How my doing is going

I am going to split up this entry into two parts, one about how my life is going here in Palmy, and the other about the awesome Bush Ball tramp I just got back from.

So how am I? Well, I would tell the average person that I’m doing great. But that isn’t necessarily how my “doing is going” as Judy Peterson would say, and I definitely cannot tell you how I am doing in a single syllable.

It’s true that I am having the time of my life here. I just got back from a sweet backpacking trip. Two nights before that I got to see the movie "Inception" on launch day—Inception is AWESOME by the way, if your mind has not been sufficiently blown in the last couple years, get to a theater and go watch it NOW. Earlier in the week I got to see a ridiculous New Zealand horror-spoof movie called “Black Sheep” where genetically altered sheep turn into monsters that start killing everyone. I’ve gotten plenty of time to hang out with people and have fun. So here I am on the other side of the world, experiencing a foreign culture, meeting interesting people, and doing interesting stuff.

But that isn’t the whole story. I’m sure when I look back in the future I won’t remember how stressed I have been all the time trying to coordinate and prepare for different activities. I spent a lot of time last week running around trying to get signed up for the Alpine Club tramp, getting tramping gear, and just coordinating hanging out with people. On my mind I also have to balance doing class work and the usual chores of living on your own. I have to make sure I have a free afternoon each week to take the bus into town to buy food, and I have to do my laundry more than a day in advance of when I need it because there is no dryer here, only drying racks.

I live up in a place called Atawhai Village which is about a ten minute walk from campus. It’s a beautiful flat to live in (I know I promised a blog post about my living space, and I still will post that sometime here), but it’s also a bit removed from campus, and at times it can be difficult to connect with anyone else who is down on campus. If you are a North Parker, think of Atawhai as much better version of Park North. Perhaps the epitome this disconnect was last weekend when I checked my facebook on Saturday morning and found that everyone I normally hang out with had an update about going down to wellington. I would have very much enjoyed a trip to Wellington but no one thought to leave any space in the car for me, and so I had nothing to do but stay home all weekend. I went for a bike ride in the rain. I have always been the sort of person who gets stressed about social interactions, especially in new social situations.

Another interesting thing to note is the weather. It is probably the least of my problems, but it still isn’t easy to get used to winter. It is overcast, rainy, and windy most days (low 50s usually), rather like winter in Seattle, so I’m kind of glad I have experienced plenty of Seattle winters. Also, it gets dark by 6:00 at night. On clear nights it is pretty awesome because I can see the milky way from my front porch by 7:00 in the evening. Other times though, being dark is not so cool. To be fair, I think I am fairly used to the weather. Whenever I hear about anyone from the States doing some outdoor activities right now it does seem a little odd that they would go do stuff at this time of year.

So anyway, there you have about 500 words on how I am actually doing. It’s tough to adjust here, but it’s also incredible.