So much to talk about...

So right, I’ve been a slacker.  I never intended to write a full post every day, but I did intend to update after the major happenings.  Well, there have been about 35 “major happenings” and I am feeling overwhelmed as I sit down to right this post.  I’ll break it down into some headings and I’ll go from there…sound good?

Queenstown

My amazing host counselor, Claire, is one of the top dogs at the Business school and, as such, she has lots of meetings.  It turns out that she had a meeting in Queenstown the morning after I arrived.  Barring any jet lag, she said that she would be more than happy to bring me along!  Naturally, even if I had been jet lagged the next morning, I wouldn’t have ever turned down the offer.  We took the most amazing drive through Central Otago and saw some pretty amazing landscapes and lots of gold rush towns.  Let’s satisfy some history and geography buffs for just a second.  Geography people…Otago is a region in New Zealand and it’s essentially like saying “New England” or “Pacific Northwest” in the States.  It refers to a large area that contains lots of towns and cities and some breathtaking panoramas.  We drove across Central Otago towards the west coast on our way to Queenstown.  History people…there was a big gold rush and lots of little towns sprung up as a result of the influx of wealth and business endeavors.  Alright, back to the trip.  Once we arrived in Queenstown, Claire went to her meeting and I got to wonder around the town for a few hours!  Imagine the most pristine landscape you can imagine, complete with blue lakes and towering mountains.  Now, integrated into that landscape, picture a modern town with cool shops, bars, and cafes.  Oh yeah, add a beach area to your thoughts as well.  In a nutshell, you’ve got Queenstown.  I was blown away, again.  Everywhere I looked there was a mountain commanding my respect or another breathtaking view.  As it is New Zealand, there was a fair share of extreme sports as well, including sky swinging!  It’s worth saying that I was completely clueless about the giant hole in the ozone layer over New Zealand.  A byproduct of this is that you burn a lot quicker than you do in the states.  Hard lesson learned.  Despite my end-of-day rosy complexion, I had an excellent time in Queenstown and you all should check out some of the photos on my Facebook if you’d like to put some truth to your mental pictures (which are all splendid in their own rite, I am sure). 

We headed home after Claire’s second meeting of the day and ended up going through a town called “Arrowtown”.  Claire showed me around the town and explained some important Maori customs and symbology.  For those of you who are wondering, the Maori are the indigenous people of New Zealand and are still present today.  We stopped off in a jewelry store so that Claire could show me some “Pounamu”.  Pounamu is this brilliant green stone, aka jade, and holds a lot of spiritual power for the Maori people.  It’s important to note, however, that it is considered bad luck if you buy pounamu for yourself and it should only be purchased as a gift for someone else.  Claire also showed me some of the various Maori symbols, including the ‘koru’.  The ‘koru’ looks like a spiral and is meant to resemble an unfolding fern.  The koru symbolizes ‘new beginnings’…Mom…a tattoo may be on the horizon… J

The road we took home was different from the one we took that morning and I got to see some more amazing little towns.  We drove through a place called Middlemarch and it was awesome!  There are these giant rock formations that just jut up out of the ground and they are all over the place.  It was like a moonscape with grass…only much more beautiful.  I should note that this drive also took us up over 4000ft in the air…they still only call these hills though.  Ha.  In short, Queenstown was amazing and everyone should go there at least once in their life.

Relay for Life

My first weekend here was pretty fierce; I got to help out with the local Relay for Life.  Claire, of course, was one of the organizers and was gracious enough to let a jet-lagged, wide-eyed American join the volunteer team.  For those of you who haven’t heard of the Relay for Life, it is a 24-hour walk that takes place over the course of one day and supports cancer research.  Dunedin really turned out for this one with over 102 teams participating in the walk!  It was really neat to see so many different groups come with food, drinks, sleeping bags, etc…preparing for the long road ahead!  Some teams had a gimmick and others were there in plain clothes, just getting’ it done.  I had a few different jobs ranging from parking lot attendant to “vendor gate” operator…but I was mainly just glad to help in any possible way for such a major event.  Things got started with a “haka” from one of the local boy’s school…it was the first haka I’ve seen live since being in New Zealand and they didn’t disappoint!  Check out the link if you would like to see a haka!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdMCAV6Yd0Y&feature=related

Following the haka, the day went off without a hitch and the weather was kept its distance.  We had some rain but nothing like the previous year, or so I was told.  Apparently they had to call the walk off 12 hours early last year due to unsafe conditions due to such heavy rains!  No such bad luck this year! 

One of my favorite parts of the walk, aside from just getting to see how happy people were to be together in supporting cancer research, was the ceremony that was held later that night.  Parts of the ceremony were recited in the Maori language and it was just amazing to see everyone together, some emotional and others just silent.  Following the ceremony, everyone took a lap together following a bag piper…very cool.  Something else that I forgot to mention is that earlier that day people purchased white bags and wrote the names of people they knew who had lost the fight to cancer, were surviving cancer, or for those we knew coping with cancer-ridden loved ones.  Inside the bags, LED candles were placed and illuminated.  So, imagine hundreds of bags lining the walking path of the Relay…that was the setting for the group lap.  Just seeing all the names on those bags was enough to make anyone emotional and I really started to love Dunedin at that moment.  So many people had come together to make the event a success and it was a great way to spend some of my first week in New Zealand.

Conclusion

I am in love with New Zealand.  Absolutely head over heels in the love with the people, culture, environment…just everything.  One part of it has to do with how awesome my host parents have been and the other part has to do with how my real parents raised me to appreciate the life I’ve been given and how my experiences with those in my life along the way have shaped me into who I am today.  Be on the lookout for a post about my experience looking for an apartment, aka flat, and moving out of Claire and Barry’s house.  Some good experiences to share with those!

The Tragedy of Christchurch

I'll start by first saying that everything down here in Dunedin is fine, thank you all for your thoughts.  I'll go on by asking you to please pray and/or send your thoughts to those people in Christchurch and their family and friends who are still waiting to know if their loved ones are alive.

This is so surreal.  I've spent the past week just marveling at the beauty of New Zealand's landscape and today one of it's largest towns gets rocked by an earthquake....only a matter of months after their last one.  There is a huge difference; no lives were lost in the September quake.  Prime Minister John Key has confirmed that at least 65 people have died and that over 200 are injured.  These numbers will go up.  The PM has also described this as one of New Zealand's "darkest days".  I've been so enamored with this place's beauty that I've neglected to even consider that tragedy can strike here just as well as it can anywhere else.  This is a truly sad day for New Zealand.

I was in a meeting at the bank trying to get my new account all set up when the quake hit.  I didn't feel a thing and didn't even know about the disaster until about 2:30PM.  I remember when I first saw the news of it, I didn't understand the magnitude of the damage and devastation.  I found out later that some people in Dunedin did feel the effects of the quake.  People in office buildings said they could feel their offices shaking and that they sought cover in the doorways.  Disaster was striking and I was completely oblivious, helpless, and wholly unaware of the wreckage.  Then I started getting texts, Facebook messages, and e-mails trying to make sure that I was OK.  How sobering.  I am miles away from Dunedin and still the fear of the quake caused my loved ones moments of panic and strife.  I can't even begin to imagine what the people who have yet to here from their loved ones at ground zero must feel like.  A total lack of stability?  Complete and utter terror?  I have no way of knowing, I have never been through anything like this.  Even when the attack on Sept. 11th happened, I had no connection to those in NYC.  This quake and the emotions pouring out of and into New Zealand take me back to those weeks of news reports and sadness.  Claire picked me up from the library to take me home to Macandrew Bay and she was listening to the reports over the radio.  She had already been trying to get in touch with her friends and family members in ChCh, I wonder how much relief she felt when she found out that her niece was OK and without injury.  It puts so much in perspective when I see those around me trying to make sure their contacts in ChCh are alive.  Imagine what it would be like to call a friend, only to get their voicemail because they were buried under a pile of rubble.  I hope that this is not the case for my friends here in Dunedin, but the sad reality is that I am sure this is true for someone today.

I am currently sitting in the lounge in Macandrew Bay watching live reports of what is going on in Christchurch.  People are being interviewed, from survivors to the PM...reports are bleak.  My only hope is that those in ChCh will see relief soon and that they know the world is looking to them with love and empathy in it's heart.

Again, if prayer is a part of your lifestyle...please pray for those in Christchurch and the families and friends of those people in Christchurch.  If prayer is not a part of your life, please give your deepest thoughts.  My heart goes out to Christchurch tonight, I hope tomorrow will bring even a little reprieve from such a great sorrow.

Kia ora, Aotearoa

I am not quite sure I can really capture all of what has happened since my last entry.  It was my original intention to write a full post just about the things I did on my next day in Seattle.  That much alone would have been enough for an entire blog post.  However, I’ve just got so much running around in my head that I don’t quite know where to start.  I’ll try my best to capture what’s been going on…

My next day in Seattle was quite awesome.  I started the day with Henry telling me it was time to get up and get going!  We all got dressed and sorted and headed out for the day.  We went all over!  We started the day off by taking Audrey to her dance lesson.  While Em watched her primadonna, Henry and I made some awesome rock hills outside the studio.  After Audrey had finished her ballet/tap combo, we headed into town.  Driving over a “floating bridge” is quite a feat.  On one side we had what I would call Defcon 5 water rapids and on the other side it was quite calm.  Mind you, we were being blown all about by the wind the whole time!  We saw and did some cool things once we got into town.  I took LOTS of pictures of the Space Needle, it was so tall!  We also went down to the Public Market where they do the fish throwing!  There were loads of vendors for all sorts of things ranging from honey to jerky to expensive wood carvings.  My mom would have loved it!  Almost immediately as we stepped into the market, however, Seattle showed her true nature.  The wind and the rain had come.  Trying to wait out the weather, we stepped into a cool restaurant that has some fame; the Athenian.  The place, aside from having delicious food, was also a spot for a scene from “Sleepless in Seattle”.  We eventually decided to brave the rain and headed back home.  The night concluded with an impromptu dance party by the kids…they still had some energy, I guess!  All in all, Seattle was so much fun.  I had a great time getting to know Emilie’s kids and also really enjoyed getting to catch up with her!

I am going to skip a lot of the stuff about my flights out of Seattle to Dunedin to save some space in this post.  I do want to mention one cool thing from my Air New Zealand flight from LA to Auckland.  Since we were missing Valentine’s Day due to our crossing of the date line, the flight staff handed out postcards and let us fill them out to send back home!  The Kiwis were already proving to be quite a nice bunch of people.  Fast forward a few flights and some small layovers and I made it!  I landed in Dunedin with no trouble and met the most fantastic host counselor ever, Claire Ramsay.  Claire is the President of her Rotary Club here in Dunedin and is also serving as my host counselor.  Once I landed, she was there to pick me up and we set off to Dunedin!  Despite the long flights, I still had enough energy to just be completely blown away by the landscape.  What we call mountains, they call hills.  These things were touching the clouds and they still only call them hills!  Nevertheless, we made it into Dunedin and I got settled at Claire’s place with her partner Barry.  The house has an amazing view of the harbor and the “hills” and it was such a welcome sight after being on a plane for so long.  Before we set off for dinner, I decided it was time to wash the “flight grime” off and headed for a good shower.  We drove down the road a bit and ate at the little café where I had my first taste of true Kiwi cuisine: fish ‘n chips.  It was delicious, for the record.  The night ended with us just chatting a bit and me finally not being able to keep my eyes open past 9:00pm.  Just before I sign off here, I wanted to let you all in on something you may not know.  The sun sets MUCH later here than it does in KY, at least in the NZ summer season.  In fact, when I went to bed at 9:30pm the sun had only just set 2 minutes before and the twilight was still pretty early on in it’s going!  It is really quite shocking just how long the days are, but I am grateful for the extra sun.  I immediately passed out upon hitting the bed, but it was good because my next adventure was coming bright and early in the morning.  I was headed to Queenstown!

Chasing Daylight

WOW, lots of emotions today though I woke up not feeling that different.  Per the norm, I woke up with my dogs laying in my bed and the smell of Dad’s chocolate chip pancakes coming through the vents.  As an aside, having a Dad that will make you homemade chocolate chip pancakes is something of a minor miracle.  Biting into the fluffy cake, smattered with chocolate chips is by far one of the best ways to start to day off in the positive.  As I finished my way through the buffet my Dad made for my last day in KY, it suddenly dawned on me that it was in fact just that…my last day in KY.  I stared across the table at my Mom and realized that I wouldn’t see her for 10 months.  She has been such a pillar of strength for me and the thought of not seeing her for so long brought some tough emotions a little closer to mind.  I stared at my Dad, who was just then starting on course #2 and was tossing some homemade donuts into oil, and realized that I wouldn’t be able to call him up and ask for some of the fatherly advice that I’ve had ready access to for the past 22 years.  Needless to say, I was gaining a little bit of perspective.  I am falling out of the nest, the way baby birds do when they are learning how to fly.  I’ve had the most wonderful and supportive family, including aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins, 2^nd cousins, cousin’s kids, etc. and I am leaving all that behind…am I crazy?!  I am getting ready to spend 10 months in Dunedin, New Zealand by way of a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship.  I will be spending my time meeting Kiwis, studying Public Health at the University of Otago, and soaking up every ounce of a country that so many seem to hold in high regards.  Oh…yeah…I hear Dunedin is also home to some pretty amazing brews...

Fast forward through some emotions and some driving, we made it to the airport and that’s where I ran into my first little slip up.  Lo and behold, I’ve packed too much.  The airlines allow you to check luggage that weighs up to 50 lbs without charging a “heavy luggage” fee of $100.  Bag 1 = 54 lbs and Bag 2 = 58 lbs.  I call that 12 lbs of failure.  After failing to heed the advice of my much wiser mother, I just start throwing random stuff out of my bags, including my running shoes.  I call that a “listen to your mother, idiot” failure.  Nevertheless, I got my bags checked and made it to the security line.  Before I stepped into line though, I looked back one last time...and may or may not have felt a few tears well up.  Shh, don't tell anyone though.

My flight to Seattle involved just one connection in Chicago and I made the connection without any problem.  During my Seattle flight, however, I realized something pretty cool.  Seeing as I was headed towards a time zone 3 hours behind my own in KY, I was literally chasing daylight.  We made it into the air and above the clouds before the sun had set and the race was on!  As our place kept speeding towards the horizon, it was a battle between our flying machine and that big fireball in the sky.  Needless to say, we lost.  No harm though because I got to see all the little towns that were lit up with streetlights and car lights…what a sight.  Eventually we hit the mountains and I was greeted with awesome views of snow covered rocks amidst a sea of evergreens…I’m waxing poetic now, be scared.  Just as we were about to descend, my row mates and I start up some friendly conversation.  Come to find out, the lady next to me was traveling with two girls that are opening for Boyce Avenue…a band that I had been listening to during our flight!  Their names are Meg and Liz…here’s a link to some of their stuff!

http://www.youtube.com/user/MeganandLiz

I get my bags and get into a blue Subaru.  Inside this blue Subaru are some pretty awesome folks: Emilie, my cousin, and her two kids, Audrey  and Henry.  Emilie and I are the science people of the family and she’s always been awesome.  Audrey and Henry are here 5 ½ year old daughter and her 3 ½ year old son and I haven’t really had the chance to get to know them until now!  Both of ‘em were watching a movie when I stepped into the car and looked up only briefly to wonder just who the heck I was.  Once we made our way back to the house, we got to do some good talking and became fast friends…at least I hope they think I am cool enough to be friends with!  I was amazed at how smart these kids were!  I was trying to show them where New Zealand was on their globe and was saying “See this line across the middle of the globe…” and Audrey responded with “Uh, you mean the Equator?”  Wow, I was put to shame.  I turned around and Henry was spelling with his fridge magnets…typical children of smart, engineer parents I guess!  What’s more is that I found out Audrey takes Japanese lessons!  They eventually end up getting too tired and head for bed, leaving Cousin Em and I to talk over some tea.  I got the low-down on the Pacific Northwest and composted my first couple of orange slices along the way…10 points for being green!  Needless to say, we had a lot of fun talking and turned in when we just couldn’t stay awake any longer.  I fell back onto the air mattress and passed out quickly, ready to wake up for some Seattle sightseeing!