Changes in Latitudes

Saturday I had friends over and we cooked a quick version of Thanksgiving foods. I made apple pie, mashed potatoes, savory (Beaner's) beans, stuffing, and gravy. Instead of spending five hours cooking a turkey, we opted for the quick and convenient choice of buying roasted chicken from the grocery store. I was surprised to discover that New Zealand lacks canned pumpkin, so there was no pumpkin pie. I found this so strange because kiwis use pumpkin in several typical recipes, which include pumpkin soup. Also on the menu was corn pudding; however, monterey jack cheese was no where to be found. There were eleven of us in total and the meal was a total success! We are planning the next meal to be on or around November 2, for Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead).

Spent quite a bit of time studying for my Antarctica: The Frozen Continent mid-term and most of the questions were the same as on the practice tests. I'm feeling very confident. I managed to get my presentation on the effects of underwater sound on fish done and will present to the class on September 29. And to top it all off I got 100% on my International Business quiz! I can actually semi-relax this weekend with a little occasional Biology studying and playing my mandolin. I will also be starting up at Kathmandu this week! I'm feeling great! [Picture from Taupo camping trip]

That's right, spring has finally arrived. I have felt like I've been in eight months of winter with very little warm weather but the trees are green again in Auckland! And yet here I am, stuck inside studying Antarctica, working on my presentation on underwater sound with fish, and soon to be working. That's right, I now have a job! I begin this week at Kathmandu. It's an outdoors store that specializes in fancy camping gear and clothes. A little bit similar to L.L. Bean I think. I won't get 20 hours per week so I'm on the hunt for a second job, mostly for once summer vacation starts so that I can keep money coming in. I am on quite the workout routine now as well. My Norwegian friend, Borghild, and I have been working out nearly everyday and watching what we eat...all the way down to no more beer! WHAT?! The good thing that has come out of this though is that my wallet is staying fat on this new diet. Which eventually leads to hopefully getting home for next Th...

On Thursday I went down to Taupo for a five night camping trip with Borghild, Divya, and Frank. We left Auckland via coach bus and had a fun ride down. Our bus driver was pretty funny and there was a girl about my age playing banjo. We talked for quite sometime about bluegrass and folk music. She was really glad to meet another folk music person since it isn't very popular in New Zealand. She has a band and has been playing the banjo for six years, just as long as me with my mandolin. Next time she is up in Auckland, she and I will be having a jam session. We got off the bus in Taupo with beautiful weather; some clouds, but no rain. We took a taxi to the Great Lake Holiday Park and set up our tent. It wasn't a campground, but was the closest thing to it at the time. There was a full kitchen, bathrooms, a lounge, BBQ and a hot tub. We made hamburgers and sausages for dinner and finished up with some attempted volleyball before keeping warm in the lounge that ended up not being h...

I will be down in Lake Taupo until Tuesday and will have a nice long blog entry upon my return!