Reflections and reminders: It's about -people-

Might I first mention that this blog comes biting at the heels of my most recent blog ramble!  I must also admit that perhaps nothing in this post will relate to my experience in New Zealand and it may be quite out of place for a blog which is, admittedly, awkwardly referred to as, 'Sheep and Mountains with a Side of Kia Ora'.  And yet, it is quite possible that most of the words to follow are, in fact, wholly related to my name and life in New Zealand.  Whatever the case may be, I would like to share some thoughts that have been flitting about in my soul recently and you can do with them what you like...deal?

OK, it is important to give a bit of exposition for this post as I am normally a quasi-monthly blog updater and never one to overexert my blogging interest jump the gun on updating too soon.  I've been reading book.  Yes, books.  They are bits of paper, delightfully bound and sometimes accompanied with cover art.  Additionally, you will occasionally come across books that are imprinted with wisdom, often written with no such pretense.  I've actually read quite a lot since coming to New Zealand and usually try to read material unrelated to my coursework each night before bed.  I've read some classics, things like, The Life of Pi and Catcher in the Rye.  I've also read the likes of The Road, The Passion of Alice, About a Boy, and...completely unrelated to the previous work, Boy.  In each of these works, I've found new themes and ideas to grab onto and I'm appreciative of each new text.

I also like reading books with religious spiritual overtones.  Examples of these include An Altar in the World, Why Christianity Must Change or Die, Thich Nhat Hahn: Essential Writings, and, of course, The Bible.  Folks, I must say...I've been struck by these latter texts.  Some of you may know that I've had struggles with religion and the shortsightedness of the Church.  Still, others of you may have read my previous blog detailing my own personal struggle to live in way that is 'pleasing' or, perhaps better put by a friend of mine...a life of 'quiet grace' (credit to Alex Brown for that eloquence).  I must say that with each day and with each new personal experience with faith and with spirituality...I do feel like I am growing.  I am not necessarily saying that I am becoming a better 'Christian' or a better 'believer', but I do think that I am becoming more spiritual.  


I've often seen and heard the phrase, 'Love God, Love People' and it has always resonated with me.  I think that we, in the very general and far-reaching sense of the word, have lost sight of what it means to love people.  There are plenty of people who will exalt God's name and lift God above all others and yet...they would turn their backs on those they are commanded by God to love and to care for.  You will hear plenty of Old Testament arguments that favor condemnation and intolerance.  Rubbish.  You cannot love God and hold God's children in contempt.  You cannot believe in Jesus and turn your back on those he loved the most, the the ones we have marginalized and the ones we have denigrated.  I want to scream every time I see someone marginalized because of who they love, their personal beliefs, their past and present deeds.  I also cringe every time I realize that I've done my fair share of marginalization.  This is not what my God envisioned, this is not what my God is about.

I will tell you this, I was raised in a home and in a family that was full of love and support.  I was also raised in the Western-view of the Christian faith.  I am not quite sure that the God I pray to today is the same God I prayed to when I was five.  I could say that perhaps God has changed...but that would be a farce, through whatever lens you choose to employ.  What is most likely the case is that my understanding of God, along with the accompanying who and what , has grown and changed.  I will admit that I am no Biblical scholar.  I know the stories and the teachings, but I cannot recite the Word to you without prompt.  I will also admit that I am greatly influenced by other spiritual, yet decidedly non-'Christian' texts and will continue in my journey of interfaith learning.  Thich Nhat Hanh is a Buddhist monk who has written some pretty love-inspired words and I can say that I've learned just as much about 'Christianity' from him as I have in my 23 years of Church-going and he himself acknowledges the power and the relevance of the Christian faith while not excluding his own faith or the faith of other traditions.  He's written things such as 'We do not have to die to arrive at the gates of Heaven.  In fact, we have to be truly alive.  The practice is to touch life deeply so that the Kingdom of God becomes a reality...The Kingdom of God is available here...the Kingdom of God comes to us'.  My friends, I am inclined to accept and believe this.  Why?  Because, for me, God/Jesus/Christianity/Religion/Spirituality all boils down to one simple truth: we are here to love people and to love them deeply.

And thus the crux of my spiritual ambling: whatever faith and whatever tradition you adhere or don't adhere to...you must realize the necessity for love, understanding, courage, and acceptance.  Since coming to New Zealand, I've had the time to evaluate what it means to truly live in this world and what it means to live a life of purpose.  Each one of us has the capacity to radically change the lives of our brothers and sisters with things as small as kind words or a genuine smile.  We have the capacity to completely eradicate the worries and the troubles of this world and to realize a true Heaven on earth if we could only realize that our life in this world should involve significant investment in people, not causes.  There are men and women who live and die for 'causes' that, which with respect to human life are tangential at best.  I will never die for a cause...but I will live and die and advocate for people, especially the ones on the fringes of society--the marginalized wonders of this world.  Heaven, in whatever manifestation is relevant to you, can be and should be sought here on Earth.  After all, John 17:12 tells us that Jesus said "While I have been with them in the world, I have kept them in the power of Your name.  I have kept watch over those you gave Me.  Not one of them has been lost except the one who is going to be destroyed, which is the son of death."  John 17:23 goes on to say, "I am in them and You are in Me so they may be one and made perfect.  The the world may know that You sent Me and that You love them as You love Me."  This is powerful stuff!  None of us have been lost and all of us are loved.

Christianity should not be static.  In fact, I think Jesus said something to this effect when he said "No one sews a piece of new cloth on an old coat, because if the new piece pulls away, it makes the hole bigger.  Men do not put new wine into old skin bags.  If they did, the skins would break and the wine would run out.  They put new wine into new skin bags and both can be used" (Matthew 9:16-17).  I think this is a call to heed the teachings of the past while acknowledging the dynamic and constantly evolving nature of faith and spirituality.  My faith is something that is special to me and it is something that I feel is very personal to me.  My beliefs most definitely do not align with any mainstream version of any particular religion and I am more influenced by a necessity to seek interfaith communities--call me an "all paths to 'God' kind of guy".  I wear a cross daily as a reminder of my own spirituality and my own beliefs and I believe we can learn things from all faith traditions.  I do not believe in a world that is 6,000 years old and I believe that it is irresponsible to defame science and reason.  I do not believe in a world where religion and spirituality are interchangeable and I certainly do not believe that Church-goers are better off than those who have never stepped foot in such buildings of mankind.  I do not believe in a God who is incapable of accepting the marginalized into Heaven and I do not believe in a God who approves and commands such behavior.  I do believe in a bigger God who is wholly accepting and a God whose Heaven is already available to us through a re-dedication to loving people, not religious rituals and worship-less pantomimes.  I do believe in people and I believe it is our mandate, spiritual or otherwise, to care for each other and accept each other without question.  I do believe that we are meant to live in communities of understanding and compassion.  These are the things I believe and I encourage you to seek out your own, personal understanding of spirituality and your specific tradition, if you have one.

I'll leave you with this, a few verses from Matthew 5--a comment in which I think Jesus calls us to each develop our own faith in the context of our own experience while fully expressing who WE are:

"You are the salt of the earth.  If salt loses its taste, how can it be made to taste like salt again?  It is no good. It is thrown away and people walk on it.  You are the light of the world.  You cannot hide a city that is on a mountain.  Men do not light a lamp and put it under a basket.  They put it on a table so it gives light to all in the house.  Let your light shine in front of men."

How easily it all slips by...

I don't think I'm even going to try and make excuses for my lack of blogging, it's not worth it.  To be honest, I guess I am just not a committed blogger...it's not because I am necessarily working day in and day out and it's also not because I don't enjoy updating you fine people about my life in Aotearoa.  This blog comes in the wake of mental exhaustion from having spent too much time on an essay for class; I needed a break :)  Also, I am watching 'The Grudge 3' right now and really need a distraction from the outrageously creepy 'aaahhhhhhhaaahhhahh' of the demented Asian ghost...

In my last post, I talked about my strangely wonderful journey to Tonga and all the fun events and conversations that occurred in this Pacific paradise-of-sorts.  It's been roughly two months since I returned and I have to say that things are pretty standard as far as my life in New Zealand goes.  I started a new school semester, I picked up a part-time job tutoring some undergrad epidemiology students, and I've made some interesting friends all along the way.  This is not to say that I don't wake up each morning feeling too blessed to be stressed--I do.  But I can't shake this feeling that my next adventure is one that centers around going home...more on that later in this edition.

But back to class!  I've started--and am now close to the end of--some new courses in my program!  I am enrolled in PUBH702: Society, Health, and Public Policy and PUBH703: Health and Environment.  There's quite a bit of overlap between the two courses, and even some overlap between 702 and my Health Systems course last semester...but, you win some you lose some.  Actually, I've become more interested in my classes these last few weeks and I'm just hoping for some decent grades.  Not going to lie, I've been on struggle street for a solid month...AT LEAST.  Nevertheless, I think things will end up alright and I am still quite pleased with the work I've done over the course of the program.  In fact, the program has definitely increased my interest in Public Health affairs and I could definitely see myself working in the field.  I've even considered doing a PhD in Public Health over here, focusing on health policy and primary care.  But, for those of you who know me...my career path changes from week to week, and that's a conservative estimate of my propensity to casually date when it comes to careers.  No worries though, I've applied to vet school as well.  And I've still got a spot in pharmacy school.  And I've applied for a few jobs in Washington D.C.  Some may call this 'indecisiveness mixed with being non-committal by nature'.  In fact, I am one of those people who calls it as such.  However, I would prefer to call it 'winning' because no blog is complete without a Charlie Sheen reference. 

But! I digress.  School stuff is going well, check.  In other New Zealand news, the World Cup is here!  yes!  It is the Rugby World Cup and there are 4 games in Dunedin.  I've not been to one yet, but am hopefully headed to the Ireland v. Italy game in October.  The 'buzz' in town has really picked up since the start of the sporting event and Dunedin actually feels really culturally-diverse at the moment!  I can sit in a coffee shop and hear loads of differents accents and even a few different languages.  It's fantastic!!  But, what makes this whole Rugby World Cup thing interesting as it relates to my life is that I was in France during the last Rugby World Cup and as some of you may know, France hosted that year!  The Eiffel Tower even had a giant inflatable rugby ball in it!  Perhaps this will provide me with a new life direction?  Maybe I should base all my life and career decision around whether or not I can pick up and be in the Rugby World Cup host country ?  Sounds like a strategy to me!  Thoughts?

On a more general note, this whole experience in New Zealand has already shown me so much about myself--good and bad.  I've had a few "coming to Jesus" moments since I've been here and it's forced me to be really honest with myself about my motives and my beliefs.  It's been a bit of a struggle but I am in a really good place right now.  I've been reading a few fantastic books that have really made me think and I'm literally about to burst at the seams because I feel like the fun is just beginning.  Perhaps I'm just growing up.  For those of you who know me, again, you will know that this TERRIFIES me.  I am not talking about 'growing up' in the sense of not being silly and spontaneous and all that...I'll never shake that stuff.  I'm talking about the real meaty stuff.  You know...figuring out who you are, what you want out of life (aside from a career though, in my case), and what matters to you most.  You start to realize that you can't keep living the way you do if you want to make changes and that it takes work to make things happen.  But...at this point I'm rambling.  So with that, I bid you fair people adieu and I hope to update again soon :)

CHEERS!
Chase

Tonga: Where to begin...lol

So, the title of this latest update pretty much sums up my sentiments towards the Kingdom of Tonga and the adventures I had there during my school holidays.  As my time included everything from rather shady accommodation to late night drag shows, I am honestly at a loss for words and am not quite sure where to begin!

I guess I can start by reassuring you that I did not, in fact, travel alone to Tonga and was lucky enough to head to the Pacific island with a fellow southern scholar, Erinn King.  Erinn has got to be one of the most fun-loving and easiest people to travel with and I don't think that I could have had more laughs in these particular circumstances with anyone else.  Erinn is a scholar assigned to New Zealand and currently studies at Massey University's campus in Wellington.  We booked our travel months ago and the excitement for our excursion in the Pacific had been mounting until the day of our Kiwi-departure.  To start the trip out right, we decided to meet up with friends in Auckland on July 1 before our flight out on July 2.  I traveled by air and made it to Auckland around noon and met up with some other Rotary stunners: Megan, Wes (+ his fiance Elise), and Rhea.  We spent some really great time chatting over lunch and waiting for Andrew and Caresse (more Rotary scholars) to join up with us from Wellington and Hamilton.  Needless to say, we had the makings of a good time and you don't have to threaten me with one of those (thanks, Caresse)!  We all grabbed a few drinks over dinner while we waited for Erinn to get in, via an 11-hour bus ride, from Wellington.  Upon Erinn's arrival, we set out on the town and without going into all the sordid details...we had a great night out.  In an ever important debate, Erinn and I just decided to forgo any effort to sleep before our flight at 6:20am...we were semi-successful.  We caught a bus to the airport from downtown Auckland around 3:00am and somehow managed not to fall asleep along the way.  Perhaps it was because we had overly intoxicated Aucklanders banging on all sides of the bus in an effort to properly send off their mate who was obviously headed for some foreign country.  Though our bus driver didn't take to kindly to the situation, Erinn and I were too tired to be bothered with any other emotion other than sheer confusion.  Nonetheless, made it to the airport and eagerly awaited our departure.

The flight to Tonga went off without a hitch and while this may seem to be a pretty weak detail to include at this stage in the game...if you've been keeping up with my travels you may have some reason to believe that making it to Tonga on my original travel plans was nothing short of a miracle.  We'd booked a week's stay at the Otuhaka beach resort and were able to arrange airport transfer to the resort with the owner of our temporary home.  Let me tell y'all a little something about Dan...dude was one shady bloke.  Aside from filling us in with WAY too many life details and inquiring about some pretty personal stuff, Dan was out for dollars and it was pretty clear from day one.  Let's lay it out a little bit--I researched ahead of time and saw that people who had previously stayed at Otuhaka highly recommended the island tour that Dan operates.  The best part is that the tour was supposed to only cost about $40 per person...dolla dolla bills in my pocket y'all!  Erinn and I were pumped for the beach time in Tonga, but seeing as our first full day was filled with rainy skies...we opted to take the island tour in hopes that the rest of the week would bring sunshine and carbon-carbon bond destruction (a.k.a. gettin' our tan on).  This was a great choice!  Anyways, booked the tour, hopped in the van, and set off with Dan for our adventure.  Being the absent-minded type that I am, I forgot to confirm the price before we set out and ended up asking about half-way in to our journey.  Oops.  In asking how much, you can imagine my disbelief when he told us that the tour was $100 per person.  Scammersaywhat?!  I honestly thought he was joking and was just about to crack a smile when he started mumbling something about feeding his kids and the high cost of petrol...dude was serious.  Erinn and I exchanged a mental 'wtf' but paid the guy anyways...no sense in starting off the week fighting with the owner, especially when we had to pay upfront for our stay.  The tour was gorgeous and we saw some great stuff, but I am not sure what was worse...the hole in my pocket or the hole in my masculine pride.  Dan 1 Chase 0.

Our days in Tonga consisted largely of reading, beaching, walking, bussing, sleeping, eating, and frolicking.  In other words, we had a fantastic time in Tonga and personally I really enjoyed how rustic the whole island came off.  Tonga is pretty much like a throwback to Hawaii as it was 100 years ago. There were no major resorts or restaurants or things of that sort...it was very much a cultural and natural place to be.  The people were outrageously happy and I can imagine why...Tonga is definitely a place where the term 'island time' applies.  I'm not joking.  We'd take the bus in to town around 11am most days and if you looked in the houses along the way you'd see large Tongan guys just laying around in the house and chillin' out like the bosses they were.  Friends...this was on WEEKDAYS.  I can't imagine what the daily schedule in Tonga is like on a Saturday.

Nevertheless, the people were happy and it really left me wondering whether less is truly more.  We live in a world that values advancement and progress for the sake of progress and all the signs point to the fact that we just can't keep up the pace.  With debt woes, childish politicians, and abundant inequalities...you have to ask if we should forsake the idea of growth for the sake of growth if we are ever truly going to realize our potential.  Sometimes my outlook for the human race is quite bleak, but then I convince myself that we are inherently good in our hearts and that we have just lost sight of what is important as a result of our own development.  It's quite sad really, to know that we have so much potential and yet we are nothing more than slaves to our own greed and petty judgments.

So, yea...I don't know where that came from...let's get back to the more light-hearted, less offensive items that happened in Tonga.  As I was saying, Erinn and I did spend the majority of our time soaking up some sun...but we did manage to get some cultural flavorings as well!  We were able to see a fantastic cultural presentation that included polynesian dancing and fire displays.  In addition, we were also able to participate in a "traditional" kava ceremony.  This drink has quite a lot of significance in Pacific culture and oddly enough looks like muddy water.  To drink it, however, is another experience entirely.  It literally numbs your mouth and is supposed to bring you to the point of quasi-hallucinations.  While I am pretty sure I wasn't hallucinating, I was left wondering whether or not I had entered the Twilight Zone as the night progressed.  At one point the guy who worked in the gardens at the resort was engaging us in a conversation that I can only describe as hellaciously awkward.  Let's just say he wanted to know why it was inappropriate to use certain racial slurs and at one point was asking us if his mother qualified as someone he should use this particular word with.  We responded with a resounding "NO" and tried to explain why certain things are just offensive and shouldn't be used.  He didn't really catch on.  To make the night even more strange awesome, we were privileged enough to witness some pretty awesome dancing by two fakaleiti to the tunes of none other than Beyonce herself.  Fakaleiti are those members of Tongan society who constitute a third gender and are traditionally males that have been raised as females in their family.  Though fantastic, the night was certainly an atypical Tongan evening...to say the least :)

Some Tongan shots!

Blowholes!

A pretty standard sunset in Tonga :)

Danger, Will Robinson!  Danger!

I could wake up to this pretty easily if given the choice

Though housing is modest in every sense of the word, Tongans are such a happy people!

Oh yeah, we had a great time

All in all, our time in Tonga was fantastic.  We were able to see things we had never seen, experience a culture like we had never known, and eat food we have never savored.  We met some wonderful British friends and we were actually quite sad to part ways with them!  Our time in Tonga was truly special and it is a place where I am proud to have left a little bit of my heart.

Ash-clouds, getting across the ditch, and finding my people: Australia!

Wow, so...did I mention the fact that I am TERRIBLE at keeping up with this blog?!  I don't really even have an excuse other than the fact that I've been traveling and without too much access to a computer/Internet.  Unlike some of my more dedicated family members, whose posts seem to come rather rapidly and with no shortage of heart-gripping moments, I am quite average when it comes to updates.  However, I'm back on the horse and ready to ride towards what will hopefully prove to be an informative and somewhat interesting update!  I also traveled to Tonga, that post is coming soon!

Right, so...do you all remember the two weary travelers that came knocking at my door during their visit to Dunedin?  These stunning examples of Rotary Scholars, Caresse and Kyle, were wonderful guests and told me that they had at least a moderate amount of fun while they were here.  Naturally I demanded a return of circumstances and made my way across the ditch, aka Tasman Sea, to spend some time with these mates in "Australia's playground"...Queensland!  For those of you who were able to check my facebook status updates during my time leading up to my eventual Kiwi departure, you may have noticed that I had quite the experience.  Friends, I was supposed to fly out of Christchurch on June 15 and would hopefully get to Australia after a short three hour, same-day flight.  Ha!  For some reason, a ridiculous volcano in Chile decided to give me the finger and caused quite a lot of disturbance for those of us trying to get on planes and the likes.  Now, you may think that the ash simply drifted west to interfere with my travel plans but you would be wrong in this assumption.  In fact, to make things even more frustrating this ash had actually traveled around THE ENTIRE GLOBE to become my latest inanimate foe.  Yes, it was determined and pretty successful.  After causing the cancellation of my first flight to Australia it then proceeded to eradicate any chance of lift off for my second flight! I may seem pretty bitter and you may be thinking that EVERYONE was affected in the same manner as myself...not quite.  While Qantas/Jet Star and Pacific Blue were cancelling flights, Air New Zealand was still flying and subsequently leaving all of us budget travelers with shaky hands and voices.  After my 2nd cancellation, I decided to rebook with Air New Zealand and things were all systems go!  All I had to was hunker down in Christchurch for a few days and I would meet my friends in Brisbane just in time to get on a train with them to go to the Gold Coast!  I was able to enjoy my time in Christchurch thanks to some friends and also took the chance to snap a few shots of the earthquake-affected heart of New Zealand.    



Some of the devastation

Prayers surely aren't wasted on Christchurch

True statement!

The whole experience in Christchurch was rather sobering and really brought my travel frustrations to a grinding halt as I realized that those around me were dealing with lost family members, friends, homes, and safety.  I was immediately faced with all the emotions of Christchurch and they gripped me pretty hard, shaking me into a better perspective and attitude about my own situation.  While I was grateful that I would soon be out of Christchurch and in Australia, I made a promise to remember the lesson of keeping things in perspective.  I was even tested on this whole idea of self-renewal when I arrived at the airport for my Air New Zealand flight and was told that I had been bumped because the plane was too heavy and they were kicking off all the budget travelers.  :)  Did I learn my lesson?  Well, not quite.  I was unbelievably let down and heartbroken...it seemed as if Australia wasn't prepared to deal with me and was doing everything it could, including the enlistment of a volcano in Chile to further its diabolical scheme to keep me from sullying its sun-drenched soil.  ARGH!  I may or may not have shed a pouty tear or two, but soon decided to make one last attempt after three miserable failures.  Thankfully, I was able to book a flight with Air New Zealand that would fly into the Gold Coast and I could just meet Caresse and Kyle there.  Things worked out and I finally got on a plane...words cannot express the sigh of relief as I made my way to the departure gate and then to my seat on the plane.  I am pretty sure the lady in front of me thought I had a breathing problem.

Like I said, I met up with my fellow scholars in the Gold Coast and we let the good times roll in some pretty big ways.  Of course we did our fair share of beach coma-ing and were grateful for the warmth that we were unable to find in New Zealand's winter season.  The Gold Coast is just a fantastically interesting place and I was awe struck by the number of sky-scraping resorts.  We also sampled a bit of the night life in the Gold Cost and despite previous plans to attend a salaciously named nightclub, Sin City, we opted for the slightly more tame, questionably more respectable Beer Garden.  After doing some great creeping people watching, we headed home at a decent hour and just relaxed in our place, discussing what Brisbane would hold for us over the next few days.

A view from our apartment

I don't think I've ever experienced anything like the time I spent in Brisbane.  Aside from being a stunningly gorgeous, clean, and well-planned city, Brisbane has a host of different entertaining options for weary travelers.  Thanks to Kyle's generosity, coupled with the tolerance and generosity of his flatmates, Caresse and I were able to stay free of charge.  This was especially important and it should be noted that Brisbane was just listed as Australia's most expensive city.  Kyle was an excellent host and was able to make us feel right at home in Brisbane.  We were all over the town taking in the sights and in no time we felt like we had been living their ourselves!  We were greeted with a staggering cityscape from our favorite mode of water-based public transportation, the City Cat! Rawr!  While in Brisbane, were were able to hit up a Koala Sanctuary where we got to mingle with koalas, kangaroos, a platypus, and some of the most venomous snakes in the world!  Don't threaten me with a good time!  I am still undecided on a favorite from the sanctuary, but I really identified with the kangaroos and I think I made for a good fit into the gang!



Koalas sleep 19 hours a day; this was work

They sure are cute though...

Getting to know my people!

Fully assimilated!  Can you tell which one is me?

After parting ways with our new found zoo-friends, we needed to figure out what we were going to do with the rest of our time in Brisbane.  Luckily, options were aplenty.  We were able to check out the Winter Festival and it reminded me of my time in Strasbourg and the Christmas Market!  There were vendors selling gluhwein (hot wine with fruit), wood-fired pizzas, bratwurst, and fresh donut (of which I had plenty, no worries).  Aside from the hilarity of having a winter festival in warm, sunny weather, Brisbane tops off the experience with an outdoor ice-skating rink.  While we were not up for trying it ourselves, Caresse, Kyle and I were very ready to watch those who decided to brave the slightly slushy ice.  We were privy to some pretty spectacular falls, leaving the victim drenched as a result of the melting piece of irony. 

Another memorable part of our experience saw us meeting the family members of fellow scholars.  Morgan, one of Kyle's flatmates and a fellow Rotary scholar, welcomed his parents into the flat and I was instantly reminded of my roots!  It was so good to hear the southern accent and meet some truly great southern folks as Morgan's family is from Jackson, Mississippi!  We had a great time getting to know them and I must confess that it made me quite eager to see my own family.  Any work on winning the lottery to pay for a ticket over here, Mom?  Amie, another New Zealand scholar, brought her family over and we had an equally enjoyable experience with her bunch of Canadians!  We chatted about travel and life over drinks and I was reminded just how much I value meeting wonderful people.  Traveling is great when you have people to share it with and I was so grateful for this part of my Australian excursion.  After spending some great time in Brisbane, we were also able to help out with Rotary sausage sizzle to help Kyle's club raise some money for their community endeavors and we were once again met with wonderfully generous and kind people, these were familiar faces though as we were in our element...amongst Rotarian friends!

Our time in Brisbane was nearing its end...or so we though.  Caresse and I were both victims of ash-caused, cancelled flights.  Thought Caresse got out just two days later, I imposed on Kyle and his flatmates for another 3 days.  By this time, I had already fallen in love with Brisbane and I was on holiday so this round of cancellations wasn't not nearly as dramatic :)  I did finally make it back to New Zealand but it would be just a short day and some change before I would have to brave my new found flight anxiety because I was Tonga bound on July 1!  Make sure to check back so you can hear all about what it was like to be in a pacific paradise and all the crazy experiences that made for another incredible experience.  See you soon!

Doing our part...

Alright ladies and gents, this is a special edition blog post!  I'll try and bring you up to speed on what's been going on with my Kiwi-life...but I would also like to take a moment to ask for your support and generosity...read on to find out what for :)

The last time we spoke, I was saying farewell to some friends that had come to visit.  Caresse and Kyle both told me that they had a great time in Dunedin...so I am going to rest on my hosting laurels a little bit.  What they don't know is that it was definitely just as much fun for me as I think it was for them...so...shhh.  But since their departure I've really had to crack down on my school studies.  Actually, it just occurred to me that some of you may not have a clue as to what I am studying down here...let me take a crack at spreadin' some info.

One of the major parts of the Rotary scholarship  is that you have to be enrolled full-time at a university.  You develop an idea of what you would like to study, research schools around the world that have an appropriate program, and then present all that to the interview board.  At the end of the day, they've hopefully decided that you're a competent human being with a penchant for service and scholarly endeavors.  I'd found a few programs in New Zealand and ended up at the University of Otago studying for a Postgraduate Diploma in Public Health.  What a blessing this turned out to be.  In short, I love my program, my professors, and the academic experience that I am having.  Seeing as there were no other interested parties, I took on the role of Postgraduate Representative for our program and I've been able to make some more personal contact with my professors in this role.

Don't know if ya heard, but I go to Hogwarts!

I am currently taking two courses: Epidemiology/Biostatistics and Health Systems.  The first class is all about introducing you to the field of public health and gives you a solid background in critical analysis of research papers and research study design.  The latter class is all about how healthcare is purchased, financed, and provided and is set in a very international context.  We've compared health systems all over the world and I am more than excited to bring what I've learned back home to try and improve our own situation.  Next semester I'll be taking courses and Public Health Policy as well as Health and the Environment!

Adams Building: My scholarly pursuit continues here!

First semester is drawing to a close...and FAST!  We've got just one week of class left and the scramble is beginning already!  I've got one more assignment due for my health systems class and my final for the Epi/Stats class is on June 14th.  Crunch time!  The good new?  I am leaving for an Aussie adventure almost immediately after taking my final :)  Feel free to send me some well wishes, lol.

So that's where I stand!  I am finishing up some work and trying to keep my head afloat in a sea of academic rigor.  I must say, Centre definitely prepared me well for life after Danville...many thanks to all of the folks back home who supported me along the way...which brings me to my next topic...asking for more support!

Told ya...straight Hogwarts

As part of our scholarship, we are encouraged to develop a service project in our host country.  As you may remember from reading my previous posts, all the NZ scholars were able to meet up in Wellington for a conference of sorts.  During this conference we decided that we wanted to try and ride bikes for the whole length of New Zealand with the idea of raising money along the way.  For a variety of reasons...this just isn't going to work.  HOWEVER...we've come to a great alternative.  We are partnering with an organization that sponsors medical research for childre: Cure Kids.  What a fantastic organization.  In short, they raise money in a variety of ways and have lots of community sponsors and partners and have been able to make some really great contributions to leukemia, birth malformations, cystic fibrosis, "hole in hearts" children.  Not only do their funds go towards research in New Zealand, but Cure Kids raises money for research that is going on in both the United States and Australia.  One of their events, the Accor Hotels $10 Queenstown Challenge, is a great way to raise money and is what our class of scholars has taken as our banner project.  What is this you might ask?  CONTINUE READING!!

What an awesome group of scholars!

Essentially, teams of two have just 3 days to get from Queenstown to Auckland on just $10 with the event taking place from Aug. 16-Aug. 19!  Think of this as a kiwi Amazing Race...and yours truly is participating!  I've formed a team with a fellow scholar, Caresse Bucchan, and we are keen to get our fundraising legs running!  We've set a goal of $8,000 NZD (about  $6,500 USD) and we are going to need some help getting there as we've got to have all the money in by August 12th!  I've listed some ways you can help...so check 'em out!

1.  You can DONATE!  We've set up a fundraising page where you can view our cute faces, read some blog posts as we post them, read about the challenge and contribute any amount of money you can spare for a wonderful, truly good cause...the health of children everywhere.  Here is the website:
Support Cure Kids: Chase and Caresse!

2.  You can SPREAD THE WORD to people or businesses that you think may be able to donate!  We recognize that times are tough, but anything "publicity" you can help us with would be much appreciated!  Maybe start a coin bank in your office?  Perhaps you know a business that would love to donate?  Get creative!

3.  You can send WORDS OF SUPPORT!  While we love dollars and cents, we also love encouragement.  The challenge is difficult and we're going to need some major morale boosters as we head closer and closer to August!  Feel free to e-mail me at cmwarner88@gmail.com with your support!

Well, that is about it folks.  Thank for reading and I hope that you all are well.  Remember, no amount is too small to donate and we'd love to reach our goal...and perhaps go beyond!  A new post to come soon regarding the end of my first semester, heading to Oz, and shout outs to people from home!

Cheers!
Chase

Mates and Remembrance: A Blog Mixed Bag

First things first, I have a confession to make…the two subjects of this blog, hinted at in the title, are seemingly discordant and potentially have absolutely nothing to do with each other, in even the most creative of ways.  However, perhaps some form of literary trickery can deceive whatever audience is out there reading this full-of-grammatical-errors, infrequently-updated blog.  Enjoy J

Easter has come quickly and since it’s the fall over here, it was about time for a nice break from school!  My plans were pretty simple but I enjoyed them and that is what counts!  Claire and Barry were awesome and invited me to come stay with them for a little while so that I could get away from the city for a bit.  Needless to say, I was pumped.  Not only did I get to help them with heaps of stuff outside, but I got to be in on helping with Barry’s surprise birthday party!  Claire is extraordinary…somehow she was able to get three of Barry’s five sons to show up at the house without Barry noticing…while he was there!  The whole thing was a lot of fun and I enjoyed getting to talk about some Greek mythology with one of Barry’s grandson.  The kid is wicked smart!

Barry's surprise!

Before the birthday, however, I was able to do some really special things in honor of the soldiers who fought in the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC).  Barry and I woke up early and headed out the door at 6AM to catch the dawn service in the city.  There were hundreds of people and the cool part was that everyone was just…silent.  Everyone watched in awe as the choirs sang, as the speakers gave their words, and as the soldiers stood at attention.  Cannons fire ensued, rifles pelted the air with sound…it was all really cool.  After this dawn service, Barry dropped me off at a cemetery.  Sounds a little strange, but keep in mind that it was ANZAC day!  I was actually there to help Claire and some people from Rotaract with a project.  We were in charge of setting out the flowers that would be used at a second memorial service.  The work was easy and we were able to catch a quick coffee at a really cool café by St. Clair beach.  The second service was also really spectacular and I felt really good about being there.  Just felt like there was no other place to be at that moment.  Anyways, I took heaps of photos…go on to my Facebook and check them out if you’d like!

Some ANZAC soldiers

More ANZAC day!

One of the most popular requests that I’ve been getting from all you peeps back in the states is for me to talk about my flat a little bit more.  I am living just two blocks down from the heart of the city, so I am right in the middle of downtown…which is really cool!  I live with three Kiwi guys, each one from a different part of the North Island.  I met James and Gerard when I came to look at the flat.  James comes from up around Tauranga and is a medical student here at Otago.  He is one of the funniest guys that I’ve met and it’s really good to have him as a flatmate.  Gerard is from Wellington and is studying Plant Biotechnology (read: impressive).  He was actually the flatmate who introduced me to a little bit of some Kiwi stylings, skinny jeans and v-necks, and he is a pretty suave lad.  Josh is from Whangarei and is also a medical student but is doing an honors year before he heads to Wellington to complete his studies next year.  He is one of the easiest guys to get along with and watching him and James go for the occasional wrestle…crack up.  All in all, things are great here on Dowling Street.  I get along really well with each of the flat mates separately, but we also have a pretty cool scene when we are all together as well.  Know that they are most likely reading this and “lol-ing”…I would expect nothing less!

Also, just wanted to let you guys in on the awesome past few days I’ve just had.  When I was up in Wellington for the Rotary Conference, I met this really cool scholar named Caresse.  Caresse is a scholar from Dallas, but she is originally from Trinidad and Tobago and moved to the States when she was 15.  To make a long story short, she and her friend Kyle (a scholar from Texas as well) decided to do a quick tour of Dunedin over Easter break and I was more than happy to play the role of host and entertainer.  Claire graciously offered to pick them up from the airport and they arrived this past Tuesday.  Our first night was pretty relaxed, though we did opt to see a fair bit of the Dunedin “night scene” later on in the evening.  Ellen came as well!  The night was a success and the tour of Dunedin started off right!  The next day was our “Peninsula Day”.  What an amazing day!  The cool thing about having guests here is that I had an excuse to do all the “touristy” Dunedin things that I’d yet to find time for!  We headed out to the albatross colony…these birds are HUGE!  After having a coffee and a quick snack…we headed for the main event…Penguin Place!  Dunedin is home to a pretty rare penguin, the yellow-eyed penguin, and we were determined to see the little waddlers.  We paid for the tour and set out on our journey.  AMAZING.  The little guys were just coming in from a long day of fishing and we were less than 50 feet from them.  Of course, we were in little “dugouts” or “hides” so that we wouldn’t be too intimidating to the penguins.  Oh yeah, forgot to mention that we saw SEA LIONS and SEALS as well!  At the same place with the penguins!  2 for 1 deal…bargain shopper like my mama I guess?  The sun was setting and our tour drew to a close…but it was such an awesome experience…of which there are plenty of photos to see on my FB page.  We ended the night having dinner with Claire and Barry out in Macandrew Bay…great way to catch up and share some laughs!  Our next day, Thursday, was actually pretty chill…and was much needed.  We just kind of poked around the university, took some pictures, and laid around on the grass by the Clocktower.  Opting for another relaxed night, we headed out to the Northeast Valley to do some cooking with Ellen and to hang out with her flat a bit as well.  Grabbed dinner at an Indian restaurant, had some tea at Ellen’s, and headed back to Dowling St. for the night.  Their final day came much the same way as their first…with a little bit of “spirit”.  Of course this means that we did an awesome brewery tour at the Speight’s Brewery where we could sample any of the available beers for 30 minutes.  Have to say that I’ve become a fan of the Pilsener.  Just before they left, we had an early dinner at the Speight’s Ale House.  My treat to anyone who decides to visit…dinner at Speight’s Ale House…it was DELICIOUS.  Sent Caresse and Kyle off to the airport in the shuttle, headed to the Blues v. Highlanders game, and rounded out the evening with a  little Royal Wedding watching with the Dowling St. crew (+Tristan, Andrew, and Marty).  What a good week!

Some cool Rotary Scholars!

My amazing host counselor, Claire :)

Dramatic chipmunk?  Dramatic penguin!  Boom!

That about covers it since my last post, really sorry that I’ve not been better about keeping up with the blog.  Classes are going well but having to write lots of papers makes me less likely to write a blog when I have deadlines looming.  I do, however, really enjoy updating and keeping track of what’s been going on…hopefully you guys get a kick out of me being slightly awkward and goofy in Kiwi-land!  Look more for to come…after I turn in my papers, of course J

Jay's visit, thrill-seekin, and new beginnings

Well, folks, I've just had my first visitor and I have to say that it's definitely my best time in New Zealand as of late.

One of my best friends from Centre, Jay Russell, decided to make a "pit-stop" down under in Kiwi-land on his way back to the states.  He'd been in China, teaching English, since July and decided that the land of the long white cloud wouldn't make such a bad place to take a breather as he re-inserted himself to a life with English-speakers.  To be honest, I felt a little bad about the first week of his visit.  We had planned all these crazy things, the least of which would include a 5-day glacier hike on the Franz Josef or Fox glacier.  However, an unforeseen paper deadline kept me in the library for the better part of 4 days while Jay was here.  I am a lame friend, let's get past that though.  Jay really got along well with my flatmates and was understanding about my academic trials, which is why he is my best friend.  We did, however, get to hang out in a more social scene at some of the clubs around Dunedin and I think he had a pretty decent time.

Mr. Russell and myself

Once I had made some headway with my assignments, Jay and I sat down to plan out exactly what our next adventure would be...this entailed getting out of Dunedin for a bit to do a little bit of exploring.  We decided that the glacier hike may not be the best thing to try and plan last minute, so we opted for a two day bike ride, ending with some thrill-seeking in Queenstown.  The bike trail we followed, the Otago Central Rail Trail, is a popular destination for people looking to get out of the cities and we certainly met this criterion.  The whole ride is about 160 km (100 miles) and would usually take about four days at a non-grueling pace.  Since Jay had to leave for the States in four days, we decided that a two day ride would be enough...didn't want to overdo it, ya know.  Channeling our best memories of Nate Crimmins, our friend who biked across the United States in one summer, we rented some bikes, mounted our steeds, and set out for the great expanse that is Central Otago.  Our journey started in Ranfurly and would end in Clyde, from which we would catch a bus to Queenstown.  We did about 50 km on our first day, stopping in off in Lauder to bunker down at a friend's B&B (Muddy Creek Cutting).  After a serious case of "biker butt", we were ready to get some rest.  This place was amazing.  The whole operation is impeccably managed by two guys, Kevin and Ross, and we had a great time.  Let's not forget the gourmet meal of roasted duck stew and mashed potatoes with a roasted and raw vegetable salad.  Yea, that happened...did I mention that the duck we ate was raised on the farm we were at...quack.  For dessert, we had locally grown apricots and fresh-made cream.  Jealously is expected, don't worry.

Hard.

After a restful night's sleep, we set out from Lauder to finish the rest of our trail.  The first day of riding was pretty winding, causing plenty of choice words to be leveled against the nor'easter threatening some serious man-pride.  In contrast, the second day was pretty much all downhill and without our cheeky foe (read: wind).  We stopped off in Alexandra for a bit, the town where my host dad Barry grew up, and did some pretty cool stuff!  We stopped off for a little education at the local visitor center, learning a lot about Central Otago's gold-mining past.  We also hiked up to a clock set up in the hills of Alex.  Check on facebook for some pictures of this adventure.  We set out from Alex around 5:30pm and got to Clyde around 6:00pm, after following an amazing trail along the Clutha River.  This last leg of the trail was definitely the best part and it was filled with plenty of hills and dips, enough to quench Jay's cycle-thrillseeking and more than adequate for my own more lesiurely, sight-seeing pace.  We caught out bus and headed to Queenstown!

A view from the trail: Invasion of the Clouds!

After our first night in Queenstown, restless as it was, we spent our only full day seeking some more adventure.  We accomplished various feats of man and ended up quite pleased with ourselves.  Queenstown was its typical, welcoming self and we met up with some people we had met earlier on in the day...our Danish friends.  We had a great night, filled with really fattening desserts, and headed home the next day...or so we thought...We boarded our bus bound for Dunedin around 9am on Sunday, April 3rd.  Having spent most of our energy on biking and other adventures, we immediately passed out.  We woke up about 2 hours later to our bus driver asking if we had accommodation for the evening.  Thinking nothing of it, I responded "Of course, we live in Dunedin!". The bus driver's response?  "Dunedin...we are in Wanaka!  This bus isn't going to Dunedin!".  Oops.  Turns out we were supposed to have deboarded our bus in Cromwell to get on the bus that would head for Dunedin.  Ha, we're idiots.  A little depressed, we stepped off the bus and headed straight for the Wanaka visitor center to see if we could find another bus.  Success!  Another bus would leave from Wanaka in 5 hours and we got the last two seats.  Must have been fate because Wanaka was gorgeous and definitely inspired me to make it back during my future journeys in NZ.  Check Wanaka out on Google, not a bad place to end up, eh?

440ft? That's a long way down...

We made it back to Dunedin and watched the UK-UCONN game that we had one of my flatmates record.  The game ended poorly for two UK fans, but the night was not without its high points.  The friend I mentioned earlier, Nate, had also put me in contact with one of his friends who also happened to be studying at Otago, Ellen.  Ellen has quickly become a good friend and she only climbed higher in my books this night.  She was coming over to say good-bye to Jay and watch the game with us (she went to Butler)...or was she?  When I went to let her in the apartment, she was standing there with two of her flatmates and a birthday cake, brightly lit with candles and looking remarkably chocolatey.  The cake was amazing, the company was better, and the night was a net positive.  I love New Zealand.

Lovin' New Zealand, folks

To bring this edition to a close, I dropped Jay off at the airport the next morning and this also happened to be my first experience driving in New Zealand.  My flatmate courageously let me borrow his car and I made it to the airport and back with no damage to either myself or the car.  Yea, appreciate my skills of driving on the left side of the road, on the right side of the car :)  It was sad to see Jay go, but I was just grateful that he had come in the first place.  To those of you who are thinking about coming...please do!  I really enjoy showing this place off and sharing it with my friends and family.

Well, that's about it for this issue.  Check my facebook for pictures of Jay's Visit!

Windy Wellington and Rotary Connections!

So, keeping up with a blog is a hard thing to do...especially when getting internet in your apartment is more of a saga than a simple housekeeping item.  More on that to come, potentially.

The last time we talked, I had just settled into my flat with some great flatmates.  The same remains true today.  It's been about a month since I moved in and things have only gotten better.  The guys are hilarious and they are definitely making this experience an even better one...not that it could have been bad to begin with.  Since my last post, there have been some cool things happening!  I'm well under way with my assignments for both of my classes and I am sure that some of you reading this are probably tired of me asking you to review my paper!  They definitely don't coddle you in graduate level courses...no Centre-style paper conferences, that's for sure.  I am adapting to it, however, and I -think- that this first paper will be a decent one.  Maybe not A+ material...but I can live with a little less...a -little- less.

I've now been to Wellington!  All of the Rotary Scholars in New Zealand met for a weekend of training and goal-setting in Wellington a few weeks ago and it was a great time!  We got to meet other Rotarians, socialize with fellow scholars, and had a wonderful time in sunny Wellington weather.  Wellington is a great, albeit windy, place to be and I would highly recommend it to anyone coming to New Zealand.  Part of what we did at this conference, aside from some great socializing, was set the goal for our group project.  Let me break it down for you: we are biking the entire length of New Zealand to raise money for childhood disease research and are involving youth in various cities all along the way.  HOW COOL!?  More to come on this, we are still working out all the details!


On another note, I've started giving my speeches for the Rotary Clubs in and around Dunedin.  Try talking about yourself for 20 minutes to a room full of people...it's actually kind of hard.  Nevertheless, got to share some stories about my family and friends and made a few personal plugs with "things I like to do"...you know...just in case some Rotarians want to give me some good direction on how to go about it...or when they might be going skiing, or ATVing, etc. :)  I've made two presentations thus far, one to Dunedin South (my host club) and the other to the St. Kilda Sunrise Club.  Sunrise...yes.  For Dunedin South the meeting was around lunchtime and things were all good.  For the "Sunrise" club, however, I had to be at the venue at 7am...which called for a 6am wake up call on my part...EXHAUSTING.  However, both clubs were full of great people and I am thankful that they are willing to let me come and talk about myself for quite a long time...proof that Rotarians are, indeed, the nicest people on the face of the planet.

Some other cools things have happened and they are veterinary related, which is a plus!  I met with Dr. John Schofield, a Rotarian, this past Friday and the Animal Welfare Office.  He is the Director of the department and assists in protocols for ethical treatment of animals, assists in developing research models, and a whole host of other things.  Well, I was only expecting a "chat" as that is what we agreed to in our e-mail correspondence.  Oops.  I showed up in jeans and flip-flops, which are chat appropriate in New Zealand.  Upon getting there, however, I was informed that "$h1T had hit the fan!".  Instead of asking me to reschedule, however, John let me follow around and assist!  We first set off to conduct a rat necropsy.  To make a long story short, the rat had died in the course of an experiment and John was trying to find out why.  It was pretty cool to see him go through all the physiology of the rat to try and determine a cause of death.  I've seen some cat and dog necropsies at Heartland, but this was a new animal for the count!  The next stage of our journey, however, was a little more intense.  John was helping a researcher with a certain "technique" and he invited me to come along.  This "technique" involved using a saw to open up the skull of both a sheep and a red deer (the researcher needed the brains).  Yea...intense.  I was the guy opening the deer skull...hard work for sure.

Just to wrap up some veterinary experience, Dr. Colin Mackintosh, another Rotarian, invited me to come out to a research farm where he works.  The research facility is located near Dunedin and is called Invermay.  What an interesting field of work!  He is involved with looking at why certain deer lineages are more/less susceptible to paratuberculosis than others.  This guy is one smart cookie, he has developed like 3 vaccines...and is asked to speak all over the world.  In addition to hearing about his research, I got to watch how they artificially inseminate deer.  Let's just say that some deer were happier than others...

All in all, I cannot begin to describe the generosity I am feeling down here from the Rotarians.  They are a fantastic network of people and I am really grateful that I ended up in the Ambassadorial Scholar program.  I am convinced that there is no other program in the world that can provide the network, the support, and the resources that Rotary is able to provide.  Service above self is their motto and I am certainly able to see that in action.

Flat-finding, mate-meeting, and culture-creeping…

I want to start off with a quick back-story for those of you in NZ who may be a little unfamiliar with my home base.  I went to a very small college in a small town in the relatively small state of Kentucky, population 4,314,113 (as of July 2009).  Centre College is a school of about 1,200 undergrads in Danville, a town of about 14,000.  For those of you back home who may not know too much about NZ, I currently go to the University of Otago.  Otago is a university of about 19,000 undergrads in Dunedin, a city of about 120,000.  New Zealand itself has a population of about 3,000,000.  So…I am currently in a country with a population that is about 10% of America’s population, about 25% smaller than my home state, in a city whose population is about half of my hometown (Lexington, KY), and at a university that is about 16 times the size of my undergrad institution.  Did I mention that a lot of what I am studying in public health is related to populations and statistics? J

I mention these numbers only to give a frame of reference for my mindset at the beginning of trying to find a flat with great flatmates (aka an apartment with good roommates).  At Centre, I would say that about 95% of students live on-campus in college-owned/operated housing.  Additionally, most of the students on campus eat in one central dining facility.  At Otago, however, the residence halls that we are familiar with back in the States are usually only filled with freshers (aka first-years, aka freshmen).  The facilities are called “colleges”.  Some of my friends here in Dunedin tell me that there is essentially no difference between these colleges and that they do have inter-college competitions…so just like Harry Potter in my mind, right?  Eh, not quite…but closer that what we’ve got back home!  After spending your first year in one of the colleges, you will usually go out on your own and look for your own flat/flatmates!  Seeing as I was an older student, and a postgrad no less, I was determined to find my own flat…part of the true Dunedin experience.

The Thursday after my arrival in NZ, February 17th, I went in to town with Claire to spend a day at Uni.  The goal was to get myself sorted with the International office and to check in on some flats.  After doing a little bit of hunting for flats that were listed with the University’s Accommodation Office, I decided to head over to a “Speed Flatting” event.  The idea?  Get to know the person across from you in appx. 2 minutes and decide whether or not you think you could live with them.  You could then either offer to join up in finding a place with them or, if they already had a place, beg them to let you join their flat.  Cool idea!  I met some people that I would have been fine to live with as well as some people that I don’t think should live with anyone else…at all…in any setting.  Anyways, met this cool Kiwi dude who had a place of his own up on Maori Hill and after the session he drove me up to look at the place.  What a sight!  It was in a great neighborhood and the place was amazing!  It even had an awesome backyard!  I told him that I’d love to live with him and that I was just starting my search but that it’d be great if he could keep me informed of the status of the flat.  He seemed keen, so we drove back into town and he dropped me off at Uni.  I spent a little more time around Uni, just finding my way around before Claire and I headed home.  To make a long story short, I eventually found out from the guy that two women had told him they were wanting to flat at the place and that he said they could take the place.  I can’t blame him, he had two rooms for rent and he had 2 women in front of him saying they’d take it on the spot.  Good on him!  Can’t lie though, I was a little bummed…the place was really great.

Fast forward a few days, past the Relay for Life, and I was back in the hunt!  Having had a little bit of “neighborhood background” provided by my fantastic host family, Claire and Barry, I set out on my own for a day filled with random encounters with strangers to see if they would let me move in and spend a year with ‘em.  The whole thing sounded pretty strange to me, but like I said…I was determined!  My first “appointment” was in the Northeast Valley at 9AM on Pentland St.  I arrived quite early, so naturally I waited around outside and out-of-view like a true awkward, international student.  When I felt it was no longer “too early” to arrive, around 8:55AM, I knocked on my door with my cool sunglasses on and both hands on my backpack in case I needed to use it as a weapon.  A rather nice young guy answered the door and ushered me in to have a look at the place!  To make a long story short, it was pretty decent and was definitely a good way to start out the day!  The only real drawbacks were that it would probably be about a 25 minute walk to the University every day and that one of the roommates wasn’t there for me to do a quick “creeper eval”.  I left, politely, and told the guy that I would get back to him by the end of the day and that I had a few more places left to check out for the day.

My next viewing was at 1PM in Opoho.  Opoho is pretty close to the Northeast Valley, but I decided to go back to Uni for a bit to check out and see if there were some more flats around town that I hadn’t seen on “trademe.co.nz” (aka Kiwi e-Bay and/or Craigslist).  I found two places that I wanted to check out and I e-mailed each of the contacts for the two flats, expressing my interest as a “fit, 22 year old, blue-eyed, American with nice calf muscles and a rather cute smile”.  Kidding!  I did e-mail them though, hoping to hear back as to whether their flat was still available or not.  Running out of time until my next appointment, I set off back uptown to see what the next place had in store.  To make a long story short, after walking up a long, steep hill…I got to the flat and was just really let down.  You know that feeling when you know that you won’t get along with someone on a pretty fundamental level?  Yea, well, that was the feeling that I got when I met the guys in this flat.  They weren’t bad people or anything, just not people that I could enjoy living with for the next few years.  I had neglected to see that they listed “video game skills” as a “ideal flatmate trait”.  Oops.  I gave them the same spiel that I gave the first guy and told them that I had a few more places to look at and that I would get back to them at the end of the day.  Only, this time, it was a half-lie.  I didn’t really have any more scheduled appointments, but I did plan on e-mailing them! 

At this point, I was a feeling a little defeated.  I had just looked at two flats and just wasn’t getting a feeling that either of them could work.  The first one was definitely a possibility, but I just wasn’t sure about the walk every day.  Also, I am looking to really get involved with Kiwi culture and the mood up in the Valley is pretty subdued.  Nevertheless, I set off back to Uni to check my e-mail in hopes of getting a response from the people I had contacted earlier in the day.  On the way there, however, I saw that people were going in and out of a flat and that they didn’t appear to live there.  I decided, “What the heck?  I’ll just pretend like I was someone who got in touch with them earlier to see if I could check out the flat and we’ll be all good!”  I did just that!  The flat was right on George St., the main road in Dunedin, and was in a block of good-looking townhomes.  The walk was right, the outward look was right, now…how about the inside and how about the people?  Well, the guy I talked to was dressed up to show the flat…weird vibe #1.  Weird vibe #2?  The place smelled like a dead cat had been resurrected and was walking around, stretching out the rigor.  Add a “not so nice” interior to my two, potentially misguided, weird vibes…and this place just wasn’t going to work, either.  ::Sigh::  I continued my voyage back to Uni, praying for e-mail responses for the duration of my journey.

When I finally found an available computer unit in the library, I raced to my inbox.  What a lovely sight: Inbox (1)!  OK, so I obviously didn’t get a response from both…but one good flat with a few good flatmates is all it would take!  I clicked on the e-mail and got that feeling when you’ve just opened up bad news, but you keep searching the e-mail for good news in hopes that your eyes are just playing tricks on you.  No such luck, all I got was a “soz mate, flat az jus been takn. Cheerz.”  How impersonal!? Couldn’t this person tell that I was a really suave, easy-going guy who is just looking for some good people?  Didn’t they know that they were leaving me with approximately ZERO options?  What a depressing moment that was!

Right when I was just about to feel overly sorry for myself, I received one more e-mail!  The flat was still available and I could come have at 6PM!   Details: “In the CBD (Central Business District), 10 min. walk to Uni, 3 reliable and mature guys”.  Sounded fine to me!  I had told Claire that I would meet her back at her office around 5PM and it was about 4:45PM at present, so I headed over to the Commerce building to see if she could take me to the flat on our way back to Macandrew.  Being as awesome as she is, she said it would be “no problem!”   We arrived at the flat around 6PM and the flat mates were at the bottom of the apartment complex, waiting to take me up and show me around.  In short, I am pretty sure that I came across pretty weird in our first meeting because I was just so happy to find a place where they guys were people I could see myself being friends with in a place that wasn’t a haven for previously dead animals.  While that is all fine and dandy, I may have come across a bit “goofy”.  All the same, the place was at the top of the apartment complex and was a 2-story apartment with a really good “student vibe”.  It was spacious, well-lit, got good sun during the daytime (important for the winter months as Central Heating/Air is a luxury scarce to be seen here in Dunedin), and, again, the people seemed really great.  Having learned my lesson with the Maori Hill place, I told them that I would take it and could start paying rent immediately.  They said they’d already shown the place to some other people and told them that they’d have first choice.  I told them I’d have no problem getting in a bidding war and they said they would definitely be “in touch”.  I thought for sure I had done myself in and that I had just come across as a VIP member “nerd herd” member.  I said thanks and headed back down the stairs and Claire and I set off back for Macandrew, fully expecting another let-down. 

Well, I must have done something right because the guys told the other people the place was taken and then informed me that the place was mine if I wanted it.  They weren’t even going to take advantage of my eagerness and ask me to pay more than the asking price!  RELIEF!  After a long-day of flathunting and some awkward situations, because I am, at times, an awkward individual,  I had found a flat!  What’s more is that I’d found a flat with GREAT people.  Seriously, I’ve been with the guys for a little over a week now and I like each of them individually and I like the group as a whole.  They are hilarious, remind me of friends back home, and are all Kiwis.  Not only will I have some mates that can fill me in on the culture, but I’ll get to spend some time with people who I genuinely respect and get along with.  At the end of it all, I am really glad that I found my own flat and got it on my own merit.  More to come on living with 3 Kiwi guys, starting classes, and eating deep-friend chocolate in blogs entries yet to come…I promise!