Category: [Photos]

I’ve uploaded the photos I took during my trip on the South Island to my New Zealand album – lots of good memories there…

www.flickr.com

In other news, I’ve started looking for a place to stay the rest of my time here. I’m on several waitlists for university accomodation, but I don’t want to risk being without a room come February, when hordes of students will descend upon Wellington… I’d prefer to keep living on my own, but I’m also considering flatting. The fact that it needs to be furnished makes things a little more complicated.

[tags]south island, moving, accomodation, travel[/tags]

We had lots of fun last night at the Southern Cross. Silva and Masumi couldn’t come, but Kathrin, Tony and Emma were there, plus Emma’s boyfriend (whose Icelandic name I really have no idea how to spell).

We had dinner, ate the yummy cake and then sat out in the beautiful courtyard just talking. I also got some lovely pressies, which was a lovely surprise. However, because this is Wellington, it got quite windy and chilly after a while, so we moved back inside, hoping that there’d be dancing. However, although there was a DJ, things were still rather quiet and we were all too tired to find a different club, so I got home around 1am. Emma promised to take me out dancing with her sister some other time, so I’m definitely looking forward to that.

All in all a lovely way to start this year – different from my normal celebrations with family and friends back home, but definitely promising!

[tags]birthday, friends, wellington[/tags]

After a nice Skype session with the family, I went into town. The trip was one birthday treat after the other – quite expensive, but a girl’s gotta spoil herself on her day, right?

First I went to the hairdresser, who’s quite lovely (and wow, was it necessary, as I was quite shaggy). So this is what I currently look like, with hair all straight and shiny:

Then I went to Border’s and bought four books for $26, thanks to Michi’s Christmas/birthday pressie of a book voucher and a 3-for-2 sale:
– Alice Sebold – The Almost Moon
– Mark Haddon – A Spot of Bother
– Haruki Murakami – Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman
– Nina de la Mer – The Modern Maiden’s Handbook

The first two I knew I’d get, but then I saw the 3-for-2 sale and couldn’t resist the other two. Murakami reminds me of my trip to Japan (where I read several of his novels) and the non-fiction one sounds fun as well as informative. 🙂

I also finally bought myself a spray with sun protection for my hair, because the sun here is really brutal and my poor hair’s been suffering quietly the past two months, but especially now that summer’s really getting started. And last but not least I dropped by a confiserie that Tony from down the hall recommended and bought a delicious-looking chocolate cake for tonight. My mouth starts watering just thinking of it! 🙂

I wish everyone who reads this a wonderful holiday!

Finally I’m all caught up – you can find over 100 pictures of my first 6 weeks in New Zealand in my photo album on Flickr.

www.flickr.com

Today I got the big package, the one containing my clothes (not my boots, though, which is strange, as I was quite sure I’d packed them), as well as a smaller one from my parents. My mom sent me Christmas stuff! This, together with last week’s package and the Christmas store sale I walked past yesterday, all resulted in my studio looking much cozier. Actually, I’m going much more crazy on decorations this year, to make up for the lack of holiday cheer in town – and there are pictures:

Continue reading “My room, Christmas edition”

Much sooner than expected, it only took a couple of days longer than the airmail card my parents sent off at the same time – which is either high praise for the parcel post or an embarrassment for the regular mail… But anyway, getting some of my books, Läckerli and the Swiss flag blanket my best friend Sibylle made for me totally made my day!

Other than that the week was kind of quiet – I’m still getting over my cold (hopefully today I got over the last of it), but I managed to more or less keep up with class. The first assignment came back with positive feedback, so I must be doing something right, which is reassuring. I also hung out with one of the girls in my group, Emma from Iceland, and managed to sell the INFO 101 textbook I won’t be needing.

However, I discovered that I’ll have to make a decision about the next trimester – it’s possible for me to get all the credit I need for my diploma, but a couple of interesting-looking courses will only be offered in July, not February. So I have to choose between finishing in two trimesters (an idea I’ve kind of gotten used to by now) or taking a whole year (as originally expected) and being able to take courses that apply more to the direction I want to take, career-wise (which might seem sensible but would also mean more expenses). Luckily I have almost two months to come to a decision, as I’m currently completely at a standstill between my head and my gut. Will keep you posted on what I decide.