it's the last day of march now, and all i can say as that it went by way to fast. I'm so adjusted to life here in NZ that it's hard to fathom how fast time is going by, and really, how i can't imagine leaving this place. I've got my friends here, what feels like family here, and it's scary how fast it's all going by. But i guess it's true that the times are best when moments pass one after another.
This last few weeks have been really great. A long weekend, a pretty cool exchange student field trip, actually winning a waterpolo game, camping with friends, it's been good.
About two weekends ago, we had yet another long weekend (no complaints.) It was fairly awesome, filled with jungle-trekking, trail blazing bushwalks in the New Zealand woods. Bushwalking (tramping) is pretty much a way of life amongst people here. And who really needs trails? After school two Thursdays ago, a few mates and myself trekked the bush up by Titirangi to this really cool double-decker waterfall/natural pools area. There were no trails, and the bush was really thick. It pretty much is jungle, but if you call it that here, they just laugh, and say: "na bro it's just bush." The walk itself, although sometimes sketchy, was beautiful. With massive ferns the size of trees, jungle vine, and waterfalls, it felt like something right out of Jurassic Park, or land of the lost. Point is, it was really cool.
The rest of that weekend was also dedicated to bushwalking with friends and with Paul (host dad.) In fact, that Sunday Paul and myself walked the most beautiful area i've seen in NZ so far. It had everything. Huge Kauri trees, a really amazing swimming hole with a waterfall emptying into it, thick green bush, it was amazing. And with hardly anyone else around in the area, it truly felt like NZ, empty and beautiful.
That week of school was fairly average, you know, it was just school. Except a new AFS exhange student arrived, a girl from Chile. We also had an 'exchange student field trip' that week into downtown Auckland to experience the city 'first hand.' It consisted of a boat ride, seeing someone bungee jump off the Auckland Harbor bridge, and checking out the Auckland Winter Gardens, overall, not that exciting, but hey, it was a day off of school!
The rest of the week continued, and what i've really noticed is that my friends here, and pretty much all people (at my school) in general don't do much after school. Used to surfing after school heaps, it's weird not to do much after school, or to just go home. But with walking home everyday with friends and kids, i've really gotten to know a lot of people better than i really thought i would ever know them. By walking to and from school most days with just one friend, or a few, or many, i really know this people really well now, and it almost feels like i've known them more than just a few months.
Last weekend was also a really great one. I guess there's just so many activities to do. But last weekend, the plan was to go camping in whangamata (pronounced fangamata) with a few mates, Brook, Aubrey and Andy. All was looking good until we checked the weather forecast, which read, literally : "rain, with periods of torrential rain." But we ventured on, a 2 1/2 hour drive in a car packed to the brim with guys, food and camping stuff. By the time arrived at our destination it was pissing down rain, but we tried our best to have a good time. Eventually, after a few hours of checking out the car show in town and having fun and stuff, we began to contemplate setting up the tent. In the end, we all slept, or tried to sleep in the cramped car. it didn't work out so well, and we all were sore the next morning from sleeping, if that's possible. Anyway, we decided it wasn't worth it to stay another night and we headed out to Brook's house for a sleep and some food that wasn't just salsa dorritos. I was completely tired the entire day, and ended up just going home and sleeping about 13 hours that night.
Well, now the weather has turned and it's looking good for my long-weekend family trip to Rotorua with Paul and Bridget. Were off to Rotorua to Zorb, check out stuff and, i don't know, just have a good time i think. Then were going down to Raglan, were hopefully i can get some decent surf after getting totally skunked last time.
NZ is awesome
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Sunday, March 13, 2011
post/update!
well, it's been a while since i've updated everybody, so here it goes.
Some highlights of the past week and a half-ish:
. went to AFS exchange student camp
. joined the barbershop quartet at school
. went to an awesome free concert at Auckland Uni
i think i'll start with last weekend.
Last weekend was AFS exchange student camp with all the kids from around the world staying in the greater Auckland area and Northland. About 40 kids in total, and i was the only American, and probably the only kid that new just one language well. But it was some of the most fun i've had since i've arrived in NZ, and making friends from around the world was pretty cool in itself.
The weekend began with the arrival of all the exchange students on Friday night at this camp about 2 hours outside Auckland. At first, it was kind of weird, i didn't really know anyone except the few people from my West Auckland chapter, and it seemed as if everybody, except me, knew someone else that was there. But soon enough i felt as if i knew everybody there personally. In just a matter of hours i felt as if i had known all these kids from around the world (mostly Scandanavia and Argentina) for my whole life.
Unfortunately, it rained most of the weekend there, and it was boring at times with the repetitive orientation stuff that i had already heard about a dozen times. However, that hardly stopped anyone from having fun on the huge waterslide in built on this steep hill, or from hanging out, pretty much all night, and talking, jamming and doing fun stuff, etc.
But, the weekend had to end, and as we all said goodbye to each other and left, each of us had made more friends in NZ, and that seemed really cool.
Then the school week began. Fairly event-less as far as a school week goes, maybe that's just because by now i've adjusted to school here. However, Friday was a teacher work day and Thursday was what is known as a Mufti day, a day in which everyone is allowed to wear normal clothes instead of the heart-clenching uniform.
But Thursday the fire alarms also went off at school (so exciting, right!) and that was just sort of a bummer because it went of during lunch, and pretty much wasted our entire lunch time with our lunches locked in the classrooms.
But school is all good, still boring, but that's school anywhere. I got to say though, the best part about school is the Year 9's. The equivalent of 8th graders in the states, they are pretty funny little people. They're mostly overweight, short and think they can take anybody in a fight, and always fight at lunch. They scream at each other and at other people - "EY BRO i'm a gonna smash you afta schoo" and then just end up taking off their shirts and fighting (or slapping) each other on the field during lunch. It's pretty entertaining and can get super funny sometimes.
But strangely this week I felt a lingering homesickness that stayed with me throughout the week, that is until Thursday. Mostly I just missed my dog, which may sound pathetic and weird and stupid, but i totally missed my dog.
But Thursday soon came and I, along with my friend Nick headed to Sounds in the Sun, a free concert at Auckland Uni. Upon reaching Uni, we met up with my friend (who i met at AFS camp and who went AFS last year) Anton. He goes to Uni and we all hung out with his friends and jammed out for like 4 hours to a bunch of Kiwi headline bands like Katchafire, Black Seeds, Mt. Eden Dudstep.
it was the most fun ever! Just a few hours in the sun listening to music and hanging out with friends.
The coolest part though, was running into my exchange student friends there totally unplanned. I was dancing in the center of the crowd and totally just ran into about 10 kids i had just been with the last weekend! it was so cool , and that whole afternoon/night was really fun.
well, that feels like enough for this post, and i'm going to start posting more consistently, like weekly (at least i'll try.)
But i gotta say, NZ is just getting better and better and i'm really learning a lot about this culture and about myself as i move along.
I've been here about 2 months and have another 4 to go, but i'm starting to find this place as home now. I feel as a fixture here almost. I have my friends, my home and my life here. I love it, i don't really know how to explain it, but it's awesome.
I don't know how to post pictures on this blog, but i'll figure it out.
Some highlights of the past week and a half-ish:
. went to AFS exchange student camp
. joined the barbershop quartet at school
. went to an awesome free concert at Auckland Uni
i think i'll start with last weekend.
Last weekend was AFS exchange student camp with all the kids from around the world staying in the greater Auckland area and Northland. About 40 kids in total, and i was the only American, and probably the only kid that new just one language well. But it was some of the most fun i've had since i've arrived in NZ, and making friends from around the world was pretty cool in itself.
The weekend began with the arrival of all the exchange students on Friday night at this camp about 2 hours outside Auckland. At first, it was kind of weird, i didn't really know anyone except the few people from my West Auckland chapter, and it seemed as if everybody, except me, knew someone else that was there. But soon enough i felt as if i knew everybody there personally. In just a matter of hours i felt as if i had known all these kids from around the world (mostly Scandanavia and Argentina) for my whole life.
Unfortunately, it rained most of the weekend there, and it was boring at times with the repetitive orientation stuff that i had already heard about a dozen times. However, that hardly stopped anyone from having fun on the huge waterslide in built on this steep hill, or from hanging out, pretty much all night, and talking, jamming and doing fun stuff, etc.
But, the weekend had to end, and as we all said goodbye to each other and left, each of us had made more friends in NZ, and that seemed really cool.
Then the school week began. Fairly event-less as far as a school week goes, maybe that's just because by now i've adjusted to school here. However, Friday was a teacher work day and Thursday was what is known as a Mufti day, a day in which everyone is allowed to wear normal clothes instead of the heart-clenching uniform.
But Thursday the fire alarms also went off at school (so exciting, right!) and that was just sort of a bummer because it went of during lunch, and pretty much wasted our entire lunch time with our lunches locked in the classrooms.
But school is all good, still boring, but that's school anywhere. I got to say though, the best part about school is the Year 9's. The equivalent of 8th graders in the states, they are pretty funny little people. They're mostly overweight, short and think they can take anybody in a fight, and always fight at lunch. They scream at each other and at other people - "EY BRO i'm a gonna smash you afta schoo" and then just end up taking off their shirts and fighting (or slapping) each other on the field during lunch. It's pretty entertaining and can get super funny sometimes.
But strangely this week I felt a lingering homesickness that stayed with me throughout the week, that is until Thursday. Mostly I just missed my dog, which may sound pathetic and weird and stupid, but i totally missed my dog.
But Thursday soon came and I, along with my friend Nick headed to Sounds in the Sun, a free concert at Auckland Uni. Upon reaching Uni, we met up with my friend (who i met at AFS camp and who went AFS last year) Anton. He goes to Uni and we all hung out with his friends and jammed out for like 4 hours to a bunch of Kiwi headline bands like Katchafire, Black Seeds, Mt. Eden Dudstep.
it was the most fun ever! Just a few hours in the sun listening to music and hanging out with friends.
The coolest part though, was running into my exchange student friends there totally unplanned. I was dancing in the center of the crowd and totally just ran into about 10 kids i had just been with the last weekend! it was so cool , and that whole afternoon/night was really fun.
well, that feels like enough for this post, and i'm going to start posting more consistently, like weekly (at least i'll try.)
But i gotta say, NZ is just getting better and better and i'm really learning a lot about this culture and about myself as i move along.
I've been here about 2 months and have another 4 to go, but i'm starting to find this place as home now. I feel as a fixture here almost. I have my friends, my home and my life here. I love it, i don't really know how to explain it, but it's awesome.
I don't know how to post pictures on this blog, but i'll figure it out.
Monday, February 28, 2011
welcome to new zealand
this last weekend was the the most fun i've had so far in new zealand. Mostly just because i spent it not doing anything but hanging out with my friends. It was fun, and all i can say is that i feel home here now, and that this place that used to feel unfamiliar, has lost that feeling of unfamiliarity.
Friday, after another water polo loss, I met up with some friends and saw a concert nearby and just hung around and got food. it doesn't sound super interesting or anything, but it was really fun, and for me, was great because it finally felt like i wasn't just some kid from america anymore, but that i was now someone other than that to these new people, my new friends. They even stopped and told me "welcome to new zealand," and it felt cool, just to know that these people saw me as one of them now as well.
saturday was really fun as well. not much happened during the day, but that night, some friends picked me up and we all went to a party. it was, again, just really cool for me for the same reasons. again, it's not to interesting to read about, but it to was really fun.
and then began the school week, another few days at school, more sitting through classes, BUT, monday was different; because, monday, after school, my music class and i, went to go see opera in auckland. It was so cool. The opera itself was alright, more or less (i slept through most of the second act,) but going into town on a monday, seeing the opera building, and being with friends, was really cool.
mostly, the best part about the opera was hanging out with friends. just being there, making jokes, looking fancy, hanging out, was pretty cool, and more interesting than the opera itself.
The opera itself, was called Xerxes, by Handel, and was a really complicated, to confusing, story about the king of persia and this complex love-triangle thing. like i said, i slept through the second act.
But it was all good, better than a traditional monday night.
And now, here i am, finally feeling like someone who belongs in New Zealand, after a month of actually being here. It's been awhile since i left home, and, as of now, i don't miss it at all. i'm having too much fun to stop and think about it now, and i'm also too busy. between activities, school, water polo, there's not much time to be homesick, and really, there doesn't seem to be much time at all. it's already been a month, and it still feels like it was yesterday that i was in LAX, preparing to leave.
But it's all good, it's all fun, and it's just getting better with everyday.
Sorry if these blog updates are getting boring, i feel like they are. they're becoming more tedious everyday.
But, i'll try and keep it up, at least for March.
also, i'll try and put pictures up on the blog, i don't really know how, but i'll find a way.
Friday, after another water polo loss, I met up with some friends and saw a concert nearby and just hung around and got food. it doesn't sound super interesting or anything, but it was really fun, and for me, was great because it finally felt like i wasn't just some kid from america anymore, but that i was now someone other than that to these new people, my new friends. They even stopped and told me "welcome to new zealand," and it felt cool, just to know that these people saw me as one of them now as well.
saturday was really fun as well. not much happened during the day, but that night, some friends picked me up and we all went to a party. it was, again, just really cool for me for the same reasons. again, it's not to interesting to read about, but it to was really fun.
and then began the school week, another few days at school, more sitting through classes, BUT, monday was different; because, monday, after school, my music class and i, went to go see opera in auckland. It was so cool. The opera itself was alright, more or less (i slept through most of the second act,) but going into town on a monday, seeing the opera building, and being with friends, was really cool.
mostly, the best part about the opera was hanging out with friends. just being there, making jokes, looking fancy, hanging out, was pretty cool, and more interesting than the opera itself.
The opera itself, was called Xerxes, by Handel, and was a really complicated, to confusing, story about the king of persia and this complex love-triangle thing. like i said, i slept through the second act.
But it was all good, better than a traditional monday night.
And now, here i am, finally feeling like someone who belongs in New Zealand, after a month of actually being here. It's been awhile since i left home, and, as of now, i don't miss it at all. i'm having too much fun to stop and think about it now, and i'm also too busy. between activities, school, water polo, there's not much time to be homesick, and really, there doesn't seem to be much time at all. it's already been a month, and it still feels like it was yesterday that i was in LAX, preparing to leave.
But it's all good, it's all fun, and it's just getting better with everyday.
Sorry if these blog updates are getting boring, i feel like they are. they're becoming more tedious everyday.
But, i'll try and keep it up, at least for March.
also, i'll try and put pictures up on the blog, i don't really know how, but i'll find a way.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
anawhata beach
alright, so, last sunday evening we had our first waterpolo match of the season. Waitakere vs Kelson Boys, the really poorly managed and mostly newcomers vs the super experienced and slightly intimidating. Needless to say, we got beat badly, like so badly that for a while it just seemed like Kelson Boys waterpolo practice. The score ended up being 14 -1 (i don't think i need to further emphasize what side of that Waitakere was on.) But it's all good, first game of the year, and really, as a team, we have no expectations, which means it's going to be fun and relaxed most of the time in the next 7 weeks of the season.
So that was that. It was fun, and i'm not complaining, for my first waterpolo game ever i did play a fair amount, and i can now say that i understand how the game works ( I didn't 5 minutes before we started.) But whoever deemed waterpolo as a non-contact sport got their stuff wrong, it's mean under the water. Kicking, punching, elbows to the face, as well as attempts in drowning opposing players, but it's really fun surprisingly, even with the kicking and drowning and such.
But then, the school week began, more lessons, more time stuck in the classroom, but it hasn't been to bad, especially because on Tuesday i was excused from school to participate in Swimming Day (pretty much athletics day part 2.) It was mandatory that i attend, because i'm on waterpolo, so i went, that was all good with me.
However, i pretty much got destroyed by the actual swimming kids who are in shape, but it was fun, and i was basically the sole representative of Aroha, out of the 45 or so kids that attended Swimming Day, 6 were from Aroha ( which is hardly any people.) But it was fun, and by 2 o' clock, i was out of school and went to the beach with my AFS liason-type-cool-guy, Carey.
Carey picked me straight up from the pool area (which isn't at school,) and drove me and his friend out to the beach. The beach itself is called anawhata, and is awesome. It's about a 30 minute hike down after a 3-4 mile off-road drive on this pretty sketchy dirt road. But it was totally worth it, the water was really warm, like comfortable with a wetsuit and with really deep blue rich water. The beach is extremely isolated and is surrounded by huge mountains and rocks covered with jungle that seem to shoot straight out of the sand. There's also a pretty big river that empties out into the water there as well.
Pretty much it was just super awesome.
Today, was a pretty average school day, as far as that goes, and wasn't super interesting at all. But, i did get to cook tonight, and let me just say, it was another flawless meal concocted by myself. Spaghetti with meat sauce doesn't get much better than that.
So that to was super awesome, but right now i'm pretty much waiting for this weekend, which should be fun considering that i have plans now because i have friends now!
But what i've really come to realize now, is that it isn't all that hard to make friends and to meet people. Yeah, it does seem sort of awkward at first, but that's part of it, and what i've really learned over the past few weeks is that people, generally, seem really accepting. Whether that's just here, or over most parts of the world has yet to be determined, but so far i can honestly say that it's been fun meeting people and making friends, because, as much as i want to know them, they want to know me, and that's pretty cool to say the least.
well, that's been the week so far, and now it's "hump day," (meaning the middle of the week, it took me a second to figure out to.) And right now, this place, New Zealand, is starting to more and more feel like a natural home to me. I even address my house as home, it's not just some random house with people inside it anymore.
Still, i feel attached to California, and think about it everyday. I miss the people there, but slowly, that to is fading away, my attachment to my 'actual home' doesn't seem as prevalant as it did just a matter of weeks ago.
So that was that. It was fun, and i'm not complaining, for my first waterpolo game ever i did play a fair amount, and i can now say that i understand how the game works ( I didn't 5 minutes before we started.) But whoever deemed waterpolo as a non-contact sport got their stuff wrong, it's mean under the water. Kicking, punching, elbows to the face, as well as attempts in drowning opposing players, but it's really fun surprisingly, even with the kicking and drowning and such.
But then, the school week began, more lessons, more time stuck in the classroom, but it hasn't been to bad, especially because on Tuesday i was excused from school to participate in Swimming Day (pretty much athletics day part 2.) It was mandatory that i attend, because i'm on waterpolo, so i went, that was all good with me.
However, i pretty much got destroyed by the actual swimming kids who are in shape, but it was fun, and i was basically the sole representative of Aroha, out of the 45 or so kids that attended Swimming Day, 6 were from Aroha ( which is hardly any people.) But it was fun, and by 2 o' clock, i was out of school and went to the beach with my AFS liason-type-cool-guy, Carey.
Carey picked me straight up from the pool area (which isn't at school,) and drove me and his friend out to the beach. The beach itself is called anawhata, and is awesome. It's about a 30 minute hike down after a 3-4 mile off-road drive on this pretty sketchy dirt road. But it was totally worth it, the water was really warm, like comfortable with a wetsuit and with really deep blue rich water. The beach is extremely isolated and is surrounded by huge mountains and rocks covered with jungle that seem to shoot straight out of the sand. There's also a pretty big river that empties out into the water there as well.
Pretty much it was just super awesome.
Today, was a pretty average school day, as far as that goes, and wasn't super interesting at all. But, i did get to cook tonight, and let me just say, it was another flawless meal concocted by myself. Spaghetti with meat sauce doesn't get much better than that.
So that to was super awesome, but right now i'm pretty much waiting for this weekend, which should be fun considering that i have plans now because i have friends now!
But what i've really come to realize now, is that it isn't all that hard to make friends and to meet people. Yeah, it does seem sort of awkward at first, but that's part of it, and what i've really learned over the past few weeks is that people, generally, seem really accepting. Whether that's just here, or over most parts of the world has yet to be determined, but so far i can honestly say that it's been fun meeting people and making friends, because, as much as i want to know them, they want to know me, and that's pretty cool to say the least.
well, that's been the week so far, and now it's "hump day," (meaning the middle of the week, it took me a second to figure out to.) And right now, this place, New Zealand, is starting to more and more feel like a natural home to me. I even address my house as home, it's not just some random house with people inside it anymore.
Still, i feel attached to California, and think about it everyday. I miss the people there, but slowly, that to is fading away, my attachment to my 'actual home' doesn't seem as prevalant as it did just a matter of weeks ago.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
its been like 10 days
so its been 10 days since i've posted anything on the blog, and i'm definitely due for a post, its seeming more like a chore now, but here it goes, for you readers.
first i'll outline some of the major events in the last 10 days that have prevented me from writing on the blog:
- went to the auckland horse races and "told" my host parents to "bet" on some horses with "money they borrowed from me" which just happened to "collect" like $100 "profit"
- went to piha beach to see the lifeguard boat races
- made more friends
- made another ridiculously good meal (chicken paprikash)
- had "athletics day" at school
- hung out with newly made friends
- went to raglan to go on a surf expedition and meet the rest of my host family's family, but got totally skunked at raglan
alright, so i'll start with last weekend. but first, let me explain what a quiz is. Every Tuesday night at a local pub called The Hangar, people from around the area gather to partake in a 'quiz.' it's 8 rounds of random questions on random topics and you're limited to the knowledge of your team. my host parents are a part of the team (Paul pretty much is the team) and go every Tuesday night. And apparently, out of all the teams (there is a lot of them actually) that participated in quiz nights in 2010, their team had the highest total score.
For their prize, they won free VIP tickets to the Auckland horse races, this included free food AND drinks (nice).
So, last friday, the team (and me) got to go to the horse races. it was super fun. everyone was having fun and most all of us (of legal age of course) were winning loads of money.
They also had a good friend that met us there who used to help run the racetrack and breed and own horses. he pretty much new everything about horse racing and basically told everyone who to bet on. he also helped us in picking 6 horses that were racing in Christchurch that night to. if we won, we would have split like $30000, but unfortunately, out of the 6 horses we picked, 5 won, in a row. it was a heart breaker. but no one was complaining, everyone walked away with free food and drinks and some extra cash in hand.
the next day (last saturday) we went to the piha paddle boat race classic. teams from around Australia and New Zealand, and even a team from the UK, were competing in races that were extremely gnarly (that's really the only way to describe it.) They had these huge paddle boats, filled with about 8 people rowing and one person in the back with the steering oar, and had to paddle out in and around the surf and then come to the beach and race to the finish line. and with the huge rivalry between aussie's and kiwi's, national pride was on the line, which is pretty much greater than anything in New Zealand.
The surf out at piha was killer, and it hurt to look at it and not have a surfboard. It was perfect lefts, shoulder to a few feet over head, with awesome barrels. But, although it was good to be a surfer, the easily 8 -9 ft sets were nothing short of shit for the paddle racers.
it was crazy to watch, huge wipeouts, broken oars, broken faces, broken pride, all in all, it was awesome. But unfortunately, most of the Kiwi teams fell short of first place and let the Aussie's take first prize. But what really was proved in that afternoon, was how hardcore and tough New Zealander's and Australian's are. I saw this one lifeguard guy pretty much break his nose, and then go back out to paddle again. It was crazy.
I also sliced my foot open on the beach, which wasn't as hardcore as the races, but still, it was pretty wannabe hardcore.
The next day (last sunday) i had to go to a AFS student picnic. The picnic itself was really uneventful, except i saw this one huge islander guy with a face covered in tattoos fishing for eel, by hand. But the coolest thing was being able to see the town near the beach where the picnic was. the town is called titirangi and is a really cool artsy community situated right in the jungle (called ranges.) There's not many houses, but there are a lot of art galleries and pretty much art where ever there is a little space. Painted fences, random sculptures on the side of the road. It was pretty cool, the town, not the picnic.
Anyway, school this past week as been pretty cool. Not the actual school portion, but the social part has been really fun.
Work wise, school is super boring because all the material we're learning is stuff i've already learned. For instance, the advanced english i'm placed in, is the equivalent of 8th grade english. the "hardest project ever," was writing three paragraphs about a crappy poem. Math too. "super hard math," is factoring. which, is definitely a little tricky when you learn it at first, but it's pretty easy when you've already been doing it for about 4 years. But i keep this to myself. I don't want to offend anyone, but it's pretty hard to be at school (at least in these classes) when you just feel like you're getting dumber.
On the other hand however, i've been making more friends daily, and now pretty much have a solid friend base which is really cool and fun. i get invites to go do stuff, and i'm slowly detaching myself from the 'exchange student mark.' it's cool, and as far as the social aspect of school goes, i'm having a lot of fun.
but the BIG event this week at school was Athletics Day. athletics day is a huge all-day event in which the entire school participates. The school (everyone in the school) is in one of 3 houses that compete against each other all year in order to claim the title of best house. it's sort of like harry potter, like with griffindor and stuff.
anyway each house has a color and you're supposed to come decked out in your color on sports day, you're also supposed to compete in events to earn points for your house.
my house is Aroha (which means 'love' in Maori), and is traditionally known as the 'shit house,' that has yet to win anything in the last 15 years or so. Our color is red, and on Athletics Day (which was on Friday) everyone comes to school in their red stuff ( everyone who is in Aroha.) But, alas, i have no red. and instead, i thought i would come to school in other colors that would be acceptable amongst my Aroha peers, yellow and green, and a white shirt. Unfortunately, yellow and green are the colors of the other two houses, and i had to draw AROHA on my arms in big red letters just to let everyone know what team i was on.
The day was a lot of fun though. Everyone was pretty much hanging out on the field all day, and i got to know a lot of people way more. Pretty much, i know good group of kids now, and i'm not an outsider. I'm a part of their group i guess. i'm accepted amongst them, and i can truly say that, through waterpolo and through school life, i've made a bunch of friends with a bunch of really cool people.
As far as Athletics Day events go, i only did two, the intermediate high jump and the 100 meter sprint ( i came in 4th behind all the extremely athletic islander kids.) But hey, i tried my best and got some points for Aroha i think, but judging on my colors i probably just earned points for the other teams.
Then there was this weekend.
Friday was cool and pretty mellow. It was after Athletics day, so everyone was pretty worn down from a long day of athletics in the sun and crazy humidity. So i just hung around with a couple mates and watched Harold and Kumar, and then went to this kids house to play night-tennis. Night tennis was cool, and it got even better when it turned into nigh frisbee on the kids private tennis court (he was pretty loaded.) Then, we went swimming in his equally awesome pool that changed colors.
But the real highlight of the weekend was going to Raglan to do some actual surfing (i haven't surfed in forever it seems.) The plan was to surf all day, then meet up with Paul's sister's family and have fish and chips and spend the night at their house in Hamilton, which is 45 minutes from Raglan. However, upon reaching Raglan, to my dismay, we realized it was as flat as a pancake. we got skunked.
so we talked to the surf shop manager in raglan, to see if he could some how offer us (by us i mean me) answers to why it was flat. He simply said: "that's shit luck." Apparently it was the flattest day he'd seen in a good long while. But this isn't to say it was a fun trip. Raglan in one of the coolest places i have seen in NZ, not unlike Santa Cruz. Super laid back and downright funky, with barefoot people everywhere in the pubs and cafes. i also got to meet the rest of my "family." which was pretty cool. And i also got super good meal of fish and chips (pronounced 'fush and chups') i don't know why, but that's how they say it.
any way, that's pretty much it for now, that's a good long post that will hopefully last me another 10 days or so. NZ ( n zed) is pretty cool right now, especially with having made a solid friend base.
right now, i'm preparing for my first waterpolo game of the season. i still have to learn the rules, but i think it'll be good, i can do the eggbeat thing (waterpolo slang), which is a good start.
first i'll outline some of the major events in the last 10 days that have prevented me from writing on the blog:
- went to the auckland horse races and "told" my host parents to "bet" on some horses with "money they borrowed from me" which just happened to "collect" like $100 "profit"
- went to piha beach to see the lifeguard boat races
- made more friends
- made another ridiculously good meal (chicken paprikash)
- had "athletics day" at school
- hung out with newly made friends
- went to raglan to go on a surf expedition and meet the rest of my host family's family, but got totally skunked at raglan
alright, so i'll start with last weekend. but first, let me explain what a quiz is. Every Tuesday night at a local pub called The Hangar, people from around the area gather to partake in a 'quiz.' it's 8 rounds of random questions on random topics and you're limited to the knowledge of your team. my host parents are a part of the team (Paul pretty much is the team) and go every Tuesday night. And apparently, out of all the teams (there is a lot of them actually) that participated in quiz nights in 2010, their team had the highest total score.
For their prize, they won free VIP tickets to the Auckland horse races, this included free food AND drinks (nice).
So, last friday, the team (and me) got to go to the horse races. it was super fun. everyone was having fun and most all of us (of legal age of course) were winning loads of money.
They also had a good friend that met us there who used to help run the racetrack and breed and own horses. he pretty much new everything about horse racing and basically told everyone who to bet on. he also helped us in picking 6 horses that were racing in Christchurch that night to. if we won, we would have split like $30000, but unfortunately, out of the 6 horses we picked, 5 won, in a row. it was a heart breaker. but no one was complaining, everyone walked away with free food and drinks and some extra cash in hand.
the next day (last saturday) we went to the piha paddle boat race classic. teams from around Australia and New Zealand, and even a team from the UK, were competing in races that were extremely gnarly (that's really the only way to describe it.) They had these huge paddle boats, filled with about 8 people rowing and one person in the back with the steering oar, and had to paddle out in and around the surf and then come to the beach and race to the finish line. and with the huge rivalry between aussie's and kiwi's, national pride was on the line, which is pretty much greater than anything in New Zealand.
The surf out at piha was killer, and it hurt to look at it and not have a surfboard. It was perfect lefts, shoulder to a few feet over head, with awesome barrels. But, although it was good to be a surfer, the easily 8 -9 ft sets were nothing short of shit for the paddle racers.
it was crazy to watch, huge wipeouts, broken oars, broken faces, broken pride, all in all, it was awesome. But unfortunately, most of the Kiwi teams fell short of first place and let the Aussie's take first prize. But what really was proved in that afternoon, was how hardcore and tough New Zealander's and Australian's are. I saw this one lifeguard guy pretty much break his nose, and then go back out to paddle again. It was crazy.
I also sliced my foot open on the beach, which wasn't as hardcore as the races, but still, it was pretty wannabe hardcore.
The next day (last sunday) i had to go to a AFS student picnic. The picnic itself was really uneventful, except i saw this one huge islander guy with a face covered in tattoos fishing for eel, by hand. But the coolest thing was being able to see the town near the beach where the picnic was. the town is called titirangi and is a really cool artsy community situated right in the jungle (called ranges.) There's not many houses, but there are a lot of art galleries and pretty much art where ever there is a little space. Painted fences, random sculptures on the side of the road. It was pretty cool, the town, not the picnic.
Anyway, school this past week as been pretty cool. Not the actual school portion, but the social part has been really fun.
Work wise, school is super boring because all the material we're learning is stuff i've already learned. For instance, the advanced english i'm placed in, is the equivalent of 8th grade english. the "hardest project ever," was writing three paragraphs about a crappy poem. Math too. "super hard math," is factoring. which, is definitely a little tricky when you learn it at first, but it's pretty easy when you've already been doing it for about 4 years. But i keep this to myself. I don't want to offend anyone, but it's pretty hard to be at school (at least in these classes) when you just feel like you're getting dumber.
On the other hand however, i've been making more friends daily, and now pretty much have a solid friend base which is really cool and fun. i get invites to go do stuff, and i'm slowly detaching myself from the 'exchange student mark.' it's cool, and as far as the social aspect of school goes, i'm having a lot of fun.
but the BIG event this week at school was Athletics Day. athletics day is a huge all-day event in which the entire school participates. The school (everyone in the school) is in one of 3 houses that compete against each other all year in order to claim the title of best house. it's sort of like harry potter, like with griffindor and stuff.
anyway each house has a color and you're supposed to come decked out in your color on sports day, you're also supposed to compete in events to earn points for your house.
my house is Aroha (which means 'love' in Maori), and is traditionally known as the 'shit house,' that has yet to win anything in the last 15 years or so. Our color is red, and on Athletics Day (which was on Friday) everyone comes to school in their red stuff ( everyone who is in Aroha.) But, alas, i have no red. and instead, i thought i would come to school in other colors that would be acceptable amongst my Aroha peers, yellow and green, and a white shirt. Unfortunately, yellow and green are the colors of the other two houses, and i had to draw AROHA on my arms in big red letters just to let everyone know what team i was on.
The day was a lot of fun though. Everyone was pretty much hanging out on the field all day, and i got to know a lot of people way more. Pretty much, i know good group of kids now, and i'm not an outsider. I'm a part of their group i guess. i'm accepted amongst them, and i can truly say that, through waterpolo and through school life, i've made a bunch of friends with a bunch of really cool people.
As far as Athletics Day events go, i only did two, the intermediate high jump and the 100 meter sprint ( i came in 4th behind all the extremely athletic islander kids.) But hey, i tried my best and got some points for Aroha i think, but judging on my colors i probably just earned points for the other teams.
Then there was this weekend.
Friday was cool and pretty mellow. It was after Athletics day, so everyone was pretty worn down from a long day of athletics in the sun and crazy humidity. So i just hung around with a couple mates and watched Harold and Kumar, and then went to this kids house to play night-tennis. Night tennis was cool, and it got even better when it turned into nigh frisbee on the kids private tennis court (he was pretty loaded.) Then, we went swimming in his equally awesome pool that changed colors.
But the real highlight of the weekend was going to Raglan to do some actual surfing (i haven't surfed in forever it seems.) The plan was to surf all day, then meet up with Paul's sister's family and have fish and chips and spend the night at their house in Hamilton, which is 45 minutes from Raglan. However, upon reaching Raglan, to my dismay, we realized it was as flat as a pancake. we got skunked.
so we talked to the surf shop manager in raglan, to see if he could some how offer us (by us i mean me) answers to why it was flat. He simply said: "that's shit luck." Apparently it was the flattest day he'd seen in a good long while. But this isn't to say it was a fun trip. Raglan in one of the coolest places i have seen in NZ, not unlike Santa Cruz. Super laid back and downright funky, with barefoot people everywhere in the pubs and cafes. i also got to meet the rest of my "family." which was pretty cool. And i also got super good meal of fish and chips (pronounced 'fush and chups') i don't know why, but that's how they say it.
any way, that's pretty much it for now, that's a good long post that will hopefully last me another 10 days or so. NZ ( n zed) is pretty cool right now, especially with having made a solid friend base.
right now, i'm preparing for my first waterpolo game of the season. i still have to learn the rules, but i think it'll be good, i can do the eggbeat thing (waterpolo slang), which is a good start.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
mean as.... thrusday!
Alright, so, its the weekend! I just finished my first week at Waitakere, and it seems as if each day keeps getting better and more fun. Yesterday was particularly fun because I went with some friends to a concert at this really cool cafe called Zeal. I didn't know anything about the show itself going into it. I didn't know what type of music or where it was, all i was told was to definietly go. So I went. And it was super awesome.
The venue itself was really cool. A huge cafe with various different concert hall areas for shows. It was super funky, and really crowded with all sorts of indie hipsters and us. Around the back was were the show was at, and i heard upon getting to the venue itself that it was a thrash metal, scream-your-face-off concert. No my favorite per say, but i was open to the idea of screaming and mosh pits on a Thursday night. But as we got there, we decided it would be best to get food first. So we, myself and two friends, got another dude (their friend) with huge dreads and walked to Frankiez Fish and Chips.
Fish and chips are pretty amazing.
Its just a huge fried slab of greasy white fish covered in what seemed like 2 pounds of french fries (called chips here). It was so good. We pretty much feasted in a park next to the shop. But upon finishing, we headed back to the show and it was just starting (you could literally here the screaming from like a block away). so we paid the few dollars to get in and headed for the concert room. The concert room itself ended up being more like a concert closest which was like a prison cell packed to the brim with people. It was easily 15 degrees hotter in the concert closest and people were moshing really hard. But I could tell that moshing here was way different than the few mosh pits i had been in before. The people in the pit don't just bump and hit against each other, they flail their arms and feet around punching and kicking each other. So i pretty much avoided going into the pit for the entire show.
After the first band played we decided it was pretty hot in the concert closest and that the fish and chips in our stomachs wasn't really agreeing with that. So we took a break and walked out to a park to get some blood flowing and get some fresh air. The park we went to had some pretty steep grass slopes and we had a skateboard so we ended up grass-skating for like 30 minutes down these grass hills. It was super fun, and after a while we headed back to the show to get screamed at by some dude holding a microphone with a guitar backing him.
Overall, it wasn't to bad for a Thursday night, except school today was terrible, because i was super duper tired all day.
What i'm finding though, is that everyday is getting a little better and more fun, and as i get to know people more, i'm finding that i really am happy here. Today was a little difficult though, mostly because i was tired, but also was feeling sort of homesick again. It wasn't so much like depression or anything, it was more like i was just thinking a lot about home for some reason, i don't really know why.
But i would say that overall it is getting better and, even though i wake up and am still in New Zealand and not home, i would say that its really just starting to get fun.
The venue itself was really cool. A huge cafe with various different concert hall areas for shows. It was super funky, and really crowded with all sorts of indie hipsters and us. Around the back was were the show was at, and i heard upon getting to the venue itself that it was a thrash metal, scream-your-face-off concert. No my favorite per say, but i was open to the idea of screaming and mosh pits on a Thursday night. But as we got there, we decided it would be best to get food first. So we, myself and two friends, got another dude (their friend) with huge dreads and walked to Frankiez Fish and Chips.
Fish and chips are pretty amazing.
Its just a huge fried slab of greasy white fish covered in what seemed like 2 pounds of french fries (called chips here). It was so good. We pretty much feasted in a park next to the shop. But upon finishing, we headed back to the show and it was just starting (you could literally here the screaming from like a block away). so we paid the few dollars to get in and headed for the concert room. The concert room itself ended up being more like a concert closest which was like a prison cell packed to the brim with people. It was easily 15 degrees hotter in the concert closest and people were moshing really hard. But I could tell that moshing here was way different than the few mosh pits i had been in before. The people in the pit don't just bump and hit against each other, they flail their arms and feet around punching and kicking each other. So i pretty much avoided going into the pit for the entire show.
After the first band played we decided it was pretty hot in the concert closest and that the fish and chips in our stomachs wasn't really agreeing with that. So we took a break and walked out to a park to get some blood flowing and get some fresh air. The park we went to had some pretty steep grass slopes and we had a skateboard so we ended up grass-skating for like 30 minutes down these grass hills. It was super fun, and after a while we headed back to the show to get screamed at by some dude holding a microphone with a guitar backing him.
Overall, it wasn't to bad for a Thursday night, except school today was terrible, because i was super duper tired all day.
What i'm finding though, is that everyday is getting a little better and more fun, and as i get to know people more, i'm finding that i really am happy here. Today was a little difficult though, mostly because i was tired, but also was feeling sort of homesick again. It wasn't so much like depression or anything, it was more like i was just thinking a lot about home for some reason, i don't really know why.
But i would say that overall it is getting better and, even though i wake up and am still in New Zealand and not home, i would say that its really just starting to get fun.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
school and the best sausage/potato combo ever
Alright, i've been in school for 3 days officially, and it's way different from what i'm used to. unlike high school in America ( or at least California), school here is all about cramming in a bunch of knowledge so you can take two sets of tests to get credits: 1) the externals (tests) and 2) the internals (also tests). all the teachers do is talk about how to make sure you can pass the tests in 10 months so you get your credits. Credits themselves are the equivalent of grades, and if you don't obtain a certain amount by doing well on the test's, you don't pass the course and you either drop it, or retake it next year.
So far, i can't say i like this system that much. you're not learning for the sake of learning, but for the sake of making sure you can pass the test.
But otherwise, school is good and sort of weird. i'm making friends, getting adjusted and still attracting "oooo's" and "ahhh's" and finger pointing from some people. i've also managed to join the water polo team, as i was pressured into it by my biology teacher, and i start that tomorrow (unfortunately because practices are before school at 7). but school itself is good in general, it's a whole lot easier than it is in America, and my 'super hard math class' consists of stuff i've already learned in the past two years. today someone even asked me if i was some sort of math genius because i understood the lesson so well today ( to which i replied, "Really? whoa").
Music is also really cool, because the classes are small, and unlike with Mr. Mattern, we actually learn ear-training, theory, and jazz in a non-dysfunctional way. But the coolest class i have, by far, is media studies. The teacher, Mr. McArdle, is a total bro, and right now we're beginning to design our own radio show, which is even more awesome because my group is pretty much my only friends at the school.
Overall, life here in New Zealand is getting easier and more comftrable with each day. Basically, I'm really starting to ease into life here and adjust. it's getting more fun, and i'm excited to see what the coming months hold.
that's pretty much it right now
So far, i can't say i like this system that much. you're not learning for the sake of learning, but for the sake of making sure you can pass the test.
But otherwise, school is good and sort of weird. i'm making friends, getting adjusted and still attracting "oooo's" and "ahhh's" and finger pointing from some people. i've also managed to join the water polo team, as i was pressured into it by my biology teacher, and i start that tomorrow (unfortunately because practices are before school at 7). but school itself is good in general, it's a whole lot easier than it is in America, and my 'super hard math class' consists of stuff i've already learned in the past two years. today someone even asked me if i was some sort of math genius because i understood the lesson so well today ( to which i replied, "Really? whoa").
Music is also really cool, because the classes are small, and unlike with Mr. Mattern, we actually learn ear-training, theory, and jazz in a non-dysfunctional way. But the coolest class i have, by far, is media studies. The teacher, Mr. McArdle, is a total bro, and right now we're beginning to design our own radio show, which is even more awesome because my group is pretty much my only friends at the school.
Overall, life here in New Zealand is getting easier and more comftrable with each day. Basically, I'm really starting to ease into life here and adjust. it's getting more fun, and i'm excited to see what the coming months hold.
that's pretty much it right now
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