I've been back in New Zealand for a about a week now, and it's been pretty full on, but really good. There's about six new staff members that weren't in my school that came from other bases, a married couple, a Texan dude, two American girls, and a guy from Lyons, France which is kind of exciting. His accent is pretty cool. So along with getting settled in is getting to know all of them. We have classes most morning and afternoons where we'll discuss plans/general structure for the school, do some leadership training, and discuss our roles in the upcoming school. I will be general DTS staff (hopefully on the adventure DTS), and I'll help out in small groups and be a one-on-one person which every new student has, which just means I meet with my students every once and a while and see how they're doing. I'll also be one of the staff that helps out the cook. Since our base is going to be on a bible college campus this time and our previous cook just got married, we will be working with the cook already at the college and assisting her. There's going to be around 70 students coming in from 19 different nations, which is both kind of exciting, but also pretty nerve wracking. Not only will it be a lot of people to cook for, but it will also be a lot of people to have to get to know. One bonus (on the cooking side of things) is that a bunch of farmers are donating some sheep, pigs and cows for meat for the DTS which is awesome because that saves us a bunch of money but also gives us delicious meat.
Outside of our classes, we have a bunch of free time. Especially since everyone has to buy and prepare their own food for the week before the students arrive so there's no dinner prep or one hour dinners since people can just eat on their own time. I figured since I could only eat food I bought, I would force myself to be healthy by buying only healthy food. It's been going pretty well, I'm even avoiding carbs in the evening (staying strong Marie). Although I did buy a package of these really good spicy Indonesian ramen, and since my salad froze in the fridge the other day, I ate that for lunch and dinner. In any other situation I would take that as a sign that I've hit rock bottom.
I'm kind of struggling trying to fill all the free time we have. I'll pluck a guitar, go on the internet maybe go for a run, hang out with other staff, but there's really like 6 hours each day where we can do whatever. Yesterday we went to the beach which was a fun time fill, and some of us girls played a game of pick up soccer. Basically things are pretty loose and lazy now, but they're just going to take off as soon as the students come in, which I believe is in like five days. Also, I figured out that I can watch NBC on the NBC app, so my plan of watching Jennifer Lawrence on SNL a couple minutes at a time is going pretty well. So take that haters.
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Trouble in Paradise
As you may have already read about, I had a little "situation" at the Frankfurt airport, but if not, just to catch you up, basically I was told that I needed to either buy a ticket out of New Zealand at the airport, which I didn't have because I was planning on working out a visa when I arrived, or I couldn't fly. So, we went over to this travel agency and bought, I believe (though it was hard to make complete sense of it since the guy was talking to Anna in German) a ticket that was immediately refunded so I had to pay the guy 150 Euros in cash upfront to get the "ticket". I also had to sign something saying that I wouldn't try to fly with the ticket and was told not to show that piece of paper to NZ immigration. Sketch, but whatever. I needed to get there. I was flying Air Korea, and I could count the number of white people on the plane on one hand. The food was also kind of weird since it was not only Korean food, but airplane Korean food. Big bonus though, they had all 3 seasons of Sherlock on the plane TVs and I brought some trail mix so I managed. After 20 hours on planes, I arrived into New Zealand at 8 in the morning. I woke up a little before sunrise on the plane, and let me tell you, sunrises are way prettier at 35,000 feet. Got through security fine, almost too quickly, but not worry. The trouble I ran into later more than made up for that.
To start, I realized that I didn't buy a bus ticket from the Auckland airport to Tauranga, I bought a ticket from a bus station in downtown Auckland to Tauranga, so I had to buy another bus ticket to get to that station. Once I got there, I still had a couple hours before my bus arrived so I walked around with my two rolling suitcases looking for food that looked both delicious but also cheap. Finding nowhere else, I just settled for McDonalds, which wasn't even that cheap, though it was pretty delicious. Unfortunately, there was an iron man taking place through Auckland that day and the stop that my bus would normally go to was on the iron man route, so it was moved to a different bus station. That message was written on my e-ticket, so I was aware of that fact. Unfortunately, I guess my bus driver wasn't aware of it because they parked across the street from the stop and I didn't see it. I was told this when I tried to board a bus that I thought was mine because it was actually on the correct side of the street but they informed me that my bus had already left. What. The guy did say that I could board the next bus at 5 and I could use my same ticket since it was the company's fault and not mine. This meant that I had to contact staff in New Zealand and let them know that I would be arriving much later than expected, so I guesstimated around 8.
There were two other girls about my age whose bus also missed them, so we all stuck together for the 4 hours before the next bus. It wasn't so bad since there were other people. And, funnily enough, one of the girls has a cousin who, get this, moved to Champaign, Illinois last year. She also happened to attend the university that was literally right next door to the DTS house I stayed at and she even knew this one girl that I'd met before. Pretty cool, I think. We went to this park nearby, browsed shops, and hung out by the pier to pass the time. We made sure to arrive at the bus stop a good half an hour before it was supposed to leave, and since the guy who we talked to before was there, he made sure we got on the right bus and let us on first. Due to a bus change and a roundabout route I ended up arriving at the Tauranga station around 9:30. It was pretty dark out, not many people other than a weird looking guy with a beard and a couple of other passengers waiting around, but no sign of my ride. I waited around for about 15 minutes or so, then decided I should ask to borrow a phone. The first guy, who I think is Italian judging by the language on his iPhone and accent (#Sherlockskillz. Jk.), had no credit left for calls, so I asked a lady passing by next. She said she didn't have her phone but that her son, who was just getting off a bus that just came in might. He came over and he didn't have enough credit either, but the lady asked where I was from, and learning that I was doing a program in Tauranga and that I was from America and had no idea where my ride was at, she offered to I've me a ride, adding "that is, I mean if you trust me enough to get a ride from a stranger." Yes, yes I think I do. Better than waiting around the bus station at night. So she and her son gave me a ride to the DTS house, which was really awesome of her, and luckily people were at the house.
Kind of a hectic day, which I right away hopped into bed and ended, but I made it!
Friday, January 18, 2013
Back :)
Why hello again. It's been longer than I had planned, which I apologize for, but I was having too much fun to start blogging again, but now that things are winding down a bit, I figure I can catch you all up. Soooo, here we go.
Outreach:
Awesome. Much warmer than I expected, we didn't even see temperatures near freezing until we traveled back to Istanbul in December to fly to New Zealand. The food was delicious, we had fresh Turkish delight available at all times, and I realized that we in America haven't even met a good pita before. They're supposed to be warm and soft not dry and crumbly, people. Over outreach did a lot of serving to other organizations and people that my leaders had contact with, played some soccer, and did some sight seeing and shopping. I had so much food and clothes that I was trying to bring back that I had to leave a pair of pants and the fitted sheet I brought behind. Well worth it. We also had some relaxation days (well, plans fell through so we hung around our apartment) which I really enjoyed because we would bake, play cards, watch movies, and eat a lot on those days.
Post-Outreach:
My team was the last one to return to New Zealand so we go right back into it as soon as we arrived, everyone was there and we had a barbecue, heard everyone's stories, and basically hung out all week. We went to the beach one day and I got to try surfing which I discovered requires more strength than I thought it did and I'm not very good at it. The last couple days one of my friends in New Zealand who lives really near by our base invited me and a couple other girls to stay at her house and ride her horses and hang out. She has like 6 horses that she trained herself and they're really good horses. One of them is a miniature pony named Nugget that's basically just for kicks and giggles and looks really cute when it tries to gallop around the pasture. I enjoyed riding her normal sized horses, but in doing so I nearly cantered into a tree, though luckily my Kiwi friend ran out and stopped the horse just before.
Champaign/Christmas:
I had a really great time in Champaign seeing everyone, making cookies, watching SNL, shopping, eating at all my fave places, and enjoying the presence of all my pets. I met my parents new Siamese cats, one of which has half a tail and bit me, and the other is slightly crosseyed, but in an adorable way. I kind of like them. I had to fly with my family to DC for Christmas, which was pretty uneventful. Basically a lot of pool playing and TV watching. Though we did go to the national zoo one day and I saw they had a kiwi bird exhibit which I was really excited to see because I still haven't gotten to see one yet. So we went to that, but it was really dark in the kiwi cage because they're nocturnal, so if I wanted any chance of seeing them I had to look real hard. I didn't see anything. It was a short time in Champaign, but I got to end it with a bang since Leah and I spent the morning I leftt trying out my dad's new pellet gun on cans, eggs, and a paper plate target. Watch out, CU.
Germany/Austria:
After a 10 hour flight on an airline that has no TVs because crappy airlines are cheaper, I finally arrive in Frankfurt and are greeted by Marie and Anna. We left for Austria to go sking a few days after that, and it was awesome. Gorgeous mountains, good food, lots of different slopes to go down, and most days we would play a game or Marie and I would watch Sherlock to end the day. Marie and I spent one afternoon that we ended early because the snow was pretty crappy to ski on that day at a indoor waterpark which was a pretty interesting experience. We looked all over for a hot tub because we really wanted to just relax, but the closest thing they had was this separate salt water pool that was a little bit warmer than all the others. They did have all these foot jets on the bottom of the pool which were fun. And Marie and I did some arm workouts on this rope-monkey bars area. Then after 6 days it was back to Germany, and since Anna was starting school, Marie and I would tag along for half of the day and then we would stay at Anna's house and drink tea and eat chocolate for the other
half. It as pretty fun attending a German school, though unless it was English class I usually had no idea what the teacher was saying. I did get to practice my German a lot, and I learned a bit more in
the process.
Yesterday, Marie and I took the train to Frankfurt for the day to do some sightseeing. It was pretty cold out, so we were glad we missed the 3 hour walking tour that we had originally decided to follow along in. We saw a couple famous churches and then decided to go to the modern art museum, because usually those are pretty interesting. Usually. This one was a little creepy, just plain weird
exhibits, and it didn't help that Marie and I were basically the only people there. There was this one room next to one of the exhibits, that behind a half wall you could see a pair of men's legs that were in a suit and dress shoes sticking out. We couldn't tell if it was an art piece or not and when we tried to go in an look at it, the door was locked so we couldn't. So we think it's possible it was a dead body. One of the museum's exhibits was a room full of photos of tragic things in America (a retarded tiger that was inbred, a decomposing body in the woods, KKK members, etc.) which was basically a "look
how much America sucks" exhibit. I probably liked that one better than all the rest though just because it was in English so I could understand it, and it was pretty interesting.
Now:
Currently still in Germany, though today is my last day. Waking up late, going to school with Anna for a couple hours, lunch, and then Anna is driving me to the airport at 4 where I will fly, not back to the US, but to New Zealand again. For those of you who don't know, for the second semester of my gap year I am planning on returning to New Zealand and helping staff the program I was apart of. Most of the people in the program are returning as well because the next school is going to be around 100 students because the tuition is free for this one and they could use all the help they can get, which is really nice that I'll be with the same people. I'm very excited for my second semester. Though I'm not entirely certain what my role will be in the program. Guess we'll both find out. I am planning to continue blogging while I'm in New Zealand, so keep reading!
Outreach:
Awesome. Much warmer than I expected, we didn't even see temperatures near freezing until we traveled back to Istanbul in December to fly to New Zealand. The food was delicious, we had fresh Turkish delight available at all times, and I realized that we in America haven't even met a good pita before. They're supposed to be warm and soft not dry and crumbly, people. Over outreach did a lot of serving to other organizations and people that my leaders had contact with, played some soccer, and did some sight seeing and shopping. I had so much food and clothes that I was trying to bring back that I had to leave a pair of pants and the fitted sheet I brought behind. Well worth it. We also had some relaxation days (well, plans fell through so we hung around our apartment) which I really enjoyed because we would bake, play cards, watch movies, and eat a lot on those days.
Post-Outreach:
My team was the last one to return to New Zealand so we go right back into it as soon as we arrived, everyone was there and we had a barbecue, heard everyone's stories, and basically hung out all week. We went to the beach one day and I got to try surfing which I discovered requires more strength than I thought it did and I'm not very good at it. The last couple days one of my friends in New Zealand who lives really near by our base invited me and a couple other girls to stay at her house and ride her horses and hang out. She has like 6 horses that she trained herself and they're really good horses. One of them is a miniature pony named Nugget that's basically just for kicks and giggles and looks really cute when it tries to gallop around the pasture. I enjoyed riding her normal sized horses, but in doing so I nearly cantered into a tree, though luckily my Kiwi friend ran out and stopped the horse just before.
Champaign/Christmas:
I had a really great time in Champaign seeing everyone, making cookies, watching SNL, shopping, eating at all my fave places, and enjoying the presence of all my pets. I met my parents new Siamese cats, one of which has half a tail and bit me, and the other is slightly crosseyed, but in an adorable way. I kind of like them. I had to fly with my family to DC for Christmas, which was pretty uneventful. Basically a lot of pool playing and TV watching. Though we did go to the national zoo one day and I saw they had a kiwi bird exhibit which I was really excited to see because I still haven't gotten to see one yet. So we went to that, but it was really dark in the kiwi cage because they're nocturnal, so if I wanted any chance of seeing them I had to look real hard. I didn't see anything. It was a short time in Champaign, but I got to end it with a bang since Leah and I spent the morning I leftt trying out my dad's new pellet gun on cans, eggs, and a paper plate target. Watch out, CU.
Germany/Austria:
After a 10 hour flight on an airline that has no TVs because crappy airlines are cheaper, I finally arrive in Frankfurt and are greeted by Marie and Anna. We left for Austria to go sking a few days after that, and it was awesome. Gorgeous mountains, good food, lots of different slopes to go down, and most days we would play a game or Marie and I would watch Sherlock to end the day. Marie and I spent one afternoon that we ended early because the snow was pretty crappy to ski on that day at a indoor waterpark which was a pretty interesting experience. We looked all over for a hot tub because we really wanted to just relax, but the closest thing they had was this separate salt water pool that was a little bit warmer than all the others. They did have all these foot jets on the bottom of the pool which were fun. And Marie and I did some arm workouts on this rope-monkey bars area. Then after 6 days it was back to Germany, and since Anna was starting school, Marie and I would tag along for half of the day and then we would stay at Anna's house and drink tea and eat chocolate for the other
half. It as pretty fun attending a German school, though unless it was English class I usually had no idea what the teacher was saying. I did get to practice my German a lot, and I learned a bit more in
the process.
Yesterday, Marie and I took the train to Frankfurt for the day to do some sightseeing. It was pretty cold out, so we were glad we missed the 3 hour walking tour that we had originally decided to follow along in. We saw a couple famous churches and then decided to go to the modern art museum, because usually those are pretty interesting. Usually. This one was a little creepy, just plain weird
exhibits, and it didn't help that Marie and I were basically the only people there. There was this one room next to one of the exhibits, that behind a half wall you could see a pair of men's legs that were in a suit and dress shoes sticking out. We couldn't tell if it was an art piece or not and when we tried to go in an look at it, the door was locked so we couldn't. So we think it's possible it was a dead body. One of the museum's exhibits was a room full of photos of tragic things in America (a retarded tiger that was inbred, a decomposing body in the woods, KKK members, etc.) which was basically a "look
how much America sucks" exhibit. I probably liked that one better than all the rest though just because it was in English so I could understand it, and it was pretty interesting.
Now:
Currently still in Germany, though today is my last day. Waking up late, going to school with Anna for a couple hours, lunch, and then Anna is driving me to the airport at 4 where I will fly, not back to the US, but to New Zealand again. For those of you who don't know, for the second semester of my gap year I am planning on returning to New Zealand and helping staff the program I was apart of. Most of the people in the program are returning as well because the next school is going to be around 100 students because the tuition is free for this one and they could use all the help they can get, which is really nice that I'll be with the same people. I'm very excited for my second semester. Though I'm not entirely certain what my role will be in the program. Guess we'll both find out. I am planning to continue blogging while I'm in New Zealand, so keep reading!
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