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Setting up house

I’m currently cooking my first meal (spaghetti with tomato sauce, as I haven’t had the time to stock up on food yet) in my own little studio, using my own internet access (sadly no flatrate, but I hope it won’t be too expensive) after finishing enrolment at Victoria University. It’s official – I’m a student here, with two courses starting next week!

Actually, the summer trimester is very quiet, with only a reduced number of courses on offer, but luckily I can take both entrance-level courses for my Diploma. They’re both compressed, meaning that my first Human Resources class will only last until Christmas, and my first Management class will start in January – it’ll be quite intense! I’m also taking an Introduction to Information Systems class, which doesn’t count towards my Diploma but which will give me the credit points I need to be considered a full-time student (as my visa requires). The class will be held 100% online, which should be interesting…

I had to go back and forth between faculty and school, international office and administration, but in the end I got it all done, whee! Now I’m looking forward to giving my feet some rest, hang out in my room (which is lovely, small but comfortable – you can see the first photos on Flickr) before heading out again to buy some more household items. Yay for my own four walls! 🙂

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Couldn’t be any better…

Yesterday the weather was simply fantastic, which Kathrin (my fellow Victoria International student from Germany) and I really took advantage of: In the morning we took the cable car up to the beautiful Botanical Gardens, together with our dorm mate Claire from the US. Then we walked back to the hostel to get Kathrin’s stuff because she could already move into her residence hall – it was a bit of a shock for her, because the house is a bit run down, but nothing some cleaning and some new bedding and posters can’t fix.

Afterwards the weather beckoned us back out, and we met Heike from our dorm, who took us up Mt. Victoria in her rental car. Gorgeous views! Then we dropped off the stuff we’d bought for Kathrin’s room and headed back into town, for a nice ramble along the harbour back to the hostel, where I spent the evening chatting to the other girls in my dorm room. There’s another Swiss woman now, Liselotte from the Emmental, who offered to let me leave my luggage in the room until I can get it moved into my residence hall later today – that’s very practical indeed, as I’d otherwise have to rent at last two lockers until orientation at uni finishes.

So you see, I’m keeping busy and making friends – I’m a bit nervous about what uni here will be like (it seems to me it’s more like highschool than what I’m used at university, with people telling me exactly what I have to study and very little personal freedom), but I’m mostly just excited that it’ll start soon! I’ll be sure to update once I know what my room’s like – hopefully I can get the internet connected right away, else I can always come back to the hostel… Catch ya later, honeys! 🙂

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The joys of modern technology

Just had my first overseas Skype conversation with my whole family – even my host sister Ale from Bolivia joined in at the end. Fun!

It’s really quite funny that they’re 12 hours behind in Switzerland – they had just sat down for Saturday dinner when I called, while I’m now going to eat Sunday breakfast in a moment. I’ve been up by 7am every day pretty much since I arrived, so if it stays like that, mornings might be a good time to do calls to Europe. Although I wouldn’t mind being able to sleep just a bit longer – I didn’t get to bed until 12.30 last night, having been out in a pub on Cuba Street with two German girls from my hostel room. They had a live band, which was pretty good, so we even got to dance!

Wellington is quite lively on a Saturday night I find. Lots of girls in skimpy dresses, apparently not minding the night cold (it’s always quite windy here) one bit – reminded me somewhat of nightlife in Britain in that respect, except with more people dressed in costumes. Apparently Kiwis and Aussies like using any excuse to dress, so there was a group of women in the pub, all dressed in clothes from the 1920s – probably a hen night (like a bachelor party, just for girls). Was definitely fun!

However, now I’m hungry, so until next time… 🙂

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Back in Wellington

Had a really good time with Denise, Ross, Ellie, Jack, Ben and Maddie – the kids were all fun to hang out with, especially little Maddie, who’s a cheeky and irresistibly cute little monkey. I looked after her yesterday morning at the children’s playcentre while the boys played, and it reminded me of how much I enjoy taking care of kids – it’s been a while since I had the chance. If I can, I might try to find a babysitting gig or something here in Wellington.

I arrived back here late last night, totally exhausted, the bus being about 40 minutes late. Took a cab to the hostel because I simply couldn’t be bothered trying to figure out which bus would take me to where I needed to go. I was carrying a nice big box filled with cutlery and crockery for my new home, courtesy of Denise – now I’ll definitely have to take a taxi to get all my luggage moved on Monday after the international orientation at Victoria University (which I’ve taken to calling ‘Vic U’ in my head, although I have no idea whether that’s what people call it).

No special plans for this weekend, although I’ve met a German girl who’ll also be studying at Victoria, so we might do something together. I’ll definitely have to do laundry and I might even get around to reply to some of your emails… Please don’t yell at me if I don’t, though! *g*

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Back in New Plymouth

When I was in New Zealand for the first time in 2003, it was to do a fieldwork exercise for uni. I stayed with my friends Denise and Ross and their little daughter Ellie for six weeks in New Plymouth in the Taranaki Province, and it was really great.

Now I’m back with them – they’re now a family of six and I’m having a blast spending time with them all. I’ll be back in Wellington Friday night, again in the youth hostel, where I’ll have internet access again. Until then I hope all of you reading this are doing well! *hugs*

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Kia ora from Aotearoa!

Have made my way over LA and Auckland finally to Wellington, where I got picked up by another international student from Victoria University. She dropped me off at the YHA, where I’ll spend a couple of nights before (hopefully) taking a little trip to New Plymouth and visiting Denise, Ross and their family before coming back for the weekend.

Tomorrow I’m planning on dropping by the Vic International offices, to ask about the orientation next week. Other than that I’m pretty much dead on my feet – I think I’ll go lie down for a bit once my internet shuts down. I’d been kind of hoping to find a Starbucks with free wireless, but the walk I took while they got my room ready proved unsuccessful (although I found a place that serves very yummy waffles), so I’m currently paying for wireless access at the hostel. Which is fine, except that I really should be able to check my email regularly the next few days, until I get everything organized. Ah well, I’m sure it’ll work, one way or the other… *crosses fingers*

And yes, I’m rambling – my brain’s about to shut down. Have I mentioned that I loathe long-distance flights? So glad I won’t have to take any for a while…

Edit: Also, the time difference to Switzerlad is currently 12 hours – wow, I really could not have gone farther away, could I?

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Leaving San Jose

This afternoon I’m leaving California – Bronwyn and I just came home from lunch with Molly and her husband Jon, and Jon’s going to drive me to the airport in a little while (thank you!). This morning we went to the mall so I could buy a DVD, a journal and two pairs of tennis shoes – it was a lovely surprise that Bronwyn got the day off work, as we hadn’t really been able to spend much more than weekends and evenings together. I’ll miss her so much! *hearts*

The highlight of my time here was probably the Halloween party organized by Corli (one of Bronwyn’s friends) and held here in the apartment building. Everyone was dressed up, including myself (as a hobbit lad, including ears, foothair and a pipe, courtesy of no less than four people donating costume parts *g*), and I’ll be sure to post my photos soon, as we were all very pretty!

Other than that I’ve been to San Francisco (I seriously love that city!), and here in San Jose to the very interesting Egyptian museum (which has a very cool replica of a rock tomb as its main attraction), to The Tech (which has fun hands-on exhibits as well as an IMAX cinema) and, with Bronwyn, to the Winchester Mystery House, the weirdest house I’ve ever been to, with stairs that lead into ceilings, windows that lead nowhere and doors that lead into thin air… Also, Bronwyn’s flatmate Kathy took me to Santa Cruz on Halloween. It was already dark when we got there, but the whole town was out and about celebrating, so it was a lot of fun.

Overall I haven’t really done all that much, but I’ve met so many awesomely nice people: Molly, Jon and their son Zach, Kel, Corli, Ronnie, Glen, Avi, Mira (in San Francisco, which was great fun – such a lovely lady!), Kathy and her brother Kris (who took us to dinner in the Apple cafeteria, which made my Mac lovin’ heart happy) and several more. Thanks to all of you for making these two weeks special – most of all of course my darling Bronwyn! *hugs*

Now I’m quite nervous about going to New Zealand – I really dislike long distance flight, and I’m just hoping that things will go smoothly once I’m in Wellington. The people from Victoria University are supposed to pick me up and drop me off at the youth hostel, and I have to find out the whens, wheres and hows of moving into my residence hall and the orientation week for international students… Yes, definitely nervous, but I’ll be sure to check back with you guys when I’ve arrived!

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Bye bye… Evamaria’s “Leaving for New Zealand” mix

For my goodbye party last Saturday I made a special music mix, which I gave to my friends with personalized cover art. However, I also made a more general cover, using photos from my last visit to New Zealand. It’s all about getting ready for something new. I’d love to hear if you like it…

Right-click for full-size
Right-click image for full-size cover.

Continue reading “Bye bye… Evamaria’s “Leaving for New Zealand” mix”

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Officially open

With only two weeks left until I leave, I finally managed to get the site done and the blog archives working. I’m planning to use this as a way to let those interested know how I’m doing all the way down there in New Zealand, what school is like and anything else I might feel like sharing. That might be daily posts or not, I guess it’ll depend on whether I have anything to say. But do check back – and keep in touch!

And now I should get the suitcase and backpack from the basement and see how much stuff will actually fit into them…

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Happy New Year!

Just a quick pimping of the fanlisting for beautiful Taranaki (where I spent most of my time in New Zealand) – in the extras section there you can find a number of my photos. Maybe one of these days I'll even get around to posting some here… Who knows. *g*

This year I don't have any big trips planned, for the first time since graduating from highschool, mostly because I have to find an internship for this summer break. But there definitely will be a number of shorter trips – to Andalusia with my family this spring, for example, and with my friend Märrie to Scotland in summer.

So I won't get bored, I'm sure… 🙂

Wishing everyone a very good year 2004! *hugs*

Also: a new icon, thanks to .