Black and White Birthday Bash

Me and the flatties
Our Beautiful hall decorations
Our message board (Pre-Bash)

Decorations and Sound System (Pre-Bash)

Birthday Girl Claudia and I

Flatmate Jenn and I making sure dance floor is in check

Dance floor getting a bit more crowded...

Now the party has started

My pal Kalinka (uber cool Kiwi)

My RA Vania from SwedenMy Canadian friend Nick pretending he is an Anne Geddes model

Thiago showing off his new winter coat

Laurie and Kim figure skating

This week was Rua's (our flat name) massive birthday bash. The guests of honour included Thiago, Sam, Claudia, Hendrix and myself. Our birthdays are all generally around the same time, so we decided to make it easy for people and throw one large party. This week was a busy one. The party was on Saturday evening and the theme was Black and White (if you haven't already figured it out). We had loud music, decorations and food. It was an event not to be missed. The following morning, the flatmates and I had a nice big clean-up session. It was all worth it though.

This past week was a very entertaining one. Toroa House planned a skating night for all residents. Obviously my fellow Canadians and I jumped to the opportunity to show off our skills on ice. It was really interesting to find out that many of the residents had never skated before. Most of the first timers came from very warm climates where ice skating was not a big sport. Despite the blisters acquired the following day, skating was a lot of fun.

In my last post, I forgot to mention something I took part in for the first time last week: SURFING! What an incredible sport. The water is super cold now but the waves are massive here in Dunedin (which I'm not too sure is a good thing for first time surfers). I got suited up in a wet suit, got myself a board and faced the waves. I had such a great experience, but of course I could not avoid injury. Occasionally, multiple waves will come at you and you have to be prepared for them, however I guess I was not quite strong enough. My board flew out from under my body and hit me in the mouth and cracked my tooth. It did not hurt at all, however it was obvious that I had a much thinner and shorter tooth, so the following day I went to the dentist and I was in and out in 20 minutes. My tooth actually looks better than before. On top of it all, it was covered by accidental insurance, so I didn't pay a dime (Kiwis don't have pennies in their currency). This insurance is offered to anyone who ever gets hurt in New Zealand through accidents of any kind. You are automatically enrolled and don't have to pay for it. I think New Zealand has this because they have so many extreme sports here, which often leads to injury. All in all, surfing was pretty awesome and I intend to go back!