, which is set up on the bar counter of our kitchen, watching Mary, Esther and John (my flat-mates) make dinner. : ) Hooray! We are all moved into our cozy little house, and loving it! We moved in Friday, and immediately got our phone, DVD player, and Internet up and running. We went to the grocery store Saturday and got the basics, and things for meals this week. It’s so wonderful being settled in finally! The house is completely furnished, so we didn’t have to worry about getting linens, pots and pans, etc. Erin and I share a room, Esther and Mary share, and John has his own. Esther’s from Colorado, Mary from south Texas, and John from Indianapolis. Great places to visit!
It was a fairly uneventful weekend, with getting settled and all. Erin and I went to the Frankton market - a type of flea market in town. The majority of booths were either produce, clothes, or jewelry. I bought a bone pendant. There are several designs, each of which has a different meaning for Maori’s. Mine is the koru (spiral), meaning “new life or beginning, growth, harmony and peace.”
our little room
Before we moved into it. It has a few more things in it now... :) Classes have been great so far. I’m taking three - an introduction to Maori culture class, English - Writing and Audience, and Women and Gender Studies - Rethinking Women, Gender, and Sex. I really like them all - I think they’re going to be more challenging than I expected. The Maori class is my favorite so far, because we’re learning about the basics of that culture, and how and why they do and believe things. The closest example that I can think of is relating them to the Native Americans, without all the oppression. They relate very closely to the land and to their ancestors - a person’s ancestors identify who you are and validate you within the society. The culture is very important to New Zealand, and the Maoris have a very large presence here. If the name of a place isn’t already a Maori word, signs usually have the Maori translation under the English. Representations of their culture is everywhere. I’m excited about learning more about it.
I only have about 6 hours of class a week, since my English class is an online course. Should be interesting to see how that works. We submit writings weekly
dining area
I just love it! Same room as kitchen, other side of it. online, and are required to comment on other’s work. The “lectures” are done through a workbook we got, and we’ll be reading a fairly wide representation of genres - poetry, travel writings, Great Expectations, short stories, etc.
The Women and Gender Studies class, or my Feminism class as I call it, is about the history of the feminist movement and how it is being played out today. I like it because it’s giving me a factual view of the movement, instead of the common misrepresentations people generally have about it.
Surprisingly, I actually have been able to keep my schedule pretty full, despite the small amount of class time. In fact I have too much to do - I can’t fit everything in! There’s an indoor climbing gym, with a student discount every Thursday night, so I plan on doing that as much as possible. I signed up for yoga and kickboxing classes at the University gym, so that’s Monday’s and Wednesdays. Tuesday is horseback riding (hooray!). There’s an Equestrian Centre Riding School right outside of town, and I’m going to work some for my lessons. I’ve also gotten involved in a church right down the street, so
Family Portrait (minus Erin and Katherine)
John, Esther, and Mary (sitting). Aren't they just adorable?! :) that’s Sundays, and the “youth group” (ages 15-25) meets Thursday nights. So yeah, tons of fun stuff! If you want to know details about any of it let me know - it’s too much to put on here. Here’s some links though:
Horses.net.nz
www.waikato.ac.nz
www.hamiltongardens.co.nz
The last one is for the gardens that are basically right across the street from our house. I’ve started running there in the mornings - so beautiful! They put Furman’s rose garden to shame. Similar to Furman, though - this morning they were clipping the roses that were fully advanced, and she let me take some of them home. So now we have pretty roses in the kitchen. : )
That’s all for now, I hope everyone is doing well! I wish y’all could be here with me!
Not many pictures this time - more later, I promise!
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Dean
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Enjoying your blog
Hi Katherine! I'm enjoying reading your blog and glad to know you're settling in. Thanks for keeping us up to date. I know I'll look forward to future postings. BTW, what part of Indianapolis is your roommate John from? Love, Uncle Dean