Met up with Kathrin for a nice leisurely breakfast on Saturday, accompanied by some serious shopping for Christmas, sports clothes (a complete set, as mine were falling apart and were therefore left behind, but wow, expensive!*) and even a book (Arty Bees is a very nice used bookstore here). Then I went home to write my assignment – not very happy with it, as the one-page limit didn’t allow me to answer the five questions in any detail, but I got it done.
On Sunday I went to the harbour to read in the sun, but the wind was so strong I soon went back to finish my holiday shopping and then went home to start writing cards – all overseas mail has to be sent by December 1. It’s kind of strange to do Christmassy things, not just because of the weather, but I’m missing all those little signs that normally tell me my favorite time of the year has begun. To rectify this, when Kathrin, Silva, Masumi and I (the foursome that went to Rotorua last week) came to my room for the first of our weekly dinners, we decided to bake cookies next Sunday, to get us in the mood. It was fun hanging out with them again (plus they liked my cooking *g*), and I’m looking forward to more Sundays with the girls!
Today I need to get a ton of reading done for tomorrow, as it’s not just lecture but also tutorial homework that needs doing. If only my head wasn’t feeling so heavy from my cold – I got meds from Kathrin and bought sage tea, but it’s still not fun. Oh well, it’ll pass…
* Apparently my feet are small for New Zealand standards – they had exactly two pairs of gym shoes in my size (an American 6 1/2, but the shoes seem to only start with 7). Interesting, I never had any problems before… In this case it turned out to be kind of expensive, as the ones I really wanted but that didn’t fit me were $40 less than the ones I ended up buying… but at least they match my new gym pants/t-shirt/hoodie. 🙂