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

Hello Those Reading,

It’s Friday here in Wellington and winter is in full swing. The week has been filled with off and on rain, heavy gusts, and southerlies (like I know what those are, but the locals mention them all the time.)

I had dinner with my NZ Family last night and then played volleyball up at Victoria. These people were better at Volleyball then me, but it was good to play with slightly better people. Also there were only 6 of us so there wasn’t too much of a team aspect. Also this one guy had an amazing vertical. In order to dig his spikes you had to basically be down at the court.

Otherwise I have completed my Phil Project and am turning that in today and then working on my IBUS paper(s) due next Wednesday. That shouldn’t be too terrible as I quite like International Business.

Things have gotten better since the beginning of the week, so that is an improvement. I am going to pick up something to read over the weekend granted that it isn’t too expensive.

I have been thinking a lot about my return to the States and leaving New Zealand. There are lots of things I love about both but I am not sure what it will like being back at home with such a different perspective. I think it will be much better, but I am not sure how it will affect my relationships and perspective. The thing I do know completely is that I don’t think I will ever be the same. But that is a good thing.

I will miss the Wonderful sound of the electric trolley busses going by. The unique outfits that the locals wear. The friendly people at the neighborhood dairy. The ability to walk 10 minutes and be at the waterside. The contentment in the populace. The colour of the houses and roofs. The interesting products, names, and restaurants. Kebabs. But I think I will miss the beauty of New Zealand a lot. The mountains and the sea with the parks and the buildings. It really is gorgeous.

Another thing I have discovered is how much easier expats get along with each other. I think it is because we all share the common bond of being away from home that we are able to interact easier. It has helped me understand why there are places like Chinatown, etc in cities across the globe.

I have also discovered that I use Yah a lot as a beginner word. I gotta stop that.

Anyways I am off to class. 2 hours till the weekend! Woot!

All the best!

-Mathias

Hello All,

So I have to say that the last 4 days have been some of the most challenging I have experienced in Wellington thus far.

Friday and Saturday of the weekend last I spent cleaning and enjoying myself. I did a lot of reading and Saturday was a gorgeous day so I went down to the waterfront and read in the sun and people watched for a few hours. Then I went to a new grocery store, Moore Wilsons, which is kinda a cross between a Sam’s Club and a Whole Foods/Trader Joe’s. It was too expensive for my taste, but I got some legit cheddar cheese and some mung beans.

I then took the Bus over to Pak n’ Save in Kilbirnie and loaded up on all of the cheap food there. Saturday night I cooked and felt really good about myself and my day.

Sunday was not so nice. It was sprinkly rainy out so not too much fun. I went to volleyball which was nice, did a little cooking, and read but I felt like something in my mind had changed.

Monday continued much the same way. I honestly can only contribute this feeling to waking up on the wrong side of the bed? But I think subconsciously it has to deal with the fact that I have to go back to reality in 8 weeks.

This is not to say that this reality is bad, maybe it is that I don’t really want to deal with that change. Maybe it is the fact that for the first time I see that limit to my time here. I think it might be that. Just the fact that I am leaving what reality I have constructed for myself here.

With that being said, I have this shadow effect that is constantly bombarded of amazing memories from the past 4 or so years of my life. Fun sporadic events that I haven’t thought of in a while come rolling in like the waves, but at more random intervals. These make me smile, but it now is only a short term happiness.

I think another aspect of it would be my involvement. I think I somewhat need to be needed. I definentely do not think I am alone in this aspect and it doesn’t consume me, but I do like to be in leadership positions. It is a natural extension of who I am and I drastically miss that.

It also comes down to how I reenergize myself mentally, spritually, emotionally. I don’t know what it is exactly and I thought I had it figured out on Saturday that I recharge by organizing my life and taking it easy. But that seemed really short term. I think volleyball has a lot to do with it as well, but maybe it isn’t the game so much as it is the team aspect.

I just plain don’t feel energized right now towards too much in my life. Throughout my cultural adjustment process I have experienced highs and lows, which is very common, but this one feels a bit too extended for my comfort, but maybe it is just another phase of adjustment.

I know that there is also the problem of readjustment once I get back to the states and I am not looking forward to that, but hopefully it will come easier than my adjustment here (I think it will).

However, I think the most likely reason for my lack of energy is my effort to improve myself has just reached another plateau. I feel like my relationships are in good phases, being nicer and more open is becoming easier, and overall things continue to work out. I am thankful for a continued grace that seems to flow through my life. This new plateau means that I will have to work even harder to get to the next level of being a better person and I am not quite sure where that is going to be. And that is hard.

Anyways, I know now that I have settled into to Life here I don’t write nearly as often as I should, but I think that is common. I do hope that this feeling goes away soon because constantly thinking about many different things on different levels of thought gets tiring.

Love ya All!

-Mathias

Hey!

I must admit if you happen across this post than I am very thankful. It has been over a week since my last blog. And the funny thing is I resolved to try and keep this updated every other day. But alas the road to hell is paved with good intentions right? Not that I will go to hell for not writing a blog post but you get the point.

I guess the reason I haven’t written in awhile is a combination of many factors. Now that I have settled down into a routine, I have to make more effort to do things that you can’t really schedule like writing. In fact part of the reason I am writing this now is because the philosophy paper I am working on has been kicking my ass all day. Like seriously I just don’t fundamentally understand all of the arguments or what really is wanted. But ohh well I will try my best.

Other than the paper this weekend and my assignment last weekend uni has been good grade wise. I did well on my IBus test and slightly well on my IBus assignment.

But the most important thing I did in this last week was to try and connect more with my family and friends back home. Some of you may know what I am talking about and I am trying my damndest to make a lot of parts of my life work. Reading that sounds a little negative, but it should be a positive.

However, I have found that I seem to be low on emotional energy lately. I really don’t know if that is because I have been steadily increasing my emotional muscle and now I am just at a level lower than a newly found max or what. But I can’t seem to remember the things that used to be an emotional booster for me. I mean its not unhappiness and it doesn’t mean I am doing less emotional things, its just that for some reason I feel depleted.

I think the things I used to find charging involved a few primary things. 1. Spending time with friends and family. 2. Volleyball for sure. 3. Media. And unfortunately those are things not currently availiable.

Speaking of Volleyball it has been going well. I have consistent games on Sundays and Mondays and occasional games on Wednesdays. Mondays have a lot of coaching involved so that is really interesting. And it is fun being coached.

The funny thing is I had a list going of blog topics last week but I lost that list. I did remember a few things though so here it goes:

1. This girl sitting next to me one day in tutorial had a timepiece. Like an actual oval watch with a chain attached to it. And she was normal as well. It was very interesting.

2. Women’s butts look completely different in heels. This is something I think all males have known for a long time but still I don’t understand the physics behind it.

3. I made Lasagna this week for the first time. It was good and I continue to try and improve the recipe.

4. It seems that if you act a little vulnerable people will take to you more. I guess it is kinda like fishing in the fact that you gotta leave your line lose to try and meet people and then reveal your inner knowledge or confidence. This relates a lot to experiences in volleyball.

5. My flatmates are one of those couples that do everything together. Like there together a good portion of the day. They even shower together regularly (I don’t know how they do it, it must be tight). I am not sure I will ever be one of those persons who can spend that much time with someone else. I mean since he doesn’t have constant employment (as a side note I have learned lots about the film industry ) he just kinda doesn’t do a whole lot during the day except visit her. I don’t know it is just something I have noticed and found odd. But maybe that is what it means to be infatuated with someone else. Or maybe I am just overly independent.

6. At training for Faculty Boards, I met this guy who was rich. The kinda rich where you don’t have to worry really. Like I have only met 2 others in my life with this same attitude. Sharp dresser, but then I couldn’t help feeling that his money was the biggest part of his personality. And that annoyed me. However, these type of people are fairly easy to charm. I though y’all would like to know that

Other good things over the past week:
1. I have fairly well connected with my professors and one of my tutors. So that is a kinda nice thing to have.

2. I went to my first faculty board meeting. It wasn’t like the aux services meeting back home, but it was still nice. And the room it was in was baller. Like seriously something out of the 17th century. And the microphones actually worked. Anyways it helped me learn about the system and administration here at Vic and I am grateful for that opportunity.

3. I had a wonderful lunch with a friend I met in Marketing. Her name is Rosemary. It was actually a very intelligent, rewarding lunch, one that you don’t find often because it focused on ideas and thoughts. More on that later.

4. I have been trying earnestly (I think this is the word I want) to increase my tolerance for dealing with people who bug me. Basically there are people who I have met who somewhat bother me, but I continue to talk to them, somewhat like immersion therapy. I think it is helping.

5. I had a wonderful reminder of home on Wednesday night! The aforementioned Rosemary had a dinner get together at her house with some people I hadn’t met. It was in celebration of Cinco de Mayo and reminded me of the lots of dinner party’s I have been too at home. The most notable point of learning that night was the fact that Kiwi’s become very American while intoxicated. Basically, they get louder and talk slower. It was much easier to understand!

Other Thoughts Continued:

I would like to thank those who continue to be an active part in my life. I am very appreciative of your effort.

I think people are natural storytellers. I think we are also somewhat big picture people and stories help us connect people places and ideas. I for one am always up for a good story! And when you share a story with someone else I think part of you becomes imprinted on their soul. It becomes a linkage between the two (or more) of you that helps build a foundation for friendship.

The other thing that has become abundantly clear is that all people suffer in one way or another. No ones life is perfect and people who make comparisons across people typically ignore others weaknesses or pitfalls which can end up hurting themselves. I hope that makes sense.

The same damn kids answer all the questions in philosophy class. I do enjoy when they talk because I can always look at the other people I know in that class for a good eye roll. Although most of the time their arguments do provide me with a nice chuckle. (lols chuckle)

In conclusion, this is a little over 50% of what my essay is but this was much more satisfying to write. I won’t make any promises with the post just that I will try and do better in the future. Yes I think that is ambiguous enough!

All the best,

-Mathias

Hello All!

It is a wonderful thing to have an activity that you love in life. For me I think that is Volleyball. I have had the chance to play here in Wellington much more than I initially thought I was going to be able to and that has made me very happy.

This might sound funny, but there is something innately beautiful about volleyball. The way a good set just floats in the air waiting to get hit down. The dizziness feeling you get when a set has gone on for more than 20 seconds or so. The universal relaxation after a good pass or set (this is really fun to experience and watch). The feeling in your arms after a tough dig. The angles with which the ball can travel are amazing. The approach and power of a wonderful hit. Volleyball really is an amazing game.

There is also the team aspect, which I think is most important in pretty much all sports, but I will focus on volleyball. Back at Tech, I always make sure to attempt to keep the team morale up. This normally consists of lots of high fives and compliments. I have found in NZ volleyball there is a lot less of the communication in both respects. I still say lots of positive things, but it is the physical aspect that is really different. There are very few high fives and backpats. Maybe it is because I know these people less well, but even on the teams that play together there doesn’t seem to be much more team “spirit.”

The funny thing is though, it (referring to team morale) seems to stay much more centered than what I remember. For example, at Tech you could always tell when people started getting bothered by two many bad passes or shanked balls. That seems to be dialed down here, with no great shows of emotions for wonderful hits or for shit passes. I occasionally miss the pretend gunshots in the air, the wierd noises, the ace (or just random…cough Graham…) dances, the hilarious inside jokes, and of course the pre-game pump up music!!

However, upon coming back from my trip, learning more about myself and getting back I think more of my confidence is expressing my personality I have started adding that more and more into the games I am playing in. This includes the random dancing, gun shots in the air, ace jokes, and to a less extent the high five (the kiwis and others seem fairly resistant to it).

Another great point about volleyball is its ability to be played by a wide range of people. People of all types, sizes and ages. I have seem some really young people playing and some people I thought looked fairly old playing. But I think as long as you enjoy the game, that is what counts!

The thing I have loved is the aspect of coaching and the international side of the volleyball games. There are always people from various walks of life and cultures. The coaching has been fairly good, to be honest I have never really been coached before, and I often have to swallow hard my tendency to resist authority (i.e. I don’t like people telling me what to do) and remember that they are trying to help. With that said, I have learned more about strategy and look forward to implementing that on the Get You Some team this fall!!!

The point of this post is that I love Volleyball and hope to keep playing it for a good long time!

Cheers!

-Mathias

Hello! Thanks for Reading!

So I think sense Friday has been one of the toughest few days in awhile. Well actually I think it started last Monday (the 19th). It is a really weird feeling to be content in life. I don’t even know if that is the right word though.

Basically what I am experiencing is a separation between what I know and am aware that I should do and what I am doing. I have felt a struggle against myself that is a really strange feeling. This is not to say that things have not been going well. I finally feel that I have reached the comfort phase (I think I am in the acceptance stage?!?). I mean I know where stuff is, I have been playing Volleyball more, and when I walk through Uni I see familiar faces.

And yet when I make some decisions it’s like I want to make another decision but choose not too. For example, I had been eating rather healthy before I left for break and sense I have come back I find myself indulging myself in assorted pleasure such as chocolate bars and Cokes, yes I only had 2 in a week but I was drinking one a month maybe before. I am aware of the decisions I am making but don’t really want to make the better of the decision. I don’t know why that is I am just aware.

Another one of the hardest things to change is the time wasters. I seem to have to spend a good amount of time wasting time. It is enjoyment on the surface, for example watching 30 Rock, but then I think I could be doing better things with my life. However, I am not sure I want to be doing better things with my life. As in I can always do them later. Here I have found that procrastination seems to be one of the few things that causes stress in my life. And although it sounds completely strange to say I think I am one of those people who needs a little stress in their life. Maybe it is because I am young and still have lots of energy, but I miss the buzz (seriously no pun intended) and excitement of life back home. There was always things to do and comfortable activities going on, and I knew I could always take a day if I needed to.

This is not to say that there are not things going one here, it is just like I don’t know what to do with my evenings. Most of the local student population seems to spend it going out and drinking and that just isn’t me. I have filled some of that space with volleyball, but I mean I miss the rush of having too many things to do and not enough time I guess. Maybe it isn’t even the activities that I miss as much as the people that I was interacting with. Yes I think that is it.

As far as the schoolwork goes, I haven’t felt the challenge too much. Maybe I don’t care enough. Although this week I have two tests, I have put adequate amounts of study time in but still don’t feel too much stress. I shouldn’t because I have gone to all the classes, taken fairly good notes, attended tutorials, and done most of the readings. But I still don’t feel that edge of fear that is a great motivator for getting things done. Maybe it is because I know that I can make B’s here and as far as anyone on the outside know, I’ll still have my GPA.

It is the weirdest thing though to be so self aware that I know I want to make another decision but don’t. It’s like sometimes you are your own toughest opponent.

In order to make some progress I finally sat down last Friday to do some schoolwork. But I think my subconscious motivation was to avoid feeling guilt at not going out for drinks with some of the people from volleyball. Granted, I know only a couple of people by name, and I thought they weren’t going to go, I still think I was just doing the schoolwork as an excuse not to go. Perhaps I was intimidated? Yes I think that is it. But I am not sure entirely if I actually wanted to go or not. Yes, it might have been fun, but I would have been a little far out of my comfort zone. I think if you have someone who you have a good relationship with to go with that helps, but unfortunately (or fortunately I still haven’t made up my mind) I didn’t have such a person.

And I think that is the thing I continue to learn about myself and others. It is the people in our lives that really matter. The things can be replaced but memories, friendships, and experiences stay with us. I find while I am walking and thinking I remember some fun times in my life. Memories that I had sometimes consciously forgotten about. Most of them bring a bright smile to my face. But some of course bring other emotions back. Lessons learned, people hurt, and regrets. Both serve to remind me that I wouldn’t trade any of those experiences for anything material.

While on my tramping trip in Stewart Island I rewrote my Personal Mission Statement to something I could actually adhere to and something I felt like fit me. I will post it below these thoughts.

I understand this is probably really hard to read, but it is what I have been thinking about as I have mental spars with myself. No I am not a crazy person, but what I have picked up is that universally a lot of people are average. Most can’t pick up on subtle clues or just stay at the surface with their conversation. Maybe that is me judging them to harshly but it is what I have concluded so far in my life. The thing is I don’t know if this vast majority of people actually thinks as much as I or any of you in my life do. But what I feel is a truth I have learned here is that it is not worth going through life and keeping it all to yourself. All your thoughts, feelings, and It is about sharing with others. About taking the time to understand and communicate. About making yourself vulnerable is order to understand and forge deeper connections with people.

The last thing I want to say is that of shifting emotions. I have told some of you that I go from periods of extreme happiness to sadness and back again. I don’t think that ever stops. While I still often feel this inner sense of happiness, maybe contentment, there is still the ever changing emotional roller coaster of living in a foreign country, and after talking with a wide variety of other people in my travels I don’t think that you ever REALLY get over it. But I think the perspective I have gained that my culture is not the best or the only won is well worth the struggle with emotions a few times over.

________________
I apologize for not writing again sooner. (Maybe I need to add that to my plan or goals, which I just realized I haven’t looked at in a few day (prolly not good)). I will aim to update every two days or such in the upcoming future.

In conclusion, I don’t really know what I want you to take from reading this. First, I am honored that you are reading that because it hopefully means I am somewhat apart of your life and I yours. But maybe it is that we are all looking for others to interact with in a meaningful way. The angry guy walking down the street might just need a smile or kind gesture to make his day. The person eating lunch along might want company (this one is a lot trickier, trust me ) But really I think I just want to say to make yourself more open to what life provides.

Anywho, All the best to y’all and your loved ones!

-Mathias Rost

__________________________________________________________–
PMS Revised

Personal Mission Statement- Revised 4/26/10
My Mission is to live a fulfilling life by helping and loving others. I will accomplish this task by keeping to the following tenets:
• I will build positive, interdependent relationships among my family and friends.
• I will listen more than I talk.
• I will suspend judgment of others and form an opinion only after analysis.
• I will seek to learn about new cultures, things, and people.
• I will be a happy, confident, friendly person in all activities in my life.
• I will prioritize my endeavors on high leverage tasks and relationships.
• I will be appreciative and thankful for others in my life.
• I will seek others counsel and help.
• I will find the balanced whole in my life.
• I will help others when possible.
• I WILL PROACTIVELY CHOOSE THE BEST ALTERNATIVE!

Hello All,

It is Friday afternoon and I am writing this from the slightly cold interior of the VUW library. Being a Friday afternoon and a Tech student, naturally I am in the library.

Anyways, the week has been good. I will just highlight the days as they weren’t too terrible amazing.

Tuesday was average. In two of my classes I am preparing for exams in the next week, so that is kinda stressful. I had a marketing meeting with someone who was really inflexible and just hard to work with. That was very dissapointing. I did however get the second season of 30 Rock which is wonderful!

Wednesday is always busy. I had classes, had to ship a package, and then was going up to the O’Keefe’s for dinner and volleyball. Class was fine, my tutorial for International Business was wierd as usual. The tutor didn’t know if she was allowed to give us the grading sheets back. So being an American and more importantly a Problem Solver I called the Prof up and asked him. We had 15 minutes of discussion over something that was solved in 2 minutes. I got my gradeback and got a 6.5. The median was a 7. Needless to say I wasn’t too happy. I’m not used to being in the bottom 50%.

After class, which ran about 10 minutes longer than the alloted time, I ran over to the tutor (TA’s) office and picked up my eval sheet. She stated that my paper was off topic. I thought we might get into this argument, it seems to happen often enough, so I had preivously specificly cleared my argument with the Professor. I contact him today (Friday) and will drop it off for reiew sometime next week.

I then sent the package home (8-25 business days!) and caught the proper bus to the O’keefes. We had a wonderful dinner and conversation! I then proceeded to play volleyball with Ross for 2 hours in two games. Apart from the first game (I couldn’t pass worth shit) I played very good. But really volleyball is a team sport and because a few of the people had played together before, we were very effective.

I got home and had a craving for something sugary. So I had my coke for the month and collected my wash off the line.

Also on Wednesday (Maybe it deserves it’s own post) I stopped by in my rush by the smoothie place I frequent. I realized I really like having some place where I am a regular. It is a good feeling and we had a nice conversation before I power walked to class.

Thursday I aimed to get as much work done as possible. I brought my laptop, course notebooks, and textbooks with me to class. I went to class which went well, did some studying, had a marketing interview with a very pretty girl, and then started studying some more. I went to the lab to continue working on my IBUS review and about an hour into it the power failed. I hadn’t saved in a good 20 minutes. It was funny as there was a collective sigh from the room as data dissapeared into the dark.

We all were in a secured lab that could only be access by RFID card (out Student ID’s) and when the power went out we were locked in. After about 10 minutes someone came and opened the door. They propped it with the trash can and I waited another ten minutes before giving up. I was planning to stay for a cultural event put on by the international folks, but I decided to leave due to the lack of power.

Strangely enough, my mp3 player also decided to die at that same time. So my walk back was quiet. All of the power was out for the area, including the traffic lights, so there were lots of car. I arrived back in my flat and decided to do some reading, a new book was on my to do list!, and read for a few hours till the power came on. I didn’t get anymore studying done the rest of the evening unfortunately.

Then came Friday. It has been a good day so far. Woke up, talked to my birth parents (that sounds wierd but is correct) went to class, and have been studying for the rest of today.

In my last post I mentioned posting more interesting things. Events are good to note, but not necessarily my entire experience. I find that I continue learning more and more each day from a ariety of sources.

I felt that after I had finished backpacking on Stewart Island, I had regained a sense of my old personality. I used to love talking to a variety of people, but it had waned much sense its former glory. I felt like I got that fire back.

I read in Habits ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Seven_Habits_of_Highly_Effective_People) that motivation and visualization are strong tools to help reshape and remould behavior. I have thus been using those for a couple of weeks now to help rewrite some of my scripting. I think it has helped, especially with apprehensions/anxiety.

I really don’t think I am a good dancer nor singer. My ability to carry a tune is pretty awful. I do still enjoy singing along with songs though! Maybe I should use singing as a threat more often!

I have come to realize that a lot of people experience anxiety and we all deal with it in different ways. I myself tend to withold lots of myself until I am fairly familiar with the circumstance. I am trying to become more comfortable in more situations. However, I have realized now that it is much more common than I once though. I also don’t get anxiety attacks fyi.

I have come to appreciate the resources and intelligence of the Tech community even more than I did before!

I think studying is very hard because it doesn’t have a finite beginning or end. You could have always studied more. I myself haven’t every worried too much about it, but I have found that lots of people use it as an excuse. There is most certainly a difference between effective studying and ineffective studying.

I really like to take naps. In Fall 2010 I would nap 2-3 times per day. I have found that they can be quite effective at re-energizing your body and mind.

I think that traditional attempts to schedule as much as possivle in your life fails completely. I have found that I need a fair amount of transition time (especially after arriving back after uni) to just let the mind rest. This normally entails some sort of interent trolling (such as FB or maybe even this blog ) or watching some TV. Thus to try and hold yourself to some crazy standard of effectiveness and goal setting without leaving yourself time for the spontaneous and the troll times in life only sets yourself up to fail. In fact I think a lot of the brillance and fun in life comes from unplanned activities.

I don’t understand why my privious pair of shoes lasted for close to 4 years and my current pair is already terrible after only 6 months. It is kinda dissapointing.

Anyways (that is my wrapup word and devoted to my Mother who uses So Anyways as here conversation filler word) those are some more of the thoughts and events in my life. More to come I’m sure.

Also, if anyone gets a postcard from me, please let me know so I know I didn’t just pay money to put them into a dark abyss.

All the best!

-Mathias Rost

Hello All,

Sorry I took a few days break between writing. It is tough to recall the travels, and although it is better to be done sooner rather than later I still have to be in a certain mood to write.

Once back in Wellington I got a wonderful sense of Euphoria. It was nice to see familiar things. One of the things I learned while traveling is that Americans seem to travel for a much smaller period of time than most of our counterparts. I don’t know whether that is caused by a decreased amount of vacation time or some other reason, but I would love to hear your opinion!

I discovered that the flat was much dirtier than how I had left it which was disappointing, but really not unexpected. It was great to see familiar surroundings. I dropped my stuff off, changed into clean clothes and went to the Market for some vegetables. For the first time I went to the harbor side market because I heard it had a wider variety of goods. It certainly did with more meats, cheeses, and lots of other things available. I got vegetables and proceeded back to the flat. I then killed a few hours by calling various people, My Dad and Holly, Brandon, My Mom, My Aunt and Uncle, My Grandma, Charles and talked with some of them. It was nice. I then spent time cleaning my room and getting ready for volleyball.

I went to volleyball around 2:30 and was happy to see a few familiar faces. I had forgotten a couple names, but it was good to play. I played for about 3 hours and had an amazing time. I had consistently good serving, some good blocks, and some fairly decent sets and spikes. Overall it was a wonderful way to spend an afternoon.

I then went to New World, which you should never do when your hungry, and got some food to replenish the fridge. I got some lamb cutlets and chicken sausage to try.

I spent the next few hours cooking a variety of meals including my Mexican dish, sausage and fried rice, and some pita pizzas. Everything turned out pretty well and now I have food for the week! It felt really good to cook again. I have realized that this is something I really enjoy and would like to learn more about.

I went to bed without doing too much work for school or for my life because I was tired and really wanted to be comfy in my own bed.

I woke up naturally this morning, a little earlier than usual, did laundry, and headed off to uni to meet someone for our ongoing Marketing project. Unfortunately he had forgotten, but I got a lot of other work and planning stuff done during that time. I went to class, which was average, and then had lunch with Harry from class, who is a very nice kiwi! (enough commas already, jeez!). I then called Brandon up on Skype from the library. Definitely not the best place to make a call!

I stopped by the video store on my way back to the flat for Season 2 of 30 Rock, but it was checked out so I continued back and decided to finish the novel I started on Saturday. I spent the two hours of my afternoon doing that. It isn’t a terribly good book, but nevertheless I have this problem of having to finish a novel once I have started.

Afterwords, I got my clean and wonderfully smelling clothing off of the line, talked with the flatmates, who are filming for a project, and have been writing this blog, emailing, and uploading new picture to Facebook!

I have some studying and such to do but plan to update with a little more in depth blog in the next few days!

I wish all of your reading this the best and hope the weather is as beautiful where you are as it was here today!

Cheers!

-Mathias

Hello All,

I slept pretty well that night and woke up at around 7:30 and had breakfast with Anderson. It was kinda sad to be losing a friend, but I knew it had to happen so I got over it quickly. I made it to the bus stop a good 10 minutes early and waited for the bus.

This bus was operated by a different company than InterCity who I had been using, so it was a little smaller. The ride was pleasant and smooth with views of small towns, lots of sheep and cattle, and rolling hills. It gets more flat the further south you go.

I arrived in Invercargil and was dropped off near the iSite and Museum. I walked the short distance to the Hostel, a beautiful restored Victorian home, dropped my bags, and asked for some information about the area. I then proceeded back to the iSite and Museum. I discovered the cheapest way to get to Stewart was to fly. I had the travel agent lady call and she told me to call the company after 6:00 PM that night.

I then explored the museum which was very poor compared to the other NZ standards. It didn’t take too long to go through the entirety of the museum because it was poorly laid out and fairly uninteresting. I then headed to the city which is something out of the 1950’s with the city center. This city was definitely NOT designed for tourists. I checked some of the local second hand shops, ate some delicious Noodles with Chicken, and generally explored. I then went to Pak n save to stock up on food for backpacking. I returned to the hostel, prepared my food, cleaned up, arranged my flight for the morning, and went to bed.

I got up early the next morning, made breakfast (3 Pieces of toast sandwich with nutella! YUM!) and walked the 5K to the airport. It was $12 for the shuttle and I figured the exercise was good. It took about 45 minutes and because I left early I got there in plenty of time. I was fortunate as the Hostel stored my extra stuff for free so my pack was a light 17 kilos. The plane was a small 10 seater and it was packed. We set off for the short flight across the straight. We landed without complications and were shuttled to the main village Oban.

There it was raining and I walked to the DoC office, paid for the huts, dropped off my tents, picked up a map, and set off. The beginning of the trail was on paved roads and I picked up a 4k side trail to observation Point.

I am just going to summarize my time on Stewart Island. For three days the wind blew, I got rained and hailed on, and was cold/soaked for a lot of the time. It was good fun and the walk was interesting. It was mostly boardwalk and what wasn’t was just mud. The views were less than impressive because of the weather and the fact that the track was mainly a bushwalk. The huts were very nice and I met some nice people and did some wonderful reflecting and redrafted my mission statement. Although now I can’t seem to find it. The rain on Stewart Island was wicked when combined with the wind it often blew sideways. I dreaded coming to unprotected spots because of the immense amount of rain I got pelted with. The winds were blowing consistently 40-70 kph with gusts up to 150 kph. It was wicked!

On the second night, it was a smaller group in the hut and it was a lot of fun. We even got to play spoons! Overall it was well worth it, but I am not sure it is really a “Great Walk.” Maybe more of a Mud and Bush Walk.

Upon arriving back in town, I checked in with the DoC, picked up my tent from storage, checked in on the flights of the island, and then went to a wonderful little Fish n Chips place. I had never eaten Fish and Chips before so it was a good change. The fish was good and the chips were excellent. I then explored what little of the town there was and basically just killed time before my flight back.

While waiting for the flight I met some Americans. It was a family, the older son was studying abroad and the parents were visiting. We then boarded a shuttle (there were 2 planes full of people leaving) and headed to the airstrip. The wind was quite strong and our shuttle parked at the end of the airstrip. This was a unique experience watching the small planes buzz in right above us and attempt to land. The first landing went astray due to some wicked cross winds, and he had to abort. The second plane was more fortunate but it was still quite crazy.

On my first flight over, I saw that you could sit right next to the pilot so I wanted to do that. I got in the seat, and had to put my foot in the middle of the rudder controls so as not to mess with them. It was a wonderful viewpoint, well worth the $55. The flight bank was amazing and we banked fairly hard to make the approach back to the mainland. The landing was quite easy.

I collected my bag and hitched a ride with a local back to the Hostel where my stuff was stored. I soon found out that they nor any other backpackers or hotel in the city had a room available for under $150 a night. That is over a weeks worth of accommodation! I decided then with my tent to sleep in the park. Queen’s park was a large park so I figured there would be plenty of space. I found a spot near the wooden fence that formed a corner and set up my tent. I knew the winds would be wicked so I used an extra secure setup. After getting set-up, I collected my most valuable things and set off to get some dinner.

I decided on a Kebab place, ate dinner and desert and then returned to my tent. It was about 9:00 PM so it was about time to go to bed. I did worry there was a chance of being robbed or found by the cops, but due to the cold, wind, and occasional rain I didn’t think it was too terrible.

I didn’t sleep too well, but it sufficed. It wasn’t really sleep but a series of naps. I was warm but I still woke up a lot. The next morning at about 9 AM I packed up and checked in to the hostel. I wanted to feel clean and human again and I had a wonderful shit, shower, and shave. Tired of my long hair, I then set out for a barber shop found one and got about 80% of my hair cut off.

I then explored the town, bought some food and a book, and basically just took it easy for the day. I then took a quick nap, read, and explored some more. I wrote some final postcards, cooked dinner at the hostel, talked with some people and went to bed.

I woke up on Sunday morning early (5:00 AM) Made my Nutella Breakfast and set-out for the airport. I checked in and my flights went easy.

I arrived back at Wellington Sunday morning at around 9:30 and took a bus to my flat!

All the best!

-Mathias

Hey All,

Yesterday, myself and my travelling friend Anderson got up early and took a coach to Milford Sound. It was about a 5 hour drive so I was prepared for a long day.

Got up. Had Breakfast and got on the coach and then spent an hour picking up various other people in Queenstown. That was kinda annoying but at least we were first and got the front seats!

We then continued down the Remarkables mountain range, where the huge ski field is, (named Remarkables because they run almost perfectly due north-south). We then conitnued through the country to Te Anau. It was absolutely gorgeous with the greens, yellows, and oranges of fall mixed with the mountains, rain, and clouds.

I am confident that the pictures don’t even do the area justice.

We got to Te Anau and went to a small country store. We only had a few minutes there but I tried Sausage Rolls, becuase I hadn’t before. They were average.

We continued along the lakes of the Fjordland Region. Because we were in the front seats, I talked to the driver a lot and he provided good commentary.

The road was wicked with lots of constuction people maintaining it and floods in some parts. It was raining quite hard by this time.

(Sorry this is really choppy I am having trouble thinking, mainly because I am tired, I haven’t taken a day just for myself in awhile, and because I still have a lot of variables for my trip to Stewart Island tommorrow)

We approached the Homer Tunnel which takes you to Milford Sound. It was cool, one way traffic, and very very steep. The entire road and tunnel area is a full time job to keep open as in the Winter they can have 20+ feet of avalanche snow cover the roadway.

It kept raining, but it was still very beautiful scenery with the granite mountains, amazing number of waterfalls, and grey clouds. It would have been even more beautiful on the uncommon clear day.

We got down to this very nice terminal, paid (I had a $20 coupon ), and boarded the boat. It was of average size for passenger crew and there was a top observation deck. It was raining moderate to hard at times.

We set off exploring the sounds and just being awed at the natural beauty of the sound. (It should actually be a Fjord, which means cut by glacier, but was ill named by the first explorers). I spent a long time getting wet up top and looking out. I had on all of my waterproof gear, so it really wasn’t too terrible. Others had no gear and stayed inside a lot.

We made it around the sound and then towards the opening toward the Tasman Sea (In b/w Australia and NZ). The waves here were massive and reminded me of Deadliest Catch! They were very fun, but we soon turned around to complete the circuit.

There were more beatiful falls and one amazing sheer granite wall. We then went in towards the largest volume waterfall in the sound and everyone cleared the decks but myself and 2 others up top.

There was a lot of water but it was amazing the feeling of the water and looking up. It was totally worth it.

We then finished the tour and reboarded the coach. I went ahead to claim the good seats. We got wonderful scenery on the way back to Queenstown and then stopped for dinner (@ 4 PM) and I got some ice cream. We reboarded the bus and then watch the World’s Fastest Indian on the bus’s TV. It was really good and I reccommend it.

Upon arriving back in QT Anderson went to use internet and I went to some Tourist shops for gifts. We then met back at the Hostel and made dinner, pasta and sauce. We then had a nice conversation with some UK Girls, so that was nice.

Back in the room were the Taiwanese roommates who were a lot older than I though (28) but were very nice. I had to repack my backpack for today (I am getting quite good at it) and then went to bed.

Also, while in QT was able to do laundry so I don’t smell funky!

Anyways I am going to Stewart Island tmmrw til Saturday so I will be out of touch!

I wish all of you the best!

-Mathias

Continued…..

We went to go eat dinner at an Italian place. It was nice having someone to eat dinner with, especially one who appreciated food! We ate dinner and then got dessert at this really cool dessert bar with amazing Gelato and Frozen Yoghurt. It was really quite good.

I then needed to use an internet Cafe and Anderson was going to contact Saul. They made contact, came up and got me and we went exploring on the town. We ate second dinner and Fergburger, which was delicious, and had somemore discussion. We then went looking for a good bar and saw a Brazilian director that Anderson was familiar with. So we went and talked with them for a minute and then went to a wine bar that was very warm.

We continued searching for Saul’s friends from the night before and just having a good time. I started getting tired and we eventually called it a night at about half past midnight. I went to sleep and had a hard time sleeping because of the extremely loud and painful sounding snoring of the Asian guy sleeping above me.

Then went and ate breakfast (typical toast and fruit) and then Anderson and I decided to go on the Jetboat. It was really amazing ride for an hour. It was expensive but well worth it. It was kinda like a Jet Ski in the water. It was fun doing 360’s and seeing the scenery. Queenstown is beautiful in scenery.

We then took the gondola up the mountain to the views and did the luge racing which was very cool!

Then we got lunch and walked around the town, mainly shopping at random tourist shops and going to the amazing sale at Kathmandu.

(I can always tell when I have been writing for a long time because the paragraphs and trains of though get shorter)

We then took a break and walked around the city gardens which was cool bc of the lake but not as good as Christchurch. We then went to the supermarket and back to the Hostel because I desperately needed to wash clothes (they were starting to smell bad).

I had never tried Thai food and Anderson like it so I tried Thai food. It was delicious and interesting. Then we came here to the interenet cafe and hear I am.

There are a lot more details to these stories but those are the base details.

Overall, I have done a lot of things in Queenstown I haven’t tried before. It was good having friends who have personalities and we laughed constantly. It was good trying new food including (capers, olives, Thai Food, Indian Food, Speight’s, Heineken, mussels, some Turkish foods) and learning more about myself and other people.

Tomorrow is Milford Sound which I have heard is NZ in it’s best. I started organizing my photos tonight (there are tons!) and will attempt to upload them as soon as possible. It takes a long time to flip them to proper alignment.

I hope all of you are doing well! I also found out today was Mary’s daughter Kate’s birthday, so Happy Birthday to Kate!

All the best,

-Mathias

Hey All,

Sorry I got called away from writing to go out.

After stopping, we got back in the Coach and continued out ride down the beautiful West Coast. I can’t believe that at one time I considered not visiting here. The West Coast has lots of one way bridges which are really interesting.

The bus was mostly empty, and I had my own seat to stretch out on which was nice. There was also an older couple with a crazy annoying kid sitting a few seats behind me. That was unfortunate.

We arrived at the outside of the Glacier City and started dropping people off. The Coach dropped me and a few others right outside the Glowworm Cottages. I checked in, dropped my bags, and went to explore the city.

As an aside, the room was really nice with an en suite bathroom and kitchen and TV. It was a bargain for $23 a night!

I walked a little bit and checked out the information still deciding whether or not to pay a company to go and walk on the ice. I decided not too.

As I was in information center, a guy came in and started up a conversation. He was apparantly also my roommate from the Glowworm Cottages. We got to talking and soon were joined by another American (there were a good lot in the town) girl. After talking for awhile I told him about the film we went and saw it. It was average but did show some spectacular shots of the West Coast and was about 20 mins long. Probably not worth the $12, but whatever.

It was about dinner time and we decided to go eat. So we went to this Indian Restaurant on the side of town. We ate there until this guy he met on the bus from Greymouth earlier came in and joined us. He also had one of his roommates that he had preivously met at another hostel with him.

We sat and talked for a good long while. Btw these peoples names are Anderson from Brazil, Juan from Argentina, and Saul from San Fran. After sitting for awhile Juan and Saul were hungry so we went to another nice outdoor type restaurant to get dinner for them and dessert for us. We sat out talking til about midnight and had some amazingly interesting conversation. Like real conversation about actual things. It was legit.

The next morning I woke up later than those around me because they had to make it out to the company for their climb. I called home and then attempted to make the shuttle to the Glacier. But it was full and left early so not wanting to wait 2 hours for the next shuttle I decided to just hike the 5k there. On the way there I met a girl named Inga from Germany. She also was walking to the glacier so we had some good conversation all the way. We actually spent most of the day (til about 4 PM) tramping together and talking. It was quite nice.

The glacier was really amazing and the trails to the pools and such around it were amazing as well! It was a pretty awesome day.

So after hiking about 20-25k I was feeling a little bit tired so I went back and read some history about the area. I had heard of the caves earlier from Inga and decided after reading that it would be cool to check it out. So after talking to Brandon for a half hour (and telling him to let everyone know that I might die in the caves) I set out for the caves. I brought the appropriate gear and after a very reflective walk of about 45 minutes I arrived and the cave and started in.

The water went about ankle deep at the deepest and I was surprised to learn that my boots were waterproof!!!! That made the experience a lot better. The cave was quite interesting and surprisingly fairly long. It was an old water sluicing shaft and later a hydroelectric station. I walked to the end, explored, and then started back. On the way back I noticed there were glowworms in the cave and turned my light off (bc I knew about how long it was now) and admired the glowworms. They are weird (sic?) little things and glow a bright blue in the dark. There were some areas covered with them and it looked like looking up at the sky.

Also, the cave was very wet and I had to wear my rain jacket. It was really cool to see the glowworms for free rather than paying the $160 for a tour. And I got to go at my own pace. It was really cool. I then explored a little side cave and did a little climbing on rocks.

On the way back to town I reflected a lot more, even talking a loud to myself (it helps) and I will be detailing these thoughts later.

I got back to my room, changed and went to get some food from the supermarket. I went there, saw more Americans, and then headed back to the hostel. On the way there I saw Juan from the night before and decided to join him. We talked for awhile, I learned a helleva lot more about Argentina, and then his Irish friend he had met from a previous hostel walked by and joined us. We talked for a few more hours and then called it a night because it was really cold. I went back to the room, talked with the UK guys in there, and cooked my dinner, packed my pack, and went to bed.

Anderson and I decided that we would stay in the same hostel in Queenstown and since I had the earlier bus and the BBH guide I would book it. I walked out to the bus and saw it pulling away 10 minutes ahead of time. I signaled the driver and he made some wise crack but in not a terrible function and I boarded the bus. I then found out he was just circling the town.

This driver turned out to be amazing. He provided commentary throughout the bus ride and it was funny and informative. The trip was beautiful (like all of NZ, except for some of Auckland) and we stopped at a Salmon farm which is basically exactly what I thought it would be like. We continued on out journey seeing the coast and rain forests and mountains.

I also found that the aforementioned annoying kid was also on this bus. But at least he was out of ear shot. We continued on our way and stopped at a small cafe in the middle of nowhere (population wise) and had lunch.

We continued on our way and switched drivers to a quiet guy at this Thundercreek Falls. The falls were really cool! We stopped again for a pee break and then continued toward Wanaka, a small city above Queenstown, peed again, and then continued.

I got into Queenstown fine, and found the backpackers very easily. Anderson was a few minutes behind so I went exploring and so I checked out the town.

It is a very new town with almost no historical buildings. It is basically exclusively a tourist town. It is interesting but not my absolute favorite. Anderson got back into town and he said he knew where the previously mentioned Sal was. So we went to his place (Resort Lodge) looking for him. Unfortunately and unbeknown to us, he was registered under someone else’s names. So we left a message at reception.

To be continued.

Hello World,

I am currently blogging from the adventure (read Tourist) capital of New Zealand. I have had a blast these past few days and have learned even more about myself.

So I stayed the second night in the hostel in a four bedroom share. The Germans in the room (like 50% of the backpackers are German. There are a lot) were both leaving and I packed my bag for the next mornings early trip.

I got up and waited outside for the shuttle after having some AMAZING Hot Cross Buns. It was fairly cold outside. The shuttle was free (arranged by the Hostel) so that was really nice. The ride to the train station (about 20 mins) was uneventful. I got to the Train station in plenty of time and by now I knew the routine.

The TranzAlpine runs from Christchurch in the east to Greymouth in the West. It was a long train, the longest by close to 2 so far. I was on the front train facing backwards. I met and had good conversation with an Aussie couple sitting across from me. The scenery in the low lands was nice with beautiful golden rolling hills and farmland/graze land.

As we went into the mountains I headed to the observation car because I like to ride in the open Air compartments. It was amazing being out there and seeing, smelling, and feeling everything. I got some great shots of the scenery. Luckily I got to the open car before the mob of Asian (Mitsubishi company sponsored) tourists did.

I rode outside for most of the trip and came inside occasionally to warm up. It was cool being up in the mountains and riding through the low lying clouds. The scenery was beautiful with the mountains and the cows and the grass had one of the best deep greens I have ever seen. I hope the pictures do it justice.

I got off at Greymouth and waited for the bus to arrive to take me to Glacier Country. While there I dashed into subway to get a quick hot meal. I was dissapointed to find that they had no basil, oregano, or mozzarella, and the lady put lettuce on my meatball sub. It was an interesting experience. I loaded the bus with no Problem after scarfing down my sub (no eating on the bus).

We stopped in a little town about 45 minutes out of Greymouth. It was cool because it was a town that I had wanted to stop at and was defintely glad we did. They had lots of tourist shops as well as a couple jade/greenstone/ponamu and glass factories. These were neat to see, especially the glass.

TBC

Hey All,

I got up early the next morning and walked to the iSite in Nelson and hopped on the bus. I had a wonderfully intriguing conversation with a Canadian Mechanical Engineer who was becoming a Kiwi. I had already taken this Bus, so the scenery wasn’t anything new.

I arrived in Picton and it was a helleva lot colder than in Nelson. I mosied around the town for an hour waiting for the train. I boarded the train and the weather was nice, but cold. The train was fine, I again sat in only a two seater section, but the views were spectacular.

I got some wonderful pictures of the rolling hills and coastline from the open platform at the back.

About 2 hours into the 5.5 hr journey it started raining. This was unfortunate but you could still see most of the countryside, but pictures and the viewing platform not so much. I really enjoy the train rides as they show the rural part of NZ that you would otherwise not get to see. It is also very relaxing and allows for fairly good conversation.

We arrived in CC about 45 minutes late due to assorted delays. It was also cold here. My baggage was close to the last off and I didn’t have transportation arranged. Luckily there was this asian guy with a van and I got in with some other travwellors and proceeded to the city centre. I had never done anything like this, it was dark and I just kinda got into the minivan, but it wasn’t scary really just different. He dropped me off in the Cathedral Square and I found my way to the Hostel.

It is a nice place with wonderful owners and I stayed in a share room (4 people) in a bunk bed in a seperate unit. I went back out and got dinner at a random chinese serve yourself place and explored the town at night. I went back later and watched some TV in the common area and talked with a few people. Most of the travellors are well older than me and I don’t know exactly why. Maybe because US schools and such are still in School? Ohh well. I started on some more psotcards and then went to bed.

I woke up at around 8, took a shower, and then went to the city. I hit the Cathedral , the Museum, the Arts Center, the Arts Gallery, and the Botanical Gardens. They were all free and wonderfully set up the attractions.s The Cathedral was interesting with beautiful wood and I walked to the top of the tower to get some wonderful views of the square.

The Arts Center was my ncext stop and it had tons of Cafes and Art Gallery’s, but not too much else of my interest. I learned a little more about Art from a Gallery owner. That was cool.

The Museseum was wonderfully done and had lots to see. Some of it was similar material to Te Papa in Wellington so I skipped that but they had a lot of cool new things, like a replica street of the 19th century, a bad ass mummy, stuff about antartica, the Poa Shell House, Victorian era clothing, and even more. It was really quite cool.

The Botanical gardens were wonderfully done and I enjoyed seeing the variety of flora. The roses were cool and the Greenhouses. Everything was beautiful. The weather was still cold, three layers, but the sun was nice.

The Arts Center was cool with a variety of exhibitions. I learned a little more about my preferences for art. I really dont like modernist stuff (not modern art) and I really like landscapes and sceneries.

Afterwards (About 4 oclock) I walked the city shops just walking in and out of stores. At 5:30 I ate dinner and had a Slavakia or something. It was kind of like a kebab and made by a Frenchman. The chili sauce in it was delicious as was the interesting cola that accompanied it.

I then went to get some food at Pac and Save, took the free trolley back to the city and hit the tourist shops which are the only things open past 5:30. Literally like 75% of the place shuts down and it is only the tourists shops left open. I hit about 6 or 7 of those and some mini marts looking for an ace bandange (My foot hurts) and I ended up in this interenet cafe.

Tommorrow I am off on the train to Greymouth and the Bus to Franz Josef Glacier!

All the best and much love!

-Mathias