Back home in the US

I've been home for nearly a month now! I can't believe it. Sometimes, I feel like my semester in NZ was a just a dream - an amazing, incredible, long dream. It really feels surreal sometimes to think that I lived there for four months and that I had the most amazing time of my life. I did that. I really did.

I miss NZ terribly. I miss walking down the main street, George Street, and just watching people. I miss hearing the kiwi accent everywhere I go. I miss singing with the Cantores choir. I miss my friends - all the kiwis I met and the Americans!

Re-adjusting to life in the US has been a lot simpler than I thought it would be. It was so hard to adjust to life and culture in NZ. I grew accsutomed to living there and thought it would be weird re-adjusting to life back home, but it hasn't been. A couple of things that had me confused for a while were light switchs and traffic. In the US, you flip a light switch up to turn it on and down to turn it off. In NZ, it's the complete opposite! This definitely confuses me at times. Also, sometimes I forget what side traffic is supposed to be on. I actually made a turn onto the left side of the road once. Lol, I know, I just wasn't thinking! Also, when i'm walking on the sidewalk, I want to move to the left when I pass someone instead of moving to the right.

I still find myself saying NZ things like 'aye' and 'keen' and 'uni' and 'did you?' And whenever I hear or read something about NZ, I immediately tune myself into that. I'm so alert and aware about anything having to do with NZ.

Some photoes from my last weeks in NZ:

Baldwin Street, the steepest street in the world!

Me and Anna at the topp of Baldwin Street.

My last dawn in NZ.

Lighthouse at Nugget Point in the Catlins.

Rocks at Nugget Point.

Damian with the petrified forest at Curio Bay.

Me with Niagara Falls.

McClean Falls. It was amazing.

Me and the flatties (plus Tiffany) at Velvet Burger.

Me, Anna, & Jess. My last Saturday in Dunedin. We went out dancing.

I woke up in the morning for my second final exam, and this was outside! We had a snowball fight. In the middle of June.

Lighthouse at Nugget Point.

Me with the lighthouse.

Me and Damian.

Pourakanui Bay.

I wrote this while on my flight back to the US. It's a reflection of my semester in NZ. It's really long, but I hope you enjoy it:

When I tell myself that I just spent four months in New Zealand, I almost don’t believe it. The past semester went by so quickly. Too quickly.

I’m sitting on an airplane, on my way home to Hawaii. We’re going to be crossing the equator soon, and it will be a significant moment for me - leaving behind the southern hemisphere and returning to the north. I wanted to write a big blog before I left the country, but I didn’t have the time. I was too busy - studying for exams, taking exams, packing my things, volunteering at the Red Cross Shop, hanging out with my friends. I’m still amazed at how I managed to squeeze so many things into my last couple weeks in New Zealand.

When I think about my experience abroad, I think about the things I’ve learned and the ways I’ve changed. The changes and the lessons vary from simple to significant - from improving my cooking skills exponentially and learning to read music to discovering a profound sense of strength and bravery as well as finally losing my age self-conscious-ness.

New Zealand made me learn how to cook. Prior to New Zealand, I’d only cook the simplest things - basic variations of pasta. Because my flatmates and I came up with a cooking schedule that required each of us to cook dinner one night a week, I had the chance to practice. My three flatmates are amazing cooks! I was so impressed with their ability to come up with such delicious and creative things. I had to keep up with their level of awesomeness, and so I pushed myself to step outside of my tiny cooking box and try out different things. Trust me, it was awkward at first, especially when having to convert non-metric units into metric-units (Lol) - and onions (oh onions, how they make me cry). But really, practice does make perfect. This semester, I’ve made seafood chowder, corn chowder, shepherd’s pie, chimichangas, quesadillas, vegetarian chili, my own alfredo sauce (NZ doesn’t have alfredo!!), pizza, vegetarian lasagna, etc. I’ve realised that I can actually cook and that I enjoy cooking. It’s relaxing and it’s fun. I like looking for recipes online, and then changing them and adding my own touch :]. Awww, Christina’s growing up.

New Zealand made me learn to read music. When I first started singing with Cantores, it was incredibly difficult. I remember the very first practice I ever went to - Greg kept throwing song after song after song at us and didn’t take the time to go through each part. Everyone was sight reading and I remember thinking, ‘Oh my God, I suck’. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing or what I should even sing. It was that same day that Greg announced that we had two weeks to learn the second half of Handel’s Messiah. Yeah. That was so intense. After that first practice, I remember contemplating whether I’d even go back. For some reason, I decided to tough it out and just do it. It was one of the best choices I made in NZ. Singing with Cantores has been the main reason why my time in NZ was so amazing. It was where I got the opportunity to do what I love to do - sing :]. It’s also where I met amazing people and made friends. The Cantores social life is unbeatable, I think :D. Kimberly and I started hanging out all the time and when I told her I had no idea how to read music, she started giving me little lessons on the piano. Over time, I could sense the change in myself and my singing. I was starting to match the sound of a note with the actual note itself. I was starting to pick up on the songs quicker. I was more confident in my singing. I wouldn’t go so far to say that I’m good at reading music because I’m really not. I have so much more progress to make before I can feel satisfied, but I’m happy with the fact that if you were to give me a simple sheet of music, I’d probably be able to figure it out and play it on piano for you….eventually :].

New Zealand made me realise that I am so much stronger and braver than I think. Tramping the Rockburn Track during Easter was the most challenging thing I’ve ever done. It drove me to the edge, physically and mentally. In my lowest point during the tramp when I just broke down and said, ‘Screw this, I can’t finish’, I was still able to find the strength to push myself, somehow. Out there in the crazy, intense wilderness of NZ’s southern alps, I discovered a whole side of myself that I never even knew existed. When we finished and got to the end of the track, I was so proud of myself; I felt like I could do anything. And then in May I went bungy jumping and it was the craziest, most insane, most spontaneous, and the most financially irresponsible thing I’ve ever done. It was amazing. It’s indescribable how it feels to fall like that. These are things that I never, ever would have imagined myself doing. I’m not normally a crazy risk-taker, but NZ made me realise I was tired of leading a boring, risk-less life :]. I remember telling Eric I jumped and him saying, ‘What? You just never seemed like the bungy-jumping type, Christina’. I think his comment bothered me at first, but then I realised he was probably right. Would you have thought I’d ever do something insane like throw myself 142 feet off of a bridge? NZ has changed me. I feel this need to constantly push myself, to test myself, to discover myself in completely new ways, and most of all, to surprise you.

Finally, NZ made me love my age. I used to feel uncomfortable with my age, especially when I was around anyone who was significantly older than me - my parents’ friends, my professors, co-workers, etc. I always felt like I was so young - anyone older than me would look at me like I was just a silly, naïve, little kid. Singing with the Cantores Choir allowed me to meet people whose ages ranged from 18 to 60. These people became some of my closest friends in NZ. We hung out together often. We travelled together. We watched movies together. We had drinks at the pub together. We sang together. We laughed and cried together. It made me realize that a person’s age really doesn’t matter. If we can have fun together and connect on a really profound level, why should age matter at all? It really opened me up to a lot of amazing experiences, and I’m so thankful for that.

When I think back to NZ, all I can do is smile. There were good and bad experiences. All of these experiences have changed me and helped shaped me into a smarter, stronger, and wiser person. Living in NZ has changed my life in so many ways. I’m going to be connected to this country forever and I know this is not the end; I’ll be back someday.

(T minus 10 days)

I can't believe I only have 10 days left in New Zealand.

I try not to think about it because when I do I just feel sad.

I've fallen in love with this country. I've grown accustomed to living here. It'll be strange to return to the US and have to re-adjust all over again.

I had my first exam last week for Religion in Pop Culture and I think it went okay. My second exam is tomorrow morning for Art History. I'm worried about this one. I have to write three essays in two hours. I don't want to do it. I've been studying for days and I still don't feel ready. What can I do about it? Nothing really. Just gotta get it over with and hope I've retained all the information from this semester.

I started volunteering at the Red Cross today and it was good. I'm working in the Red Cross Shop, organising, pricing, helping customers, etc. I wish I had done this throughout the entire semester instead of only during my last days here.

Other than that, we had a biscuit party last night and it was fun. We had so many biscuits! I couldn't believe it. The point was for all our guests to bring biscuits (cookies) and then everyone would exchange and eat cookies all night long. We ended up having anywhere from 25-30 people show up. Lol. TOO MANY COOKIES. They were delicious though.

Anyway, back to studying! Wish me luck (I'm gonna need it).

Essay Stress, Party Distractions, & My 21st Birthday

The past two weeks of my life have been utterly crazy, frantic, exciting, and interesing all rolled into one.

During the week of the 18th through the 22nd, I had three essays due. The first essay was due on Monday for Art History - 2,500 words about what makes the artwork of Rita Angus so distinctive. That night, my wine making class went up to our instructor's winery to celebrate the completion of our Merlot! It was really exciting. The wine came out tasting absolutely delicious. There were 10 of there at the winery, and we ended up finishing about 8 or 9 bottles of wine among the group. Lol, yeah, that's almost an entire bottle of wine per person. Let's just say we had a really, really, really good time :].

This was a bit of a problem as I had a 2,000 word essay due on Tuesday for my Religion class. No worries, though - I'm excellent at multi-tasking, and I'm confident that I did a good job on it.

I went to a birthday party Thursday night at my American friend Tiffany's flat. It was your typical Dunedin student party (minus the couch burning, thank God) - tons of people stuffed into a small space, kegs, people doing keg stands, people playing beer pong, loud and obnoxious music. Definitely not my kind of party scene at all. This was certainly a bad distraction as I had a 2,000 word essay due on Friday for my Irish Poetry class.

Like I said, I'm excellent at multi-tasking.

Anyway, between the parties and the essay stress, I had tons of choir practice since our concert was on Sunday the 24th! It turned out to be a great concert. It was held at the Dunedin Art Gallery and we actually sold out. It was pretty cool. We worked really hard to get all the songs down. One of the songs, Bach's Gloria, was incredibly difficult, and we learned it in only two weeks, so yay Cantores.


Me and some Cantores girls being divas.


Most of us from Cantores. Really gonna miss singing with them :[.

Tuesday the 26th was really exciting. It was my 21st birthday :D. Everyone made it really special for me. Jess sent me the best birthday package ever! My parents and my sister sent me really nice birthday cards in the mail. My friend Damian took me out to lunch. My flatmates baked me the coolest birthday cake! Bright lime green with pretty blue frosting. Yummmm. Also, the sun had finally come out after hiding for two weeks. It was a beautiful day. The perfect birthday.

Isn't it amazing??


Me and the birthday cake.

Lol, it's beautiful.

Unfortunately, though, last week, I caught a cold. It's been circulating our flat so it was only a matter of time before I'd get sick.

Anyway, my final essay was due this past Friday, the 22nd , for my Lit and Gender class. That was a really tough, 3,000 word paper, but I managed it all right, I think. It was definitely difficult to get it done since I was so miserably sick, but I did okay.

Friday night was also my birthday party. It was incredible. Possibly the most fun night I've had in NZ. I pretty much have the coolest mates ever. No kidding.

Self-timer of some early arrivals.


Karaoke time. Have you figured out the theme yet?


Me with my two favourite kiwis.


Lol I <3 Dr. Stewart.

That was the most memorable 21st ever. I feel blessed to have such awesome mates :].

The Queenstown Adventure

On Friday the 9th of May, me, my three flatties, and our friend Phil embarked on a little road trip to Queenstown. We rented a car and drove 3.5 hours to get there.

We ended up leaving closer to 6pm, so the drive wasn't very scenic as it was dark and we couldn't see anything. It was a lot of fun though. Just hanging out listening to Simon & Garfunkel, the Beatles, and other wonderful oldies :]. We even stopped at a dairy in Alexandra to have some ice cream :D. By the time we go to the hostel, it was a little after 10pm. Reception was nice enough to leave our keys at the front desk in an envelope. The hostel was...very interesting, for a lack of words. It was really intricately decorated and it looked cool, but the other guests who were staying there were not so cool. Lots of drunk people stumbling around making noise at 3AM - not so fun. The most redeeming quality about the hostel was George - the hostel's cat. He was so friendly and kept darting in our rooms as we were settling in. Then he'd jump on the bed and nuzzle us. He was precious.

We got up at around 8 on Friday and headed out by 9AM. To our surprise, it was snowing. Not very heavily, luckily. The first stop was a 20 minute drive away to the Kawarau Bridge so my flatmate Anna could bungy jump.

We got there and it was incredibly cold. The snow had picked up a bit and it was coming down heavily. Anna was the first jump of the day. I remember standing at the glass balcony lookout next to the bridge and feeling terrified for her. It was so high (143 feet). She stood at the ledge and without any hesitation, stretched her arms out and just slowly let herself fall. She didn't even scream! It was very impressive. We were so ecstatic for her - screaming, cheering, and laughing. Phil went next. He wasn't planning on jumping because of finances, but he decided on doing it anyway because he really wanted to jump. Phil was really hardcore and decided to jump in just his jeans (even though it was about 0 degrees Celsius outside). Phil took much longer than Anna to jump. He stood at the edge for a while, probably contemplating what on earth he was doing. Eventually, he let out his battle cry - 'Forth Eorlingas!' - (yes, that is a reference to the second Lord of the Rings film) and dived off the ledge as if he were 'diving into a shallow pool' (Phil said that was the instruction he had been given by the bungy people). Phil's jump was great. He yelled the whole time. And then the yelling turned into maniacal laughter. It was awesome. Because of his long, dark hair and his goatee, the bungy staff dubbed him Jesus. Yeah, we watched Jesus bungy jump - no big deal ;].


Phil & Anna after the jump :D.

After the hardcore jumping, we wandered down the Kawarau River a little further to see where the Pillars of the Kings scene was filmed in The Fellowship of the Ring. It was amazing. The colour of the river is just...stunning.






Me with the flatties <3. It had finally stopped snowing by then.

After admiring the river, we drove another 15 or 20 minutes to a really small town called Arrowtown. There were more Lord of the Rings sites to see there. We wandered around a stream for a bit, then eventually walked around the shops area and had lunch at a small cafe.

We ended up leaving Arrowtown at about 1 and decided to drive out to Glenorchy (yes, Glenorchy may sound familiar because it's close to the area where I went tramping during Easter :]). The drive out to Glenorchy is absolutely amazing. Seriously. The sites are breathtaking.






Background's a little overexposed, but still a fun self-timer picture.

We got to Glenorchy and walked around a forest in the Mt. Aspiring National Park. Played on a fallen tree. Walked out to Diamond Lake. Failed at helping people get their car unstuck from a massive mud puddle.

By the time we got back to Queenstown and the hostel, it was probably after 5pm. We ended up going out to dinner that night at a pizza bar. Wine and pizza. How classy ;]. After dinner, we walked around Queenstown for a bit, despite the fact that it was really, really, really cold. Marci had a goal to kiss all the statues in Queenstown, so we went searching for them. There was a sheep, a moa, a fern, and a little boy sleeping, which was kind of creepy. We ended up playing on some swings for a bit and then hiked back up the hill to the hostel.

The next morning, we drove up to Deer Park Heights, a small mountain where various random scenes from LOTR were filmed. It was incredible mostly because of all the animals that were running freely on the mountain. Lol. We are such city kids. We could tell by how fascinated we were by the llamas, donkeys, ducks, deer, and goats. We stopped the car briefly, and then we were swarmed by a heard of llamas! They were so cute! And so inquisitive! They'd put their heads right up to the windows to have a look at us. Marci went outside to take some pictures and they were all smelling her and checking her out. It was hilarious. And then we looked behind us and there was a huge swarm of ducks running toward the car. Apparently, people feed the animals. Often. They've associated our mechanical machines with food. Eventually, a donkey showed up, and he was really cute. Later, the llamas chased after our car.





It was so much fun.

It was at this time that I was feeling really regretful about not jumping the day before. I really wanted to, but knew it would be really financially irresponsible for me to do it. But I also knew if I didn't bungy jump off the Kawarau Bridge, I'd probably regret it, maybe for the rest of my life (haha). They told me that if I wanted to do it, then I should, and that we could stop at Kawarau Bungy on the way home. Yay excitement.

The entire drive there, my palms were sweating. I was antsy, nervous, and couldn't keep still. They were pumping me up with music in the car. I kept saying to myself over and over again, 'You can totally do this, Christina. No big deal. Just do it.' It was really difficult to convince myself.

We got to Kawarau Bungy and everything went by so fast. I had to sign up, fill out some forms, get weighed, then pay for it. After the transcation went through, I realised that I didn't even hesitate; I didn't even stop to think: Do I really want to do this? I just did it and couldn't believe it.

Walking along the bridge to the ledge was intense. I was scared. I could feel the adrenaline pumping. They put me into a harnest, and then I couldn't stop bouncing around. I was excited, and so incredibly nervous. My chest was really tight. I was so anxious. I kept saying, 'What am I doing? Why am I doing this?'

It was finally my turn and I vaguely remeber sitting down as they attached the bungy cord to my feet and the harnest I was wearing. I stood up at the ledge and had to carefully waddle my way to the edge. It was excruciatingly frightening. One hand was clutching the pole next to me. The bungy guy kept telling me I needed to let go and inch forward a few more inches. I couldn't allow myself to look down. I just looked straight ahead, or up toward the sky. I knew that if I looked down at the water, the height, depth, and insanity of it all would completely freak me out.

He counted down from 5 for me and then I was supposed to jump, but I didn't; I was too scared. And that's the most difficult part about bungy jumping, hands down - that moment when you're standing at the edge and you have to make yourself jump (they won't ever push you). You have to make a conscious decision to do something that all physics, up until that very moment, has told you will probably kill you. So he counted from three, and I don't know how I did it, but I had to shut down my brain, turn off my emotions just for a second, and then I jumped.

It's amazing how you can go from feeling completely terrified and nervous to feeling elated in a matter of seconds. It felt amazing to fall like that. I screamed so much, but it felt good. It's pretty much indescribable. I couldn't really tell you, unless you experienced it yourself as well.




It was undoubtedly the craziest thing I've ever done. Before we left for Queenstown, I had decided I wasn't going to do it, but on a spontaneous whim I said 'Screw it. I'm doing to jump.' And I'm so glad I did. It was amazing :].

I'd definitely do it all over again.

Pre-Epic Post

I promise, an Epic post will be up later this week.

Until then, I am updating for the sake of updating.

The spaces between my entries are getting too long, and I don't like it.

A few weeks ago, my friend Kimberley invited me to join Otago's Gamelan Community Group. What is Gamelan? According to Wikipedia:

"A gamelan is a musical ensemble from Indonesia, typically from the islands of Bali or Java, featuring a variety of instruments such as metallophones, xylophones, drums and gongs; bamboo flutes, bowed and plucked strings. Vocalists may also be included.

The term refers more to the set of instruments than to the players of those instruments. A gamelan is a set of instruments as a distinct entity, built and tuned to stay together — instruments from different gamelan are generally not interchangeable."

It is actually really incredible. I was intimidated at first because I knew nothing about Gamelan, but everyone in the group is really friendly, patient, and understanding; everyone was willing to teach me.

The sound of everyone playing together is something I can't really describe. It's unlike anything I've ever heard before. The music sounds sweet, but at the same time, melancholy, and maybe even painful. And after every practice, I've always got the beats and the sounds of gamelan stuck in my head.

Here's a photo of an ensemble of gamelan instruments:



It's a really fun activity. It's difficult to get the rhythm of gamelan at first, but after practicing, it's simple. Also, rather than using notes, gamelan uses numbers. Each key is coordinated with a number, and then the sheets of music have numbers on them to indicate which keys to play. Definitely easier than reading music (which I am slowly learning, but it's hard).

It's pretty much crunch time at Otago. I have just a couple more weeks before classes officially end. I have four, yes FOUR, essays due by the end of the month. I need to get on it and stay on top of things. Once classes are over, the last 3 weeks or so of the semester are dedicated to final exams. I have 3: one on 10 June, 16 June, and 24 June.

Everything is going by so quickly. Before I know it, I'll be on my way back to Hawaii!

My flatmates and I did a road trip to Queenstown this past weekend. It was an amazingly epic trip. So epic, that it deserves it's own entry. And because I'm trying to surprise someone, I will speak no more of it here.

Until then, thanks for reading :].

I <3 Waitati

It's been almost 2 weeks since my last post. I'm sorry!

What have I been doing with myself?

School, choir, and weekend parties have been consuming my life.

We went back to Waitati again this Saturday. There were about 10-12 people from choir, so Damian took his bus out and parked it on the beach. There were a lot of people there for the BBQ and the bonfire. Andy's family and friends were there because this past weekend marked the second anniversary of his son's death.

It was a great night.

Waitati is always beautiful.

Do I really have to leave New Zealand and go home? I don't want to!

My 21st birthday is coming up on the 26th of this month. I'm incredibly excited.

Rita Angus - The Unhinged Loner

That's how my Art History lecturer described her. Supposedly one of New Zealand's most loved artists, Rita would have cringed at the thought of being loved by everyone. She didn't want to be loved. I think she would have preferred the title of "Unhinged Loner."

I have been falling in love with her art work. We had a lecture about Rita Angus a few weeks ago, and I'm still not over it. Apparently, her work is being exhibited in Christchurch. I'd love to go to Christchurch to see it.

Rita Angus was a famous New Zealand painter. Along with Colin McCahon and Toss Wollaston, she has been credited with introducing modern art to New Zealand. She is probably most noted for her regionalist genre paintings, and her self-portraits.

This is one of Rita's most noted paintings:


Cass, 1939

Everything about it is expressive - the ground, the mountains, the sky. And yes, those are Van Gogh trees. This is a response to the famous Japanese-esque New Zealand painting Taranaki by Christopher Perkins:

I love that painting.

Here's one of Rita's most famous self-portraits:

This one comes from the late 30s, early 40s, the time period when art-deco was incredibly popular in New Zealand as well as abroad. Rita is the modern woman here. She is smoking a cigarette. She is dressed in a masculine fashion (especially with the short, slick-backed hair). She is independent.

This is one might be my favorite self-portrait (although, the quality and colour of this image is not very good):

Cleopatra

The image is very reflective of ancient Egyptian artwork. The background and her top are actually a very vibrant hue of green, almost luminescent (you can't tell from this picture, though). I also love the mystery of her cropped hand. What is she doing? Is she pointing? Is she simply holding her hand up as a sort of offering? Is she holding a cigarette? (quite possibly).

And this one is my absolute favorite painting of hers:

Rutu, 1951

It was painted in the midst of Rita's most severe bout of mental illness (1949-1952). It is an excellent example of multi cultural harmony. Rita has given herself the dark complexion of a Polynesian while giving herself the blonde hair of a European. She also uses three religious/spiritual images: the lotus flower (Buddhism), the halo (Christianity), and the fish (Astrology). This is just one of the many "goddess" paintings done by Rita. I'm just so drawn to it. My lecturer, Mark Stocker, says that no one could ever attempt to make another Rutu in New Zealand - not unless they were remarkably and unusually talented, or completely crazy.

Rita Angus, thank you for having been amazing.