I have been asked to update my blog. This blog was intended for New Zealand use only, but I will bend to the will of the masses and update at least a few more times. We'll see how it goes. It always comes off as so self-centered to have a blog. Like everyone needs to hear another opinion on the world. Well, here goes.

I came home to my parents, dog, uncle John, and Buesseler grandparents. Family filtered into our household throughout the week, so we had get togethers and dinners so that everyone could meet eachother again (it'd been 8 years since our last reunion).

Then Saturday morning we all went up North to a camp we had gone to as kids. We rented out the main lodge and we all stayed there (31 or 32 people, including all family on my Mom's side plus a few significant others). Clearwater Forest, the camp, is situated on a lake of which the camp owns 40% of the shoreline, which is almost completely undeveloped. Needless to say, it's a nice quiet lake.

In the mornings I would kayak or mountain bike. In the afternoon I would play horse shoes, ultimate frisbee, pickle in the middle, or go swimming. We dove off a floating dock to catch frisbees repeatedly. I was the only one that caught the frisbee with my feet. The others just used their hands... amateurs.

The food was excellent with a different family or couple taking over each different meal. We were up there Saturday, Sunday, Monday and came home Tuesday, so that meant a lot of different various foods (think Indian curries, chilli with venison, and burritoes).

It was totally radical. Food, fun, and good company. Also, it delayed me going back to work and hitting "reverse culture shock" which AustraLearn (program that hooked me up with NZ) seems to be so concerned about. Ta-ta!

I'm home. My New Zealand trip has come and gone. I'm not sure how I feel about it yet, so just ask me when you see me.

Almost home. I'm just under a week away from going home. I'm pretty cool with it. I've seen everything and done everything I've wanted to do. I missed out on seeing much of the North Island, but I hear it's not nearly as cool as the South Island anyways.

It hasn't hit me yet that I won't see my NZ buds anymore. There're a few I will visit, but definitely not on a regular basis.

It'll be good to see friends and family back home. I can't wait to rub Java's belly. Oh... and I want to ride my motorcycle.

There is one more thing I wanted to do that I haven't yet. I want to snowboard on a real mountain. We're going Friday, so it's all on the level.

I'll be able to tell you guys all of this stuff when I get back home, so I'll see you guys soon. I'm coming home Monday June 26th, but am busy until July 4th. Call me up when I get back and we'll chill. My number is (507) 351-6273... I think. I haven't used it in so long I might have it wrong.

I'm really starting to get disconnected from the world of the internet. I used to check my e-mail many times a day and surf the web for random tid-bits of information so that I might be that little bit more informed and entertained.

It has been a long love affair since I was a wee lad of only 11 and I received my first computer. It was early in the internet boom and I was there to witness it. It was glorious the amount of information and entertainment people gave away for free... and it was right in my bedroom!

Don't worry, I have not completely fallen out of love. I've just found that real life can be so much more satisfying. Books are so physical and can be read on a comfy couch.

This post has turned out a lot more optimistic than I had first planned. I was going to rant about the tramping club at Canterbury University.

So far they are 0 for 3. I have signed up for 3 weekend tramping trips and have been denied each time. I checked out the tramping club here before I even came expecting to meet tons of people and go on crazy wild trips like Lisa did. I have been sorely dissapointed. One trip was canceled because no one else wanted to go, another had too many people going, and the final trip was overcast and had a possibility of rain.

The worst is that I set a weekend aside so that I might go on a tramp, then when I find out I can't go it's too late to make new plans. This leaves me in a sticky situation of wasting a weekend sitting at home or trying madly to find people with plans and car space for me. I am finished with the club.

Don't worry, I have gotten out tramping and seen amazing things like seals, views that go on forever, thigh deep snow (not that amazing for the Minnesotans, but cool nonetheless) and done crazy things like slide down a snowy mountain on my bum, but never with the tramping club.

Sigh

This is the post to end all posts. It is the beginning and the end... the alpha and omega.

It's just been a while since I posted... hehehe. Where do I start? Well, once upon a time I had break. It was a fortnight and a half long (3 weeks) and I got to see my family minus Geoff and Ji.

Here's the lowdown of what happened:

Katie, the sis, flew into Christchurch. We went surfing and tramping. The tramping was a little haphazard. At one crucial point we were supposed to go due East, but went West instead. All's well that ends well. We made it back safely while making a few sheep friends and getting some awesome sweeping views of Banks Peninsula.

Next we bussed it down to Dunedin where Lisa, a friend of ours who is Katie's age, and her boyfriend Danilo lives. They took us on a tramp that was planned well and they took a map also... amateurs. Amazing views were seen when Danilo and I split off to climb a mountain while the girls climbed the saddle nextdoor. We could see mountain peaks in all directions, the valley we already tramped and the valley we were heading towards. It all just seems to make sense while on top of a mountain.

The parental units arrived including Jay and Sue, Lisa's parents. Possibly the highlight of the trip was our day on Ulva Island. Lisa stayed on this tiny island for months at a time researching birds, so she taught us all the birds, their calls, and even how to prompt the interest of a NZ robin. It was super sweet.

Next was Milford Sound, in the fiordlands. The kids and Jay (kid at heart) kayaked while the others took a cruise around Milford Sound. It looks like mountains growing out of the ocean.

Finally the trip finished up with Mom and Dad coming to Christchurch with me and I showed them around the city. We checked out some of Banks Peninsula, which is actually an old volcano that is long since dead and has eroded away to create gorgeous shortish mountains (highest peak is Mt Herbert at 900 meters, which Katie and I climbed). In general we just explored Christchurch and all it has to offer. I saw many new things, because I hadn't had time to check them out until my parents arrived. It was super sweet seeing my parents and sis. It kind of grounds a guy and reminds him where he's from. I love you guys.

The weekend after my parents left I kayaked along the northwest coast of the South Island (Able Tasman Coastal Track) with a couple buds. A nice relaxed trip, it was. We had a fire one night and a couple Irish gals came over from the nearby hut and kept us company.

As this post is long already I'll wrap it up. Last weekend I climbed a glacier and a guy in my group got a crampon in the leg and needed 5 stitches. We have pictures. Tata

Since one of my goals in NZ is to come home with an accent, or at least throw out NZ lingo without thinking about it, I figure I should go over some of their humorous language.

Bogans are city boys who dress like country boys. They wear short shorts (like those phased out in the 80's or early 90's in the U.S.), tank-tops, and have a combination feaux-hawk/mullet. For those not in the know, the feaux-hawk (pronounced fo-hawk) is a mohawk where the guy didn't have the balls to cut his hair down to the nub everywhere but in the center of his head, so he just spikes his hair that way.

"Eh?" is used a lot here. Their sentences usually end in an upnote like as if they were asking a question or inquiring on your comprehension of what they just said. And added onto the end is an "eh?". This is especially prevalent with my Maori teacher. He always says, "Pretty interesting stuff, eh?"

Uni is the term for college.

French fries are chips. Sounds a lot better to say fish and chips than fish and french fries... way too many f's. You may have to wipe off your monitor if you try and say it outloud... so don't.

Piss is alcohol. This is a key definition. When your Kiwi friend says, "Wanna drink some piss?" you don't just nod your head and slowly back away, you say, "Shall we venture to the piss shop?" That's when they find some other less geeky friend to drink with. When you're "pissed" you're drunk, not angry. To "take the piss" on someone is to make fun of them, to give them a couple jabs.

Cheers means good luck, thanks, and good-bye. I just say it when I get off the bus and not to sound too American I say "Cheeahs." No one but Americans and Canadians pronounce their r's. I sure am proud to be an American.

Hehe... I broke my Dad's camera. Uh... I guess it's not that funny afterall. For some reason it doesn't want to turn on.

Just to appease (sp?, meaning: to satisfy) all those visual people I'm going to try to link to my friends photo album. There are a bunch of photos of me in there, you just need hawk-eyes. My friend Monica took these pictures, so you'll see a lot of her.

Monica's Photo Album