Forecast for June: NOT IN AUCKLAND

So yeah, I'm leaving for Dunedin on June 1st. That's in like three days. I'll be there till Monday most likely, at which point I will find my way up to the Marlborough District. I may hike Queen Charlotte's Sound, but most likely I will just chill in Blenheim and drink wine for a few days. Then I hop the Picton Ferry to Wellington around June 8th to catch a Wellington weekend. It'll end with me taking the overnight bus from Wellington to Auckland June 11-12. Something like that.

Until then, I have to study for my Big Stems II test.

- N

Run Into Flowers.

Comment to confirm that you read this.

I'm leaving in an hour to hike the Tongariro Crossing. Usually its a fine hike. But now its winter. And the snow reports sound insane. The weather is supposed to be fine, but there is still a lot of snow in the high elevation regions and I need to go get ice equipment from the military surplus store before embarking on the hike. So yeah, um, I might die, I might not. But if I don't post by like Sunday or something, call the U.S. Embassy for me. And my parents. Peace.

- N

I suppose it's time for another one of these.

Things to cover in this post: Davey's visit, the shitty rain, going to Avondale market with Dana, next weekend, and Finals break trip. Ready, go.

Davey came on Wednesday the 3rd, I think. Yeah, that sounds right. We had a pretty solid time. I met some dudes that he met in Rotorua who go to Uni here and have a band - they sounded pretty good. A lot like Interpol. We went out and got drunk on Cinco de Mayo, and had a pretty good time in general. Saturday was J-Day, but the hippies in Auckland are all fake and totally suck at being hippies. Davey and I were unimpressed. It was really good having him here, and now he's back in the USA, and I am mildly jealous, because I wish to be back and start my research and move on.

In order to counteract this feeling of ennui, I bought a one-way ticket to Dunedin. Whoops, that's item number five. I guess we can go out of order. Anyways, I'm leaving on June 1 for Dunedin. I'll be kicking it with people I met from our orientation group who go there, and hopefully find some way to stay warm. I'll be there for that weekend and head out on Monday. How, I don't know. Presumably I'll be hitchhiking, but I'll investigate other options. Anyways, I need to head up Highway 1 to Picton, and take the ferry to Wellington. I need to be there by June 7, and meet Chris there. He's still in Melbourne, so he doesn't know this yet. I suppose we'll kick it there for the weekend, and he can leave from Auckland on the 13th. We can take an overnight bus or hitchhike from Wellington to Auckland. Presumably I won't have finals during this time. If I do, well, I don't know what I'll do.

The rain sucks. I don't feel like getting depressed from writing about it, so let's move on.

I went to the Avondale markets today with Dana and finally found some fresh enough okra to make some bhindi masala with. Gonna try that tonight - hopefully it turns out well.

Next weekend I really need to hike the Tongariro Crossing. Some people died on there a week ago, which is crazy. The weather is getting bad, so any good chance I get I need to do it. I want to get out of here by Friday afternoon so I don't have to stick around for the Railway formal and so I can say no to the housing manager for playing the piano during the formal, because I really don't feel like playing the piano for a goddamn formal. Nor do I feel like attending the formal. The housing manager was trying to talk me out of it, being the selfish fuckhead she is. My money is better spent on other things.

Hey, that's it! Sweet, that wasn't too bad.

The Power of Neel

My proposal got accepted!
OHHHH YEEEEEAAHHHHHH!

- N

Yeah, massive update, along with some thoughts.

So, my spring break journey. Part 1 was around the South Island of New Zealand. I visited Christchurch with Mike and Davey, and hiked Arthur's Pass with Big Dave. We then rented a car and drove around the entire island. It was awesome. We visited Nelson, hiked 20 km in Abel Tasman, hiked on Fox Glacier, visited Queenstown, cruised out on Milford Sound, and drove back to Christchurch. Part 2 was along the southeastern region of Australia. I landed in Brisbane and met Lord and we went to the Gold Coast, Surfer's Paradise, Byron Bay, Nimbin, and Sydney. Nimbin is the greatest place in the world, by the way.

The story is a lot longer than that, but I've found I strongly dislike writing about what I do, and prefer to keep it to conversation. Here's something to chew on, though.

In NZ, the average age of a university student is much older than in America. University is not viewed as the natural successor to high school as it is in the States. Half of the students in my class have worked as sailors, hangliding instructors, tried out for rugby teams, started a band, and done pretty much everything BUT higher education. They come to university in their late twenties and look for a second start. Living in a culture where the idea of success is not the penultimate goal of one's life, and the idea of a career is an option rather than a necessity, has left me unable to deal with the faster paced and rigid American culture. I seem to have lost focus of my goals, but were those the right goals in the first place? When I didn't even give a chance to anything outside higher education?

Of course, I found my focus again after finishing (finally) a proposal for summer research at Mudd. It's probably too late, since the semester is ending there. But hopefully something will work out. I'd hate to be stuck in Texas for a summer. But seriously, with a proposal title like "PROPOSAL FOR CONCEPTUAL DESIGN OF MICRO ELECTRO MECHANICAL SYSTEMS (MEMS) BASED IN SITU CANCER DIAGNOSTIC TOOLS", and with a winning personality like mine, how can you say no?

Hmm, perhaps I should start looking for other employment too. :p

- N