Last Week in New Zealand

Tuesday, November 8

            Today I had a very good pre-exam day. I went over my notes and poems once in the morning and once in the afternoon. The weather was really nice for a few hours in the afternoon, so I did about an hour of study by the field. Then, five minutes after I returned to my room, it started raining.

Wednesday, November 9

            My exam went pretty well, and I am so glad to be done with my semester at Vic. I am going to miss being in New Zealand, but I was ready to be done with schoolwork for a while. I am definitely going to enjoy my extended winter break.

            Mom and Appa arrived in Wellington around 7pm. They picked me up on the way to the hotel, and we walked to Courtney Place for a late dinner. It was really nice to catch up, and I’m so glad they made it safely.

Thursday, November 10

            This morning, Mom, Appa, and I worked on packing my room. It actually went faster than I was anticipating, which was a good thing. Bev arrived around noon, and we all walked down to the fish’n’chips place for lunch.

            We finished packing around 3pm, so we went to the City and Sea Museum for a bit before it closed and then walked to the Rugby Superstore. We went to Istanbul for dinner, which is a restaurant that Bev and I really like. The food was really good but giant portions.

Friday, November 11

            Bev and I met my parents for breakfast at Wholly Bagels. After, we went to the Botanic Gardens and walked through the Cable Car Museum. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, which was a nice change from the rain and wind the day before. We walked to the rose garden and then went back to the City and Sea Museum to finish our tour there.

            We went to a toastie place by Te Papa for lunch and then spent a couple hours in that museum. When we were done there, we got gelato and sat by the waterfront for a bit. We had pizza for dinner, and then Bev and I went back to Te Puni to make sure everything is packed for tomorrow.

So close yet so far away...

Tuesday, November 1

            Today I had my first of two final exams. I ended up taking my exam in the same room where I went to linguistic lectures all semester, and it was kind of nice to be in a room I was familiar with. The exam proctors took their job very seriously, timing us down to the second, checking our student ID cards multiple times, and allowing only one student to go to the bathroom at a time.

            Because I have a whole week to study for my next exam, I decided not to do any work the rest of the day. By chance, I ran into one of my hallmates, and we ended up talking for about 40 minutes.

Wednesday, November 2

            For lunch today, I went into town and met my friend from my linguistics class. We walked to a food court because there was a bubble tea place there. Unfortunately, it wasn’t open when we got there, and we didn’t know when it would open. We ended up eating at a Chinese food buffet and browsing through a bookstore instead. It was fun, but I was sad not to get bubble tea.

Friday, November 4

            After two days of intense study, I got to have some fun today. Rayce is leaving for to explore the south island on Saturday, so he and I met for lunch. It was fun to talk about our respective plans for the next couple weeks and reflect a bit on our time in NZ.

Sunday, November 6

            Today was a very fun day. After studying in the morning, I met my international buddy to spend some time outside. The weather cooperated and was nice and sunny. We met in town and then walked to the waterfront. We got ice cream and chatted and then went to Te Papa and rode two rides they have there. They are both simulator rides, with platforms that move in correspondence to what action is being portrayed on the screen. It is very much like the Star Wars ride at Disneyland. One ride went from activity to activity, such as herding sheep, riding a motorcycle, and sliding down a grassy hill on a cardboard box. The other ride was a submarine trip.

Tonight was also my last service at St. John’s. I am really glad I was able to find a church and attend fairly regularly and meet people there. I plan to keep in touch with a few of them, in case I ever get back to NZ or they come to the States.

I have two more days to study for my exam, and then I will officially be done with my semester at Vic. My parents will arrive in Wellington in the evening after I finish my exam in the morning, and I think that is a pretty exciting reward for finishing my work. I can’t believe I will leave NZ on Saturday, but I fully intend to make the most of the time I have left.