Update

Dear All,

My classes are going just fine. I had a good time on my marine biology field trip to Kaikoura where we went snorkeling for about a half hour, looking through a microscope for about 3 hours a day (for 3 days), and walked along the tide pools for about 2 hours. I don't like plankton anymore (both zoo and phytoplankton) because we had to look at it under the microscope and identify it for so dang long. Otherwise I had a good time. I met some people who seem like they'll be a good crowd to hang out with (they know where I can get my hands on some horses)!

My other class that I have physically attended is Maori Cultural Studies class. In this one your dad would be super interested in the native culture down here. They love to eat, tell stories, and stick their tongues out. JK. We have only had four lectures about navigation, origins of the Maori people, and oral traditions. So, it is interesting, but there is going to be a bitch of a test at the end of the year. All of our classes have a final that counts for 50-65% of our grade. We also don't have a lot of tests due to the time crunch that the earthquake provided to fit in more tests and assignments, so everything that I do counts for a TON of my overall grade. (MAORI STUDIES IS THE MOST INTERESTING CLASS SO FAR)

Anywho, I have evolution and Antarctic studies (more of a geology class than I anticipated), which are cool except that they're all online. This means that I have to find them, download them, watch them and take notes all on my own. I have the motivation, but sometimes downloading them is so frustrating because the formats that they have them in don't work with the slow internet that I have so they constantly stop and buffer every 2-3 minutes. You would understand what I'm going through with the netflix buffer capacity at your house. So, thats when I go into school and use one of their computers to try and get a faster internet connection.

All the classes are work, but not too much busy work, just trying to keep up and not get behind. I was kinda screwed because we went on the marine biology field trip when the other classes were just getting started online, so I missed about 2 lectures in one day. So, I've been trying to play catchup. I also have 3 papers already assigned and have to be working on them constantly. Piled on top of reading the one textbook that I actually own at this point, I'm kinda stressed. So, to counteract that and to force myself to get outside I have joined the soccer club. We play 3 times a week in a competitive league. I haven't actually been to one of the practices yet, but I'm excited for the scrimmage that I have tomorrow. I forgot to bring any of my stuff down here, but I managed to buy boots for about 80 US dollars, and shinguards and socks for about 50. They will fortunately provide a shirt and I brought one pair of soccer shorts down with me. That was the most important piece because running shorts down here are $65 NZ dollars. THATS EXPENSIVE!!!

I'm sorry I haven't been updating my blog, I've just been busy trying to catch up with school and not be tied to the computer the entire day. It really sucks to have to look at a screen all day long and send e-mails to professors instead of asking them face to face. Overall, I would much prefer to just be able to go to class...even if it is at 8AM.