tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-133996832011-09-13T01:31:08.495-07:00jewelsssnoreply@blogger.comBlogger271100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13399683.post-20794908756695065892008-01-21T05:01:00.000-08:002008-01-21T05:09:02.354-08:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IAyjsgi1b7g/R5Rrpxx_hLI/AAAAAAAAAAU/V_3A_Bg3nhQ/s1600-h/Photo+Library+-+3472.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IAyjsgi1b7g/R5Rrpxx_hLI/AAAAAAAAAAU/V_3A_Bg3nhQ/s320/Photo+Library+-+3472.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5157865838727890098" border="0" /></a><br />Wow, this blog has built up some serious dust. I never even realized that last post I made was 2 Halloween's ago. That's weak Julia. Anyways, since I must do some serious catching up here, let's get started. Okay, let's date back to last year of Uni since that's when I last posted. I graduated. Okay that's that. But to be honest, I did take some of my most memorable classes in that last year. For instance, Modernity with Dr. Long; Political Space and the State with Dr. Perez, Artistic Couples with Dr. Halpern just to name a few. All life-changing. I learned more than I could ever imagine in these classes, but ended fourth year with more confusion about life than ever before. A spectacular feeling...<br /><br />Now onto summer 2007, I spent it mostly at home with my parents in BC. I worked as a part-time English teacher while I got my TESOL at King George International College in Victoria. I was prepping up to take on a teaching job at an elementary school in Seoul, Korea. So this is where I currently am: Seoul Korea...and loving it!<br /><br />I won't deny that it's been tough, overwhelming, and uber-challenging at times, but so is real life and I'm happy to finally be experiencing some of it. I came to Korea almost six months ago now, which is hard to believe. Time has just zoomed by. The learning curve has been huge. As many of you know, my parents are Korean, but immigrated to Canada during the seventies. My brother and I were both born in Canada, but I have visited Korean on several occasions before since we still have a lot of family over here. My father has five siblings here in Korea, plus I have an aunt from my mother's side. I have many, many cousins here, plus my cousins have children, which makes me a bit of a distant aunt to many of them. But I see many of these relatives on a very regular basis, which has helped with any feelings of homesickness. Plus, during the Thanksgiving holidays my mother and father came to visit, which was pretty amazing. Holidays such as Thanksgiving and Lunar New Years take on a pretty different significance here than in Canada. They are very family-based events, with lots, and lots of food, ceremonies and travelling time. But holidays such as Christmas and New Years on Jan.1 are not of great family importance...<br /><br />Anyways, I am currently teaching at an elementary school in the very Western side of Seoul. I am the Native English Teacher, so I am primarily in charge of things like prononunciation, speaking and communication within the English curriculum. The job isn't hard, but it is demanding. I teach on average 6 classes a day, sometimes 7. I see more than 300 students weekly, and some classes are as big as 35 students. The age range of students is from 9 years old to 13 years old, but their English levels are even more various, which can make planning lessons difficult. I have slowly become used to what works and what doesn't in teaching, but it is a constant learning process. As a teacher, there will never be a day when I can say I know everything I need to know about teaching. In each lesson, I'm learning alongside with the students. Because it is my first year as a teacher, my students and coworkers have all been very patient with me, which I appreciate.<br />I have also started taking a Korean class at Yonsei University here in Korea, which has helped me to improve my Korean tenfold. Actually, I think what has really helped me is just speaking to other Koreans. I now believe that the best way to catch on to a language is practice, practice, practice. So I have made it a point to meet as many people, Koreans especially, as possible. Initially, I think I may have stretched myself a bit thin, but I have gotten ahold of my schedule better now.<br />Probably one of my favourite times in Korea so far is my trip to Jeju-do when my mother was in town. It's a really beautiful little Island just South of the Korean peninsula. While it didn't feel like a vacation (I barely relaxed) due to a full schedule, it was nice hanging out with Mama Paek.<br /> Thus far, I am really enjoying Korea, and hope 2008 calls for an even happier, healthier and more memorable year.<br /><br />Here are some pics...<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IAyjsgi1b7g/R5RrhRx_hKI/AAAAAAAAAAM/9f6v78vCKOI/s1600-h/Photo+Library+-+3470.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IAyjsgi1b7g/R5RrhRx_hKI/AAAAAAAAAAM/9f6v78vCKOI/s320/Photo+Library+-+3470.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5157865692699002018" border="0" /></a><br />Me and some of my female cousins (unni's) during Korean Thanksgiving (Chuseok) </div> <div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IAyjsgi1b7g/R5Rrqxx_hMI/AAAAAAAAAAc/_LwAeIc-vNY/s1600-h/Photo+Library+-+3497.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IAyjsgi1b7g/R5Rrqxx_hMI/AAAAAAAAAAc/_LwAeIc-vNY/s320/Photo+Library+-+3497.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5157865855907759298" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Some of my students during the Hangeul Festival at my school<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IAyjsgi1b7g/R5RrsBx_hNI/AAAAAAAAAAk/gyVvYcQcXwg/s1600-h/Photo+Library+-+3513.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IAyjsgi1b7g/R5RrsBx_hNI/AAAAAAAAAAk/gyVvYcQcXwg/s320/Photo+Library+-+3513.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5157865877382595794" border="0" /></a><br />Children's artwork<br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><br /><br /></div> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IAyjsgi1b7g/R5Rrshx_hOI/AAAAAAAAAAs/j6UQoZm9pds/s1600-h/Photo+Library+-+3601.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IAyjsgi1b7g/R5Rrshx_hOI/AAAAAAAAAAs/j6UQoZm9pds/s320/Photo+Library+-+3601.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5157865885972530402" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Jeju-do palm trees<br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IAyjsgi1b7g/R5RzVxx_hPI/AAAAAAAAAA0/TvcENJeK0ZQ/s1600-h/Photo+Library+-+3655.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_IAyjsgi1b7g/R5RzVxx_hPI/AAAAAAAAAA0/TvcENJeK0ZQ/s320/Photo+Library+-+3655.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5157874291223528690" border="0" /></a><br />Me and Mama riding horses for the very first time (we're excited)<br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IAyjsgi1b7g/R5RzWhx_hRI/AAAAAAAAABE/fxlZtELCm3c/s1600-h/Photo+Library+-+3816.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_IAyjsgi1b7g/R5RzWhx_hRI/AAAAAAAAABE/fxlZtELCm3c/s320/Photo+Library+-+3816.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5157874304108430610" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Me and my Yonsei Classmates<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/13399683-2079490875669506589?l=jpaek.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>jewelsssnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13399683.post-1162271906596701322006-10-30T20:20:00.000-08:002006-10-30T22:13:53.450-08:00Ok, once again been a while, but I hope my halloween pics will make up for it. So, this weekend, my roommates and I decided to dress up in costume and attempt to win some prizes at the bars. We debated what we are going to dress up as, after perusing the stores, we decided it would be best to make our costumes if we wanted to do something original (as opposed to the conventional underdressed nurse/cat/maid/disney character...basically insert anything here). So, we decided to go as the Alesse Girls! Yes, I am talking about the girls from the birth control commercials. Below, I have posted pics of the Ad and then us. You can guess who we are each portraying. The similarities are striking. We had a lot of fun and even got a small gift certificate out of it. The winning team was a group of transformers, which I will admit was well-deserved. However, I am proud to say our costumes were completely homemade. All by Ms. Kate who did an immaculate job in the recreation. I would like to say that my shirt was reconstructed out of what was once a larger person's mumu (aka Giant Skirt/Dress). Probably one of my best costumes yet. (Besides Princess Jasmine in Gr.4!)<br /><br />I have also included photos from a roommates outing a couple weeks back. We were overdue for a dinner out. A couple weeks before then, I was to Toronto for a couple birthdays. Annie's was the first night, and we had a good time catching up and sharing drinks with our closest friends. The next night was my cousin Elissa's 20th birthday. It was a good night of Karaoke. Probably the best part was belting out with my little bro Jeff.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Original Alesse Girls</span><br /></div> <div align="center"><a href="http://subtle.ca/04.html#" onmouseout="MM_swapImgRestore()" onmouseover="MM_swapImage('Allesse','','allesse_pre.jpg',1)"><img src="http://subtle.ca/allesse_post.jpg" name="Allesse" border="0" height="360" width="256" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The Alesse twins? </span><br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%202102.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%202102.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>C'mon. These pics are hilarious aren't they? Steph is indeed painted brown-ish in order to transform her into Peri. It's too bad we don't actually have a black roommate to better represent. But Steph did play the role well. No one recognized her all night.<br /></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Roomie night at the Keg</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%202079.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%202079.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Annie's Birthday Night<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Annie, Sof and I</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%202023.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%202023.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Rossana - One of the coolest girls I know<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%202028.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%202028.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />Family Karaoke Night:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;"> Female Cousins (L to R: Sarah, Janice, Me and Elissa the birthday girl!)</span><br /></div> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%202076.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%202076.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Bro Jeff and Cousin Pete</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%202044.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%202044.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Me and Jeff belting it...Jon watching in amusement</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%202018.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%202018.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><!--DWLayoutEmptyCell--><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/13399683-116227190659670132?l=jpaek.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>jewelsssnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13399683.post-1159239366903843242006-09-25T19:55:00.000-07:002006-09-25T19:56:07.456-07:00<div style="text-align: center;"><br /><br />La Roommates (Kate, Steph, Leigh and moi)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%202014.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%202014.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;">Me and Ladies from 1st Year<br /></div> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%202010.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%202010.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />School has been back in full swing for the last few weeks. It is my fourth year, my last and final year....thank goodness! I'm through with Western and their damned administrative policies. Instead of helping along students, these administrative rules have only hindered my time here at Western. They weren't as evident during my first, or even second year, but boy have I ever feel their presence these last two years. I will start with capped classroom sizes. Most students have their potential schedules all ready to go at the beginning of the summer when the timetable of classes goes up. I definitely do. Whenever Western does get around to posting some decent classes, I jump on the opportunity to get into them. But of course, when your registration time does finally come around, you realize that half of the classes that you wanted to take are already full, or in many cases, they're all full! Ok, but seriously Western, you can't put a cap of 25 students on a class entitled <span style="font-style: italic;">Genocide</span>. And shouldn't you be letting all the 150 students who want to learn about this human rights atrocity in a class like this??? This is no ordinary class; it could be the beginning of a revolution! But that aside, shouldn't people be allowed to take the classes they have paid for? Registration period is one of the most stressful times of the year for both students and admin. We could all save headaches and stress if there were no such thing as capped classroom sizes. At Otago University in NZ, there were no such things as capped classes, thus students always got to take the classes they wanted. From my experience, there was never any overloaded classrooms, and if there were more students than chairs, we would simply move rooms. C'mon Western, it's simple math!<br /><br />My second beef with Western is their add/drop period. Why is it only one week long??? I'm sure almost every student knows that on the first day of class, there is never an official lecture! The first class is reserved for picking up the syllabus and seeing if you have friends in the class! I am not saying that profs should have a lecture that first class, but perhaps they should give a talk about a general topic related to the class so we get a feel for his/her lecture style and also an idea of the content. Or to make it easier on all of us, why doesn't western just extend the add/drop time for another week? I just don't see the logic or reasoning behind such a short add/drop? Because of their useless guidelines, I now have a big black "withdrawn" on my transcript (for life) for a philosophy class I dropped out of in my third year. I think I dropped it after the third class, which was literally 6 days after classes had commenced. Thanks Western for tainting my job potential. I am so glad that you want to make my journey into the real world as smooth as possible.<br /><br />So those are just two of several grievances that I have with my lovely alma mater. I think it is becoming more apparent to me that academic environment is a big factor for me when choosing grad school. I will admit that I have had some pretty incredible and unforgettable experiences at Western, and I don't regret choosing Western, but I don't think I will ever return for any graduate or professional school.<br /><br />Besides school, I have been making sure to see as many people as I can and get involved with as much as possible. My roommates' Leigh and Steph's birthdays were last week. As you can see, I have posted some pics from Steph's b-day. We had some good nights out together. Oh, I have to vent about one more thing. This time, it's about London. I have gone out a few times in the last week, and each and every time I have left to come home, I have felt more scared than ever walking along Richmond St. (the main downtown road with bars, stores, etc.). The first night I went out, a friend and I were walking home and this car full of obnoxious young guys driving at least 60km/h throws eggs at us! Seriously, wtf?? Luckily, noone was hurt, but Laura got an egg whipped at her legs which obviously broke all over her. I don't even want to think about the fact that it could have hit her in the face. Another night as Steph and I walked home, the guys who were walking in front of us started whipping their post bar food (aka Sammy's wraps and Wendy's burgers) at cars driving by. Before they could even turn around to see us, I hailed a cab and we just drove it the 4 blocks home. What has the world come to when I don't feel safe walking down one of the most busiest and well-lit streets in London, Ontario?<br /><br />Ok, so there's my rant/update of the last couple weeks. I am going camping this weekend for one last Summer hurrah. The following weekend is Thanksgiving, thus I will be seeing loads of family, including my bro Jerf!<br /><br />Until then, thanks for reading!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/13399683-115923936690384324?l=jpaek.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>jewelsssnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13399683.post-1157314380821932912006-09-03T12:50:00.000-07:002006-09-03T23:49:06.823-07:00<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201954.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201954.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Rebecca the bride to be and moi<br /><br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201957.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201957.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Rebecca and her fiancee, Brian<br /><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201972.0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201972.0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>My cousin Janice and I<br /><br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201971.0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201971.0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Janice and Jon<br /><br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201978.0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201978.0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>My ladies Annie and Sofia<br /></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201963.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201963.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Sofia and I<br /><br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201989.0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201989.0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Stephers and I<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">I flew back into Ontario on August 16th. But since I have been back, I have been out and about all over the place which is the reason for my absence on the blogging scene. The 19th of August was the day of Beck's and Brian's engagement shindig so I made my way to Kitchener for a few days to help them prepare for their (second biggest) day. It was a solid night of wine-tasting, mingling, and of course celebrating. I tried some incredible white wines from Pelee Island. My favourite being the Gewartztraminer of course. Rebecca's mother and I had a great bonding session over the German wine. A bit of background on Rebecca and I: We have been best pals since Grade 6. She is my partner in crime and someone who I totally respect and admire, as much as my own mother. I have seen her grow up into such a brilliant and strong young woman. Brian is one lucky guy, but he recognizes that. They deserve each other wildly and I couldn't be happier for them. It was a solid weekend with the newly engaged couple and I look forward to seeing them in October for Oktoberfest!<br /><br />After my visit to Kitchener, I made my way to Toronto for a week long adventure. I first met up with my lovely lady pal Sofia who picked me up in her new ride, courtesy of her parents. She was recently hired as a film teacher for schools across Toronto, which is the reason for her parents' generous gift. This is an incredible opportunity for someone who just graduated from a post-secondary institution. I am so proud of her. She will make an excellent teacher due to her zest and passion for film. That same day, I met up with my good friend Annie. It was pretty amazing seeing these girls since I hadn't seen them for almost 9 months. Annie has introduced me to some pretty awesome places around the city, including eateries, book and music stores, and concert halls. Basically, places that a newcomer to the city would not be able to find on their own.<br /><br />My cousin Janice had me over for a few days as well. Janice and I are about a month a part in age and we literally grew up next door to each other until about the age of 5, but that bond was ever-lasting. While we have had our differences, ultimately we cannot deny the internal bond that only family members share. It was great seeing Janice and her partner Jon. We had some good evenings and daytime buffet-runs. I look forward to our next visit.<br /><br />Probably one of the highlights of the week was going to visit my maternal grandmother at her nursing home with my brother and Janice. Everytime I see her, my heart lights up because I know how happy she is to see us. My halmunee ("grandmother" in korean) cannot verbally communicate due to a stroke she suffered from over a decade ago, but she finds other ways to express her love to us. Whether it's through smiles, laughs or hugs, it is so endearing and rather refreshing to receive love in such a simple, yet understated fashion. These are the moments that you realize just how much actions really do speak louder than words.<br /><br />Last, but not least, I must mention my good times with Suleiman in the city. Our first night out was my first night in town with my ladies Sofia and Annie alongside. We met up at The Green Room, where we all shared a pitcher of Amsterdam. Suly and I reminisced about the good ol' days in NZ. It was nice to see a familliar face from the place that I called home not so long ago: Toroa. Near the end of the week, Suly and I met up for a bubble tea, which I missed dearly when I was in NZ. We people watched until it got unbearably cold outside and decided to say goodbye...for now. Although, I didn't get to see Suly for a long time during my week in T.O., I can't complain considering I saw him just a couple months back.<br /><br />All in all, it was a solid week in T.O. but I couldn't help but notice my feelings towards the city itself had changed. While I have never really complained about the noise, busy streets, pollution or people in the big city, they stuck out to me like a sore thumb this time around. The constant movement, noise, and obnoxious crowds really began to test my patience this week. I really don't consider myself a small-town girl and I do enjoy the excitement of being in a big city, but Toronto lost a lot of its appeal for me this past week. As I said to many of my friends that week, when I arrived into Toronto from a refreshing weekend in Kitchener, it was as if a cloud shadowed over my head and stayed there all week. Luckily, this cloud didn't take away from the time spent with my friends and family, but it sure affected my appreciation for Canada's largest city. For a while, I contemplated moving to Toronto, either for school or work, but after spending more and more time on the West Coast, I think it is becoming pretty clear to me where I will end up. However, that will be the topic of another blog post somewhere in the further future.<br /><br />I finally arrived back into London on August 26th, refreshed and ready to plant my feet in one place for a while. Seeing my lovely roommate Steph again was pretty fantastic. A few hours after I got into town, we attended Western's Charity dinner, which was pretty amazing. It was great seeing a lot of familiar faces and rekindling friendships. I look forward to doing that for the next little while as I slowly reunite with old friends.<br /><br />I should be quite busy for the next few weeks preparing for classes and my last year of undergrad, and most likely at Western. I have a renewed energy and enthusiasm to tackle my last year, which I look forward to. I doubt I will have anything too exciting to share over the next week or two, but I promise to keep you updated on a more regular basis. Thanks for reading : )<br /></div> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/13399683-115731438082193291?l=jpaek.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>jewelsssnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13399683.post-1154331433531132062006-07-30T22:46:00.000-07:002006-07-31T15:14:24.056-07:00<div style="text-align: center;">Sam Roberts in Victoria<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201611.1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201611.1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Baby Nemo<br /> </div> <div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201665.1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201665.1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Me on top of Mount Douglas, Victoria<br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201819.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201819.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Michelle and I on the shores of Victoria<br /></div> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201804.0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201804.0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Chris overlooking Victoria<br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201829.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201829.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Victoria's Parliament Building at night<br /></div> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201790.1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201790.1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />So I arrived home several weeks ago and while I have no excuses for not updating my blog sooner, I really wanted to be able to do this post justice. This is the post where I will reminisce and submit a final report of the NZ experience; where I will reveal my feelings on coming back into Canada; and where I will get you up to speed on the daily happenings of my life in the West coast.<br /><br />Leaving New Zealand was harder than I could have ever expected. Firstly, never underestimate the power of <span style="font-style: italic;">5 months</span>. Too much time for some things but much, much, much too little time for others. I was blessed to be coming home to my family and friends in such a short amount of time, but cursed for leaving friends and family in New Zealand so soon. As I checked out of my flat, Rua, on June 25, 2006, the tears began to well up. I was lucky enough to have close friends nearby as they sent me off, but it didn't make it any easier leaving - that's for sure. But through all this sadness, I felt joy. I felt joy at the fact that I was feeling sorrow. Feeling this upset was a sign of success. I succeeded in making lasting friendships, making the most of my experience and making my own mark upon others. It truly was a bittersweet feeling.<br /><br />No words can truly, deeply and honestly describe the impact that New Zealand has made on my life. New Zealand was more than a country. To me, it was The University of Otago, Toroa International House, a group of incredible individuals, and a lifetime of memories. New Zealand helped me realize the value of travelling. Whether you're travelling in a place as beautiful as New Zealand, or somewhere less exciting, there are so many lessons to be learned along the way. These lessons are within the people you meet, the places you stay, the activities you do, the clothes you bring, the food you eat, the soap you use as your facewash/shampoo/conditioner/shaving cream (thank you LUSH).<br /><br />Before I left for New Zealand, my closest friends told me that I would be in for some surprises and lots of changes. These changes were going to happen to me, within me, and around me. While, I never doubted that New Zealand was going to change me in some shape or form, I never realized how much. Studying/Travelling/Reading/Writing/Thinking in New Zealand has allowed me to look at life differently. I have learned to take a break; think less (of the unimporant things); think more (of the important things); open up; live stress-free (sometimes) and just breathe a little easier. A couple weeks ago, I met up with an old professor of mine and I told him that since I got to university (and maybe even before then), I have felt so much pressure to "do something with my life". This pressure is one that has been embedded into youth of our generation by parents, teachers, the government, etc. Thus, because of this pressure to succeed scholastically and professionally, students are pressured into choosing a profession (lawyer or doctor or teacher? what will it be?) at such a young impressionable age. Most of my long-time friends will know that my life dream was to become an attorney (next to motherhood :) It took me a while to question why I wanted to become a lawyer and I only realized halfway through my LSAT prep course, I didn't want to be one any more. Going to New Zealand helped me to allow myself to question all the big things in my life. In many ways, I have come up with even more questions, however oddly enough I have more clarity. How is this? Well, even though I may have more questions than ever before, I feel more confident than ever that the answers will all come in time.<br /><br />Thank you Otago, Toroa, Dunedin and New Zealand.<br /><br />I arrived back in Canada on June 25, 2006 around 7:30pm. Overall, another great long flight. No complaints. Qantas has been the best airline I have ever travelled with - hands down. When I touched down in Victoria, I was greeted with warm air and a beautiful setting sun. It was exactly what I needed. My parents lovingly greeted me and waited until at least the second sentence to tell me my face got chubby. I just couldn't resist those New Zealand lollies. Anyways, I was pretty happy to see my parents and nothing, not even my lost luggage could faze me. Luckily, my luggage was found at customs in Vancouver and delivered to my front step the following day. My first week home was pretty relaxing. I won't lie, I was still in a bit of a New Zealand withdrawal, but managing just fine.<br /><br />Chris arrived later that week and we have been having a pretty great summer so far. We have been to two great summer concerts, wined and dined at Victoria and Vancouver's best, and watched a million (aka 3 seasons) episodes of Scrubs. When I was not hanging out with Chris, I was busy taking a very unexciting summer course at the University of Victoria. Luckily, it was one of the accelerated summer courses where you attend class every day, so I am happy and kind of embarassed (because I haven't written in my blog since before the class started) to say that the class is already over! The exam went well, so kudos to that. In addition to class, I have been busily entertaining myself with my mother's new baby: a puppy. Nemo, a little white Bichon Frise is 12 weeks old today and more energetic than Chris dancing to Kelly Clarkson. He is my mother's pride and joy. When we hang out, Nemo likes to pounce at my fingers as I type e-mails and such. He isn't too happy with the two finger type either, I guess.<br /><br />A few weeks ago, Chris and I went to Vancouver for the weekend. The main purpose was to see Feist at the Vancouver Folk Festival, who was incredible by the way. At the festival, we had frozen chocolate covered fruit and genuine BC kettle corn, mmmmmmm. We also got to check out Granville Island, a small inlet part of Vancouver not too far from downtown with loads of food markets and antique shops. We ate very diverse food items such as flax wraps, cous cous, and creme brullee. I also got to meet up for coffee with a former professor of mine while I was in Vancouver. It was very good. I felt like I got even more clarity and inspiration from it.<br /><br />Since my class has ended, I haven't been doing much else besides getting in touch with old friends, getting my photos organized, and planning for next year. I have selected my courses for next year and am pretty happy overall. I am enrolled in Intro to Korean finally. That is a class I wanted since first year, but could never seem to fit it in. It is also perfect timing because I am going to go to Korea next year after I graduate to work, travel and see family of course. I am very much looking forward to heading back to London. I miss my friends terribly. Lucky for me, Michelle visited my on the island a couple days ago. We took photos around Victoria and ate grade A gelato. It was good seeing her :) I can only imagine how great it will be to see even more of all you amazing people very shortly. By the way, my flight is scheduled for August 16th. I am coming so late because I wanted to make sure I saw my little bro before school (who I actually did miss too :). But I made sure to come back early enough to catch my best pal Rebecca's engagement party of the 19th. I never got to officially say it publicy Becks, CONGRATULATIONS REBECCA AND BRIAN! Love ya babe, ksh ksh.<br /><br />Now that I have been home for a solid month from NZ, I have had some time to reflect on my experience abroad and I hope I have done it some justice. Of course, I will be more than happy to talk for hours upon hours about it all when I get back, but don't be afraid to tell me to shutup if i do. I want to thank everyone again for all the love and support you all gave me pre-, during, and post - exchange. I may talk loads about New Zealand, but one thing that country taught me was just how much I love my own country, Canada. I developed a newfound respect and appreciation for our beautiful country while I was away from her. I know my American roommates are thinking how could I love her anymore than I did - apparently they found my Canadian flags excessive (not in a bad way - in a, "we could never do that as Americans" way). I saw Canada in a different light when I was in NZ. Now more than ever, I want to explore and learn about all parts of the country. As I travel and see more of the world, I sense I am becoming more educated, cultured and wordly, but I have also never been prouder to be Canadian.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/13399683-115433143353113206?l=jpaek.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>jewelsssnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13399683.post-1150840211319203292006-06-20T14:34:00.000-07:002006-06-20T14:52:12.736-07:00<div style="text-align: center;">Driving to Milford Sound THROUGH A BLIZZARD!<br /></div> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201326.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201326.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">2 Hours Later...what???<br /></div> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201344.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201344.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Milford Sound Waterfalls!<br /></div> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201421.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201421.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Waterfalls and Rainbows!<br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201419.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201419.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Beautiful Milford :)<br /></div> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201425.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201425.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201430.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201430.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Bungee Jumping in the snow!...What a Trip!<br /></div> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201432.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201432.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/13399683-115084021131920329?l=jpaek.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>jewelsssnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13399683.post-1149495240375390442006-06-05T00:32:00.000-07:002006-06-05T04:25:21.890-07:00<div style="text-align: center;">Farewell flatmates!<br /></div> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201279.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201279.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />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.<br /><br />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!<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />For the rest of the week, I will be studying and soaking up the last few weeks in New Zealand! Until next time!<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;">Bianca, Claudia (from Mexico) and myself<br /></div> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201288.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201288.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span>Eric showing off his moves to Nelly's "Hot in Here"<br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></div> <span style="text-decoration: underline;"> </span> <div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201310.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201310.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Residence Association and Head Warden<br /></div> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201294.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201294.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Me and Birthday Girl Christine<br /></div> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201268.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201268.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Moving foosball table around the residence<br /></div> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201313.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201313.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Toroa football team<br /></div> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201259.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201259.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201268.jpg"><br /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/13399683-114949524037539044?l=jpaek.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>jewelsssnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13399683.post-1148276483815701462006-05-21T22:40:00.000-07:002006-05-21T22:41:24.220-07:00<div style="text-align: center;"> <div style="text-align: left;"><font><font><font>< This week I have finally posted the pictures from the second half of my trip back in late April. My apologies for taking so long. I have had essays and assignments galore these last few weeks. But, I am home free for now....until exams begin on June 7th.<br /><br />On this part of the trip, it was just me and my two female flatmates, Jenn and Kim. We had about a week in addition to the week we spent on the West Coast (so Yes, I did skip a week of class to do this portion of the trip.....can you blame me?). There was no way we could do all of the North Island, so we decided just to visit the capital of New Zealand, Wellington. We flew there from Dunedin, which was about an hour long. Once we landed, we took a cab to the Botanical Gardens in Wellington. Lucky for us, our cab driver was all too excited to tell us everything he knew about Lord of the Rings (LOTR). I'm honestly not being sarcastic. It was kind of neat to see where certain scenes were shot. He also pointed out the ship that was used in King Kong, which was parked in Wellington's harbour. My first impression of Wellington was very positive. I have decided it is my favourite city in New Zealand so far. Not too big and not too small.<br /><br />We arrived at the Botanical Gardens, walked around and then took the trolley back down to the city. Wellington is ridiculously hilly, so we were getting quite the workout trekking to our backpackers. Once we got there, we settled in and head downtown for some browsing and food. There is this really colourful and artsy part of downtown known as Cuba Street. It is built so that no cars can actually travel down this road. It is very pedestrian friendly. Really neat concept and lots of cool stores. The following day we got up nice and early to grab breakfast at a bagel shop (note: it is very difficult to find bagels anywhere in NZ). Then, we made our way over to the famous Te Papa museum, which is the largest museum in NZ. It also had a LOTR exhibit when we went. Kim, my roommate is obsessed with Peter Jackson and LOTR so she was pretty happy about this. We got some great pictures of maraes, which are the traditional meeting houses/habitats of Maori. They are really beautiful. Apparently, the Beatles visited a marae when they came to NZ many years ago as you will see in my pictures below.<br /><br />As I said before, Kim is a huge Peter Jackson fan, so she even tracked down where his private studio was in Wellington. So, after the museum, we took a bus all the way into a suburb on the outskirts of town and walked around aimlessly for a while until we found WETA studios, the name of Jackson's company. You will notice below it does not look like what you would expect a studio to look like. It looks like a simple house actually. But, it is actually rather big, especially around the back. But I suppose they would want to be pretty discrete about things considering Jackson's success. Anyways, Kim is a bit shyer, so she was content with just taking pictures of the exterior, but I didn't go all the way to NZ to stand outside his studio. So, we knocked on the locked doors outside the studio and the receptionist let us in. I pretty much told her we were huge fans of Jackson's and asked if we could simply stand in the lobby. She said that was fine but that was pretty much all we could do. There were some statues of Jackson's movie characters (i.e. smeagel) so we took photos with them as you will see below. So, once we were all good and done being nerds, we left.<br /><br />The next day we head back to the South Island on a ferry. This ferry ride is comparable to the ferry crossing between Vancouver Island and Mainland back home. It can hold about 400 cars and has a couple resturants on board. The only difference between this and the ferry back home was that it was twice as long: 3 hours. So, I attempted to sleep on the uncomfortable seats (proof below). When we got to the South Island, we made our way to the city of Nelson which is where we stayed for 3 days. The first evening, we met up with Laurie, Karla and Meredith (fellow Toroa residents) and had dinner together. The next morning, we head to the craft market Nelson has every weekend. After walking around the small town of Nelson, me and the ladies decided to just have a relaxing evening at the backpackers. Now, we don't expect high quality accommodations at a backpackers, however this place was the dumps. It was called Paradiso because they offered a pool and sauna, but everything else was subpar. The bathrooms were not cleaned (even after someone threw up all over the toilet the night we arrived). It was pretty loud during the evenings and the triple room we were given was the size of my single room back at my dorm. Needless to say, we were very unhappy with our backpackers experience in Nelson.<br /><br />The last day in Nelson, we paid for a cruise through Abel Tasman in the very North of the South Island. After the cruise, we set out on a 3 hour tramp. The views were breathtaking even in the rain (as you'll see below). This lasted the entire day. The next day, we took a bus towards to Kaikoura, which is where a lot of the water related activities occur. The first day, we took a tour through a Maori leap cave with a very animated tour guide. He kept pointing out certain stalacmites/tites in the cave and telling us they looked like certain objects and people. For example, one of them looked like Queen Elizabeth II and another like Henry VIII. I think he spent too much time in the cave.<br /><br />Next, we head out to the Seal colony, which was really neat. The seals were just lying around sleeping not really paying much attention to us. We got some good pictures from that. The highlight of the trip though was the following day: dolphin swimming! Before we suited up, the guides told us there was a rather large seasick warning because of the storm and asked if we were still up for it? I said yes, of course. So, Jenn and I suited up. Kim was just a spectator for this activity. We watched a video first where we were advised to not touch the dolphins. They also gave us tips on how to interact with them. For example, we were told to make dolphin-ish noises. Kim can vouch for how hilarious we looked doing this. We were also told to swim like a dolphin (lots of diving) and circle them (kind of like playing tag with them). So after the video, we set off on the bus. Then we got onto a boat and head out to sea. The average searching time to sight a pod of dolphins is 20-30min. We searched for 45 minutes and still nothing! So, we were told that we were going to head back but that we would be getting most of our money back. I was pretty disappointed though. But then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, a pod of 300-400 dolphins appeared! It was magical. So, we got our hoods and masks on and jumped in. There were so many of them. I was nudged by a few and got to play tag with one as well. They are such beautiful creatures. I had my waterproof camera with me, so I got some really neat up close pictures. Kim took a few good ones of them jumping out of the water as you'll see below. So, what started out as a pretty disappointing day ended as an exhilarating experience. After the swim, we head back to town, where many shops were not opened yet because it happened to be Anzac Day in New Zealand (April 24). This is similar to Remembrance Day in Canada, but NZ shares it with Australia hence the ANZ.<br /><br />Another interesting backpacker story. We stayed at a place called Sunrise Lodge Backpackers in Kaikoura. This place was suggested by my trusty Lonely Planet guide. The LP interpretation was that it was kind of a hippy-esque place with really friendly animal-loving personable owners. Sure enough, when we first arrived into town at the info centre, the lovely owners came to pick us up in their 20+ year old van. They were a really nice elderly couple who chatted us up. When we checked in, we asked for the keys and that's when they told us that they don't believe in keys and they leave doors unlocked and open most of the time. I thought this was interesting, but manageable. The girls and I figured out that we can lock/unlock the doors with a coin, so that's what we did while we stayed there. However, all the other guests were really friendly, so we really did have nothing to worry about. We has a pretty good experience there overall. However, the cherry on top to LP's description came when the owner ran into the living area where the other guests and I were sitting and shouted "Who wants to come save an injured animal with me right now?" One of the guests jumped to the challenge and they ran off into his "Rescue Animal" van and took off. It was really quite entertaining and of course admirable to see.<br /><br />For the last portion of the trip, we head to Chrischurch. CC is the second largest city in NZ next to Auckland. We went to an Art gallery, craft fair and Maori show while there. The Maori experience as they called it was very cool. We saw some traditional dances and even atempted some ourselves as you will see below. After the show, we were served a buffet dinner with some traditionally cooked dishes. There is a certain way that Maori cook there meat and vegetables. It is within the ground and results in almost a steamed taste. Very good. After dinner, we took a tour in a wildlife reserve of the nocturnal animals. Probably the most famous one is the Kiwi bird. These are flightless, wingless birds with very sensitive eyes. So unfortunately we could not take any flash photos of them. They are very very cute though. The sad thing we learned was that only about 2% of them survive in the wild because of the many rodents (i.e. possums and ferrets) that were brought over to NZ. So there are many attempts to save them right now.<br /><br />Finally, we made our way back to Dunedin eventually. The bus ride was supposed to be 5 hours, however it turned out to be longer because unbeknownst to us, there was a flood in Dunedin while we were gone (because of the rain) and thus, one of the bridges on the main highway near Dunedin collapsed. The driver told us it was going to be an extra 5 hour wait, so we had to get comfortable. Fortunately the maintenance workers got it up and running in less than an hour and we made it home by midnight. What a way to finish the trip. I realized just how limited NZ really is sometimes because there was no alternative route at all. There is only one highway/road/route between 2 of the largest cities in NZ. However, we managed and I have no complaints....for now :)<br /><br />Hope you enjoyed this post!<span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />Te Papa Museum</span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201053.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201053.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font>a Marae</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201059.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201059.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Beatles visiting a Marae</span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201068.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201068.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />LOTR Exhibit: Ring<br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201076.0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201076.0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font>Gandolf's Costume<br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201074.0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201074.0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font>Peter Jackson's studio: WETA<br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201077.0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201077.0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />WETA reception room: Smeagel and I<br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201079.0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201079.0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font>Ferry that connects North and South Island<br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/BREAK%20180.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/BREAK%20180.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font>Taking a nap on the Ferry <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/BREAK%20182.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/BREAK%20182.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font>Toroa Girls<br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/BREAK%20207.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/BREAK%20207.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Maori Leap Cave</span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201130.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201130.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font>Cruise ship to Abel Tasman<br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201092.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201092.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font>Abel Tasman Views<br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/BREAK%20348.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/BREAK%20348.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201098.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201098.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Kaiteriteri Beach</span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/BREAK%20471.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/BREAK%20471.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font>Silver Fern (plentiful throughout NZ!)<br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201106.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201106.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201159.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201159.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font>Seal Colony<br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201140.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201140.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font>Lazy<br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/BREAK%20395.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/BREAK%20395.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font>Kim and seal<br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/BREAK%20303.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/BREAK%20303.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201160.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201160.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font>Getting ready to swim with dolphins!<br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201168.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201168.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/BREAK%20700.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/BREAK%20700.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/BREAK%20643.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/BREAK%20643.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font>Cold water!<br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/BREAK%20675.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/BREAK%20675.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/BREAK%20863.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/BREAK%20863.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font>"Hippy" backpackers<br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/BREAK%20023.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/BREAK%20023.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font>Maori Show<br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201202.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201202.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font>Haka (War Dance) Performance<br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201215.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201215.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font>Traditional dance<br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201208.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201208.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font>Volunteers anyone?<br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font><font> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201210.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201210.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201212.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201212.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/13399683-114827648381570146?l=jpaek.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>jewelsssnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13399683.post-1147262238413924162006-05-10T04:12:00.000-07:002006-05-10T04:57:18.440-07:00Firstly, thanks to everyone who sent their love and birthday wishes. I had a memorable birthday here in New Zealand. The kiwis don't forget to recognize even their foreigners on their special day. I had a superb day with all my closest friends in New Zealand. Thank you to everyone who was involved :)<br /><br />This week, I also visited a local farm with some Toroans. We fed horses, pet sheep and played with guinea pigs. The farm was located in Brighton right across from a beautiful beach. At one point, a group of horses raced by on the beach. It was very majestic to watch.<br /><br />I forgot to mention a couple other places we went on the first half of our trip in my last post. In the city of Wanaka (which is apparently where Shania Twain owns a massive piece of property), there is an interesting tourist attraction called Puzzle World. It has a bunch of different mind games and mazes in its vicinities. Check out the funky photos below. We also visited Mount Cook (aka Aoraki in Maori), which is the largest mountain in New Zealand. The drive to Mount Cook was breathtaking. It wasn't the clearest day, so it was hard to get good pics of it. Check out some of them below though. More pics from the latter part of the trip are coming.<br /><br />Lastly, I brought home some "friends" from my two weeks of travel with me to Dunedin, right into my bed. They are known as the common flea. Yes, I have fleas. Er, had. I couldn't stop scratching myself for a couple days, then I started to get red marks. I thought I had the chicken pox, but after a $50 check up at the doctors, turns out it was flea bites. So, the head of residence had my room cleaned out and changed all my bedding. I am a bit reluctant as to whether that worked or not...but I haven't had any major bites since then. I was a bit down about my condition, especially because I couldn't get a good night's sleep for a week, but slowly but surely, I am getting better. Don't worry Canada, won't be bringing these suckers home with me. Overall, I'm doing splendid. School is becoming busier, but still trying to have good times while I can!<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">My Birthday Corner<br /></div> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201225.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201225.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201239.jpg">Nicky bonding with a horse<img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201239.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Brighton Beach<br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201251.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201251.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Horses on the beach<br /></div> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201253.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201253.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br />Sheep!</div> <div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201230.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201230.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></div> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201234.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201234.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201238.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201238.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><br />Drive to Mount Cook<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201011.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201011.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201014.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201014.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Mount Cook<br /></div> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/TRIP%20387.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/TRIP%20387.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Puzzle World in Wanaka<br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%200985.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%200985.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Nelson Mandela<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/TRIP%20265.0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/TRIP%20265.0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />I'm so tall and Jenn is so short!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/TRIP%20279.0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/TRIP%20279.0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;">Reverse roles...same room!<br /></div> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/TRIP%20280.0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/TRIP%20280.0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/13399683-114726223841392416?l=jpaek.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>jewelsssnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13399683.post-1146579821656337442006-05-02T04:55:00.000-07:002006-05-02T07:23:41.756-07:00<div style="text-align: center;">Sunrise in Christchurch<br /></div> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201032.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201032.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Pier in Christchurch<br /></div> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/TRIP%20007.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/TRIP%20007.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/TRIP%20018.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/TRIP%20018.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/TRIP%20021.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/TRIP%20021.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/TRIP%20033.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/TRIP%20033.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">White water rafting<br /><br />View from Helicopter<br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%200884.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%200884.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Getting out of helicopter<br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%200898.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%200898.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;">Rafting with Jenn and Firdaus<br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%200920.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%200920.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></div> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%200909.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%200909.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%200929.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%200929.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%200927.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%200927.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%200926.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%200926.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Lounging at Hanmer Springs<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201034.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201034.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Franz Josef Glaciers<br /></div> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/TRIP%20147.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/TRIP%20147.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%200960.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%200960.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/TRIP%20224.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/TRIP%20224.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/TRIP%20235.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/TRIP%20235.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/TRIP%20172.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/TRIP%20172.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/TRIP%20226.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/TRIP%20226.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%200968.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%200968.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/TRIP%20186.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/TRIP%20186.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%200963.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%200963.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%200957.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%200957.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Moeraki Boulders<br /></div> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/TRIP%20460.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/TRIP%20460.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%201019.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%201019.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/TRIP%20481.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/TRIP%20481.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>I just got back from a splendid two weeks of travelling. The first half of the trip was spent on the West Coast of the South Island. We drove a total of 2000 kms in 4 days. The second half of the trip was spent on the East Coast of the North Island and in NZ's capital, Wellington. These pictures above are from the first half only. The second half of the trip's pictures will come later this week.<br /> <br /> The first day, we drove until we reached Christchurch and saw the sun rise. Afterwards, we drove and arrived in Hanmer Springs which was like an outdoor spa, but had a pungent sulfur smell to it. We lazed in the springs for a couple hours, then hit the road again. The following day, we got up early for our day of white water rafting. We took a helicopter to our starting point, which was one of the funnest rides of my life. The day started right. We got some rafting tips on what to do if one of us fell out and set out on the rapids. We rafted for a total of 4.5 hours. The river was a Grade 3-4. Grade 6 is the highest, which is considered un-raftable. It was my first time, but it wasn't as challenging as I thought it would be. There is a lot of teamwork involved in rafting. One person's movements can manipulate the entire raft. Rafting is something I would love to try again.<br /><br /> The following day, we went glacier walking. New Zealand has a large number of glaciers spread out all over, but some of the most popular ones are the Franz Josef and Fox glaciers on the West Coast. My roommates and I did the Franz Josef glacier full day walk, which was approximately 5 hours, not including travel time. It was a truly unique experience that I may not have the opportunity to try in the future. The glaciers are slowly melting. They are a beautiful site. We had the chance to climb through some tiny holes that were formed by the melting glaciers.<br /><br /> On the way home, we stopped at the Moeraki boulders which are circular shaped rocks that were mysteriously formed. There is no clear explanation how these boulders got to the beach.<br /><br />I still have some great photos from Mount Cook, the largest mountain in New Zealand and Punakaiki (Pancake rocks) as well. I will get them up here as soon as I can. Enjoy the photos!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/13399683-114657982165633744?l=jpaek.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>jewelsssnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13399683.post-1144897708673456462006-04-12T19:47:00.000-07:002006-04-12T20:08:28.690-07:00For the past five weeks, I was enrolled in a wine appreciate course. New Zealand is full of many fine wines, so I took the opportunity to learn a bit about them. Oddly enough, my two favourite wines by the end of the class were European wines. Gewurztraminer, an Italian wine, is my favourite white wine, which is also made in New Zealand very nicely. Beaujolais, a French wine, is my favourite red wine. They are both pretty mild wines without any sharp bite or oaky flavour to them. There are a ton of other wines I did not get a chance to try, however I feel that I good a pretty good basic overview of wines. The course was run by Geoff Weston, the owner of the World's Most Southern Winery in the world. He is quite proud of this feat, but I suppose this may not be too difficult of a task if you live in the South Island of New Zealand. Geoff was an excellent teacher though - very full of life and passion for wine. If you ever get the chance to to take a wine class, I definitely suggest it. Below are pictures I took at Geoff's winery. We went to his winery for the last class and had an official tasting. His winery is in his own backyard. It is a beautiful property. He seems very happy doing what he does. I would be so happy to have a life similar to his when I am older. If you want to order his wine, go to this <a href="http://www.geocities.com/westonwinery/">link</a>.<br /><br />I am looking forward to the next two weeks. It's Easter break here at the University. I will be travelling all around the South Island and even fly into the capital, Wellington, for a few days. Some of the activities on the unofficial intinerary are white water rafting, glacier walking, swimming with dolphins and tramping. I cannot wait! I will update my blog with tons of pics and stories when I get back. If you want to contact me, e-mail me. I will check my e-mails at internet cafes on the road. I will offically be back in Dunedin on April 27th.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/13399683-114489770867345646?l=jpaek.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>jewelsssnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13399683.post-1144849110758695622006-04-12T06:23:00.000-07:002006-04-12T06:38:30.776-07:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20878.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20878.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20874.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20874.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20875.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20875.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Jenn, Des and Carleigh<br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20868.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20868.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Wine "swirling" to get a whiff of the bouquet<br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20873.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20873.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Geoff pouring us some champagne<br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20864.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20864.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Geoff proud of his world record title of "most southern winery"<br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20865.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20865.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Jenn and I being wine snobs<br /></div> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20866.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20866.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/13399683-114484911075869562?l=jpaek.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>jewelsssnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13399683.post-1144574218173370392006-04-09T01:01:00.000-07:002006-04-09T02:40:23.623-07:00<div style="text-align: center;"><a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20770.1.jpg"><span style="font-style: italic;">Me and the flatties</span> </a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20843.1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20843.1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Our Beautiful hall decorations<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20770.1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20770.1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Our message board (Pre-Bash)<span style="font-style: italic;"></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20768.0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20768.0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><br />Decorations and Sound System (Pre-Bash)<br /></div> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20769.0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20769.0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Birthday Girl Claudia and I</span></span></span></span><br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20776.1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20776.1.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Flatmate Jenn and I making sure dance floor is in check</span><br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20850.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20850.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Dance floor getting a bit more crowded...<br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20854.0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20854.0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Now the party has started<br /></div> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20790.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20790.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">My pal Kalinka (uber cool Kiwi)<br /></div> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20852.0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20852.0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20851.0.jpg">My RA Vania from Sweden<img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20851.0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>My Canadian friend Nick pretending he is an Anne Geddes model<br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20795.0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20795.0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Thiago showing off his new winter coat<br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20817.0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20817.0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Laurie and Kim figure skating<br /></div> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20808.0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20808.0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/13399683-114457421817337039?l=jpaek.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>jewelsssnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13399683.post-1144077593265576202006-04-03T05:24:00.000-07:002006-04-03T08:20:23.280-07:00<div style="text-align: center;"><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Me and thousands of </span>Crunchie<span style="font-style: italic;"> bars</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20754.0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20754.0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The biggest candy bars I have ever seen in my life .</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20755.0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20755.0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /></div> <span style="font-style: italic;">Shopping for dinner<br /></span></div> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20756.0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20756.0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Road to the peninsula</span><br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20762.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20762.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Sights on the Otago peninsula</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20761.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20761.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">At the Albatross Colony</span><br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20765.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20765.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Royal Albatross flying above</span><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20767.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20767.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><br /></div> </div>This week, I got the opportunity to take a tour through Dunedin's own Cadbury chocolate factory. While the tour isn't as grandioso as Willy Wonka's, I got free chocolate and some good pics (see above). We weren't allowed to take pics on the actual tour though. New Zealand has some chocolates that Canada does not have. For example, they have these candy-coated chocolates called Jaffas. The candy coat is an orange flavour. They look like small Gobstoppers. They are delicious. They also have a ton of different flavours when it comes to their bars. Everything from turkish delight to triple chocolate to whipped delight. Kiwis also love marshmallow as filling for a chocolate bar. I'm not such a fan of the stuff.<br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20754.jpg"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><br /></a></div>After the tour, we went to the Otago Peninsula to check out the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Albatross">Royal Albatross</a>. These birds are quite famous in New Zealand. In fact, the name of my hall is Toroa which means Albatross in Maori. These birds essentially look like giant seagulls. But they act a whole lot more elegant and classy than the annoying birds that we know in Canada.<br /><br />Overall, it was a good week once again. I will be having my flat birthday party this upcoming weekend. I know my birthday isn't for another month, but 2 of my flatmates birthdays are this week, so I wanted to have my birthday with them.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/13399683-114407759326557620?l=jpaek.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>jewelsssnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13399683.post-1143459727566545402006-03-27T03:41:00.000-08:002006-03-27T05:13:07.186-08:00<div style="text-align: center;"><br />Welcome to my room!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20745.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20745.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20746.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20746.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a> </div> <div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20739.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20739.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />My Canadian Pride<br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20735.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20735.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Book/Shoe shelf<br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20743.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20743.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Closet (no doors)<br /></div> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20744.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20744.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">My mentor Iurant and I<br /></div> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20748.0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20748.0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />In this week's post, you can take a look into where I am living and also meet my International mentor, Iurant. The pictures of my room pretty much speak for themself. It's a small cozy room with character and student spunk. It has the mandatory prison cell-like walls that all student dorms have. However, with some scotch tape and friendly pictures, the walls warm right up. The plus side of my room is that I have heating. Many of the flats and halls around the university do not. Dunedin is not a cold place, but none of the buildings are built with any insulation (only on rare occasions), thus the nights can get pretty chilly. Sometimes the interior of a house is colder than the outside. Many students end up buying box heaters or have to dish out the big bucks to pay for their heating bills. The great thing about living in a hall is that utilities are all-inclusive, so I haven't had to worry about using heat sparingly. Also, my room is the only room on the ground floor in my flat, therefore, they have given me 2 heaters which really helps.<br /><br />Now, onto my mentor. Iurant is a wicked cool guy. For all those back home at Western, he is essentially like a soph to me. He was one of the first people I met. He does not live in my residence, but nearby the university. Iurant helped orient me to the school and city and he basically told me everything I needed to know and more about being a foreigner in New Zealand. You see, he too is an International student. He is from Brazil finishing his Political science degree in New Zealand. Since we are in the same program, he has been really helpful in telling me what courses I should and should not take. He has introduced me to professors and other prominent figureheads at the University. I feel very lucky because without his help, I would have been totally lost on certain things. He has also told me the best places to travel to in New Zealand since he has been everywhere. Iurant is also a mentor to one of my other friends at Toroa, Desmond. Every Sunday evening we all try and get together and play poker. This past Sunday though, we watched "The Aristocrats". One ridiculous movie. Enough said.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/13399683-114345972756654540?l=jpaek.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>jewelsssnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13399683.post-1142850544053186322006-03-20T02:01:00.000-08:002006-03-20T02:29:04.073-08:00<div style="text-align: center;"> <div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Please read the post before this one to get the story behind these pics...</span><br /></div><br /><br />Me waiting for the bus and eating lollies before attending the Luau on the beach<br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20711.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20711.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />At a luau on the beach<br /></div> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20712.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20712.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Pacific Islander Dance<br /></div> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20716.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20716.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Flatmate pic in the flat<br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20605.0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20605.0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Flatmate pic on the Otago peninsula<br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20623.0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20623.0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />My good friend Carla<br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20666.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20666.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Paul and I<br /></div> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20684.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20684.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br />My overly happy flatmate Jenn<br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20668.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20668.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />My flatmate Kim and Toroa friend Annie<br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20674.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20674.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />Kim, myself and Carla<br /></div> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20614.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20614.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/13399683-114285054405318632?l=jpaek.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>jewelsssnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13399683.post-1142769669904288812006-03-19T03:36:00.000-08:002006-03-19T04:43:35.903-08:00This past weekend was our Welcome Dinner for Toroa House students. We were escorted to a beautiful venue on the Otago peninsula where we enjoyed a gourmet buffet and then some singing and dancing. Everyone cleaned up and dressed for the event. I have some great pictures of my flatmates and friends from Toroa, however blogspot isn't being too friendly at the moment and letting me upload them. So, please be patient with me and the pictures will be up in due time.<br /><br />This weekend, I also had the opportunity to go to a luau at the local beach. There are many Pacific Islanders who reside in New Zealand and they preserve parts of their culture through these traditional dances. It looked like there was a lot of skill and talent that went into their hand gestures and hip movements, even for the men. There were also some Maori traditional dance performances. If you are unaware of the Maori population in New Zealand, they are the indigenous population who were the first settlers of New Zealand. They make up approximately 15% of the population, however the fact is that there is no such thing as a pure Maori anymore. Anyone who says they are Maori is usually a mix of Maori and Pakeha (European settlers) blood. Although assimilation was a large part of the government's agenda throughout history, the present day government has been attempting to preserve a large part of Maori culture. Maori is one of the official languages here. I have been learning some basics of the language while in New Zealand. For example, when I say "Kia Ora" to you, I am greeting you. In my treaty politics class, I am learning in detail about the colonisation of the Maori and the aftermath. Thus far, it has been very interesting. Surprisingly in a class of only 16 people, there are about 5 other Canadians.<br /><br />Onto other matters...for some time now, I have been wanting to talk about certain things that are quite unique to New Zealand. My flatmates and I have been making a mental list of things that we're simply not used to in North America. We have called this list "kiwi-isms". So here goes...(by the way, for those who haven't caught on yet, "kiwi" is the endearing term we call New Zealanders because their official bird is the kiwi and they have tons and tons of the delicious fruit here)<br /><br />1. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Walking around town barefoot</span>. Some people argue that this is a type of kiwi rebellion and a way to "stick it to the man". Others do it because it is so warm.<br /><br />2. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Reggae Music</span>. The Kiwis love their reggae. Quite a few years ago, Bob Marley played a concert here and he inspired all.<br /><br />3. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Dreads</span>. 1 in 10 people seem to sport dreadlocks. This may be influenced by item 2 on my list. I have also been told by one of my kiwi mates that it's the easiest hairstyle for surfers to manage.<br /><br />4. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Tomato Paste as Ketchup</span>. Those who know me know I love my sauces and this includes ketchup. I mean real ketchup, not the stuff you put on your pasta or make your sloppy joes with. Kiwi ketchup is actually tomato sauce/paste. It's thin, runny and too sweet. A real disaster.<br /><br />5. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Fish and Chips</span>. These fast food stops are on every corner. It's like Tim Hortons in Canada. I am not kidding you. Thankfully, it's delicious stuff. It's greasy, cheap and fast. Everything you would want in fish and chips. Also, there seems to be a pattern in who owns these joints. It's mostly Chinese families who make fish and chips and they're so good at it. It's also not a rarity to be offered a side dish of fried rice with your fish and chips.<br /><br />6. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Island Time</span>. New Zealand is one giant island and they treat it as such. Time moves slower here in New Zealand. I have been on daylight savings since I arrived. The attitude here is that you shouldn't rush to do anything. Just enjoy yourself and take in the moment. This is all nice and dandy on a day at the beach, however when you're on a 10 hour car ride that has slowly turned into 12 and then 14 and then 16 hour trip because of this attitude, it's not so good.<br /><br />7. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Ridiculously overpriced CD's and grapes</span>. I scoured the cd store at the local mall and all the new releases start at $29.99. Even the year old Mariah Carey cd was! That is a sin. I first thought this was maybe because everything had to be imported, however even the Kiwi bands were that expensive. Grapes among other groceries are crazy expensive too. I have heard that all grapes are imported except for grapes to make wine.<br /><br /><br />I really could go on with my list, but that is where I will end it for today. Hope everyone is faring well in Canada and elsewhere! Next time, I will let you know how my "wine appreciation" and "women's self-defence" classes are going :)<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/13399683-114276966990428881?l=jpaek.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>jewelsssnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13399683.post-1142255918713840422006-03-13T04:16:00.000-08:002006-03-13T05:39:17.693-08:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20549.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20549.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20541.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20541.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20536.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20536.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20547.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20547.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>This past weekend was an interesting one. I decided to cram into one car with 4 others to head to the upper West Coast of the South Island. Our destination was Hokitika, a small town well known for it's greenstone, but more importantly for its annual Wild Food Festival. This festival draws approximately 20,000 people every year to try some of the most bizarre and unpleasant foods that exist (and that you didn't even know existed). If you take the scenic route, Hokitika is 13 hours from Dunedin. If you take the straightforward route (which is what we did on the way back), it's about 9 hours.<br /><br />The weekend started with me waking up at 4:30am on Friday morning to make sure we could be on the road by 6am. When I awoke, I took the liberty of calling Chris since it was 10:30am in London. After packing my toothbrush, sleeping bag and appetite, we were on the pitch dark road by 6am. My travelling companions included Eulalia and Patricia (who I sat with in the back seat), Suleiman and driver Elliot. Initially, we drove for about 3 hours until we stopped in Wanaka for a washroom break. Afterwards, we made stops every time there was something worthwhile seeing (which was practically the entire way). Even in the pouring rain, the mountains and beaches were undeniably breathtaking. Once or twice, we stopped to allow a lost sheep cross the road or to make sure we didn't run over possums (which are a huge pest problem in NZ I might add). At one point, we stopped to look at a beautiful waterfall, which was even more alive with the rain. So, the rain was not necessarily a downer, however it did cause a minor detour in our trip. You will notice the picture of the back bumper of Elliot's vehicle. When we were about 5 hours away from Hokitika, we slid off the slippery road into a ditch. We were extremely lucky for 2 reasons: i) no one was hurt; ii) there was a ditch. For most of the drive up, we were on extremely elevated ground driving up mountains where there really was no support on the sides of the road to keep you from falling off. Well, anyways, I won't get into any more details, however I only mention this story because of how grateful I am for our safety. I have a return ticket back to Canada in June and I plan on making that trip. So, after we were towed to a mechanic in the town of Haast and given some string to hold up the back bumper, we were back on the road. This time, more careful and cautious. Elliot decided he would drive the entire way despite initially discussing that we would switch drivers. He was a champ because he drove starting from 6am to midnight which was when we arrived in Hokitika. Once we arrived, we looked for our campsite and managed to set up our tents in the dark. After having a celebratory drink for making it all the way to Hokitika, I decided it was time to crash, especially if we would be scavenging the food festival the following day. I have never really slept in a tent before, so this was a real first for me. I slept with pjs, jeans, 5 different shirts, my jacket and a scarf wrapped around my head. Although the days were a nice 15-17 degrees, the nights were freezing. I learned my lesson for camping in the future: long johns and a touque are a MUST.<br /><br />On Saturday, we headed to the festival around noon where exotic foods awaited us. Some of the more daring of the group headed straight to insects, while I stuck by the sushi booth. Some of the more disgusting foods available to us included: worms, cicadas, grubs, fish eyes, eel spine, frogs, duck tongue (nerves and all), and bull testicles. Some more exotic and odd foods included: horse meat, ostrich pies, crocodile, kangaroo, possum, emu kebabs and viagra slushies. Yes you heard me right on the last one. I don't know exactly how they make it, but it looks like a regular slushy. The most exotic thing I dared to try was crocodile and kangaroo which tasted rather bland and dry. I think this weekend was a turning point for me in my eating habits. While I will remain open to trying new things, I am going to stray away from meat as much as I can. There is a lot of great seafood here in New Zealand at decent prices as well. Although, I must admit that NZ's sushi is very disappointing. They consider chicken rolled into rice and seaweed a piece of sushi.<br /><br />I do have more graphic pictures of the different foods I encountered, however they are not uploading at the moment so I will have to upload them later on in the week. After the foods festival, there was a reggae concert being held in the venue. This was a much better reggae concert experience than my first. The music was recognizable (Bob Marley) and it was music you could seriously dance too. The only 2 bars in Hokitika were in rather rough shape after the concert though. You were lucky if you could move in the bar. I soon left for another cold night's sleep in my tent. Luckily Patricia showed up shortly after so she could spread some body warmth.<br /><br />The following morning I woke up early to explore the small town of Hokitika. Greenstone or New Zealand Jade is mainly found and manufactured in Hokitika. They are turned into figures, statues and more commonly, jewellery. I explored many of these greenstone shops to take a gander. It is quite expensive though. On average, a small necklace is about $70.00. I also discovered a small market in the back streets of Hokitika where they were selling everything from clothes to jewellery to massages to smoked meat. Very random.<br /><br />By noon, we were back on the road back to Dunedin. We stopped in Christchurch to have lunch and pick up another passenger, Annie. She squeezed in with the three of us already crammed in the back and I had one of the most uncomfortable drives of my life. We arrived at midnight in one piece tired and exhausted, however completely full of food and stories. This weekend was a weekend I will always remember, however I don't plan on repeating it anytime soon.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/13399683-114225591871384042?l=jpaek.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>jewelsssnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13399683.post-1141647174953369552006-03-06T01:55:00.000-08:002006-03-06T04:12:54.996-08:00I haven't posted any pics with this post because my friends have them all on their cameras still. As soon as I have them, I will post them. Plus, you don't want to see pics of me in last place in a swim meet (or maybe I don't). Read below...<br /><br />I am officially into my classes now. The University of Otago allowed me to get away with so much, I can't believe these classes will count at Western. For example, I am enrolled in a class that conflicts with another one, but that's ok. As long as I get permission from my profs, it's okay. I was astonished, but very fortunate for this allowance. Another thing that is very sweet about Otago is that 3 courses here equal 5 at Western. However, the course load for once course is still the same. Thus, my schedule is as such: Mondays 2-4; Tuesdays 11-12 & 3-5; Wed 10-12....then it's the weekend for this lucky girl! This works out very well since I am in a vast and foreign country with much to see and do. I am slowly working out my travelling schedule for the next few months. By the way, the courses I am enrolled in are Treaty Politics, Mass Media & Modern Politics, and Social Geography. The geography was pretty random, but it is more like a sociology course than anything.<br /><br />This weekend I am driving to Hokitika with a few friends. This is a 13 hr car ride. But, I am looking forward to it. We are going to a wild food festival. I don't know much else about it, but I will update you with stories and pics I am sure once I get back.<br /><br />As for what I have been up to in the last week...I competed in a swim meet and lost miserably. It was for fun, but my body hurt so badly the following day; it was not worth it at all. My residence also held a potluck and we ate soooooo many delicious foods. New Zealand has a wide range of yummy desserts that are unique to the country. For example, they love chocolate covered marshmallows, so instead of getting a biscotti with your latte, you will more than likely receive a chocolate fish (which is a chocolate covered marshmallow in the shape of a fish). They also call all candy here "lollies," including hard candy, chocolate, suckers, etc. etc. Also, sprinkle doesn't belong on just ice cream or cake, it also belongs on your toast. The list goes on, but I am starting to get hungry so I have to stop. I did have the fortunate chance of getting to try all Kiwi desserts last night at my residence's Kiwi night.<br /><br />I also went to a play this week: Oscar Wilde's "Dorian Grey". What a disappointment. The story itself is very interesting, but the show was awful. There was only one actor. Talk about low-budget. He played 4 different characters in one scene alone and probably 8 characters in total, including women. Granted, he was a great actor, but it didn't make up for the lack of entertainment. I have been told there is actually some great art in Dunedin though, so I am not turned off just yet.<br /><br />Well, I am dead tired, so I will have to end my post here, however it was a great week once again. Thanks to everyone for staying in touch. I will be posting pics shortly so come visit soon!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/13399683-114164717495336955?l=jpaek.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>jewelsssnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13399683.post-1140956091464978142006-02-26T03:45:00.000-08:002006-02-26T04:54:55.143-08:00<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20481.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20481.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Just me and the penguin</span><br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20384.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20384.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Carla (from Italy) and I</span><br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20377.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20377.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Toroa soccer team (yes, I was the lone girl for my team)</span><br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20389.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20389.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Women Across Cultures Potluck</span><br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20405.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20405.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">My female roommates Jenn (left of me) and Kim.</span><br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20391.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20391.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">My flatmates Kim, Sam and Jenn being woken up by a man playing bagpipes. </span><br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20402.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20402.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">My wonderful flatmates and I</span><br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20430.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20430.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">This is one of the caves on Long Beach.</span><br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20423.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20423.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">This is the mountain people climbed up on Long Beach</span><br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20447.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20447.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">The beautiful beach</span><br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20469.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20469.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Look how cute the penguin is!</span><br /></div> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20465.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20465.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20480.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20480.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">I got close!</span><br /></div> <div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20473.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20473.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><br /></div> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20497.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20497.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20492.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20492.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">This was Katchafire and opening bands of the concert</span><br /></div><br /><br />Once again, I accomplished a lot this week. There are simply so many things to do in New Zealand that it's difficult to not be kept busy. All of my roommates finally arrived. They are all awesome people. You will notice some photos of me and the roomies. A quick rundown of their international backgrounds: Kim is from California, Jenn is from Chicago, Thiago is from Sao Paulo, Brazil and Sam is from Dubai. We all get along amazingly for people who just met.<br /><br />This week was week two of the University's Orientation program. I participated in a Residence Sports Day in which our hall won soccer. I rolled my ankle however, but that did not stop me from going tramping (hiking) a few days later up Mount Cargill. This was a good 3 hr tramp uphill then back down. It was a beautiful sight from uptop. I don't have those pics up yet, but will soon. I went to another beach this week. It was called Long Beach (last week, it was St. Claire beach). It was an incredibly warm and sunny day so I couldn't resist and went swimming. The waves were great enough to go out on boogie boards. It was probably one of the best times I've had in water in a very long time. We played sports and there was even mountain climbing on the beach. There were also caves on this beach. At one point, we even saw a penguin. It was incredible. However, I think the penguin was sick because it was rather odd to see her so late in the day on the beach, plus she did not move around much. All in all, it was the perfect day at the beach. I definitely felt like I was in an exotic location. The water is so clear and aqua colour. There are shells and crabs everywhere. I even burnt that day! I don't remember the last time I burnt from being out in the sun....wearing sunblock.<br /><br />That night, I went to a reggae concert on campus. Reggae is huge in New Zealand. They are hugely inspired by Bob Marley, so you can imagine the atmosphere at the concert. The main act was Katchafire which is one of the biggest reggae bands in the country. It was an interesting concert to say the least, however I don't know if I will be going back to a reggae concert anytime soon.<br /><br />We also got the opportunity to sign up for different clubs and specialty classes this week. I joined the tramping club who have hiking trips almost every weekend. I also joined an International women's social group called 'women across cultures'. The first event for this club was on Friday night which was a potluck dinner. Basically the purpose of this club is to meet women of all different backgrounds and cultures and hear about their experiences. They are also welcome to bring their partners and children if they have any. I met a lot of very interesting women already and plan on meeting with them again in the future. My roommate Jenn and I also signed up for a Wine Appreciation class. New Zealand has a reputation of producing some fine wines thus, we thought we should become educated :)<br /><br />This upcoming week, I actually start attending classes. I am really really trying to get thursdays and fridays off so i can do some more travelling on the weekends but I am not sure how successful I will be. But wish me luck!<br /><br />Next post, I will start a list of "Kiwi-isms" (strange but endearing things that Kiwis do).<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/13399683-114095609146497814?l=jpaek.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>jewelsssnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13399683.post-1140422809471832502006-02-19T23:28:00.000-08:002006-02-20T00:07:06.830-08:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20368.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20368.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Below are pictures at the beach. It's a beautiful beach with amazing waves but the water is sooooooooo cold. In the picture with me is Eva from Germany and one of my flatmates Kim from the U.S.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20366.0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20366.0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20310.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20310.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20337.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20337.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20271.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20271.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20265.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20265.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20286.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20286.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20356.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20356.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Above are pictures from the Rugby game. We cheered for the blue and yellow Highlanders (Otago) who won that day! There was also a live band at the game, "the feelers." There is also one random pic of me, Taka from Japan and Suloman from India at our residence BBQ.<br /><br />These set of pictures below are from the classical concert I went to. It was called Last Night of the Proms. In the picture with me is Carla from Canada and Desmond from Singapore.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20263.0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20263.0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20257.0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20257.0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />Below is a blurry picture of my University of Otago student card.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20251.0.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20251.0.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/13399683-114042280947183250?l=jpaek.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>jewelsssnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13399683.post-1140344573837251562006-02-19T00:43:00.000-08:002006-02-20T00:07:52.043-08:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/kiwi.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/kiwi.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />I left Victoria International Airport on February 12, 2006. I arrived at Dunedin International Airport on February 14, 2006. Before you gasp, keep in mind that New Zealand is about 18 hours ahead of Ontario. All in all it took about 26 hours from start to finish. And to be honest, the flight wasn't half bad. The longest part of my flight was from LA to Auckland which was approximately 12 hours. I slept for almost 9 of those hours. I can't even believe it myself considering the uncomfortable and stiff seats. And my head sits at an uncomfortable angle on the headrest because I'm just a couple inches short of the standard. Well, I feel incredibly lucky for the swift and safe flight. However, I knew it was too good to be true.<br /><br />Once I landed in Auckland, I had to switch to the Domestic terminal to catch my flight to Dunedin. I was running late so I had to transport my bags myself on a cart and boot it there. Of course, I'm still in Canada mode, so I'm "driving" my cart on the wrong side of the road. As I almost knock over a family, a kiwi shouts "you're in new Zealand now!" and then it clicks. Oh right, get on the left side. Well anways, ten sweaty minutes later, I'm standing in front of the Air New Zealand counter to check in when I am told that my luggage is 20 kilos over and thus must pay for the extra weight. Well, I'm glad Air Canada didn't tell me about this when I was still in Canada and could have lightened my load. I don't have time to argue, so I pa<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/sheep-desktop.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/sheep-desktop.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>y the hefty $100.00 charge ($5/kilo) and boot it to my flight. Finally, about 3 hours later, I am in Dunedin where I am picked up by a friendly shuttle bus driver who gives me a brief history of New Zealand during the drive to my residence. Of course, the first thing I see on the drive are sheep, hundreds and hundreds of sheep. I am pretty sure I saw them on the plane flying across New Zealand. In New Zealand, they say there are 20 sheep for every person.<br /><br /><br /><br />I am staying at an International Residence apart of the University of Otago. The majority of its students are upper years. I would say the average age is 21. It is an international residence, however there are probably 20% kiwi residents as well. I share a flat with four other people. Thiago is from Brazil; Kim and Jennifer are from the U.S.; and Sam is from Egypt. There is an incredible mix of students here and I wouldn't be surprised if I met someone from every single country by the time I leave.<br /><br />I have been here since Tuesday and have done an incredible amount of things and met an incredible amount of people already. Some of the things I have done include: a rugby match (Otago vs Auckland); a trip to the beach; a bizarre but entertaining classical concert; BBQs; tours, tours and more tours. I have attached some photos of some of these events. I will try very hard to update my blog on a regular basis, so check back often.<br /><br />All in all, I have been having an incredible time. I haven't had time to think about being sad about being away from my friends and family....yet. So, please don't forget to e-mail me or write. My address here is:<br /><br />Julia Paek<br />Flat Rua<br />Toroa International House<br />8 Regent Rd<br />Dunedin<br />New Zealand<br /><br />If you ever wished to call me, this is what you would dial: 011 64 3-471-4516<br /><br />Miss everyone lots!!!!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/13399683-114034457383725156?l=jpaek.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>jewelsssnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13399683.post-1139213531214944472006-02-06T00:11:00.000-08:002006-02-06T00:12:11.216-08:00So it's been a while since my last post. But isn't that very me? Well you would have been able to read a post about me last week if I knew how to use my computer. I was in the middle of writing the most thorough and lengthy and somewhat exciting post last week when I refreshed the page by accident and lost it all. By that point, I had been staring at the computer screen for so long, my pupils were dilated. I had to stop for my own sanity.<br /><br />But here I am, back at it. I am determined to write today. So, let me just give you a rundown of what's new in my life. Well, pretty much, my life has revolved around reading, studying, eating, watching tv, sleeping, hanging out with mom-ing and eating. But, you can take one more verb out of there now! NO MORE STUDYING!!! (for 2 weeks). I wrote the LSAT yesterday. That test is much toooooo long and standardized. On Saturday, I woke up at 7am, started writing the test at 9am and finished at 1pm. You're not allowed to drink water, so they practically scolded a girl for taking a sip of her nalgene! And it wasn't even during the timed session, it was right in between one section to another. Well anyways, I'm done and so relieved. Funny thing was that I wasn't nervous at all for it. Not once. I think it has something to do with the fact that I am 92% sure I am not going to Law School. While it once was a passion of mine, those flames have burnt out. Grad school is where it is at for me right now. It's like my parents say, you have to follow your passions in order to be happy in what you do. I don't think my parents always got to live by those words, but they're giving me and my brother the opportunity to. I once had passions to be a hairdresser and my parents always backed me up. But then I realized noone would want a hairdresser who cut crooked bangs.<br /><br />Well onto some exciting news. My family is getting a puppy! I have been doing some extensive research over the break and we have settled on the small-ish white <a href="http://www.gotpetsonline.com/pictures/gallery/dogs/small-sized-dogs/bichon-frises/bichon-frise-0065/">Bichon Frise</a>. They are a small, sturdy dog who is very playful and cheerful. You would not believe how much a of dog lover and dictionary I have become over my extended break. I have learned random and useless facts about dogs but I have also learned really useful info about them. For example, do not buy from pet stores. Why? Because most of the time, these dogs come from <a href="http://www.prisonersofgreed.org/">puppymills</a> that mass breed with no consideration for their general health and well-being in order to make lots of money on them. Pet stores will buy them all because people will pay upwards of $3000.00 on these puppies. I have come across some pretty gruesome stories and pictures of<a href="http://www.prisonersofgreed.org/"> puppymills</a>. The fact is, to purchase a reliable dog that will be fairly healthy and live a strong, long life, you ought to buy from a breeder (a responsible one). You should expect to pay $1000.00 usually, however, you are assured a higher quality dog and one who was ethically brought into this world with lots of love. However, I do very much support adopting from shelters. You probably won't know what you're getting yourself into, but if you have time, patience and experience, these dogs will be well worth it, so I am told.<br /><br />See, I'm obsessed! Dogs have been consuming me...lol. Anyways, what else is new? Oh Yeah! I'M GOING TO NEW ZEALAND IN ONE WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!! WooHoo!!!!! Finally, the time has come. I leave on February 12 and will arrive on V-day in NZ. That's exciting because although I won't be with my valentine (not the dog), I'll get to spend it with lots of discount chocolate!!! Mmmm, truffles. This week will be crazy busy. Lots of packing, last minute shopping...still need to buy a hiking pack and hiking boots. I'm going all out!<br /><br />Well anyways, I'm going to post this before I refresh it by accident. Miss everyone LOTS. Thanks for all the e-mails and phone calls. They have kept me saneeeeeeeeee! Or have they?<br /><br />p.s. although the date says this was made in January....it was finished on Feb.5.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/13399683-113921353121494447?l=jpaek.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>jewelsssnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13399683.post-1136776783909708192006-01-08T18:45:00.000-08:002006-01-08T21:26:51.300-08:00<a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/100_4244.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; float: left;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/100_4244.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />I decided my holidays were just so damn good, it was worthy of a blog posting. My holiday adventures started quite early on actually. This was a special time for me because I also used this opportunity to see all my close friends and family before I take off to New Zealand. (Speaking of which, I just might start a new blog when I go away..."Julia in Middle Earth"....like it?). So, I made sure I saw my good ol' friends Anni, Sof and my cousin Janice in Toronto before I left. That was a fun-filled week of bonding, store hopping, and restauranting. I also got to see my hal-mu-nee (grandma) with Janice before I left. My g-ma's a sweet ol' lady. Janice's chihuahua "Stinky" was pretty happy to see me, but not as happy to see my toothbrush. Poor toothbrush. I got to see Sof's sweet new apartment and unfortunately just missed Anni's new place, but maybe I will get to see it this coming summer.<br /><br />After a nice week in T.O., it was off to San-ria with the Crightons. What a fabulously fun-food-filled week that was. I always have a blast when I am in Sarnia. I also got a sweet new ipod nano from Chris and his fam. Excellent choice. I did not stay in Sarnia too long; had to catch my flight to BC on the 21st. I packed my whole life and what I would need for the next 8 months into 2 big suitcases and a duffle bag. That was hard. By the way, for those who think you can take as many carry-on bags as you want....WRONG....you can only take two. So I had to pay an extra $40 to hand off another one of my bags in stow away. NOT COOL. Anywho, finally landed in BC and boy was it warm (sorry, had to boast). Spent a wicked x-mas with the mom, dad and Jerf. We went to Vancouver on x-mas day. Boxing day shopping on the 26th...never again. Whistler for snowboarding on the 27th...woohooo! It was pure powder....except at the bottom of the hill where it was 10 degrees and slushy. But even just half way up the mountain, it was a snowstorm....crazy weird.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20222.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20222.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Then Chris came to stay with me for a week starting on New Years eve! He fell asleep during the countdown because he was so jetlagged. You have to forgive him though because if you think about it, was really 3am for him when we rang in the New Year at midnight in BC. We had a wicked week of shopping, sightseeing, and sluggin'. We even got to go to Nanaimo (Ms. D. Krall's and Samantha Jones' hometown). I got to pick up a Nanaimo bar from Nanaimo...Crazy Delicious! You can get the best Nanaimo bar recipe from the City of Nanaimo's website: http://www.nanaimo.ca/visitors/index_inside.asp?id=189&parent=7&amp;sub_collection=11<br /><br />I have posted some pics from my holidays....enjoy!<br /><br />Maybe I could get used to this.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20231.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; cursor: pointer; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20231.jpg" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20235.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; cursor: pointer; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20235.jpg" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/1600/Photo%20Library%20-%20248.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; cursor: pointer; text-align: center;" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7970/1175/320/Photo%20Library%20-%20248.jpg" border="0" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/13399683-113677678390970819?l=jpaek.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>jewelsssnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13399683.post-1122579155000684622005-07-28T12:16:00.000-07:002005-07-28T12:32:35.006-07:00I would consider myself to be a person who has a lot to say and has many opinions to share, but for some reason I don't feel comfortable doing it on a blog. I'm not even a shy person either. Maybe, I am just not as compatible with technology as most others. I love sharing my experiences with friends and family and also hearing theirs. I enjoy a healthy debate with just about anyone who is willing. My most favourite means of communication is in person. Talking with people face to face allows for so much more interaction. You can truly get a sense of one's character and personality. You can get a feel for the environment, see the emotions and most of all, you can be a lot more effective and influential in person. I am also an incredibly visual person. What someone sees is not necessarily what I see. Bottom line, for you to get to know the real me and really get a sense of who I am, come drop by for a visit. Until then, I will learn to be more expressive via blogdom.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/13399683-112257915500068462?l=jpaek.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>jewelsssnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13399683.post-1119036686464446092005-06-17T12:22:00.000-07:002005-06-17T12:31:26.470-07:00Finally, I have decided to write a new post. This is mostly the result of Sylvia threatening to delete me from her blog friends. So, I am working at SAO this summer and we are about to open the doors to the first years this coming Monday. Very exciting! This weekend is our charity rep weekend though, so that is really consuming my mind right now. I am really lookin forward to it. I am so tired right now though! Yesterday we had a scavenger hunt and it was ridiculously fun yet ridiculously tiring! I am so excited for our staff BBQ tonight!! Sooooo goood. Ok thats all for now. I am new to posting so don't mind the mediochre posts. I miss ya Annie, Gibbons, Med-Syd, Mom, Dad, Jerf! My parents have e-mail accounts now, maybe they will have blogs next!!Aaaaaah!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/13399683-111903668646444609?l=jpaek.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>jewelsssnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13399683.post-1117832434661893262005-06-03T17:00:00.000-07:002005-06-03T14:00:34.666-07:00Yes, I have a blog. Now, I cannot promise you that I will be on here again after this initial note. However, if I am, I can tell you it won't become an addiction or an account of my whole life story. To be honest, this blog is the result of me not having anything to do on a rainy afternoon and really wanting to own something with the title "that is so PoMo". Man, I love that phrase. Well, anyways, that is all for right now. I have to go tell Annie and Sylvia how grown up I am with my new blog and all.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/13399683-111783243466189326?l=jpaek.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>jewelsssnoreply@blogger.com5