WOW my last day in Wellington. Geez this came fast. I guess I always knew it was coming but wow what a quick six months. It didn’t always feel quick, but isn’t that how life goes?

I woke up this morning and called some important people back home. That was nice. I then proceeded to pack the mountains and mountains of books and clothes,etc into my bags. It’s a tight fit but a fit nonetheless. While I packed I talked to my mom, it was really quite nice.

I then headed down to the Bank to get some Australian Dollars or AUD. I was pleased to find out that each transaction with my Eftpos Cash Card will cost a whopping $7.50. This is something the previous bank agent had not told me. I guess I will have to operate mainly in cash and it will be another learning experience. I got $400 AUD for the terrible price of $520 NZD. Ohh well I guess that is what you get with exchange rate. New Zealand is definitely the cheaper of the two countries.

I then did some final little souvenir shopping and took some pictures around Wellington to tell a story. I then met my friend Louis for Lunch at a good little Asian type place in the Reading Cinemas food court. I had vegetables, chicken, and rice in Satay (Peanut) sauce. It was good for a food court place, very westernized. We had good conversation about New Zealand, America, and politics.

I then headed up to Uni to print off the tickets for my train journeys as the company has made it clear that it is vital to have a physical ticket. I think I can understand it but it is still a pain in the butt for someone who has been used to all digital traveling in NZ (I haven’t had to print a ticket sense my intial flight in). After printing I took my last looks around Victoria University. The thing was I wasn’t really sad about leaving the university. Maybe because I was never attached to it in the first place. Definitely not like my attachment to Tech. Not at all.

I took the final walk back down to 61A Pirie Street along Vivian Street. I passed Cuba Street, the Warehouse, and finally Kent and Cambridge terraces and the KFC. I spent my remaining dollar and 70 cents on candy from the local dairy. A good way to leave it.

I cleaned out the cupboards and all of my food from the Fridge. Finished cleaning my room, it definitely needs a vacuum, and packed the last small amount of my things.

Luckily my flatmates had already found someone else to take the room.  I was paid my bond back +$45 and waited for Mary. We then drove to Mary’s house were I subsequently repacked parts of my bags. It was very overweight and Mary suggested that I leave some of the items (mainly not required books) to be airmailed later so I did. As an aside they just weighed my bags at the airport this monring and they came in at 22kilos, 1 kilo under the limit!!! I

We had dinner and talked. I did my really dirty and smelly laundry. Ross (her husband) arrived home later and we talked for awhile. They have both given me wonderful advice and confirmation. I am very thankful for that.

I then went to bed and got up this morning. My alarm didn’t go off this morning but Mary woke me and I already had everything laid out so it went easily. Got to the airport to stand in line. Checked my bags and it went fine. Had to pay $50 for my second bag but that is better than a $75 overweight fee! As well because of the lack of Surname ability I was listed as Rostiv rather than Rost IV. But I got that changed easily enough.

Went through towards security and had to pay a $25 departure fee. Went through Customs, filled out another form. Went through security and was choosen for a random choice. It was funny as because I was from Atlanta I am used to being cattle corralled through security while here it was much more laid back. It wasn’t unsecured it was just that there wasn’t a rush of people behind me. Still felt the rush though but that is from being an Atlantan.

Got wanded and had my bag checked for bombs and other material. That was interesting. Came out clean as it should!

Bought my water and peanut slab for breakfast and sat down in the terminal. Now I’m waiting for my flight to Sydney! Ahhh! Very Excited. This airport has free Wifi which is quite nice.

Anyways I will check in later once I am in Australia. Hopefully all goes well on the rest of the parts of my journeys!

All the best!

-Mathias

Got up early this morning for the bus. 6 AM to be exact. As per the norm when others are in the dorm I rolled up my sleeping bag and packed the rest of my belongings in the dark under a red headlamp. Breakfast was my normal on the go meal (I somehow was running late, I think it took me a few extra minutes to pack) which consists of three pieces of toast stuck together with peanut butter or jar or nutella. The nutella ones are by far the best but I had Peanut Butter.

I made it to the bus stop on time and the bus arrived a little late. I boarded the bus and as usual took my seat 6 rows back on the right hand side of the coach. It is funny how routines make you feel comfortable. We made the few stops on the way to Wellington. This was a 10 hour trip so I am leaving a lot out. The scenery was nice and I took naps. Not too much rain so that was good.

There was an older lady in the seat next to me who kept staring. That was kinda wierd.

When I went to go pee at one of the stops an old man started talking to me while standing at the urinal trough thing. Naturally I couldn’t go and had to leave and double back. Who talks at urinals to complete strangers?

BTW it was around 50-60% of the people on the bus who smoked so that was obnoxious to say the least. And they stood near the entrance so it was kinda unpleasant.

We came back down to Wellington and I asked the driver to drop me off on Kent Terrace (near where I live) and he did so that was nice. It seems as long as you are genuine and know what your talking about and what you want people are obliged to help. (All of the other passengers were dropped at the train station on the other side of town.)

I made it back to my flat and as usual about 90% of the dishes were dirty and there was little to no counter space. I wasn’t in the mood to clean up the mess so I had my last kebab and chips meal. It was delicious.

I kinda zoned out after I immediately got back. Watched some scrubs and took a quick nap. I also have spent the last couple hours trolling, general not so healthy Quadrant 4 activities, but ohh well. I always do love the excitement of a time crunch on little sleep.

Being back in Welly made me feel comfortable as it has been my base of operations. I feel I tend to be a lot mor ebase focused in my approach and it was good to be back in familiar surroundings. I can’t wait to see how I feel once I get back to Atlanta! Jeez!

I will miss Wellington as the city. I feel I  know the general layout pretty well and it has been a good place to live. Maybe if only it wasn’t so far away. But then it would be San Franscisco right?

I will miss the ratio here. There are a lot more women than I remember from home. And they wear much more stylish clothing than simply jeans and a top.

I will certainly not miss the Weather but it is a fabric of the very soul of the city with everyone acknowledging nature’s control over your emotions. When you don’t see the sun for 15 days it gets kinda sad. I can only imagine Seattle.

I also have found there is something very comforting about living near the sea. I don’t know what it is but its a wonderful attribute.

I think all of thee feelings though will be well surpassed by my feelings upon return to Roswell GA and Atlanta.

Packing up is kinda a pain as it takes a lot of effort in deciding what to put where etc. But such is life right.And I am fortunate to never had to fully move house in my life.

I am very much looking forward to my short visit to Australia. Up until about a week ago I never really realised how fricken huge the place is and I am excited to see the size and the nothingness. From what I have gathered it takes a good 4 months to get a good feel for the country. But my 14 days will take me to somewhere I have wanted to see sense I was a kid and that is part of the outback, the rain forest, and most importantly the Great Barrier Reef.

I mean as a kid you look on the map and your like Wow. And I get the opportunity to go there. How lucky and privileged am I!

____

One of the thoughts I have found most unique is that maybe life is suppossed to be hard if we are doing it right. I mean not overly, impossible difficuly, but maybe just challenging. I have found that just travelling in itself (maybe because I am solo travelling) makes everyday a different challenge. Mainly a challenge of decisions. What to wear, what to eat, what to see, how to get there, blah blah blah.

But I guess that is what being an adult is?  The scriptedness of the life I have lived in the education system for 14 years isn’t really like what awaits in the wide open world.

And I guess that a lot of people go through life and try to take it easy so they don’t ever have to see the downsides of those choices. When I have self doubts about I choice I have found it empowering to refer to Robert Frost’s quote: “Two roads diverged in a wood and I took the one less traveled by, and that made all the difference.” This quite literally has happened a lot as I have walked through many forests and parks on the way to get places.

I think that my point is that life is difficult and it is better to make decisions than to rely on other peoples expectations and that maybe what everyone else is doing isn’t always the right thing to do. Wow that is wordy.

That point is probably most in reference to fellow travelers. I consider myself to be an outdoor oriented, fairly independent, cheap traveler. I don’t do all of the flash things that others do. However from a relatability standpoint it makes it a little harder to find common ground with others. But I guess that comes out of a want or need to be accepted by others which is ridiculous as 99.999% of the backpackers I meet I will never see again.

That want is probably only due to the fact that I am traveling alone though. Because if not I would be grounded with the fact that I have someone else to talk to, instead of just my own thoughts. BTW I talk to myself a lot including outloud. I don’t think I’m insane it just helps me verbalize all my thoughts. Plus it gets a little quiet by yourself.

So this has gone on a little longer than what I thought it would. I was just about to put basically but that is really just a nonapplicable filler word. God I can’t wait to get back to using filler conversation and actually have people know what I am talking about!

To summarize I have learned a lot on this trip and I seem to have to learn new lessons everyday. (Seriously I feel like Tech taught me  more of techniques for handling people while traveling has taught me fundamental paradigm lessons. These can get tiring of learning day after day though. ) I think one of the bigger things that I will try to take back is to focus more effort on improving my relationships. Basically I need to stick to my personal mission statement because I think I got it right in there (I put a lot of effort and thought into it).

___ Shit why not? I mean this is as much for me as it is for you.__

The biggest concern I have nagging at my brain (I have gotten a helleva lot better at not worrying about stuff or getting worked up, kudos of course to Ben for starting me on that path) is that I will have changed and the people in my life back home will have changed as well but it is in diverting ways. I have talked this over with some other exchange students and they have mentioned similar things.

For example some had parents visit and said that there was a difference in how they viewed things. How different will my perspective be and how will it be reinfluenced by my own culture?

What a shame if I have come all this way and learned all this stuff only to fall back into old habits. Most of me knows this can’t/won’t be true. I WILL be a different person, better in fact, than I was when I left. I just hope it doesn’t interfere too very much with those I love back home.

Well until tommorrow night or a few days from now (30 hrs to go in Welly) all the best!

-Mathias

I almost thought about not blogging tonight but then I decided it would be worth it and more beneficial than watching Live Free or Die Hard for the eight or so time in my life.

It is funny what life will hand you when you open yourself up to embracing opportunites. I certainly am continually surprised.

Last night I went back to the Hostel and cooked dinner and watched some movies with the 4 other people staying at the Hostel. Seriously it is crazyempty. They even closed one of the bathrooms. The place is nice enough but the area near the rooms feels like a hostpital with blank white walls in the halls, bedrooms, and bathrooms. It’s clean but defintely not a homey feel. I feel asleep very quickly last night and slept really really well.

Got up this morning and took advantage of a free breakfast of toast, jam, coffee and tea. As many of you know I stuck with simply the Jam and toast. I then got dressed and headed towards the bus stop. It was easy enough walk and I soon got on the right bus and headed to the airport.

Well not the actual airport but the aircraft museum near the airport. It was nice because the bus driver didn’t know what I was talking about so I asked some cabbies and they pointed me in the right direction. Not after I had gone to the observation deck and snapped a few picks of the Q3 being unloaded on the tarmac.

The museum was nice for what I was expecting (not much) and I basically got a personal guide for 3 hours. I was the only person in the museum area, although the cafe was extremely busy. Apparantly there food is very good, it looked delicious! The museum had a wide area of planes and cars and such and I was very happy. I then went out back (literally another hanger) and looked at a collection of war memoriabial (sic) that had been collected by one man and his son.

This part was neat as well due to the fact that all the machines were in working order. Very cool.

I then caught the next bus (hahaha Tech reference) out to the Mountain. Ohhh while waiting for the bus I went in the airport and got a scorching hot pie and proceeded to burn my tongue. It was hella hot.

I got to the Mt. Wanganui information site and it was close due to unexpected circumstaces. Luckily this is not an active volcano or I might have been wary (jk but no really.) I proceeded to walk along one of the marine areas toward the Mount. I climbed up the mountain which was a combination of pasture, beach, rocks, and forest. It was fairly steep and stopped a few times along the way (I really need to increase my cardio or something) but I will blame that mainly on the pie.

I got to the top and was treated to specacular views of Tauranga, the Pacific, and leisure island. I just wish it had been sunnier. Had my peanut butter sandwich snack and then talked to some Germans for a good half hour. They were nice, brothers who were spending 2 weeks touring the country. Always good laughs with the germans.

I then headed down the Mount towards leisure island, which used to be an island but now is just kinda an extension of land that is connected with sand from dredging the harbour. Tauranga is the only harbour that is safe in all weather conditions (very opposite of Wellington ). The island was cool and I clambored among some rocks and had a nice sit and read while I watched the waves and a fisherman.

I then headed back toward the Mount and towards the base track. It was around 4 in the afternoon so it was starting to get a bit nippy. The walk around the base was nice and I did some rock exploring and looked for shells. I only found one I like but ohh well.

I then walked towards a small marina which had an ice cream shop and got a cone and sat and watched the sunset on a picnic table by the waterside. It was nice, very peaceful.

Also this area reminds me a lot of Florida and the beaches would be beautiful in the sun. There was a lot of tourist and home development and the city had a much older mean population due to a variety of factors. The people seemed very active though as there were a lot of older couples going for walks.

I caught the bus back and it was a hella long loop around the city. At one stop I moved towards the fron (I was the only one on the bus) and began talking with the driver. We were having a slight verbal feeling out match but I was determined not to lose. At first he seemed very abrasive giving short answers in a sort of dismissive way. But we were going to be sitting there for another 10 mins (we were way ahead of time bc there were no stops) I kept going. Eventually we overcame whatever that break was and he shared with me lots of stories about his life so that was cool. He even went a little out of the way to drop me off at the pak n save to get groceries. Although it was a little further out of town than I had origninally wanted to go. So that was nice.

Shopping went easy, bread, Doritos, Almonds (a budget buster), muesli bars, and apples. Without the almonds would have been under 10 bucks. Typical backpacker food.

Then began the walk back towards the hostel in the dark. I was in a fairly good mood after being rewarded for my effort with another kindness and passed a  guy walking around a car in a used car dealership. He was feeling the tires and had a clipboard and some papers in his hand. I thought he was the owner or a worker so I causually said “If you want to steal it you should probably just break a window!” I thought it was funny.

It turns out that he was not the owner or an employee just a crazy guy. He starts talking to me about how shit the cars are and blah blah blah. I had broken walk to say my comment and it was really awkward. I could tell the guy was a bit wacko as soon as he started talking so I proceeded to keep walking. As I kept walking he was yelling at me. It was really wierd.

Luckily he didn’t follow me and I made it back safely to the Hostel. I cooked dinner (pasta and sauce like the previous 5 nights (I really gotta get some protein in my diet)) and then headed here to talk.

I just had a good skype conversation with Graham and then wrote this blog.

Overall I feel very satisfied and think I am ready for a 10 hour bus ride tommorrow!

Still thinking about ya!

-Mathias

Wow this computer I’m using is nice. Windows 7 and everything although no firefox :(. Although my hands are cold so that makes typing a lot harder but ohh well.

Last night went well. Cooked Dinner, pasta again, and had a pretty enlightening conversation with an American couple who were about my age. They were from Texas Tech and paid 11k just in fees and tuition to study in Brisbane! Through there reflectiobn on their experience it helped me further think about my experience. I might detail that thought later when it is easier to type. Seriously this keyboard sucks.

So anyways sense school is out there are a ton of American students travelling. Lots more than I ever encountered during my other travelling experience. It is good and bad. Some Americans are obnoxious but others are nice. The only thing is a lot of them are travelling in groups or on a guided tour so I feel kinda out of the loop being an independent travellor. And it gets old travelling alone after awhile due to the numerous advantages to having someone else along with yah. I think it helps with a better experience mainly because you have someone to 1. experience new things with you and 2. push you to do things you otherwise might not do. Obviously there are downsides as well but I think the good would outweigh the bad.

I also had a great conversation with a Korean guy who was new to our room (replacing two other americans) who was from Pusan. We talked for a good hour and then I read and went to bed.

In the morning his iPhone alarm started going off at likt 5:30. And it kept going off (I think he was just using the snooze feature). It was hella annoying but I got some quality rem sleep in as well so it wasn’t all awful. I got up at 8:30 dressed ate breakfast, checked out and stored my backpack and food in the hostel.

I learned a valuable lesson that Sunday mornings are quite boring. There were only a few people out and there was nothing open to see. So I walked around town and sat down by the lake and watched an American tour group come by. I then went and did a little shopping and aimed to go out to the Warehouse (NZ version of Wal-Mart).

The shopping complex out there was as close to suburbia as I have found in NZ with Giant Box Retailers set out in that Florida outdoor market style. It was quite interesting to watch the locals go about there shopping and I browsed the store. Found a t-shirt with American astronauts holding a gun and some beer cans and it made me laugh so I bought it.

I then returned to the Hostel picked up mybags and went and caught the bus to Tauranga.

The bus ride was short only about 75 minutes. I was dropped off in the CBD and went and quickly found my hostel. The hostel was fairly empty but very clean. The lady at reception(the owner) was pleasant enough. She informed me of there no alchol policy(not really a problem for me) and showed me my room. Linens werent provided so I had my sleeping bag.

I then headed back out into Tauranga which seemed like a really cool place. In fact for the first half hour I really like the feel. And then suddenly a little wind and a little rain and the entire damn city shut down. Like all of the shops and restaurants closed their dorrs. It was really wierd, a little ghostownish.

I then went to the i-site to investigate what to do here in Tauranga and didn’t find much. I saw that there was still an arts and crafts echibition going on for 2 more hours so I went and checked that out. It was nice and there was so cool stuff but most of it was too expensive or fragile for me. I then had lunch and read by the river. That was nice although the seagulls were a little aggressive.

I went back and checked out the one item of culture in the city, the Arts Gallery. For it’s size it was Really good. It was all NZ exhibitionists and had good detailed explanations of the work. I especially like the realist series “The Farmer.” I liked that it told a story.

I then went to the i-site and asked the lady what there was to do and how to get to Mt. Wanganui (sic). She explained that there wasn’t too much to do and helped me with arranging stuff for tommorrow. Theres another aviation museum near the airport but that is it for museums. So I’ll go climb the mountain and there are some hot salt pools that are suppossed to be good. But this is defintely not a tourist geared town. Although the beaches would be beautiful in summer. And the watersports.

After that I went back to the park and read for awhile and then came in hear to type this. I have one more full day here in Tauranga (I am acutally pretty good at picking the amount of time to stay in places here in NZ) and then back to Welly on the 7Am bus.

The next day and a half in Welly will fly by no doubt.

I am looking forward to being home.

Thinking about you,

-Mathias

Kia Ora,

This morning I awoke and got ready awaiting a call from the White Island people as they had told me last night when I called that the skipper would make a decision at 8 AM. I made and ate my breakfast and then headed downstairs and found that the shuttle had been waiting for a good 20 minutes.

Luckily, I am not sure if by this point in my life I call it luck or grace or fortune, but I was the only one on the shuttle today (yesterday it had been near capacity, but it was cancelled) so John the bus driver waited for me.

It was about a 20 person seater bus and the drive was just around 90 minutes. Being the only passenger and due to my problem of riding in buses on windy roads and on the wrong side of the road I sat in the front and talked to the driver. We talked about a wide variety of things, his life and my life and he informed me of a factoid I didn’t know. NZ men have some of the lowest sperm counts in the world.

Now this explained a little bit of the Invitro facvilities I had seen in NZ but I was still a little surprised. But it was good conversation nontheless.

We got to the town and I boarded the boat. The PeeJay IV. It was forty feet long and had two powerful twin diesel motors. There was an upper observation deck with seats for about 20, a back deck with seating for around 15 and an inside cabin. I went upstairs to begin as that is where most of the people were. Luckily I wasn’t late.

I talked to an older gentelman from Australia and then went down to get some pictures from the back observation deck. Down there I met another gentleman named Chris who worked in the IT field. The view was much better from the bottom IMO. I went back up to the top a little later and soon began to feel sea sick so I headed back down.

I should mention that White Island is 27nm out at sea. The swells today for 3-4m or 9-12 feet so it was a very choppy ride. It was fun but I started feeling a little sick after an hour or so. Riding at the back observation deck helped as the wind and water kept me a little refreshed.

We dropped anchor in the small harbour area outside of white island. On approach I could see smoke rising from the island. Just before we were getting ready to leave they issued us our hardhats and gas masks which were conditions of our going to White Island. We weren’t required to use the respirator but we had the option.

They put the inflatable which is stored in the back of the boat into the water and along with the one from the other boat (private charter) began taking us to the island. This was neat. 8 people were loaded into the boat with a driver and then we went towards the island. Because of the swells coming off the ocean it had to be well timed. We aimed for a concrete jetty which had wooden latticing on its side. The driver moved the boat forward and hit the bow into the jetty, where a previously dropped off crew mate grabbed a rope to secure the craft.

The driver then gunned the engine for a 120 degree turn where another rope was lowered. It was then up to us to climb up the wooden latticing to shore. The key was to keep the boat stable and to avoid the sweels. It was a neat process to watch.

Just onshore was the remains of an old sulfur factory. It was pretty neat. and was eroding from the harshness of the volcanic activity. We were assembled (the 20 or so people from our boat) with the three guides who were escorting us. The guides were lively and knowledgeable and explained the purpose of the gas masks, the hard hats, and what to do in the case of a landslide or an eruption.

We then set out. My words can’t describe how cool this volcano was. There were multicolored rocks, huge sulfur deposits, boiling mut, steam vents, and everything in between. You’ll have to see the pictures. We explored and were periodically stopped for some good explanations.

We saw the steam vent (which I have a video off) that has steam coming out at 200C. That’s hot. We also saw the crater lake which is 100m deep! It was covered in steam and had a ph of -4. It would kill you quite easily. I had to occasionally done the respirator in order to stand there. Some people put it on permanentely.

They also gave us lollies (candy) to suck on in order to keep our throats lubricated and to avoid coughing. It was an amazing site like walking on some unknown planet. It was just amazing.

The guide then showed us some example of sulfur and I tried a little bit (its odorless and colorless) It is also harmless in solid but toxic as a gas.

We also got the chance to test the ph by using a small stream to clean change. I had a 10 cent piece and it did a good job.

We then continued walking and exploring and then came back to the factory. As a note this is a much quicker description of what happened, the entire tour lasted close to 2 hours.

There was also an inlet on the other side of the factory where they sometimes had to put in visitors. This was accompished by basically stopping close to the rocks and jumping. That would have been a wild way to come in. John (the driver who also came on the tour) said this only happens about 4 times a year. There was also some driftwood on the beach from some swells that were 16-20m high. That is as high as 60 feet due to the unique configuration of the island! I think that wave would be amazing to see.

We then reboarded in slightly smaller numbers as the swells had increased and returned to ship. We were treated to a nice lunch and I had good conversation with some people who worked for a technology firm.

We then circled the island as a storm was coming in. I saw my first lightning in NZ. It was amazing watching the storm encircle the island we had just left! We got off just in time!

The ride back was much smoother as we outran the storm. It was smoother as we were going with the waves much like surfing.

We then docked in the harbor and began the trip back to Rotorua. More conversation and then I came here to troll on the internet and let my mind wander.

I just have to say that the service provided was just excellent. That island was amazing and very unique to the world. I am very fortunate to have had the chance to go.

Anywho tommorrow I am leaving for Taranga (only about 1 hr away) and I will find things to get into there.

Also it is extremely cold tonight so that is very dissapointing. But the hostel is warm and I’m going to go cook me some food!

All the best!

-Mathias

A picture from white island on my iPhone. Not the best, but it should give you some idea hopefully?!?

Hello All,

Last night went well. I went back and cooked some Pasta, as I will tonight, ate it and read. I also showered,etc and did some review on Covey’s 8th Habit. Ohh also the people in my room weren’t bad. No one snored

Right now there are a bunch of mid teens outside making lots of noise. This seems to happen often in smaller NZ towns.

Got up this morning at 7:20 and had breakfast, etc. I was waiting for the call to tell me if my trip to White Island had been canceled or not. I went downstairs and waited for the call. Unfortunately it had.

So I left for the geysers/boiling mud park that was just over 2k out of town. I had forgotten that it is slightly tougher to walk in boots than shoes but soon adapted.

I got to the park and realized that it cost $40 to get in with an additional $10 for the cultural experience. I really wanted to see it so I paid. The park was amazing! I first did the exploration of the Maori culture stuff, such as settlement and the local people (Iwi).

Then at 10:15 there was a cultural performance with a traditional greeting. Although it felt very touristy it was still fun and neat. Although I’m pretty sure two of the people were full blooded whites. They made the women go on stage and spin these ceremonial balls on cord and the guys (myself included) had to go on and do the Haka. It was interesting to say the least.

Afterwords I finished the indoor exhibits. I then made my way into the geothermal activity part of the park. It was absolutely amazing! There was bubbling mud and boiling water and steam. Words and pictures really do not do it justice. I am very fortunate I had the opportunity to see it.

I spent the next 3 hours at the park exploring and taking pictures. It was really well done, touristy, but with enough information to keep me happy. As well because it is winter it wasn’t crowded at all. Near the end I got to watch some authentic carvers and weavers at the institutes they had on site. Only 5 Maori students are accepted into the carving institute each year. I found that to be amazing.

I then decided to go and see the Redwood forest that I had heard about at the Hostel. I knew it was far away (about 5k from the Park) but I started walking anyways.

Wow I am having a really hard time writing this. I think it might be because I’m tired, but wow.

Anyways I walked to the Park cutting through another Park that I later found out to be part of a tree reasearch facility. The Redwood Park was also amazing.

I went into the gift shop and was helped by a wonderful old woman who explained the trails and the history of the area to me. I filled up my waterbottle and set out.

The trail was fairly easy and the forest was stunning. Lots of different types of trees and ferns. It was also silent. I took a good 30 minute break on a rock overlooking the trees and the lake. Seriously something out of a movie.

I finished my 90 minute hike through the forest and then aimed to take the long walk back to town along the coast. There was more geothermal activity there all along the waterfront. I promise pictures will be posted when I get back to Welly!

I then sat and watched the birds, there were tons of seagulls, and the sunset and just let my mind take a break. It was quite nice and seems to be a good ending to a good day.

I then made my way to the internet cafe and started writing this. Sorry if this seems somewhat disjointed (it feels disjointed). I have a sudden onset headache.

Anyways hopefully get to go to White Island tommorrow. If not, I guess I will have to find more fun things to do here!

Also apparantly one of the Howard’s daughters is coming off of life support so my prayers go out to their family.

As well Mitchell is going in for an upper GI exam tommorrow, so I hope everything is healthy for him as well.

Until Tommorrow,

-Mathias

Hello All,

A few weeks ago I was having coffee with Mary and I said I was a little worried about losing my perspective that I have gained while being here in NZ to the busyness of home. She suggessted I write a letter to myself.

So I guess here it goes.

Dear Mathias (Future Self),

I hope you are reading this in some sort of foul mood so that it cheers you up to here from an older version of you. Anywho I hope that adjustment to the states has been well but I wanted to remind you of a few things you learned in New Zealand.

People are more important than things: Remember how important people are and make sure they take a good priority in yourlife. Value their inclusion in your life and try and be accepting. Don’t be a Jerk. Remember what it feels like to be insecure and vulnerable in a new environment. Reach out and help others. Remember what is most central is often the most well experienced.

Find Joy in Little Things: Take opportunities as they come and see the upside in problems. A lot of things that perhaps didn’t work out as you plan can still be great joy and happiness. Make sure to try and focus on the upside.

Include others in your life: This may seem very close to the prieviosly written paragraph but it is different. Try and include others in your life and your activities regardless of what how they respond. This fits in with taking risks with other people. I am not saying to rely on their participation but make sure invites go out to those who need it. No one likes to be left out.

Find Courage and Take Risks: Remember the mantra that courage is not the absence of fear but the ability to see that something is greater than that fear. Even if something goes wrong you still won’t be sorry you tried. Well hopefully. Although I know me and you will still calculate those risks. But try and be a little more risk tolerant.

Listen Better: Remember to seek first to understand and then to be understood. Stop trying to put your own spin on what other people are telling you and learn from their perspective. People don’t need someone to tell them what to do when they ask you to listen. They need to feel understood and that is only achieved through good active listening. Hell maybe even take a class on it.

Don’t overstate commitments: If you make a commitment intend to keep it. If you overstrech yourself with duplicate commitments you don’t generate trust in those around you. Thus be careful with those things that are maybe’s. This isn’t too much of a problem currently but can be. You can’t be everything to everybody. Attempt some sort of teamwork or delegation.

Be Thankful: Although this one is already somewhat established in your (our I guess) persona it is important that you remember to be thankful to all of those in life. As well be appreciative of gifts. Remeber the importance of Thank you.

Be Vulnerable: This topic is always a toughy because not many people want a basket case. People still need to have some way to connect and thus it is important to be vulnerable in some aspects to allow others to become apart of your life. This is probably the oddest but seems to be very rewarding.

Be Truthful: Remember to be guniuine and not duplicitous in your actions. Although it might hurt in the short term it is a better long term strategy. With truthfulness also comes being forthright and both are important and similar. Keep trying to do your best in this arena.

This is perhaps the hardest one of all. Remeber to focus on the important rather than the urgent. Yes there are some things that are required to be done immediately but higher leverage tasks need to have more focus. Evaluate before taking action on what really matters.

Have fun in life. Worry less about what others think and enjoy yourself.

Anywho self I hope that you have retained at least some of these lessons and applied them to our “real life.” Also remember how good of a show scrubs is. Seriously the writing for that show is amazing. Best of Luck future self!

-Mathias 6/24/10

So I made it to Rotorua this evening. Of course since it was 5 pm the sun was already down but w/e.

I left my flat this morning at 8 AM after a little packing and some rolled oats for breakfast. With milk it kinda turned into a glue like substance and I would have preferred my normal breakfast of eggs and toats (and bacon if availiable) but I was out, so meh. I caught the first Go Wellington bus from across the street near the local dairy where I consistently pay too much for Milk.

Luckily the bus wasn’t too crowded and I made my way to the back bench seat and set down my backpack and my food bag. I really love the electric buses they have in Wellington and the 2 bus (to Mirarmar via Haitaitai) is always electrified. We rode through the city east enough and I made my way to the train station.

The bus pulled up on time and I took my normal seat, about 5 rows back on the right (facing forward) window seat of course. Luckily the bus wasn’t crowded so everyone got their own seat. I stayed awake as we picked up people from Wellington’s suburbs including Johnsonville, Porirua, and Paraparaumu. It was a different perspective from the train mode which I entered the town.

Soon after I tried sleeping and was quite successful. We stopped for our morning break and everything went fine. I had an egg salad sandwhich and meat pie. There were some sheep. I took pictures

We then continued on towards Taupo with me waking up for the occasional stop to let someone on or pick someone off. About 30 mins outside of Taupo it started raining. In Taupo I had a 40 min stopover and went and got bread and apples,etc. I then walked around and did some quick window shopping.

The bus northward with a Final Destination of Taranga only had 4 people on it. I sat in front and talked with the driver the whole time. The drive was neat as in this area the hot springs and volcanic activity leak steam randomly so in fields and near streams there was lots of steam. And we passed a 100% geothermal power plant, the first in the world. So that was cool.

I got into Rotorua, took a pee and then went to my Hostel. Checkin went well although I paid again and I think I might have already paid. Gonna have to check on that.

The place seems nice enough but I have realised when travelling for short periods of time I prefer quiet places that don’t try too hard. They reception seemed nice enough but I’m not big on it being over the top social. I guess that is bad of me, but I only have so much social energy.

The room is nice enough albeit a little small and is clean. I went exploring the town and will continue once I finish this and then will go back and cook some Pasta. I haven’t yet heard if my trip tommorrow has been cancelled or not due to the weather. Fingers Crossed.

Anywho more to come later as when travelling in the NZ winter (read constant rain) I will have lots of time to write.

Peace,

-Mathias

Ohhh right this is my 21 day countdown to home!

Kia Ora, (That means welcome in Maori, but w/e)

This keyboard that I am using in this internet Cafe is fairly hard to use so there may be a lot of errors but bare with me.

I had originally intended on typing this up last Saturday but alas the site was down and I was actually worried it would be down for good and that I would lose all of this record.

Anywho I have just finished the Eighth Habit by Stephen Covey for the first time so that is good. The end touched on an important part of my life that I have often had problems with. That is execution.

Don’t get me wrong I get a lot done and feel I am fairly effective. But I often have the terrible habit of procrastination and that diminishes the full amount of things I am able to do.

In fact here in NZ I have found that I procrastinate projects and papers much more so I feel the rush of having things to do. I do miss having lots of things to do. More of the challenge of those things than their number but I am excited to bring back new things that I have learned to my normal life. I think it should help me in respect to execution.

Now onto some random topics.

When walking I have noticed that women find it important to make eye contact whereas guys just normally walk facing forward. I am sure many others have noticed that but it is still a big difference. Probably a leftover from when we used to keep an eye out of saber tooth tigers.

I think that a problem all of us face, I am certain I do, is to base our expectations on the social mirror. That is what others would think about us and our actions. I find myself aware of these preconceptions now but I don’t know if they are invalid or not. I am sure some of them are, but I suppose lots of them can serve positive functions. Although maybe it is important to be sure of yourself first and then to take in the opinions of others. I just think it motivates a lot of our behavior more than it should.

Another thing I have been contemplating is how people perceive enjoyment. I think that this is a widely varying subject and I’m amazed at how differnent things are between people, even of similar background and age. But maybe that is because I am in an environment that is unlike my home environment where people aren’t signed up to the same sort of social contracts.

The thing I really love about going to the waterfront on the weekends is the wide array of people that come out for walks and just spending time. Especially the families. All ages and sizes and lots of kids. It is just neat seeing the amazing value that family brings into our lives and how important family really is. Also NZ is so laid back that often parents walk their children to primary school. How cool is that?Ohhh also the kids like 8 yr olds ride public transit. I was really amazed at that.

At the place where I normally sit/read/think in Wellington there are lots of seagulls and ducks. Ducks look really dumb when they swim, at least when you can see their feet. I like watching the seagulls and other birds as they fight over bread and the bigger males harass the smaller gulls. They really are beautiful creatures.

Yup that’s what’s up.

-Mathias

Kia Ora Friends,

Geez you never realize how fast time flies. Beautiful day in Wellington today. It’s exam time and I have my third tomorrow. It is the toughest of the 4 as the class cover 4 distinct topics in philosophy and one question is asked from each section, so there is a lot of material and it is hard to study it. Ohh well.

Otherwise things are going pretty normal. I have planned my trip to Rotorua and Taranga next Week (Thurs through Wednesday) and then back to Wellington and then out to Australia. Wow I can’t believe it is only two weeks left.

My flatmates are still very dirty. They haven’t done the dishes in 5 days and last night after I cleaned the frying pan to use it, and then cleaned it after I used it, they cooked and left it dirty. I was like seriously?!

Had Coffee with Mary this morning. It was good conversation as always and I am fortunate as she offered me a ride to the airport on the day that I leave (My flight leaves at 6:45 AM) so I am very thankful for her!

It gets cold here at night and I wear thermal long johns, pajama pants, thermal long sleeves, a cotton hoody, thermal socks, and gloves to bed. Yah you can imagine it gets cold!

I haven’t booked anything for my Aus trip but I plan on doing that this weekend. I have it planned in my head, but no confirmed plans. The plane tickets are expensive so I’m going to take trains as much as possible. Plus train travel is way more fun!

My other two finals have gone well, but I won’t know my final grades for awhile so that’s disappointing. The good thing is they don’t affect my GPA! (They only effect hope consideration)

A bit part of me emotionally is ready to get home and that is exacerbated by the fact that it is finals time. Finals should not last a month! They should be like a bandaid. Rip it off and get on with life!

I made a short video for FASET (Gatech orientation) and I think you should view it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AP_L6M8oBwY. The quality isn’t the best but ohh well!

As well congrats to my old high school coach for being hired as the assistant volleyball coach at Georgia State!

Anyways I gotta get back to studying and then Volleyball tonight!

28 days til I land in Atlanta!

All the Best!

-Mathias

(View from the Library. It’s gorgeous out!)

Cheers Mates!

Today is Wednesday June 9th. On Friday is my first exam at Vic and the beginning of the end of the study process here in New Zealand. I think I will be happy to finish it.

Today was an absolutely gorgeous day. The sun was out, there were few clouds in the sky and it wasn’t terrible cold. As well, the passing of the rains (to be honest they will probably be back tomorrow) revealed that the mountains to the North are covered in Snow. It is absolutely gorgeous. That combined with the view of the still water on the Harbor is undeniably breathtaking.

A picture of the marina from where I was sitting, late afternoon. Taken with my iPhone.

I took a long time off from writing on this blog and I believe I did myself an injustice. Stephen Covey writes “Writing is a psycho-neuromuscular activity and literally imprints the brain.” I think he is quite right as I often think about what I am going to write hear throughout the day and then finally bring it all together when I sit down to write. Yet still I let the short term goals of completing schoolwork outweigh a capsule of insight and thought that is this blog.

I came across two notable things today. First, that I am incredible fortunate to have had the opportunity to travel, study, and more accurately LIVE here in New Zealand.

Second is the fact that my real life takes place 12000kms away in Georgia. I of course knew that I would be leaving friends and family behind when I came here but the thing is I had never really been outside of my life. It is quite a weird feeling to meet and interact outside of your life because there are way fewer consequences in this setting. I could be incredible rude to almost everyone here and it would have no bearing on my life back home. However I think this is a double edged sword. While this has allowed me the amazing opportunity for introspection it has also left me with a profound feeling of superficiality. I think most of the time this was trounced by the simple fact of learning and experiencing new things, but none the less this is more termed a vacation than it is life.

This does not mean that everything I experience, do, and see is less valid, it just seems like it is through a different lens, a different paradigm than If I were to experience with someone significant from home. The connections I make have to inevitable come to an end and that it something that almost forms a barrier to entry.

In my real life I feel that I had to be more careful about what I did. Things were more interconnected and related, which was and is still the case unless the world has shifted immensely over the past 5 months. However I do look forward to taking this knowledge of taking chances and valuing people back with me to hopefully have the ability to continue to grow and change my paradigm, definitely for the better.

So as far as my legacy in New Zealand goes, I’m not sure I will leave a terrible influential one. Hopefully I will have convinced Kiwi’s that Americans are good, hardworking, funny people who aren’t solely concerned with world domination.

However I think in the bigger picture New Zealand will leave a legacy on me. Of knowing what it feels like to be an outsider, and expat. Of being able to empathize with those who might be lost of confused. Of valuing time spent relaxing and enjoying relative to that of working. Of spending time and effort into relationships rather than things. Of using drinking as a social medium (yah that one is controversial, but probably the most universal of all of these). Of not judging people based on what they wear. Of delicious Kebabs and Indian food. Of neighborhood dairies where the owner knows your name. Of efficient mass transit systems. Of living without things you thought were necessary. And most importantly of how much your loved ones truly mean in your life.

All the best!

-Mathias

Hello and thanks for reading!

I think the biggest outcome of living in New Zealand has been the ability to reflect and get to know who I am outside of any system I have been involved in. Yes you have probably heard me dribble on about this before and I assure you completely and utterly that I will continue this once I get home. So there.

Anywho I really wanted to describe something that hasn’t really plagued me throughout this trip and that is a little nervousness. Of course there was some at the beginning and there is always some in life, but now it feels different.

I have no doubt that most of that nervousness has to deal with returning home and that sort of stuff. But the thing I am now thinking about is what other people think again. That is something that hasn’t happened for awhile.

I think it is because I have really discovered that my life is now extremely interconnected. I think that most people are different around different groups of people. For example you may be slightly more open about who you are with your close friends than someone you just met. Or you may act slightly different around your friends than you do your parents. And in the old world/old frame of mind that could work.

However, I think that is a problem that is facing not only myself but a lot of people my age and younger. As social media continues to connect more of us in different ways, parents/acquaintances/family friends/grandparents, etc are increasingly connected to your lives. Now that is all fine and dandy but it would be bad to not consider the consequences.

Growing up and life actually is mainly about discovering who you are and what your purpose is. Now that normally comes about from making mistakes and learning lessons in a variety of ways. However, in the old time parents and others were much less aware of these happenings. Trust me I heard the stories from multiple parent age people and they are fairly similar to what we do.

So I guess my point in all this for me at least is I am going to strive to form one coherent personality. I think I am very close as I tend to treat most people equally, but I am going to vow to try and ignore any external influences on my choices caused by social media.

I want to be me. I am going to be me.

I don’t think this is any major breakthrough or OMG did you read this, it is just something for me to say to myself and to you if your reading this. The fact that others are more involved in our lives means that we usually have to censor ourselves more and like our personal lives are on display a lot more. However I vow to take that into significantly less importance in the future.

I will just be me!

Anyways thanks for reading! All the best!

-Mathias

Hello,

So often in these situations I feel that I’m writing to myself as much as I am to any of you. It’s a cold, wet, very windy day here in Wellington so I made the trek up to the Vic Library to do some work and revision. As well the library is about 30 degrees (F) warmer than my flat. So naturally a good choice.

I normally set semester goals and plans three times a year. Once for Fall, Spring and Summer. I normally review my goals near the end of the semester, usually once I’m home, but I have decided to do it early this time because I have the time and because I need to see how I stacked up. Anyways Below are my goals and my reviews of how I did.

As an aside, I use the PMS-GOALS-PLAN-ACTION method when strategizing.

Goals for Studying Abroad over the next 5 months:
1. Successfully adapt to the NZ Culture
To be honest at the beginning I didn’t really know what this was going to entail/mean, but I believe I have achieved it and have taken appropriate measures to understand what it means to be Kiwi. The most important outcome is the confidence to know I can live in another place outside of home.
2. Connect with half of my professors
Surprisngly to me at least this works. I feel I have good relationships with two of my professors. This goal is usually a little ambiguous but I accomplished it.
3. Meet 5 Quality new people
I always add the word quality in here as a qualifier for myself. It is never easy to meet new people and to be honest most of them will not be your friends. For my purposes I define quality as someone I can learn something from or someone who will become a close acquaintance of mine. I believe I have accomplished this goal.
4. Do something new every week
This is a tough one for me. You do things while travelling that you otherwise might not and I think I have accomplished this goal. Its purpose provides more of a continued impetus to try new things more than anything else.
5. Learn a new sport
I have a fair grasp for both cricket and rugby. And I have learned a helleva lot more about volleyball, so that is worth it alone.
6. Try a new food fortnightly.
Nom Nom Nom Nom. Enough said, this is definetely true!
7. Get more Tan!
A good justification for spending a lot of time at the beach! It worked at the beginning. You might think it is wierd to include in my goals, but I still think it is important.
8. Go on at least two backpacking trips.
My one long one and my upcoming trip to Australia! If I had a car I might have gone on more, but I have seen a lot of the country and am very fortunate and thankful for the opportunity to see what I have.
9. Learn More about myself.
Hahahahah. Yah this one is totally accomplished.
10. Lose 10 Pounds.
I am really interested to see if I get this one as I haven’t weighed myself sense leaving hope with a less than impressive 190 lbs. So I won’t know this one till I get home!
The Plan:
1. Work on being more outgoing while still taking time for myself.
This was another impetus part of the plan but I think I have worked on it. Starting more conversations and being a lot more like the high school version of myself, where I would talk to pretty much anyone. This is hard for me as I am a high judger.
2. Play volleyball and join at least one club.
I have gotten to play a good amount of volleyball and am very fortunate for all of that. I was a class rep and faculty delegate and I am counting that as my club.
3. Take sport lessons of some kind, namely golf.
I actually worked on this for the first few weeks while I was here. However I gave up the effort once uni started and I realized that the couple of places were bus rides away. I did not accomplish this goal.
4. Eat healthier.
This is a mixed bag as to success. I somewhat accomplished it, I have tried cooking a wider variety of foods, and tried A LOT of different types, but not always healthy. I’m gonna call this one a draw.
5. Reflect at least once every two nights before sleeping.
Nope. I did a lot of reflecting but not how I wanted too. I will still need to work on a routine for this.
6. Be confident in my actions, yet still vulnerable.
I think this worked, but I cannot be the judge of this because bulnerablility is judged from the outside. As far as being confident goes, that is just part of who I am!
7. Keep in contact with those I have met and those back home fortnightly.
I have definitely succeeded in this goal and that makes me close to most proud. I honestly feel closer to some of the people back home than I have in a long time. It really is true that you don’t know what you got till it is gone. And I partially took my home support group for granted and I am hoping I can bring that back with me.
8. Keep a positive attitude towards life.
This is a lot harder now that it is winter. But overall I accomplished this goal.
9. Ask for Help!
I accomplished this. It is again a little hard to judge but I know in my actions I asked for a lot more help.
10. Smile! Smile! Smile!
I think this one has worked, but I am a tough judge of that. I think it has worked best when I have been around annoying people and smiled more. So yah I think that’s good.

I would give myself around an 85% success rate on my goals which is a little higher than I like. However, I think that I did set my expectations a little lower due to my unknown circumstances.

Anyways I would love to hear from any of you reading this far about how you set/update/make goals, etc at any time.

All the best,

-Mathias Rost