Changes in Latitudes

On Saturday night a group of us went to my friend Becca's flat. She told us about this game called "Whales Tails" that she played at Florida Tech. That's all I am allowed to say.

Saturday morning a group of us woke up early to head out to Muriwai Beach and enjoy the sunshine. Sadly there wasn't much sunshine most of the day but it was still nice. Borghild and I were able to catch some rays at least, but it's not noticeable. A couple guys surfed, but the waves were really bad and it was hard for them to get up more than twice. It was still a nice relaxing day at the beach. It is now mid-semester break. Yesterday, Borghild came over all day and since it was pouring rain we sat on the couch and watched movies and just relaxed. That night I fell into a nice sleep...that is until about 4AM when the fire alarms started going off. I couldn't even hear the alarms in my room! That's the scary part. Eike opened my door and that's what woke me up. The six of us flatmates went down the eight floors of stairs and saw three fire trucks outside. There was no sign of smoke. Everyone who evacuated did not seem very smart and stood right outside the main doo...

This cold is not getting any better. I thought that I was totally over it until Saturday night after playing soccer in the park with some mates. The past two days I have had a stuffy nose. The only good thing to come out of having a stuffy nose is that today in my biology lab I had to dissect a fish. It was a 24cm long carp, and according to my lab partner the whole room reeked of dead fish. I had a pretty good dissection, and yet I was probably the messiest one. There was fish blood all over the tabletop and the lab instructors would walk by and say "You really are enjoying lab this week!" I wish I brought my camera to take some pictures. I have now been sitting at my desk for the past six hours working on my essay for Antarctica. It's coming along slowly but surely. I'm not looking forward to my international business mid-term on Thursday. But after this week I will have two heavenly weeks off to get rid of this cold! I hope I can sleep well tonight since I'm so...

On Thursday night I had a Comparative Animal Biology mid-term exam. Monday I have an abstract for my project due. It only needs to be 300 words but it is so difficult to explain something in that small amount of space. I would much rather write 1500 words! Then on Wednesday my essay for Antarctica is due. The research question is: Describe the origins and nature of the Antarctic Ice Sheet and discuss how climactic change might be affecting its dynamics. Include in your essay a description of the two major components of the Antarctic Ice Sheet and discuss various lines of evidence relating to how they might be affected by climate warming and what the consequences of this warming might be. HOT DAMN! That's a mouthful! And finally on Thursday I have a mid-term exam for International Business. It will be interesting. The whole lecture hour is pretty much "this is why America sucks." I realize that it's just the reality of international business with the United States bein...

Here are some videos from Queenstown that I put together into one clip from April 2009.

I woke up this morning to a beautiful day! The sun was piercing my eyes since I forgot to close my blinds last night and my room was lit up. It was a good way to start the morning though. I got to talk to Marius and his best friend Martin back in Norway. They were watching a soccer game on tv and said one of the best parts of the game was watching a guy get hit in the "croutch" with the ball. I then had to help them practice saying "crotch"...so funny! It's so nice out today that I hope I can concentrate on studying. The whole weekend it was pouring rain and I didn't get out of the apartment much during the day. But I can't enjoy the weather too much because I have an exam for Comparative Animal Biology on Thursday! Time is flying by so fast, it's hard to believe I'm already into my fourth week at uni. I have been keeping up with my gym routine. The cold is mostly gone but now my voice is also gone. My friend Ron celebrated his 29th birthday (the...

Thank goodness it's Friday! It's a rainy day today. Have one last class and then I will be done for the day. I will probably go to the gym and then get to work on my essay regarding how climate changes affect the Antarctic Ice Sheet. All but one of my lecturers for this course have spent time in Antarctica! I'm slowly getting over this cold, but woke up with red, watering eyes this morning - not fun. But my Comparative Animal Biology course was funny and interesting as usual. My professor told us that his 93 year-old dad has a facebook with five friends! Tonight I plan to bake brownies with Borghild and then go to Frank's to watch a movie. Becca told me that she plays violin, so I think I will see if she wants to play together some time. She is a lot of fun and is like a mentor for me since she is a post-graduate Marine Biology student. I hope to stop by Kelly Tarlton's soon. It's an aquarium about 30 minutes from here...probably about a 90 minute walk from city...

A little update with what has been happening on the other end of the earth. I'm constantly researching for my science classes, which I thoroughly enjoy! I have a bit of a cold and it has moved from my head to my lungs now. I go to the gym six days a week and my exercise routines have been significantly lighter than the usual because of it. I would just stay home, but I need to keep on track. I love my new routine! The research I'm doing is very basic; just reading scientific journals and talking to professors. The presentation will be eight minutes on the effects of underwater sound on fish. So far I have found out that it plays a role in guiding pelagic post-larval fish and crustaceans to settlement habitats in reefs. Sorry if that was like reading Chinese to some of you. I have been contacting my Marine Science professor from last semester, John Montgomery, about his research on the matter. He is published in a few scientific journals. How do you like the new layout? I thoug...

Thought I would give an update on what has been going on with my studies here in New Zealand. I woke up this morning at 5:30AM feeling great! I made some tea, got some cereal, and turned on the BBC news that's played through the web. I stumbled upon an interesting link leading to the National Geographic site and saw one of the coolest things: prosthetic limbs for an injured 20-year old loggerhead sea turtle! The turtle was found intertwined in fishing nets in Japan she also had various wounds caused by sharks (lost half of one forelimb and a third of the other). Loggerhead turtles are endangered and it is amazing that scientists have developed this solution! This is the link to the video if you're curious: http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/news/animals-news/artificial-turtle-flipper-apvin.html Today in my Comparative Animal Biology lecture we discussed the Phylum Chordata (includes vertebrates). The lecturer was pretty comical. We learned about the supergroup tha...