Wellington weather is a lot like Burlington. I have learned to accept that I have not escaped the unpredictable, windy weather. It's currently raining and a bit chilly. As was the plan for the weekend. We lucked out and were able to have some nice mornings of sunshine. Saturday was absolutely beautiful and all of a sudden turned cloudy. Weather moves along quite fast here.

My attempt to attend every class last week did not happen. I skipped more than usual remember I can just "get by" here. Oh well!
We actually only have 2 more weeks of classes before our mega exam break. UVM gives us a day or two of "reading days"...Massey is giving us over a week. I might consider traveling during that.. but I also need to read up on the entire semester's course work. Exams are 60% of my grade. Something tells me it's time to get serious that week. Hm.
I'm still trying to plan out a South Island trip. I am thinking of going with a bus company (Magic) that allows you to hop on and hop off. So if a place doesn't suit me, I could just keep moving and move on to the next. There are few buses that just circle the islands. I was a little nervous to do it on my own but I think it will be okay. Everyone has been to the south island (during break either with family or in the massive group that rented vans). People are also pretty tight on money and as much as they'd like to go with me, it's not realistic. I talked to Jayne (the international student advisor) and she told me everyone on those buses is alone or with one friend. So it could be kind of cool and I doubt I'll get lonely. It's only a week that I'm doing anyways.
I just refuse to leave New Zealand only seeing the wine region of the South Island.

I started missing family and friends a little more this week. Obviously I have missed everyone throughout my journey but it just seemed to be a bit more apparent this past week. I haven't been depressed so to speak, but it's just on my mind. But I also refuse to sit in my room and mope about it so I've been good about keeping up and ignoring the feelings.
I think it's the fact that everyone is now on summer break and I just want to relive summer 2009.
Last week was Matthias' birthday so a few of us went to J.J. Murphys (Irish pub on Cuba Street) for a few beers and played pool. Yeah, I played pool. Leah and I were terrible and ended up being on a team one round and literally just laughed the entire time. It was a good time. And when my Monteith's beer (craft, similar to Magic Hat) is in the picture- I'm a happy camper!
It was nice to be back in the swing of things in Wellington since all my travels.
Saturday Leah, Kelsi, Emily, and I went to his soccer game in Newtown. It is about 30 minutes from Wellington and was a nice walk. That day, it was about 65 pre-rain/clouds. Leah, Kelsi, and Alice also planned a party at their flat for him that night. Parties here start at like 8-8:30 because we're in a dorm and quiet hours starts at 10. A bit ridiculous. So I'll probably come back to the states ready to pregame at 6ish. It was SO nice to be out on the town in Wellington last night. Everyone was out and we all ended up meeting up throughout the night which was awesome. Donna and I stopped at Burger King before heading back. It was my first time stopping at an American fast food place while in NZ. I vouched that I wouldn't end up in one through the 5-months but I failed at that. I ended up seeing so many people in there that I knew which made the experience ten times better. I think it's safe to say that we all had a good night and rough Sunday. I've been incredibly unproductive day. I started out going to the Victoria market to get my fruit and veges. I know I've explained how cheap it is.. but this is crazy. I got 5 bananas, 4 apples, a pepper, carrot, onion, and potato all for $2.20 NZ, which is about $1.50 USD. Out of control. I also think it's best to stay away from that market after a night out. It's pure chaos there. Everyone is digging for their stuff, traffic jams everywhere, people screaming their fish prices. Wow. It was so overwhelming.
I was talking to Donna about her next semester and about my replacement. I can't imagine someone else living in this room. I guess that's good because it is my home and MY room! It's going to be really weird stripping the walls, packing, etc. I have a love/hate relationship for the cube. It's a 9-story building with crammed housing in a cube shape. So there really is no privacy. I look out the window and see someone else in their window. And there are also heaps of freshmen running everywhere. I know it's only a 3 year difference but there is just so much growing from freshmen year to SENIOR (sounds weird!) year. But it's also great having the ability to stay inside and visit someone else's apartment. I say I hate this cube, but I think i genuinely like it.
I haven't been sleeping normal either lately. It's so annoying! I'll try and go to bed at a normal time but end up going to bed around 2, then waking up around 8ish. Even after this weekend when I got about 7 hours total, I can't sleep now. Hence, the blogggging!

xo