http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7427417.stm

The concept fascinates me.

You'd think I'd write in here more since I'm in New Zealand but apparently not. Becky is currently in Auckland waiting all day for a flight to Wellington. I ended up waiting four hours at the airport because of fog but oh well. I'm just glad she was able to come and got here safely. I was really paranoid that she would get in some crash or something (my mind likes to run with stuff). We'll probably just lay low tonight since we're both really tired and so forth. I'm really glad she's here to share this with me =)

I only have two more weeks of classes and then have two exams (that I know of). I leave for the south island on my birthday for a week and then come back, pack my crap, and peace back to the states.

I don't want to go =

I worship an amazing and truly magnificent God. He comforts me and let me know He's there in the craziest of ways.

"...a peace that surpasses all understanding..."

I officially suck about writing on here on a regular basis. It's not necessarily because "I've been out experiencing life!" (although the past two weeks I have). I just don't feel compelled to write about all the intricacies about what I've been doing or thinking the past ...however long. I have been doing really cool things while here in New Zealand but nothing seems truly out of this world (aside from the road trip. I mean, really..who puts huge sand dunes there?) I've met some really cool people and gotten to know some a bit better than others. I haven't done (many) things I regret.

The only thing I really know right now is that I have friends and especially family that love me. The fact that they remind me that they're praying for me means more than they'll probably ever know. So much is going on at home that I'm missing. One of my good friends is getting married. Another is becoming a mother. Plenty are graduating from college. I hate that I can't be there to celebrate and help out.

The other night at church I wanted to feel God. I hadn't been to church in a couple weeks and wanted to just..I dunno...be blown away or have some sort of crazy revelation or something. And I sorta did. It's hard sometimes to get really involved in worship when you don't really know the words to the songs, so I didn't feel God then. The speaker was this English man who was hilarious but had such a passion. It was after him that I felt an answer. I've been recently wondering what I'm supposed to be doing. Should I stick with ceramics? Should I go into communications? Should I do massage therapy? Should I move to Uzbekistan and become a goat herder, abandoning all hopes at an educational degree? And then there's the whole concept of relationships that I'd rather not delve into. I wasn't directly searching for an answer to these questions. Instead, I was finding myself being exposed. I've been playing it safe for a really long time. I haven't asked God to use me where He wants me and instead have been literally praying for strength and growth but without the pain and trials. That gets me nowhere. My answer was basically God telling me to live for Him. Trust Him and just do what I can to show His glory. Things will fall into place whenever they're supposed to.

and frankly...that's enough for me.

On a totally different (and less compelling) note, here's mindless stuff that helps me pass the time.

Opening Credits:
"breakdown"- plain white t's

Waking Up:
"different people"- no doubt
(i'm apparently skanky)

First Day At School:
"sleigh ride"
(dope ride)

Falling In Love:
"a whisper"-coldplay
(mm)

First Kiss:
"oh, it is love"-hellogoodbye
(awwwwww)

Fight Song:
"Season of love"-Rent
(wow. I'm brutal?)

Breaking Up:
"toxic"-britney spears
(not sure if that's good or bad?)

Prom:
"investigate"-delirious
(?)

Life:
"sleep all day"-jason mraz
(now THAT'S funny)

Mental Breakdown:
"one of these things first"-garden state soundtrack

Driving:
"cemetery drive"- my chemical romance
(i'm not sure i like that)

Flashback:
"turn around"- david ryan harris

Getting back together:
"wake up"- the arcade fire
(ain't that the truth)

Falling in love again:
"you shook me all night long"- acdc
(there i am again...being skanky)

Wedding:
"declaration of love"- celine dion
(swoon)

Wedding Night:
"whoa"-paramore
(skankyface)

Birth of Child:
"tonight, not again"-jason mraz
(my life is funny)

Final Battle:
"right now"-sr-71
(i'm not ready!)

Death Scene:
"this modern love"- bloc party

Funeral Song:
"16 military wives"-the decemberists
(uh?)

End Credits:
"slowly, through a vector"- say anything

Well, that was thrilling.

One common misconception about travelling: it's always exciting and a thrill. I'm going to be the jerk that ruins that idea and tell you that sometimes it's not a joyride. Sometimes it's just as dull as a night sitting at home gripping a remote control, succumbing to a cooking show or seeing which reality show makes you want to shoot yourself the least.

In all honesty, I'm just writing to try to come up with some sort of rambling to make me feel better about BSing a poem that I really don't quite care about. I'm not crazy about forced writing, aka writing whenever your muse is on an extended vacation and you're summoning vague crap to fit the 14-line minimum.

But back to the travelling thing. I've seen some pretty stuff but, having stayed in Wellington most of the time, it's started to just become the place where I am. I hear traffic and sirens in the morning just like back at home. There are hoards of people walking around the city. The only difference is that A) the people have either much more or much less of a fashion sense than me (I haven't quite figured it out yet) or B) when people open their mouths, a different kind of sound comes out (otherwise known as a fancy way to say that they have an accent).

One thing that really tripped me out today was going to a local church. I've kinda gotten used to the fact that whenever I open my mouth, people are automatically going to know that I'm not "from 'round these here parts". The thing that really got me was when we started worship. Luckily they had a lot of the same songs that I knew from the states so I didn't have to stand there awkwardly. But! The concept that these people worship God literally on the opposite side of the world from where I'm from and have such a passion for him in a different country just blew me away. I didn't exactly expect them to be heathens in loincloths (although I have seen the loincloth since I've been here). I just didn't think about it at all...how others worship and how Jesus isn't just in America. I'm going to go back Thursday to check out their equivalent to Covanent's "twentysomething". I think it'd be great to see kids my age who aren't into getting trashed on a daily basis and just so happen to have a fond feeling for Jesus.

And now! Photos!

I need your help. I need things to do or really good quotes to boost ones self-esteem. I need really cool things or goals, like helping someone or quests or something. Yes, I know I'm in New Zealand and you're probably thinking "go travel!" but well...that's kinda hard to do when you have class all week. I just need things to keep my body and mind occupied due to some stuff I need to deal with. At this point I'll really take any suggestions.

Hello xanga. I'm on the other side of the world.

Everything's been going pretty well. My flights went really well (although I had to run between a couple airports. Separated terminals are a beast). I've been here just over a week but it feels like so much longer...not sure if that's a good thing or not. I've posted a lot of pictures on facebook and myspace so..go there to look for my pics.

Classes start tomorrow. I've heard that classes here are easier than back in the states but then again they have a shorter semester so they might try to cram as much in as they can. I'm hoping for the earlier. My flatmates are all really cool but all American...kind of a downer since I came so far to experience different things. They're from all over the states so it's not really a huge loss. Gabrielle and I are gonna head down to this farmer's market down on the harbor here in about 15 minutes or so. They have really cheap stuff compared to the ridiculously priced stuff at New World or the Warehouse (grocery store and equivalent of a small Walmart).

So far everything's going really well but I haven't really been blown away with the whole thing. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to or if it's supposed to just become more normal. Granted I haven't really been able to leave Wellington and see other parts of the island yet...perhaps that's when the majesty will make itself apparent.

I really hate the idea of cookie-cutter people.

http://men.msn.com/articlees.aspx?cp-documentid=5981523&GT1=10823

I love the way that article was written. That and it pretty much holds true. If I had the guts, I'd do it too.

P.S.-I just had a pretty big discussion about the article with someone else who had a differing viewpoint. If you want to talk about it, IM me or something. I'll be glad to talk.

(note: they changed the link. last i checked, it changed to something about style instead of being about a secluded tribe in south america that hadn't had civilized contact possibly ever.)

I got my visa.

Holy geez. This is really gonna happen.

...

!