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.
