New Zealand Pic of the Week

Ferns go hand-in-hand with New Zealand. Here a tree fern is unfurling one of its fronds as
the sun sets behind. Taken near Cowshed Bay on August 28, 2002.

Make sure you pick the right one! When grocery shopping in New Zealand, one must have his wits about him.

Saturday, October 5, 2002

Last weekend, while grocery shopping with my flatmates for the week, I came across this "display" of grocery items near the checkout at New World (see picture). I don't quite know why I think it's so funny, but I certainly do. I don't know if I'm really allowed to be taking pictures in supermarkets, but I couldn't resist. Chris was with me at the time and we had a good laugh about it (fortunately, we had enough tomato sauce and dish soap).

This week has been a good one for me. It was quite relaxing despite the fact that I have plenty of studying to do. Last night we had a party here at the flat for Chris's birthday that was over a week ago (We went out to dinner on his actual birthday. See the picture from last week's update.). It was pretty fun. There were like 60 people cramped into our flat. It wasn't too bad because our doors were open so people could hang out outside as well, but it was a bit cold to be outside. I was amazed at the transformation that occurred in our flat hours before the party! The cluttered, messy living space was suddenly cleared out. I never knew there was so much space in there! Anyway, I had a good time and met some new people (well, lots of new people).

Before the party, my friend Tim came over and we had a good jam session just hanging out for a few hours in my room listening to music and playing guitar together. He's really, really good, so it is always nice to play with him as he adds much ornament to my simple chords or picking patterns. We have also started figuring some Harrod & Funck stuff out which is quite exciting for me as you may already be able to imagine. Who knows what the future holds?

This week has also been good because I've started to learn some new songs by Dashboard Confessional and John Mayer. Before Tim left, he mentioned that he'd like to learn how to play "Your Body Is A Wonderland" by John Mayer. I was intending to look it up online and try to figure it out this weekend. Then, later that night, I went to watch only my second Late Show with David Letterman in New Zealand because Edward Norton was on promoting the movie Red Dragon (which looks fantastic by the way). I was shocked with excitement when I watched the opening of the show and they announced that the musical guest would be none other than John Mayer! Not only that, but the song he played was, you guessed it, "Your Body Is A Wonderland"! It was so good too. He is an incredible artist. But anyway, that was quite a thrill.

Here I am on the beach near Cathedral Caves in the Catlins wilderness area of southern New Zealand. July 27, 2002.

Last night's party was great, but I really do need to get some work done this weekend. In fact, I'll probably do some work right after I finish this page before I go out for the night. I'll be leaving for Australia in less than a week! I'm scheduled to leave the Dunedin airport next Friday afternoon, so the next update will probably be written from Brisbane, Australia. Maybe I'll write some while in transit. I have two computer science assignments due next week as well and I don't want to have to stay up all night the night before I leave to get them done. After that, I'll have all types of studying to do for my finals - the least of which is worth 60 percent of my final grade! Crazy, huh? I'll really need to do lots of studying while I'm in Australia. You're probably thinking, "Yeah, right!" Well, I can understand why you might think that, but I think I'll get a good bit done. I'll be staying with Gregory Rydzak, a good friend of mine from way back in the good, old days at Dickinson. He's studying at the University of Queensland in Brisbane and will still be having lectures while I'm there (from Oct. 11 to Oct. 23). So, I'm hoping to do my studying while he goes about his business during the day, then we'll go out and conquer the city in the evenings. Caroline Estabrook and my cousin Hanni are also studying there, so I hope to hang out with them some too. I'm really looking forward to seeing the first familiar face in almost four months!

Honestly though, things have been going really well lately. I'm really starting to like it here, and I'm getting excited about spending the summer up in windy Wellington with Paul. I'm still learning so much more about life and God and Christianity here than I could ever have hoped to were I at Dickinson this year. I'm so thankful for the opportunity to meet all these wonderful, new people even though it was rather difficult at first. But it's been far more than worth it - even in just the first 3 and a half months!

I'll write more next week, but that's all for now. I plan over the summer to put up lots more photos from different trips thusfar, but I'll definitely continue to include pictures with these updates.

~ben

Here's a panoramic view of Dunedin, NZ looking south. I took this picture from one of the many hills surrounding the city
on September 2, 2002. The Otago peninsula extends out to the left, and Otago University is off the picture to the right.