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.
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