Melbourne!

Yesterday I arrived in Australia safe and sound...the flight was memorable because of a group of NZ women who were leaving for their vacation. It was pretty hilarious, they gave Claire, Ang and I cheese and crackers. I saw only a portion of the city today - Melbourne is massive! There are 4 million people here: the population of New Zealand. It's quite incredible. But my flatmates, Claire/Isabel and Angela/Nikki, are city girls, so they keep me safe. And we decided to spiff up our holiday by using psuedonyms while we're here, it's hilarious! I'm Kate. The three of us are having a great time trying to remember one another's names. I leave for Brisbane on Monday night and arrive there at 11:30pm. Oh the life of a traveller!

Ode to a friend

Today, in an act of senselessness, a very dear relationship of three years ended in my life.
It shouldn't have happened; I am to blame. I only wish there was some way to erase what happened, to make restitution, to heal wounds. But I cannot be. I know that no amount of pleading will be able to change the facts of the situation.
My nalgene bottle is cracked.

The Ode to The Nalgene Bottle:

Twere a dear friend! You were with me through so much
We formed our bond in Colorado, Aug. 2003
I took you to Summit, to the Shakespeare Festival, to Boise State
You were never unwilling to hold 1000ml of pudding, or water
(taken from a tap or a stream near the Bench lakes - with the addition of a few drops of
chlorine bleach or a prayer of protection from giardia)
Your incurable wound marred the emblem you wore from Glacier National Park,
"I shall never adventure again!" seems the cry
From hanging out at the Black Cliffs to providing relief from the heat
in my non-AC vehicle, we laid a foundation of lifelong proportions
Come what may, your gift was your song, and it was for me

All in one moment
it was gone

I believed you were invincible..."unbreakable"
...My foolishness has continued, just like when I broke your lid the first time
But this time, I cannot rush to REI
to make amends
for New Zealand knows not the wonder of that haven
Instead, I rushed the report to your maker at www.nalgene-outdoor.com
And this time, I had friends who witnessed and comforted
Despite their laughter, I knew they truly understood my loss
So, goodbye, dear friend
you were a sweet one

More thinking

Hmm, one more thing that's contributed to my thinking.

Many of you know this, but Mum and Dad have been licensed for foster care for the past year or so, in the hope of adopting a sibling group from the foster care system. I'd been a difficult and heartbreaking journey.
Recently our homestudy (the packet of info on my fam) was viewed for a sibling group of three children and we were chosen as the "best fit." Or something...however they term it.
It's been super-exciting for our family, but a challenging decision to make. Do these three belong in our family? How do we know? What questions do you ask to determine that answer? Do my parents just go with the majority of satisfactory answers, knowing there will be some really rough times, but also knowing they can offer a loving home to these children?
So many questions.
And so I find myself on the other side of the world, not knowing if it's alright to form an emotional attachment with my "siblings" (should I call them that yet?). Even from this aspect, I understand why so many foster children become emotionally alienated...why form a bond that's not going to last? Or worse yet, one that won't be reciprocated.One scenario is that my parents DO adopt these beautiful children and I become the eldest of six. They could be "home" before me and my first words to my siblings would be over the phone.
I'm trying to be objective in this situation, but it's terribly difficult.

I thought I'd share this just so you all back home know that I'm not just focused on Middle-Earth type thoughts :o)

But, as per request, I am continuing the hunt for an Aragorn toothbrush for Sarah. If you find one, will you let me know please? Just ring me up when the time comes for the kill...

Summarisation via Quotation

Inspired by a fellow blogger I have decided to post some of my thoughts. As I am feeling rather philosophical at the moment (thanks due, no doubt, to the fact that I ought to be studying for exams) I thought I would just share some of my feelings at this time of life and location.
I'm definitely frustrated with my melancholy attitude. I feel emotionally gross lately, and while I am aware of many of the sources of this grossness, I still cling to...well, the hopeless romanticism of being melancholy...I think. Not entirely sure, to be honest. But I found my struggle to have been summarised by Rich Mullens:

"Surrender don't come natural to me.
I'd rather fight You for something I don't really want
than take what You give, that I need.
And I've beat my head against so many walls
now I'm falling down, falling on my knees...
...Hold me, Jesus, 'cause I'm shaking like a leaf..."

But this is the age-old struggle. Job spoke the same thing at the end of his captivating, thrilling, best-selling book:

Then Job replied to the LORD : 2 "I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted.

3 You asked, 'Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?' Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.

4 "You said, 'Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.'

5 My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.

6 Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes."

My dear friend Lynn would say,
"We never 'arrive'; this is the lesson we continually learn in life - that apart from Jesus we can do nothing."

And to boot, I've been of late continuing my thinking about the attempt to wrap the mind around things...this issue of control. Last night, in a humorous moment, that same inspirational blogging friend spoke these profound words, "People don't like you if they can't put you in a box."

I feel shy in explaining why that summarised everything I've been contemplating: God's sovereignty, friends, tribes and nations. Sometimes I wonder why my head doesn't explode with all the compounding factors that go into my discussions with myself and I. Yet, I don't think I think too much :o) If anything, I don't think enough. I go just far enough in mental discussion to feel confused and frustrated.

but now that I've circled back around to frustration, I'll sign off by bestowing upon you all the fact that I'm going tanning tomorrow with Mel and Courtney. This much to the chagrin of my red-headed, porcelain-skinned flatmate, Angela, who should be commended in her fantastic skin-protection regime. It's pretty amazing.

I have three reasons for tanning:
1. helps battle the winter blues
2. going to Australia in a week!
3. to provide proof of my India genes

love you all.
really.
:P

Tues. 14 June: Dinner explained, with the assistance of a thesaurus.

Last night, as Emily, Courtney, and I were all snuggly-warm, finishing dinner and watching "Sleepless in Seattle," (LOVE that movie!) a friend came stumbling up the dark stairs to find me. "Dinner with friends!" came the invite, and I knew I couldn't turn it down.
There we sat and enjoyed some hilarious conversation at the same fun Japanese restaurant that Anj, Claire and I had visited a few weeks ago. We were a jovial heptet: two Germans, a Fijian-Indian, and two Americans. After dinner we walked to Tull, a tiny joint in a dodgy-looking area with raved-about desserts. "This place has reached cult status," the Fijian-Indian said, as we were informed of our luck at being seated, despite our lack of reservation.
Our server was a man of corpulent physique, with a long greyish beard and hair to match, pulled back and tamed by a bandanna that wrapped around his head. "Interesting," thought I, "that such a place as this would be so popular." It was gathered that this man not only was our server, but also the preparer of our dessert. The menu named unrestrained dishes such as "Chocolate Massacre," and offered for each a description of lavish and flowery proportions...not unlike those ridiculous ones found on bottles of wine.
The entire experience was yet another that made me realise how special life can be. Taking time out to talk to each other and have fun... to be dorky and run through an airport singing "San Francisco, open your golden gates."
Um, except they kind of stare at you when you actually do it in San Francisco. Thanks to my darling sister, Sarah, who did it two years ago. Oh the memories!
Hmm, in continuation of my randomness, I meant to mention that "Tull" is, indeed, in honour of Jethro. There was a large cardboard cut-out on the wall of The Tull, and I suppose that offers an explanation of our server/chef...
Also, I cut my hair again :o)

On a slightly more frigid note

While the majority of my readers are enjoying the near-toasty temperatures of the northern hemisphere, I just thought I'd mention that on my walk home from uni today my backside and thighs went numb.
Numb.
Despite the fact that I'd just worked out and was almost speed walking.
And it's not even the coldest month yet. I hear it gets worse in July...but hey! I'm in New Zealand :o)

and I was able to smile and praise God for it while I froze!

Exams

I thought I'd share with you all my exam schedule (all June):
11 - Biomedical Ethics, 3 essays: 2hrs
17 - Spanish, quiz format: 2hrs
18 - Evolution of Human Diet, 3 essays: 2hrs
20 - History, 4 essays: 3hrs
Frightening!
But the good news is that from 23 June to 5 July Liz will be exploring Australia :o) I decided to go now while it's cold here and warm there. I'll explore more of NZ at the end of 2nd semester - beginning of summer. So, I fly into Melbourne and two days later Claire and Angela join me. The tentative plan is to make it up to Brisbane together, perhaps renting a car and bombing the drive (apparently the maps are out of proportion and it could take three days of continuous driving to make it to Brisbane). We fly out of Brisbane 5 July. I have a play rehearsal on the 6th of July. DCBC is putting on "The Magician's Nephew" from the Chronicles of Narnia (last year was The Lion/Witch/Wardrobe). Performances are: 16, 17, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24 September. I play Aunt Letty and the She-Bear. Although I'm giving up a lot of weekends for the play, it's something I want to do. True, I can always be in plays in Idaho, but how often do I get to be in plays in NZ? And I'm looking forward to building more friendships here :o)
Ooh, and last night my spanish tutorial class celebrated the semester end with dinner at a mexican restaurant. Lilian (our lecturer) came with her husband and daughters. The dinner was a huge success, nearly the entire class showed up. We gave Lilian a card and two pictures of us. I had brought my camera to class the day before, taken a group picture, and printed off copies for Lilian and smaller copies for everyone else. A couple of the guys from class even paid Lilian's family's tab. It was really sweet.
On another disorganised note: yesterday was the first snow. I woke up to hail that morphed into a wet snow which didn't stick, but was neat nonetheless.

Tramping before Exams

My last tramp before exams was a week ago yesterday. Rue (Stewart Island tramp), Dan (we came via AustraLearn - same session) and I left Dunedin at 1:45pm, friday 27 May. We drove straight to the west coast, Fox Glacial and Haast, for the night. One adventure-ish aspect of this tramp was when we made it to Haast at 6:30pm with nearly no petrol. Without sufficient cash or a NZ credit card, we realised small towns close at 6pm :o) We managed to scrounge cash enough for petrol to reach the DOC office in Fox Glacial, thankfully uphill from the petrol station. Since it was only 8:30pm, we found a hotel with a pub (lots of people) and hung out in the lounge (rather than the car), enjoying free heat from a fire place, a little reading of the newspaper and nice, clean toilets. That was the most uncomfortable night I've ever not slept: three of us in the Subaru. You know how back seats of cars often fold down in two sections? One is usually the middle-and-side seats and the other section is just one seat. Well, with Dan sleeping in the front we had to leave the single-seat section of the back seat (the section directly behind him) up and could only lay down the double-seat section. Make sense? This meant that while we had the entire back end to utilise for sleeping, we only had an approximately 2.5 foot-wide area to stretch out in, side-by-side. I spent the majority of the night tossing and turning, sandwiched next to Rue, who was wrapped as close as possible around the wheel well. Needless to say, we both enjoyed a restless, sleepless night! Blessedly (today is adverb day), we all awoke refreshedly ready to tramp. Breakfast on the way to the trailhead and we had set off for Welcome Flat Hut. The first of 5 or so river fordings was barely out of the carpark. We all wore chacos to begin and the water was frigid. But, excited, our pace kept us warm. At one stop I noticed my feet were wounded (apparently my "great" feeling feet were just numb - but for the record, I got 1st blood!) so I finished the tramp in boots.My favorite part about the trail was that the majority of it was under stream, so we walked in water for hours. We intermittently followed a river, crossing the streams that lead to it, and moved through areas of high avalanche activity ("no stopping between signs"). 5+ hrs later we reached the hut and hurried to the hot pools - the real reason we went tramping! It was glorious lying in the water, sore muscles relaxing, watched the snow fall on the Misty Mountains (LOTR) afar off. Only drawback? Sandflies out in full-force...ouch. The evening was spent teaching Set to fellow trampers. Then another restless night broken by snoring and a loud rain/hail storm. Leaving Sunday with only enough light to see the path, we were concerned about flooding of streams. But, despite being drenched (boots eventually full of water), we killed our time, making it to the car by 11:45am and to Dunedin by 6pm!