I've had a lot of mysterious emails showing up in my gmail account.
The first came from Element 5 customer service. It read that my paypal transaction for some product of theirs had failed.
The second came from Stardock Support Services. The email thanked me for signing up with them and making an account. It contained a link for me to click to confirm my account with them.
After seeing the first email, I quickly went to PayPal to change my password. I saw that I had been charged 49.95 by Stardock, and that no record of my purchasing anything from Element 5 could be found (though it led me to PayPal which is a really good thing). Oddly enough, when I went to paypal, it told me that i had been randomly selected for an account detail update. This isn't really that strange since I hadn't been to PayPal in a few months but it WAS strange since it means PayPal might have some idea of how somebody got a hold of my PayPal account information.
I changed my passwords for PayPal and any account with a similar password. I sent an email to PayPal requesting that I be contacted and my transaction cancelled. I sent an email to Stardock after logging in telling them of the situation and asking if there was anything they needed to do to ensure that the erroneous purchase be cancelled.
The most unsettling part of my reparations was in the next thing I did. I logged into the Element 5 account I now have and went to change the password set with them. I was able to reset my password with them without knowing the current one because this account was tied to my email for whatever reason. When I went to change my password with them I noticed that my proper address at home was registered with my account as my billing and mailing addresses. I then filled these fields with random characters.
For what it's worth, it seems that my account with Stardock was used to try to purchase a video game, namely, DEMIGOD, which is a game I've been hearing about.
The password reset email from element 5 told me what the product I tried to get from them was. Something called:
Product: 300324150 Kaspersky Internet Security 2010 - 3 licenses (1 year)
That is definitely not something I would buy... nor something that I would expect someone else to buy with hacked accounts really.
I have received confirmations from Stardock saying that they have one, received my service request, and two, that my request has been assigned to a representative who I should look for an email from soon.
I suppose I should be super creeped out but I'm not terribly. I think it is because the damage done should be able to be rolled back and doesn't require the cancellation of credit cards or anything. I hope to hear back from Paypal soon.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Beached As
My flatmate Katie shared this youtube video with me earlier today and it is honestly the funniest video that I've seen online in months. The accents are fantastic, and I get such a kick out of hearing and saying "____ as" for example, "man it is cold as!" when it is chilly.
Click the beached whale to jump to youtube:
I laughed hard as bro!
Click the beached whale to jump to youtube:
I laughed hard as bro!
I need a printer
I need a printer so that I can print my schedule weekly. I love using google calendar to draw up my schedule so that I can print it out in a nice format and put it on my wall. This would not be a realization worthy of a blog post if i had not awoke at 9:45 and been at my 12:00 class at 11:00. Fortunately I had a book with me so I ended up enjoying the time instead of just feeling dumb for an hour.
Last night we celebrated the 22nd anniversary of my friend PT's birth. We had dinner and cake, took a trip down to one of the school's bars called the Foundary, and eventually came back to my room to hang out after getting kicked out of the bar (it was closing). A few pictures were taken with my camera. The picture shows what happens when we give PT a little too much to drink (witnessed on several occasions). We have no idea what they were fighting about.
I seem to recall that this was taken just before PT toppled over backwards in front of my hanger rack. I gave her a pillow and she had a nice sit for a while.
Last night we celebrated the 22nd anniversary of my friend PT's birth. We had dinner and cake, took a trip down to one of the school's bars called the Foundary, and eventually came back to my room to hang out after getting kicked out of the bar (it was closing). A few pictures were taken with my camera. The picture shows what happens when we give PT a little too much to drink (witnessed on several occasions). We have no idea what they were fighting about.
I seem to recall that this was taken just before PT toppled over backwards in front of my hanger rack. I gave her a pillow and she had a nice sit for a while.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Forestry Field Trip #1
My first forestry field trip was on Saturday. The field trip was quite cool although I'm a bit frustrated with the dates of these field trips. The first one prevented me from participating in any of the first tramps held by the tramping club for this term. Everyone was taking a different route to some hot springs in a remote location and meeting up to hang out and get to know each other. The second field trip is in two Saturdays and it will prevent me from participating in the tramping club's workshop on snow skills in which I would learn how to properly use crampons and an ice axe. These are required skills for most of the more difficult tramps that the club has for the first part of this term at least. I'm hoping that I can pick them up in some alternative way so that I can participate in a few of these awesome sounding tramps.
Okay, about the field trip. I learned heaps of stuff at two nurseries about different ways of nursing plants until they're ready for planting and establishment in the environment. I learned things reaching from the different genetic rankings of seeds to how and when to prune nursery plants.
We made a third stop on our field trip which was actually at our lecturer's house. We were given tea and sausage rolls for a bit of a break before having a demo on planting seedlings. In the demo I learned things that made me consider that some of those Earth Day seedlings I planted will probably blow over in the next few years because I did a poor job planting them. You see, if you don't make sure that the roots go in straight, they may prevent other roots from stabilizing the tree.
Here's a picture of Nick Ledgard, the lecturer, and a bunch of my classmates walking down to where we had the short planting tutorial:
And one of Mr. Ledgard explaining something about proper fencing as we were heading down to the tutorial spot:
After the tutorial we went for a wander around Mr. Ledgard's property with him pointing out the different plantings he's done and how and why he has done them. His property was pretty interesting. He showed us lots of good things to do but also pointed out lots of things he wishes he hadn't done. For example he had an area of pruned Radiata Pine he planned to sell as clearwood, but they were spaced out with grass growing beneath. He was planning on using the land to graze sheep while he grew his trees. This, known as aggroforestry, has recently become a hefty "Don't" in the world of forestry. The grass doesn't get enough sunlight to be tasty enough to be enjoyed by the animals, the grass takes lots of water away from the trees, and it ends up not being a good combination at all. Ledgard has planted some korean pines to harvest pine nuts from since they're quite expensive, and has event planted a few basket willows to be used to make coffins should he or any of his kids wish to have an atypical burrial (which he said was becoming more common).
I learned so much and took alot of really detailed notes. While often times I feel that field trips are unnecessary for learning things, this one was a really great way to get the information about nurseries and proper planting and establishment techniques.
I would be super excited for the next field trip if it weren't planned for such an inconvenient weekend.
Okay, about the field trip. I learned heaps of stuff at two nurseries about different ways of nursing plants until they're ready for planting and establishment in the environment. I learned things reaching from the different genetic rankings of seeds to how and when to prune nursery plants.
We made a third stop on our field trip which was actually at our lecturer's house. We were given tea and sausage rolls for a bit of a break before having a demo on planting seedlings. In the demo I learned things that made me consider that some of those Earth Day seedlings I planted will probably blow over in the next few years because I did a poor job planting them. You see, if you don't make sure that the roots go in straight, they may prevent other roots from stabilizing the tree.
Here's a picture of Nick Ledgard, the lecturer, and a bunch of my classmates walking down to where we had the short planting tutorial:
And one of Mr. Ledgard explaining something about proper fencing as we were heading down to the tutorial spot:
After the tutorial we went for a wander around Mr. Ledgard's property with him pointing out the different plantings he's done and how and why he has done them. His property was pretty interesting. He showed us lots of good things to do but also pointed out lots of things he wishes he hadn't done. For example he had an area of pruned Radiata Pine he planned to sell as clearwood, but they were spaced out with grass growing beneath. He was planning on using the land to graze sheep while he grew his trees. This, known as aggroforestry, has recently become a hefty "Don't" in the world of forestry. The grass doesn't get enough sunlight to be tasty enough to be enjoyed by the animals, the grass takes lots of water away from the trees, and it ends up not being a good combination at all. Ledgard has planted some korean pines to harvest pine nuts from since they're quite expensive, and has event planted a few basket willows to be used to make coffins should he or any of his kids wish to have an atypical burrial (which he said was becoming more common).
I learned so much and took alot of really detailed notes. While often times I feel that field trips are unnecessary for learning things, this one was a really great way to get the information about nurseries and proper planting and establishment techniques.
I would be super excited for the next field trip if it weren't planned for such an inconvenient weekend.
A week of accomplishment
I spent most of this week doing things that had to be done and just hanging out in the evenings. I purchased a capo in town for my guitar so that I can stop bugging my friend PT for hers. I bought a pair of polypropylene long johns to keep me warm while playing frisbee and tramping. I picked up a pair of cleats at a thrift store so that I can actually be of some use in the frisbee pickups I've been attending.
I finally went to the food store again to stock up on food. I had actually let myself get down to peanut butter and ketchup. That's all I had left. That and a box of corn flakes for which I had no milk. For dinner one night I managed to score an apple of my friend Nora which I then slathered in peanut butter in front of my flatmate Rich's company. Everyone was complaining my ratio of apple to peanut butter was horribly off but I insisted that I needed that much peanut butter for the calories. The next morning for breakfast before my forestry field trip (to be described in the next post) I ate a bowl of cornflakes with no milk and some cheese that was fair game as it was left by one of the old flatties a month ago which was rapidly going bad (or good for those stinky cheese types out there). For lunch I packed a peanut butter sandwich on the ends of my flatmate Alice's bread. She often throws the ends out so I figured she'd spare them to me. Anyway, when I got back from the field trip I went food shopping, something I really needed to have done about four days prior.
Another thing I accomplished was the replacement of a tube on my bicycle after a ride in which I had a few new experiences. We have something called a "secure bike lockup" on campus here in a couple locations. I found out that there is a bike pump in each lockup for student use and I pumped up my tires so that I could go for a bit of a ride.
I headed out to cruise around but realized quickly it was not a fantastic day for cycling. There were wind gusts of what must have been 40 or 50 mph hitting me straight on. It felt like I was peddling up some huge hill. I stuck with it for a while figuring it was a decent workout but made a turn after a few minutes. I then went what felt like the fastest I had ever gone on a bicycle. You see, I'd never had a proper road bike. I had these huge winds hitting me directly on my back, and I was in the highest gear on my ten speed. I was shocked at the speed I attained considering I was riding on a completely flat road. I'm actually a bit scared to find out what it is like to take this bike downhill!
As I got closer to home and slowed I heard a tapping noise a few times and then a huge pow. I'd blown out my rear tire's tube. I walked over to the bike shop and picked up a new tube. After a couple days I got my bike back in shape and now I'm ready to ride!
It is amazing how much one can get out of even the simplest of things. I love having new experiences and on this simple bike ride I managed to have three! I'd never before biked into a wind that nearly spun me around, never before gone as fast on a cycle as I did on that ride, and never before heard a bike tube explode. Cool.
In the evenings I spent lots of time relaxing with my flatmates and other friends I've made here. I met quite a few new people who Rich had over to hang out. One night I went with Rich, Harry, and Katie out to a couple of Christchurch's beaches to check them out. Harry, Rich's friend, was nice enough to drive us around. The beaches were lovely and we managed not to get into too much trouble though I was warned by Jasmine that beaches are not a good place to go at night; "People who go to the beach at night get killed," she said in the plainest voice. She was pleased we made it back alive.
Here's a picture of Sumner Beach. It was a bit dark when I was there so I didn't take any photos.
This one is from: http://www.gunyah.co.nz/images/photos-lg/large/sumner.jpg
We also went to Taylors Mistake. Here it is:
This one is from: http://www.richard-seaman.com/Travel/NewZealand/Cities/Christchurch/index.html
I can't wait to take my bike down to the beach with the sun up. I can imagine it will be a totally different experience under the sun with the alps visibly in the distance.
I finally went to the food store again to stock up on food. I had actually let myself get down to peanut butter and ketchup. That's all I had left. That and a box of corn flakes for which I had no milk. For dinner one night I managed to score an apple of my friend Nora which I then slathered in peanut butter in front of my flatmate Rich's company. Everyone was complaining my ratio of apple to peanut butter was horribly off but I insisted that I needed that much peanut butter for the calories. The next morning for breakfast before my forestry field trip (to be described in the next post) I ate a bowl of cornflakes with no milk and some cheese that was fair game as it was left by one of the old flatties a month ago which was rapidly going bad (or good for those stinky cheese types out there). For lunch I packed a peanut butter sandwich on the ends of my flatmate Alice's bread. She often throws the ends out so I figured she'd spare them to me. Anyway, when I got back from the field trip I went food shopping, something I really needed to have done about four days prior.
Another thing I accomplished was the replacement of a tube on my bicycle after a ride in which I had a few new experiences. We have something called a "secure bike lockup" on campus here in a couple locations. I found out that there is a bike pump in each lockup for student use and I pumped up my tires so that I could go for a bit of a ride.
I headed out to cruise around but realized quickly it was not a fantastic day for cycling. There were wind gusts of what must have been 40 or 50 mph hitting me straight on. It felt like I was peddling up some huge hill. I stuck with it for a while figuring it was a decent workout but made a turn after a few minutes. I then went what felt like the fastest I had ever gone on a bicycle. You see, I'd never had a proper road bike. I had these huge winds hitting me directly on my back, and I was in the highest gear on my ten speed. I was shocked at the speed I attained considering I was riding on a completely flat road. I'm actually a bit scared to find out what it is like to take this bike downhill!
As I got closer to home and slowed I heard a tapping noise a few times and then a huge pow. I'd blown out my rear tire's tube. I walked over to the bike shop and picked up a new tube. After a couple days I got my bike back in shape and now I'm ready to ride!
It is amazing how much one can get out of even the simplest of things. I love having new experiences and on this simple bike ride I managed to have three! I'd never before biked into a wind that nearly spun me around, never before gone as fast on a cycle as I did on that ride, and never before heard a bike tube explode. Cool.
In the evenings I spent lots of time relaxing with my flatmates and other friends I've made here. I met quite a few new people who Rich had over to hang out. One night I went with Rich, Harry, and Katie out to a couple of Christchurch's beaches to check them out. Harry, Rich's friend, was nice enough to drive us around. The beaches were lovely and we managed not to get into too much trouble though I was warned by Jasmine that beaches are not a good place to go at night; "People who go to the beach at night get killed," she said in the plainest voice. She was pleased we made it back alive.
Here's a picture of Sumner Beach. It was a bit dark when I was there so I didn't take any photos.
This one is from: http://www.gunyah.co.nz/images/photos-lg/large/sumner.jpg
We also went to Taylors Mistake. Here it is:
This one is from: http://www.richard-seaman.com/Travel/NewZealand/Cities/Christchurch/index.htmlI can't wait to take my bike down to the beach with the sun up. I can imagine it will be a totally different experience under the sun with the alps visibly in the distance.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Mt. Herbert
On Saturday I climbed up Mt. Herbert with my friend Dale. He's here in New Zealand with the same abroad program. Dale has been into tramping for a good while and was an awesome partner to tramp with.
I'm trying out something new here on the blog. Instead of inserting each image into the blog separately, I have created a sort of slide show using a cool blogging tool I found. Be sure to highlight the word "Notes" for each photo and have a read as I have in a sense done the blogging in the notes of the images.
Because of the way we routed ourselves down the mountain, we had about 3 miles of hiking along the road to get back to the ferry. When we got to the ferry we were pleasantly surprised to find our friends Briana, Rachel, and Laura waiting there. They had apparently come over in the afternoon and done a short hike.
Next weekend the tramping club at Canterbury is running a tramp out to some hot springs. The only thing that could have made the trek up Mt. Herbert better would be if we got to the top and there was a natural hot pool waiting for us. I'm really looking forward to that tramp.
Please leave a comment if you have an opinion on the effectiveness of the image slide show. It would definitely be better if I could increase the width of the main area of the blog's template. I'll be looking into that.
I'm trying out something new here on the blog. Instead of inserting each image into the blog separately, I have created a sort of slide show using a cool blogging tool I found. Be sure to highlight the word "Notes" for each photo and have a read as I have in a sense done the blogging in the notes of the images.
If you do not have flash, I would recommend getting it here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer
Because of the way we routed ourselves down the mountain, we had about 3 miles of hiking along the road to get back to the ferry. When we got to the ferry we were pleasantly surprised to find our friends Briana, Rachel, and Laura waiting there. They had apparently come over in the afternoon and done a short hike.
Next weekend the tramping club at Canterbury is running a tramp out to some hot springs. The only thing that could have made the trek up Mt. Herbert better would be if we got to the top and there was a natural hot pool waiting for us. I'm really looking forward to that tramp.
Please leave a comment if you have an opinion on the effectiveness of the image slide show. It would definitely be better if I could increase the width of the main area of the blog's template. I'll be looking into that.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
A whole lot of stuff / I need to update more often
Each day things happen to me that cause me to think, "I should definitely blog about that". For one reason or another however, it has recently become a trend for me to fail to do so. It saddens me to realize as I sit here now that I can't remember even half of these noteworthy events. Alright, enough of that... On to the things I do remember.
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday I had classes.
The Maori class looks like it will be very easy but really interesting. I'm at least as excited to see how my peers handle learning a totally foreign language as much as I'm excited to do so myself. On the first day for example, some of my classmates were getting a bit hysterical as they were led through the pronunciation chart. I suppose they found it queer to be making sounds they had never made before. 20% of my grade in the class will be based on two 20 word vocabulary quizzes. I'm having trouble figuring a way that the course could be any more simpler to ace.
The jazz course should be somewhat of a breeze too. The first two classes we simply watched Jazz on a Summer's Day and chatted about the featured players and styles. Part of my grade in the class will be based on my ability to identify types of jazz by hearing sound clips of them. Though it should be easy, I think the course will be very interesting as I don't know much about the earliest of jazz music.
So the girl who used to live in Katie's room came through with her boyfriend. They set up camp in our common room and stayed for two days. They were just passing through on their way up to Auckland to adventure on the North Island. The two of them will be spending the next three months traveling New Zealand and Thailand before going home to Germany. Here's their gear all packed up just before they left to catch their flight north.
I made some pancakes the same morning that they were leaving. The pancakes were made of four ingredients. I had no baking powder you see so I decided to find the simplest recipe. I made far too many and left a plate of them on the table to eat later. To my surprise, the Germans had made off with a few of my pancakes leaving a note that said they were amazing. I must admit I didn't think they were all that great. Here they are.
Here's a picture of the breakfast I eat a few days of the week. Note the orange juice in the measuring cup. That measuring cup is the largest of the cups in my flat so I have started using it as a drinking cup. Also note the pot of "Home Brand" jam. I buy lots of this store brand stuff and have so far been 100% satisfied with it.
Thursday night there was a rail jam at the on campus pub called The Foundry. Just about every member of my study abroad program showed up to cheer on one of our own kind, Kevin. He quickly became known as "Kevin from the States". Go figure. Here's Kevin (pronounced "Keeeevin" in Kiwispeak).
And a video of one of his runs that I took:
After the rail jam that night I went with some of my starving friends to get some super cheap fish and chips. This stuff costs 4 New Zealand dollars for more food than I was able to eat despite having not eaten for ten hours and played two hours of intense ultimate frisbee. I thought it was going to be crappy but it tasted excellent. I only wish I'd snapped a shot of the mass of food wrapped in thick gray paper. Sorry. Next time.
After that I meant to go to sleep but instead ended up hanging out with my flatmates until about two or three. This was a really odd choice for me to make considering I'd booked an appointment with the doctor at 9:30 the next morning. You see, I'd been sick for about ten days when I went to the doctor that morning, and having scored some ulcers on the top of my mouth over the two preceding days, I wanted to be in decent shape for the doctor. I ended up going to the doctor a bit queasy from the past evening's procedings but I was fully functional. The doctor told me that it seemed I had a bit of a throat infection and perscribed me some Doxycycline, an antibiotic, to help me get better. The pharmacist told me that I should not fall asleep for an hour after taking the medication as if it had somehow managed to get stuck in my throat and I didn't realize it, the drug could cause serious damage to my esophagus. So I sat up in my room with a bit of a hangover from 10 to 11. When the clock struck eleven I treated myself to what ought to have been part of a good night's sleep. I napped from 11 to 4. I took it easy for the rest of the day but come nightfall I'll admit I was silly enough to stay up until two A.M. again.
Not only did I go to sleep too late that first night that I was on antibiotics, but I awoke far earlier than would be advised. I was up at 7:00 AM to pack my backpack for my first proper tramp in New Zealand. The tramp ended up being a bit over 15 miles with a nearly 4,000 foot vertical gain. I've decided to make a separate post about the hike so expect that soon.
The night of the tramp the entirety of our study abroad crew gathered at one flat to watch the rugby game. The game was the All Blacks (New Zealand) vs. the Wallabies (Australia) and the All Blacks came out on top. We're all quite certain that the reason the All Blacks won was because of their awesome haka. I managed to get to sleep by about midnight as I was totally exhausted.
I know, I know. "You're supposed to take it easy when you're sick and on antibiotics", right? Well, despite my neglect for my body over the last couple of days, I feel the best that I have in two weeks. It seems that I'm finally getting better.
Today I went for a bike ride over to Hagley Park and into Christchurch to shop a bit. I watched the frisbee players for a while at Hagley but didn't play at all because my joints were still tired from yesterday's hike. In town I shopped for a bike pump but ended up just getting an adapter for the french tube in my front tire on my bike. The pumps in town at the bike shops were super expensive at about 50 to 60 dollars. I saw one at K-mart for 15 bucks. I also tried to find a capo for the guitar I bought but the stores in Christchurch close really early on Sundays. Oh yeah, I bought a guitar. It set me back 68 NZD and two hours of walking to get it from the Trade Me vendor. The neck on the guitar is warped in such a way that the open strings are more than a half step away from the first fret. I found that dropping a capo on the first fret made it possible to play open chords in tune.
Yeah I know, TL;DR. Sorry for the long post. I'll try to blog more regularly so that I can communicate things in a more orderly and readable way. Look for a post about the tramp up Mt. Herbert in the next couple days... hopefully tomorrow.
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday I had classes.
The Maori class looks like it will be very easy but really interesting. I'm at least as excited to see how my peers handle learning a totally foreign language as much as I'm excited to do so myself. On the first day for example, some of my classmates were getting a bit hysterical as they were led through the pronunciation chart. I suppose they found it queer to be making sounds they had never made before. 20% of my grade in the class will be based on two 20 word vocabulary quizzes. I'm having trouble figuring a way that the course could be any more simpler to ace.
The jazz course should be somewhat of a breeze too. The first two classes we simply watched Jazz on a Summer's Day and chatted about the featured players and styles. Part of my grade in the class will be based on my ability to identify types of jazz by hearing sound clips of them. Though it should be easy, I think the course will be very interesting as I don't know much about the earliest of jazz music.
So the girl who used to live in Katie's room came through with her boyfriend. They set up camp in our common room and stayed for two days. They were just passing through on their way up to Auckland to adventure on the North Island. The two of them will be spending the next three months traveling New Zealand and Thailand before going home to Germany. Here's their gear all packed up just before they left to catch their flight north.
I made some pancakes the same morning that they were leaving. The pancakes were made of four ingredients. I had no baking powder you see so I decided to find the simplest recipe. I made far too many and left a plate of them on the table to eat later. To my surprise, the Germans had made off with a few of my pancakes leaving a note that said they were amazing. I must admit I didn't think they were all that great. Here they are.
Here's a picture of the breakfast I eat a few days of the week. Note the orange juice in the measuring cup. That measuring cup is the largest of the cups in my flat so I have started using it as a drinking cup. Also note the pot of "Home Brand" jam. I buy lots of this store brand stuff and have so far been 100% satisfied with it.
Thursday night there was a rail jam at the on campus pub called The Foundry. Just about every member of my study abroad program showed up to cheer on one of our own kind, Kevin. He quickly became known as "Kevin from the States". Go figure. Here's Kevin (pronounced "Keeeevin" in Kiwispeak).
And a video of one of his runs that I took:After the rail jam that night I went with some of my starving friends to get some super cheap fish and chips. This stuff costs 4 New Zealand dollars for more food than I was able to eat despite having not eaten for ten hours and played two hours of intense ultimate frisbee. I thought it was going to be crappy but it tasted excellent. I only wish I'd snapped a shot of the mass of food wrapped in thick gray paper. Sorry. Next time.
After that I meant to go to sleep but instead ended up hanging out with my flatmates until about two or three. This was a really odd choice for me to make considering I'd booked an appointment with the doctor at 9:30 the next morning. You see, I'd been sick for about ten days when I went to the doctor that morning, and having scored some ulcers on the top of my mouth over the two preceding days, I wanted to be in decent shape for the doctor. I ended up going to the doctor a bit queasy from the past evening's procedings but I was fully functional. The doctor told me that it seemed I had a bit of a throat infection and perscribed me some Doxycycline, an antibiotic, to help me get better. The pharmacist told me that I should not fall asleep for an hour after taking the medication as if it had somehow managed to get stuck in my throat and I didn't realize it, the drug could cause serious damage to my esophagus. So I sat up in my room with a bit of a hangover from 10 to 11. When the clock struck eleven I treated myself to what ought to have been part of a good night's sleep. I napped from 11 to 4. I took it easy for the rest of the day but come nightfall I'll admit I was silly enough to stay up until two A.M. again.
Not only did I go to sleep too late that first night that I was on antibiotics, but I awoke far earlier than would be advised. I was up at 7:00 AM to pack my backpack for my first proper tramp in New Zealand. The tramp ended up being a bit over 15 miles with a nearly 4,000 foot vertical gain. I've decided to make a separate post about the hike so expect that soon.
The night of the tramp the entirety of our study abroad crew gathered at one flat to watch the rugby game. The game was the All Blacks (New Zealand) vs. the Wallabies (Australia) and the All Blacks came out on top. We're all quite certain that the reason the All Blacks won was because of their awesome haka. I managed to get to sleep by about midnight as I was totally exhausted.
I know, I know. "You're supposed to take it easy when you're sick and on antibiotics", right? Well, despite my neglect for my body over the last couple of days, I feel the best that I have in two weeks. It seems that I'm finally getting better.
Today I went for a bike ride over to Hagley Park and into Christchurch to shop a bit. I watched the frisbee players for a while at Hagley but didn't play at all because my joints were still tired from yesterday's hike. In town I shopped for a bike pump but ended up just getting an adapter for the french tube in my front tire on my bike. The pumps in town at the bike shops were super expensive at about 50 to 60 dollars. I saw one at K-mart for 15 bucks. I also tried to find a capo for the guitar I bought but the stores in Christchurch close really early on Sundays. Oh yeah, I bought a guitar. It set me back 68 NZD and two hours of walking to get it from the Trade Me vendor. The neck on the guitar is warped in such a way that the open strings are more than a half step away from the first fret. I found that dropping a capo on the first fret made it possible to play open chords in tune.
Yeah I know, TL;DR. Sorry for the long post. I'll try to blog more regularly so that I can communicate things in a more orderly and readable way. Look for a post about the tramp up Mt. Herbert in the next couple days... hopefully tomorrow.
Monday, July 13, 2009
First day of classes!
Today was the first day of classes here at Canterbury.
I had class from 11-12, 2-3, and 6-8. Oddly enough, though I had three different class sessions, I only had two courses today. The first two times were both for MGMT 101, a course about management. The evening course is my Forestry course. Both of them look like they will be reasonably easy. The forestry course is only 6 weeks long and has two mandatory field trips on Saturdays.
During the break from 12 to 2 I took my bike over to the grocery store and stocked up. I rode home pretty slow with my backpack stuffed and a bag of food on each side of the handlebars. Living the dream.
Alright let's go back in time a bit to the weekend shall we? I've been sick since about Wednesday though at that point I thought it would be just a simple sore throat that would disappear before too long. That said, I wasn't particularly supportive of my body, having a few drinks and going to sleep at 2 or later Wednesday through Saturday.
Friday I played my first game of frisbee here at Canterbury with their interesting bunch of players. They have a high density of female players, and a decent number of older folks, a couple of them looking like they're in their forties! The Friday game was in the cold from 6:30 on and, having no spandex or whatever, I went in my shorts. I left early to go see Bruno with some friends but come Sunday, I proved I hadn't learned neither of the following: That you shouldn't go out in shorts when it's almost freezing; That you shouldn't play ultimate when you're quite sick.
Perhaps I evened out some of that by taking all of Saturday day really easy. I really wanted to get better so that I could get out on Sunday.
Looking forward to tomorrow's classes I guess. Tomorrow I have: Intro to Maori Language , and then the second two hours of the Forestry class.
I've almost entirely decided to can the thought of taking some math course or CS course here. I think I'm going to enjoy my classes just the way they are.
I had class from 11-12, 2-3, and 6-8. Oddly enough, though I had three different class sessions, I only had two courses today. The first two times were both for MGMT 101, a course about management. The evening course is my Forestry course. Both of them look like they will be reasonably easy. The forestry course is only 6 weeks long and has two mandatory field trips on Saturdays.
During the break from 12 to 2 I took my bike over to the grocery store and stocked up. I rode home pretty slow with my backpack stuffed and a bag of food on each side of the handlebars. Living the dream.
Alright let's go back in time a bit to the weekend shall we? I've been sick since about Wednesday though at that point I thought it would be just a simple sore throat that would disappear before too long. That said, I wasn't particularly supportive of my body, having a few drinks and going to sleep at 2 or later Wednesday through Saturday.
Friday I played my first game of frisbee here at Canterbury with their interesting bunch of players. They have a high density of female players, and a decent number of older folks, a couple of them looking like they're in their forties! The Friday game was in the cold from 6:30 on and, having no spandex or whatever, I went in my shorts. I left early to go see Bruno with some friends but come Sunday, I proved I hadn't learned neither of the following: That you shouldn't go out in shorts when it's almost freezing; That you shouldn't play ultimate when you're quite sick.
Perhaps I evened out some of that by taking all of Saturday day really easy. I really wanted to get better so that I could get out on Sunday.
Looking forward to tomorrow's classes I guess. Tomorrow I have: Intro to Maori Language , and then the second two hours of the Forestry class.
I've almost entirely decided to can the thought of taking some math course or CS course here. I think I'm going to enjoy my classes just the way they are.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Bike!
Just picked up the bike. The guy who sold it to me was named John and he was an intimidating looking guy in a rugby shirt who seemed like a really nice guy. I rode it around the gas station and paid the guy. The brakes squeak a bit and it would be nice to have the drop down handlebars, but this seems an awesome deal for the price.
Oh, and I need a lock.
Oh, and I need a lock.
food, orientation, outdoor gear, parties
Tuesday I went into town from the school with a few of my mates and hunted around for outdoor gear. I found a few good deals and ended up buying some goods. I scored a platypus bladder for 35NZD, the hat (icebreader merino) was 14NZD, gloves (60% merino, 40% possum) were 20NZD. The metro card for inexpensively riding the bus was free, but I topped it up to 20.
That night I made a legit meal with some mates (katie who I live with, and briana who is here with IFSA-Butler). It was tasty.
Later that night a party was thrown over at Ilam M 64 by Nadav who happens to also be here from Vanderbilt. The party was mostly IFSA kids but lots of other people came through.
Wednesday morning we were up for orientation at 9AM. It was super boring. I slipped over the back of the last row of seats and tried to take a nap but the ground was quite hard.
That brings us to last night. Last night this girl Sam from Denmark and I went to the Woolworths and picked up some decent beer and threw a party at my place. I invited all of the IFSA-Butler folks and the people I've met at Cbury whose numbers I've collected. It would have been a party of about 16 people I estimated but somehow it grew into a party of 40 or so. The people who live below me came up because they heard the noise, and lots of others who live in K building came through. The best though were the people who came up because they just happened to be walking by and saw a party. One of those guys just happened to have a strobe light. Yeah.
Image: PT was pretending to be upset with Nora all night, which was super weird because they seem to be super tight all the time. This pic is of people in my room.. most of the party was in the common room.
I'm about to go pick up a bike I found on TradeMe which is like the kiwi version of ebay. I paid 50NZD for it. Yeah, that is like 32 USD. If the thing has wheels I'll be surprised but I'm hoping I just got a really awesome deal. Here are the specs and picture as listed on trademe:
Healing Hummer
10 Speed
27 inch wheels
tyres good
front and rear hand brakes
This bike is a good old school 10 speed in good running condition.
pic:
I hope it is as good of a deal as it appears.
That night I made a legit meal with some mates (katie who I live with, and briana who is here with IFSA-Butler). It was tasty.
Later that night a party was thrown over at Ilam M 64 by Nadav who happens to also be here from Vanderbilt. The party was mostly IFSA kids but lots of other people came through.
Wednesday morning we were up for orientation at 9AM. It was super boring. I slipped over the back of the last row of seats and tried to take a nap but the ground was quite hard.
That brings us to last night. Last night this girl Sam from Denmark and I went to the Woolworths and picked up some decent beer and threw a party at my place. I invited all of the IFSA-Butler folks and the people I've met at Cbury whose numbers I've collected. It would have been a party of about 16 people I estimated but somehow it grew into a party of 40 or so. The people who live below me came up because they heard the noise, and lots of others who live in K building came through. The best though were the people who came up because they just happened to be walking by and saw a party. One of those guys just happened to have a strobe light. Yeah.
Image: PT was pretending to be upset with Nora all night, which was super weird because they seem to be super tight all the time. This pic is of people in my room.. most of the party was in the common room.
I'm about to go pick up a bike I found on TradeMe which is like the kiwi version of ebay. I paid 50NZD for it. Yeah, that is like 32 USD. If the thing has wheels I'll be surprised but I'm hoping I just got a really awesome deal. Here are the specs and picture as listed on trademe:
Healing Hummer
10 Speed
27 inch wheels
tyres good
front and rear hand brakes
This bike is a good old school 10 speed in good running condition.
pic:
I hope it is as good of a deal as it appears.
Monday, July 6, 2009
I found my camera cable
So I found the cable. I was confusing my USB-miniUSB cable with my camera cable and figured out my mistake when I went to plug in my external hard drive.
Here's a shot of our urban rogaining experience. This shot is of a few of my friends hunting for a list of things you're not permitted to do in the Botanical Garden in downtown Christchurch. My team ended up asking somebody because we couldn't find a list of rules anywhere.
Here's a shot of Kate. She's the IFSA-Butler person assigned to look over this semester's Canterbury students. We like her.
Here's a shot of the entrance to my room. My room is larger than either of the rooms I've had at Vanderbilt.
This shot was taken standing by the far corner of my room. Notice the duvet cover. I think I mentioned that I didn't get any sheets right? Well they gave me some, but the only kind that they had left were for girls. They seemed very impressed I took them without any fuss.
This is our living room area. Notice the balcony with the potted tree on it. The tree is one of many good signs that my roommates are going to be cool.
Check out the kitchen! It's awesome!
Katie told me that the IFSA crew is meeting up to do dinner at 6:30. I'm going to go onto the balcony and space out at this kid who is going back and forth along the walkway on his skateboard.
Here's a shot of our urban rogaining experience. This shot is of a few of my friends hunting for a list of things you're not permitted to do in the Botanical Garden in downtown Christchurch. My team ended up asking somebody because we couldn't find a list of rules anywhere.
Here's a shot of Kate. She's the IFSA-Butler person assigned to look over this semester's Canterbury students. We like her.
Here's a shot of the entrance to my room. My room is larger than either of the rooms I've had at Vanderbilt.
This shot was taken standing by the far corner of my room. Notice the duvet cover. I think I mentioned that I didn't get any sheets right? Well they gave me some, but the only kind that they had left were for girls. They seemed very impressed I took them without any fuss.
This is our living room area. Notice the balcony with the potted tree on it. The tree is one of many good signs that my roommates are going to be cool.
Check out the kitchen! It's awesome!
Katie told me that the IFSA crew is meeting up to do dinner at 6:30. I'm going to go onto the balcony and space out at this kid who is going back and forth along the walkway on his skateboard.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Home sweet home / Internets
Here I am in my room at university! Can you guess who I'm living with? For the most part, your guess is as good as mine. I haven't met anyone who I live with except for, get this, the very same Katie who is the first person I met in New Zealand. How weird is that? We moved in together and she lives right next door.
I unpacked my stuff to discover that I've somehow swapped camera cords with one of the study abroad kids as the connection to my camera on the cord I have is different. This means that you unfortunately don't get to see the room yet. I'll work on it.
Another surprise with the room is that my "linen pack" didn't actually come with any linens. It has a blanket and a pillow but no actual linens. I've talked to the desk and they've insisted I have to bring the original pack down.
I've paid for my first Internet bill here. 10GB of data = $40.00 NZD = $25.0405 USD. I'll have to get a feel for how much data various applications take per hour but I'm pretty sure this is not going to be cheap.
I don't have class for a whole week still. How awesome is that? Time to get situated and go have a few adventures!
I unpacked my stuff to discover that I've somehow swapped camera cords with one of the study abroad kids as the connection to my camera on the cord I have is different. This means that you unfortunately don't get to see the room yet. I'll work on it.
Another surprise with the room is that my "linen pack" didn't actually come with any linens. It has a blanket and a pillow but no actual linens. I've talked to the desk and they've insisted I have to bring the original pack down.
I've paid for my first Internet bill here. 10GB of data = $40.00 NZD = $25.0405 USD. I'll have to get a feel for how much data various applications take per hour but I'm pretty sure this is not going to be cheap.
I don't have class for a whole week still. How awesome is that? Time to get situated and go have a few adventures!
Saturday, July 4, 2009
NZ Internet Bandwidth Beef
I couldn’t finish and send these last few blog posts at the library because I exceeded the maximum download permitted. Sure, I was streaming music for about forty minutes while I was sitting there but damn how frustrating! I’ve considered paying for the internet service at the hostel but that too has a limit on how much up/down you can use.
Worst of all, I’m told that we have to choose a plan for how much bandwidth we want for our university Internet connections. Sorry guys, but the implications are that I may not be able to reasonably afford Skyping or any Internet games to ensure that I’ll have enough bandwidth to submit my assignments.
Worst of all, I’m told that we have to choose a plan for how much bandwidth we want for our university Internet connections. Sorry guys, but the implications are that I may not be able to reasonably afford Skyping or any Internet games to ensure that I’ll have enough bandwidth to submit my assignments.
Maori Songs
These are the two songs we learned to sing in Maori. The second one was definitely sung to the tune of a traditional western hymn to which I couldn’t place a name.
Te Aroha
Me te rangimarie
Tatou, tatou e
In English:
With love
With faith
With peace
We are all one together
Whakaria Mai
Whakaria mai
Tou ripeka ki au,
Tiaho mai
Ra roto i te po,
Ki kona au,
Titiro atu ai,
Ora, mate,
Hei au koe noho ai.
In English:
Send forth the light,
Of your cross to me,
Shine down,
Through the darkness,
There will I be,
Watching and waiting,
In life and death,
Abide in me.
Study abroad kids have pretty good pitch and I definitely heard some harmonies.
Te Aroha
Te aroha
Te whakapono Me te rangimarie
Tatou, tatou e
In English:
With love
With faith
With peace
We are all one together
Whakaria Mai
Whakaria mai
Tou ripeka ki au,
Tiaho mai
Ra roto i te po,
Ki kona au,
Titiro atu ai,
Ora, mate,
Hei au koe noho ai.
In English:
Send forth the light,
Of your cross to me,
Shine down,
Through the darkness,
There will I be,
Watching and waiting,
In life and death,
Abide in me.
Study abroad kids have pretty good pitch and I definitely heard some harmonies.
Amazing first days in NZ
So many amazing things have happened in the last few days!
Seven days ago I got on a plane at JFK and flew through LAX to Auckland. My travel was relatively simple and easy though there were way too many huge flights going out of my gate at LAX and I went to a considerably quieter corner of the airport. You know you’ve found the quietest place in the airport when you realize lots of Jews keep coming over to stand and pray because it’s Sunday.
The 13 hour flight from LAX to Auckland was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. The two seats next to me were free which was fantastic. I watched Man on Wire which I really liked. It seemed perfect for the occasion. I also watched a few episodes of Flight of the Conchords. I read a considerable portion of “The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle” which so far has been a good read. Around dinner time (whenever that was) the stewards and stewardesses came around again and again with a different bottle of wine in hand each time! Free wine on a long flight = great idea. At some point I took two Benadryl and enjoyed a decent sleep at what was actually from about midnight to five New Zealand time. I think this is why I experienced little jet lag.
As I stood up to exit the plane I saw an IFSA folder in the hand of a girl who was sitting in the row in front of me. I found out she was from Alabama and goes to Vanderbilt. I definitely didn’t expect the first person I’d meet in New Zealand to be from my school! We left the gate together and found the IFSA staff and the rest of our companions. We took a bus from the airport to the YMCA Lodge at Shakespear Park on the Whangaparaoa peninsula north of Auckland.
Our three nights at the YMCA Lodge were great. The days were filled with educational, athletic, and social activities including fantastic food 5+ times per day. Our crew was comprised of some 14(?) Wellington bound students and 18 Canterbury bound students. I’ve found all of the study abroad people including the staff to be really friendly and I wouldn’t be surprised if some of these friendships last through orientation (though that does seem a rare event for orientation programs).
Three nights ago the whole IFSA crew stayed at a proper Maori Marae. We rehearsed a few songs and elected a couple group speakers the night before for the Welcoming ceremony. We all
stayed on foam mattresses in the Marae’s community meeting building where celebrations and funeral services take place. The night we were at the Marae we enjoyed a performance by certain individuals of the Marae who perform to communicate certain aspects of Maori culture to people like us. They taught the gentlemen of the group, myself included, how to do a Maori haka. A haka is a sort of battle dance performed to both intimidate opponents and prepare a warrior to take hits in combat. Some New Zealand sports teams including the All Blacks (rugby) perform a haka before matches. The Marae experience was fantastic. The Maori community was very warm to us and I feel very lucky to have had the experience.
The day after the Marae the group traveled to the Auckland Airport where the Cantabrians said farewell to the Wellingtonians and we flew to our different cities. We’ve been staying in a hotel/hostel called Thomas’s because the dorms do not open until Monday. We’re cooking for ourselves in the hostel kitchen and trying to get a feel for the city. We did a sort of scavenger hunt in the city in teams yesterday which was quite fun. Last night we went out to celebrate Nick’s birthday. We hit two clubs and a bar before and retired at about 4 A.M. We all had a blast despite the fact that most drunk folks on the street seemed to want to fight us and the kiwi ladies were turning down all of the bros.
This morning we were all woken up by Kate (our IFSA “caretaker”) at about 8 meaning we had only a few hours of sleep. She came around pounding on our doors telling us we had to have a meeting. Apparently a lot of things went wrong at the Hotel in the recently passed hours including stealing of food from the kitchen, the displacement of fire extinguishers from the walls, and a death threat over a game of pool this morning. All of these things have of course been pinned on us for being 18 rowdy college kids and so Kate had to bark at us. We weren’t responsible for any of the things we’re accused of but what can you do, eh?
Today it’s free library internet, a dinner and cake celebration of Nick’s birthday, and a considerably more tame night as Kate has demanded that we stay in so that if anything goes wrong we can all prove it was not us and IFSA’s relation with the place doesn’t sour.
Seven days ago I got on a plane at JFK and flew through LAX to Auckland. My travel was relatively simple and easy though there were way too many huge flights going out of my gate at LAX and I went to a considerably quieter corner of the airport. You know you’ve found the quietest place in the airport when you realize lots of Jews keep coming over to stand and pray because it’s Sunday.
The 13 hour flight from LAX to Auckland was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. The two seats next to me were free which was fantastic. I watched Man on Wire which I really liked. It seemed perfect for the occasion. I also watched a few episodes of Flight of the Conchords. I read a considerable portion of “The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle” which so far has been a good read. Around dinner time (whenever that was) the stewards and stewardesses came around again and again with a different bottle of wine in hand each time! Free wine on a long flight = great idea. At some point I took two Benadryl and enjoyed a decent sleep at what was actually from about midnight to five New Zealand time. I think this is why I experienced little jet lag.
As I stood up to exit the plane I saw an IFSA folder in the hand of a girl who was sitting in the row in front of me. I found out she was from Alabama and goes to Vanderbilt. I definitely didn’t expect the first person I’d meet in New Zealand to be from my school! We left the gate together and found the IFSA staff and the rest of our companions. We took a bus from the airport to the YMCA Lodge at Shakespear Park on the Whangaparaoa peninsula north of Auckland.
Our three nights at the YMCA Lodge were great. The days were filled with educational, athletic, and social activities including fantastic food 5+ times per day. Our crew was comprised of some 14(?) Wellington bound students and 18 Canterbury bound students. I’ve found all of the study abroad people including the staff to be really friendly and I wouldn’t be surprised if some of these friendships last through orientation (though that does seem a rare event for orientation programs).
Three nights ago the whole IFSA crew stayed at a proper Maori Marae. We rehearsed a few songs and elected a couple group speakers the night before for the Welcoming ceremony. We all
stayed on foam mattresses in the Marae’s community meeting building where celebrations and funeral services take place. The night we were at the Marae we enjoyed a performance by certain individuals of the Marae who perform to communicate certain aspects of Maori culture to people like us. They taught the gentlemen of the group, myself included, how to do a Maori haka. A haka is a sort of battle dance performed to both intimidate opponents and prepare a warrior to take hits in combat. Some New Zealand sports teams including the All Blacks (rugby) perform a haka before matches. The Marae experience was fantastic. The Maori community was very warm to us and I feel very lucky to have had the experience.
The day after the Marae the group traveled to the Auckland Airport where the Cantabrians said farewell to the Wellingtonians and we flew to our different cities. We’ve been staying in a hotel/hostel called Thomas’s because the dorms do not open until Monday. We’re cooking for ourselves in the hostel kitchen and trying to get a feel for the city. We did a sort of scavenger hunt in the city in teams yesterday which was quite fun. Last night we went out to celebrate Nick’s birthday. We hit two clubs and a bar before and retired at about 4 A.M. We all had a blast despite the fact that most drunk folks on the street seemed to want to fight us and the kiwi ladies were turning down all of the bros.
This morning we were all woken up by Kate (our IFSA “caretaker”) at about 8 meaning we had only a few hours of sleep. She came around pounding on our doors telling us we had to have a meeting. Apparently a lot of things went wrong at the Hotel in the recently passed hours including stealing of food from the kitchen, the displacement of fire extinguishers from the walls, and a death threat over a game of pool this morning. All of these things have of course been pinned on us for being 18 rowdy college kids and so Kate had to bark at us. We weren’t responsible for any of the things we’re accused of but what can you do, eh?
Today it’s free library internet, a dinner and cake celebration of Nick’s birthday, and a considerably more tame night as Kate has demanded that we stay in so that if anything goes wrong we can all prove it was not us and IFSA’s relation with the place doesn’t sour.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Hi Christchurch
Flew into Christchurch yesterday. Staying at Thomas's Hotel until the dorms open on Monday. The first part of orientation was fantastic. It took place on the north island up above auckland on the Whangaparaoa peninsula at Shakespear Park (YMCA). Just taking a moment to say I made it and all; a proper post about all of that to come.
Happy 4th??
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
