I also gladly participated in a round of karaoke this week! My flat mate Ann and I along with several eager men went to Thursday night karaoke at a place appropriately named The Baaa. There were only a handful of people there, so I wasn’t that afraid to sing. Of course, I had to sing a song by Enrique…which I was pleasantly surprised they had!! I hope I did some sort of justice to that song (which I didn’t)…anyway, it was great fun to overcome my fear of public singing (and to cross it off my bucket listJ)!
We also had a great plan to see the sunrise on top of Mount Cargill this weekend. We got up bright and early at 5 to walk to the top by 8 am to catch it. The only problem was the rain, as we thought it would clear out by the time eight came around but it didn’t. Four of us all walked to the base of the mountain, and then some friends met us there with their car. Quickly, we decided that we would rather be in a warm car driving to the top than braving the cold rain and darkness of the trail. Eagerly, we all piled in a car named Sally and drove to the top. We had about an hour of time to spare before we could potentially see the sunrise. Ann had the brilliant idea of creating a reality TV show of some sort while we wait. Since we were all overtired, we went through with the idea. Some highlights of the episode include: A cat fight between two girls, rationing food, hiding food, a contest in who can stay outside the longest, a secret lover, and the saying of “world peace” in every possible moment. One can say we bonded over silliness. Sadly, the clouds did not depart before 8. We saw glorious fog and nothing else! Oh well, I guess I will have to save that for another time!
There was the annual Cadbury chocolate festival this weekend, and that includes a very exciting Jaffa race. Jaffa’s are colored chocolate balls trademarked by Cadbury. About 50,000 people participate in this race by buying a Jaffa ball for $1 NZD. There is over 10,000 dollars’ worth of prizes for the top finishers…the balls that make it down the steepest street in the world (where the race is held). They close down Baldwin Street, put up nets to protect spectators from flying chocolate, and have people at the top of the street with a huge box of Jaffa balls ready to release them. It was definitely a spectacle to see 50,000 red and purple balls falling down the street at a decent speed.
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| At the bottom of the street |
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| Covered in chocolate |
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| The Jaffas rolling down! |
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| And again... Here is a video I took, I apologize in advance for my friend's language at the end... |
It’s still really hard for me to believe that I am so far away from home, either it hasn’t hit me, or this is feeling like home?! I am unbelievably blessed to be experiencing this, and I am so glad that I have the support of my parents and family. Sometimes I smile randomly when I think about how much my life has been altered for the better in the short time I have been away. If I hadn’t come, I would not have met some amazing people and seen beautiful things. Everyone has a different story, and I find it so intriguing how we can all bond because of this shared experience.
Just for your information: some Kiwi terms that I have noticed to be quite prevalent in the great country of NZ!
Boot-trunk of a car
Lift-elevator
Muesli- granola (cereal, bars, oatmeal…)
Sweetas- their way of saying “Cool!”
Wee- replaces the word little for everything
Keen- apt to do something
Shoveling-flirting (They get creative and say stuff like, “are your arms getting tired from shoveling?”)
Papers-classes
Cheers-always said in place of “Have a nice day!”
I hope to make it out to the peninsula soon to see some penguins!! My flat mates and I are also planning a camping trip if the weather is nice for an upcoming weekend, so I am looking forward to that! Might as well pretend its summer here...
Oh goodness, what a delight to read your updates :) Seems like you have bonded well with your flatties and the kiwis ;) LOVE you and LOVE reading of your experiences. We miss you greatly.
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