Hey World, I'm Legal!

Last weekend was my 21^st birthday! Yay I’m legal! The night before I made dinner for Jesse, Emily, Theirry and myself. Then Bee set up a girls’ night and we did facials, painted our nails, and made my birthday cake for my party. The first cake was a bit of a mess and fell apart when we flipped it, I thought it’d be fine and we should just stick it back together, but Bee insisted we make a whole new one… So we did… after consuming the majority of the first one…

The Big Day started with a nice trip to the farmers market for some delicious crepes with my SLU friends. After chowing down on a pair of plum jam crepes we headed back to Uni. On our way we were distracted by men in jeggings (jean leggings) running toward a large cage set up on the intramural rugby field. What was it??? The Ultimate Dodgeball Competition. The winners of which get to go to Vegas for the actual tournament. We spent a few minutes laughing and cheering and trying to make sense of the whole thing. Suddenly a new team steps up to play and we realize two of those kids look really familiar. Turns out two of our classmates from St. Lawrence signed up for the competition as well! Sadly they were absolutely destroyed in the first round, but it added to the humor of the whole thing. I spent the afternoon of my birthday hanging out with Sam and Emily shopping and resting up!  I came home a few hours later to hundreds of freshers (freshmen) having a carnival in our backyard. They had a moonbounce and hot dogs and loud music. It was a bit of an arrrggh moment as I was hoping for an afternoon nap. A few hours later after getting my hair and makeup done by my wonderfully stylish kiwi host Bee we walked outside to check on the fresher-fest. To our great surprise the yard was empty… and so was the moon bounce! We summoned Theirry out of his room and spent the good part of an hour bouncing around and having fun. It was the best birthday surprise ever! 

Bee and the Birthday Surprise!

Isabel, Emily, Jesse, Sam and Colleen took me out to Indian for my birthday and it was delicious! Then we had a small get together at the flat with some of my neighbors, fellow geologists, and new friends! It was a great night and a successful 21^st birthday!

Yesterday was another celebration, St. Patricks Day. Uni students were decked out in green, and if you’ve read the Otago Times, you can hear about the massive roof party that had to be broken up by the fire department… I wasn’t involved I promise! Emma, Colleen and I don’t have class on Thursday so we started the day off at Isabel and Colleens with a great big breakfast! In the afternoon we decided to bring in the holiday with a tour of the local Speights Brewery. We got to walk through the still-working brewery, learn about the history of beer, and try six of their prized brews. It’s the pride of the south (southern island), and it’s quite good. We befriended many of the people on our tour and they were happy to snap some shots for our parents at home! It was an enjoyable experience and I will probably do it again before I go home. Bee made us a fabulous feast for dinner and then we spent a night out on the town! 

Speights tour!

Tomorrow is one of the biggest parties of the year. More than 9,000 students and friends will crowd Hyde Street for a party that has been dubbed my some as “Better than Christmas!!” Our flat will be going as cowboys and Indians! It’s our first weekend where all five of us are here, which will be fun. Hopefully I will get better at the blog updating. My parents are already in New Zealand and at this point are part way through their bike tour of the southern island. Me and some of my friends will meet up with them in Queenstown next Thursday and spend the weekend there! I am very excited to see them as well as start to see some other parts of New Zealand. The following week four of us are headed off to Stewart Island for a 4 day weekend of tramping (hiking)! I am also mid-way through planning the road trip of a lifetime! For easter vacation Jesse, myself and our new friends Natalie and Ben are setting off for a 10 day road trip around the southern island. We’ll start off heading north to Christchurch, Kaikoura, take a wine tour in Renwick, kayak and hike in Marlborough Sound. Then we’ll make our way west, searching for seals and spending three days hiking in Abel Tasman National Park. We’ll loop back south, catching a brewery tour in Greymouth and conclude the trip by hiking Fox Glacier. Needless to say we are bursting with excitement, and I find myself staying up late planning this week of adventure. *I should probably mention that I broke a rule, I bought a car, but SHHHH don’t tell St. Lawrence. It’s a trusty (so far) wagon that will become our transportation and home over the many adventurous weekends ahead. I am very excited! I hope all is well for everyone no matter where they are in the world. I think of you all often!

Before I sign off I want to share with you a story I heard today.  A friend of mine received an email from his parents today and after sharing the contents, I realized I should share the story with someone else. My friend is from the US and, like me, studying at Otago for the semester. Originally his parents were not going to be able to make it to New Zealand to visit him, but since, things have changed. The circumstances which came about should teach us, or remind us all of a very important life lesson. An elderly man from their church at home was asking my friend’s parents about the New Zealand semester and if they were going to get the chance to come visit their son during his time here. They said they unfortunately were probably not going to be able to. The older man said that perhaps they should get a lottery ticket and see if they could win so they could make the trip. A few weeks later the family received a letter in the mail. It contained a check and a note that said, “Here’s your winning lottery ticket from New Zealand.” The man asked that they enjoy their time visiting their son, and use 10% to pay it forward to someone else. I hope this all inspires you all to pay it forward, not necessarily literally, but when you do something nice for someone else, it’s sure to brighten up their day and yours as well.  (And maybe even make a stranger like me smile!)