Farewell dinner!...3 weeks left : (

Farewell flatmates!

Classes are finally over! I officially finished last week. Exam begin this week, although my first one isn't until June 12th. Although it's exciting that classes are over, it's also a really sad time because my time in New Zealand is coming to an end. I have experienced some pretty amazing things here. As much as I am looking forward to coming back home again, I am really going to miss this place. I'm not sure if I will be able to put into words how grateful I am to have been given the opportunity to go abroad. There is an immense amount that I have learned about myself during this journey. However, I still have another 3 weeks left.....so no need to reminisce just yet.

This weekend was our farewell dinner. It was a really good time had by all. That was probably the last time we would all be together again looking sharp and dancing the night away....for a while anyways. You will see below some pictures of the gathering. We went to an Italian restaurant which we had all to ourselves. Then we danced and heard some speeches. All the students leaving this semester received a leaver's gift, which was a Nalgene bottle with a Toroa sticker. I sat on the res association in Toroa and we thought they would not only be thoughtful but practical. That evening was also the same day as my German friend Christine's birthday. We had a good time embarassing her by making a public toast to her. Happy Birthday Christine!

After the dinner, we came home and a few of the resident's felt like playing the foosball in the common room...but they wanted to play in their flat, so they carried it all the way up to one of the flats. We played until almost 3am. There is going to be an international foosball tournament in recognition of the upcoming world cup. The winners get a trophy.

Speaking of world cup, it is going to be crazy here in Toroa. With the residents representing so many different countries, there are bound to be some tense matches. People are actually planning on sleeping in the common room. All the games will be on at ridiculous hours. Most are at 3 or 4am. To keep my own football skills up to par this semester, I played on the Toroa team in the intramural league. It was a good season with no losses. I have posted a pic of our team below.

This week, I also went on a brewery tour. Because we organized about 15 of us to go, we got our own private tour, which ended up being really animated. The last half hour of the tour, we go into what my friend Nicky refers to as the "magical room" where we can taste anything on tap unlimited. It's like a never ending keg. I have never seen so many twenty-somethings drink as fast as they did that night. I have some good pics from this trip which I will post up later this week.

For the rest of the week, I will be studying and soaking up the last few weeks in New Zealand! Until next time!

Bianca, Claudia (from Mexico) and myself

Eric showing off his moves to Nelly's "Hot in Here"

Residence Association and Head Warden

Me and Birthday Girl Christine

Moving foosball table around the residence

Toroa football team