...And she flew out of her chair... Day 115 cont'd

Well... today was absolutely insane. I arrived in Detroit around 9:30 and Coop & Cat told me that they would be circling the airport to pick me up. Funny. I'm going down the escalator and all the sudden, I see my two best friends. I was overjoyed, I pretty much bowled them over giving them the biggest hug ever. It felt really good to see them again. Anyways, we attempted to handle my lost luggage fiasco, but it really didn't do any good at the airport, so we left. I called Jill to see what was up, since she was in on the scheme to surprise my parents. My mom was actually at Jill & Jen's house, so we made a beeline for it. Coop & Cat walked up because Coop had to do an interview... which was a lie. But yeah, they went out back to start this interview with my mom and now Jill & Jen. I was hidden in the back seat of Coop's truck. A few minutes into it, Coop texted me that it was time for business, so I scrambled out of her car, setting off the alarm, by the way. I made my way to the back porch and at first my mom didn't even see or realize that it was me. Then she lost it. She jumped up with such force that her chair flew about a yard behind her. It was good. All in all, it was a great day, it turned into a little barbecue, Jason & Becky came over, soon followed by my father, who also didn't know I was flying in today. He was just as shocked as my mom, if not quite as loud about it. But yeah... I'm home!

Chicago to Detroit... Day 115

Arizona came and went quickly enough, since there was free Internet. We left the airport at exactly midnight, as there were some difficulties including a flight attendant. As soon as I got on the plane, I put my mp3 player on and fell asleep. I woke up when we were taxi-ing down the runway at O’Hare International in Chicago. I am in my 37^th hour of travel right now. I’m starting to feel it, especially since my body is somewhere near NZ time still, which would make it about 11pm. (Current Local Time: 6:00am June 10) So far I have been to 6 major cities and 7 different time zones, including the International Date Line, in 36 hours. That’s pretty impressive. Just one left and I board that flight in an hour. Then I’m home free. I wonder what mom will think…

This day has 37 hours... Day 114

Today I woke up and took all of my trash out, did any extra cleaning that I needed to do and then I called a cab and went to the airport. I was sad for a minute there and my eyes started to tear up, but I got over it. I got through the ChCh airport just fine. In the next 45 hours or so, I will have been (or seen in some cases) in 3 countries (New Zealand --> Fiji --> USA), 6 airports (ChCh --> Auckland --> Nadi, Fiji --> LAX --> Phoenix, AZ --> Chicago --> Detroit), 8 time zones (NZ/Fiji --> Nuku'alofa --> International Date Line West --> Samoa --> Hawaii --> Alaska --> Pacific --> Mountain), 3 sun rises (NZ, Date Line - ish, Chicago), 2 sunsets (Fiji, Phoenix) and the most confusing part... three days... but two of them I had twice. I went over the international date line just after at about 2am on June 10, so then it was June 9 again... then I flew for a million more hours and it was June 10 again. Yeah. Sweet as.

So I started June 9 at midnight at +12 Greenwich Standard Time (GST). I ended June 9 at 11:59 -7 GST. That means that my day was approximately 37 hours long. Let me tell you, it was a wicked dodgy day. I'm going to post a series of entries that I typed onto my computer at a few of the four airports I was at on June 9:

~I’m sitting in the airport to fly to Auckland. I have a crazy journey ahead of me, lasting 40 or so hours. I fly from Chch to Auckland, Auckland to Fiji, Fiji to LAX, LAX to Phoenix, Phoenix to Chicago and finally Chicago to Detroit. I’m kind of excited to get home, but at the same time, it’s quite sad. Oh, and I just saw a guy with a Central Michigan University shirt on… so I asked him about it. Turns out he’s a Kiwi with a friend at CMU. Sweet as. (Current Local Time: 11:06am June 9)

~Here I am, reporting live-ish from Nadi International Airport. I have approximately 3 hours until I board my flight to LAX, where I intend to sleep for as long as possible, since this flight is ludicrous. I had a horrible experience at Auckland International, as our flight landed late and I had a connecting flight with only 40 minutes to make it through the departure customs. I forgot those existed. Anyways, I made it to my flight, which was also running late, with a few minutes to spare, but there were a few minutes where I thought I was going to completely miss everything. Which would have been bad. Anyways, I’m just going to sit here for a few hours, try and hold off on eating dinner, since I’m sure I’ll get something on the plane. (Current Local Time: 7:23pm June 9)

~I’m currently at LAX, talking to Catherine Trombly on my cell phone. There was a fiasco involving my baggage, one of my bags came through on the wrong plane and one is still unaccounted for, so if you don’t get a souvenir, don’t fret, it will arrive in the next year or so. (Current Local Time: 5:45pm June 9)

The Last Hurrah... Day 113

So this is kind of out of nowhere to about half of the people reading this blog, but today was my last full day in New Zealand. I really had a great one though. I had my last two classes, which were alright, then at 2pm, Margaret (one of my CDO professors) had me come in to class so that they could officially say goodbye to myself and Heather, since we were the only exchanged students and, because I won't be at the final exam (I'm taking it here at home). It was really nice, but I was sad at the same time, especially saying goodbye to Gia & Margaret. After class, Heather and I got some Dim Sum, then I did some more packing. Later that day, around 4pm, she came over and we ordered pizza and watched movies while I packed up the rest of my stuff. It was a really great last day though, especially adding the Hell Pizza. Around 11pm I was finished and we were both ridiculously tired, so we said goodbye. It was sad, but at the same time, we clicked enough that I'm sure we'll be friends for a long time. And now I have a reason to go to Massachusetts. Sweet as.

Akaroa, like whoa... Day 112

So, today was one of the best days that I've had since coming to this hemisphere. Heather and I got on a shuttle to Akaroa, which is about 90 km away, at about 8:00am. We had a sweet as bus driver named Dallas (a woman, by the way). The ride there was a little ridiculous, since the road to Akaroa is super mountainous... and I'm quite apt to get motion sickness anymore. Yes, I'm an old person now. Either way, we got to Akaroa in one piece. It is an adorable little town on the Banks Peninsula, which was formed by a wicked dodgy volcano millions of years ago. Sweet as. Anyways, this town was originally a French settlement, traces of which you can see everywhere. We walked around the town for quite a while, ended up inside the museum, as well as a few other places, but mainly we just walked around and had a good time. On the way back, we stopped at a cheese factory. On a normal day, this would have been slightly interesting, but the aforementioned motion sickness made my stomach jump when I went inside the building. Apparently the smell of dairy doesn't agree with me, so I waited outside. We had a crazy fun time on the ride home though, we pretty much took a million photos of ourselves, because honestly, what else do you do on a boring bus ride? When we got back to the city, we stopped at a souvenir shop because I wanted to pick up something. Long story short, I didn't get charged full price, so that was exciting. We ended up at Starbucks, since Heather owed me a few dollars, so she bought me some hot cocoa. It was delicious. And can I just say that we are sneaky. There, I said it. Not going to tell the story here, but if anyone wants to know, send me an email and I'll explain. After that, we went to McDonald's, since mom won't rest until I eat a Kiwi Burger. Let me remind you all what is included: a beef patty, lettuce, tomato, cheese, tomato sauce (not ketchup), an egg and beats. Not tasty. But I got one. And I ate... some of it. But that's all that really counts, right? My taste buds will never forgive me. I could almost handle the beets, but the egg made it horrible. Oh! I forgot to mention that we had an excellent sunset today. It was before the Kiwi Burger fiasco, when we were still on the shuttle from Akaroa. Anyways, then we finally made it back to the flats and had a proper dinner. One more thing, I'm not going to have access to the internet starting tomorrow night and ending on Sunday (hopefully), since there is some sort of upgrade being done on the internet ports in all of the flats. So don't be shocked if I don't post for a few days, I'll catch up after the weekend is over.

B-E-X-L-E-Y... Days 110-111

These last two days have been pretty lazy, if I do say so myself. Yesterday I did a lot of sitting around, but I did get an essay written, so there's some productivity. Today, I finally had class after four glorious days of nothing. I had an exam at 9:00am, which wasn't too bad, then at 2:00pm I started my last Anatomy & Physiology class ever. It was as boring as always, but there was a little glimmer of hope at the end, knowing I wouldn't have to endure it anymore. After class, Heather and I went to a place called Bexley Reserve, mainly because we passed it on the way to Southshore the other day and it kind of became a ridiculous joke. Either way, we just went to take a picture or two, then we boarded the bus back to the city exchange. We stopped at the grocery store on the way back to school so we could grab something to make for dinner, then we watched a movie or two. I love that you can totally get away with that in the winter and no one thinks you're lazy. Or at least most people don't think you're lazy. On a sad note, my camera is toying with my emotions. It will not decided if it is working or not and I am getting upset with it. I hope its just the quality (or lack there of) of the batteries that I am using.

Oh, and I just want to say that Gia, my surrogate mom, is amazing. Since it is nearing the end of term, and I'm probably not going to see her again, minus the final exams, she brought me a gift today. She got me the most amazing jade necklace, it's carving means "new beginnings" and she also brought me the new Maroon 5 cd. I am so grateful that I met someone like her here, not just because she bought me things, but because she took me under her wing right away. She's such a sweetheart. I will post a picture of her and I after I get it from Heather. Alright, I am off to sleep, it's a long day tomorrow and it starts early, we are going to Akaroa (90 minutes away) early in the morning on a wicked dodgy shuttle. Should be a good time.

God Save The Queen... Day 109

Today was amazing... why you might ask? Because I didn't have to do anything. Not even go to classes. All because it was the Queen's (of England) Birthday. I actually don't have class again until Wednesday morning... Sometimes a four day weekend is in order. Good stuff. I really didn't get anything accomplished today, besides rearranging my music collection, since I downloaded a little bit this weekend. Other than that, Heather and I just pretty much hung out all day, it was good times.

Sumner via Southshore?... Day 108

Well... this morning was going to start a lot differently, but it turns out that no one was playing rugby, so it went a little bit like this. I wake up too early, send an instant message to Heather after I've taken some time to wake up, so now I have to actually get up, since I'm making someone else wait. We walked from here to Riccarton Bush, which is a place that looks quite a bit like Jurassic Park. We walked around there for a while and took silly photos. Then we continued our walk up to Riccarton Road, where we grabbed some Starbuck's for brekkie (read: breakfast) and caught a bus towards Hagley Park to see if anyone was playing rugby that we could watch. Turns out that they weren't, so we continued on the bus that we were on all the way to Southshore, which is a little further south than New Brighton, but we could still see the pier. We walked all the way down the shore until we saw some vaguely familiar markers. First was the headland of Sumner, closely followed by the beach cave and huge rocks. We continued on, realizing first, that we were very near Sumner and second, that we were on the strip of land that only a few days previous, I said that I wanted to find, because it just looked cool. After taking numerous ridiculous photos and all the while, laughing like it was going out of style, we ended up at the point of the strip of land. Sadly, even at low tide, you cannot walk from Southshore to Sumner. We wanted to though. We walked around the point and eventually found our way back to the road that seemed to be nestled nicely inland. After seeing Sumner, we knew what was had to do. Minutes later, we were on a bus, our destination? Red Snapper Fish & Chips in Sumner. They have the best fish and chips, but what really sets them apart is a certain other fried delicacy. Fried pineapple rings. It sounds so simple and yet is so wonderful. We finished up our dinner, then found a bus to bring us back to school. After driving along Ferry Rd. for a bit, we realized that we had to get off the bus, as the sun was setting and it looked amazing. We did end up catching the next bus back to school, but not before getting some wicked good photos. We got back to school and hung out for a while, watching stupid television, then watching slightly better television. It was good times.

Mt. Vernon? Negative... Days 106-107

Well... yesterday wasn't all that exciting, so I'm not going to bother describing every detail. Went to class, went downtown, then watched some telly. The only redeeming part of the day was the sunset, which was extraordinary. Again, my photo does no justice.

Today was a little more lively. First, I woke up at the crack of 7:30... which was unpleasant. So I called my mummy and talked to her for a bit. Eventually I poured myself out of bed and took a shower so I could go on a mini adventure. Much like our last one, this one didn't pan out. We went to a place called Mt. Vernon, which was supposed to be really cool. It turned out to be a good photo opportunity of the city, but that is about it. We ended up in Hornby for a bit, then we went back to Ilam to make a fruit salad, as Gia was having a party. Not going to lie here, the fruit salad may be the best fruit salad ever made. The party was a pretty good time, I ended up talking politics with someone from the communication disorders class's mum. It was all good though. I also got to talk to Gia's husband, who recommended a book called State of Denial. It sounds interesting, it's about our government. After the party we went back to Heather's flat and watched Shrek with Jeff & Jia. Good times.