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