Dads Birthday and Assignment Overload!

Each week seems to bring something new, whether it be big or small :)

Monday (May 10th) I was able to Skype with my dad and Tina which is awesome! They are so busy building the new business that we don't have the opportunity to talk a whole lot. Monday also involved me going to the library and checking out so many books for research for my essay that they wouldn't all even fit in my backpack...talk about fun time..NOT :)

Tuesday was my dad's NZ birthday, and my Wednesday was his birthday back in the US. We were able to Skype so that I could wish him a happy b-day which made me so happy! Later that afternoon I participated in a Psychology study that looked at memory and response to emotional images. Talk about tedious work staring at a computer for over an hour trying to interpret pictures that flash up on the screen for a split second. I had to decide if I thought the object would fit in a filing cabinet drawer without looking directly at the image. It may sound easy, but it is a lot more tricky than you think! But hey...I got $30 for participating, so it was all worth it! :)

My paper for Psychology was due on Friday which made the week a tad bit stressful. This paper required a lot of research and critical thinking, but I felt good about the topic I chose and the quality of writing I put into the paper. I skipped my Women's Studies lecture that day partly to finish editing my essay, but also because the lecture was right at the time when I was scheduled to SIGN UP FOR FALL CLASSES AT UCSD!!! Can you believe it?!?! Because I sure can't!! How did I get to the point where I am already signing up for senior year classes?? Totally wild! I had such a guilty feeling in my stomach for skipping class, but I figured it wasn't that big of a deal...first class I've missed all semester.

Saturday was SOOOO eventful!! ha...Farmer's Market, grocery shopping, and laundry. I feel like I sound like a suburban mom or something.

The weather here has been changing a lot. We are now in the heart of winter so rain has become a significant part of daily life. I love staring out my bedroom window watching the rain fall and hearing it hit the ground. It is such a peaceful sound. Much more peaceful than the construction that has commenced outside of the building! The university has brilliantly decided to build two 16 story res halls outside the flats. The construction workers are a little too eager to start work in the morning...7 AM!!!!! My goodness!! I wake up to a new sound almost every morning...cranes being put in place, gravel being poured out of a truck, wood chippers grinding up trees, jack hammers, machines to compact the gravel...you name it, I've heard it. I have mornings where I literally wake up and scream out to make it stop, as if that is going to magically do something..ha..I wish...at least I still have a view...the poor student who gets my room next semester and next year will be looking at buildings, and possibly make a new 'friend' in the window across the way...maybe they can communicate with tin cans and string between the windows, because that is how close they are going to be...

Catch Up Part 4: Seems like the rest of these posts are going to be titled 'Catch Up'...whoops...

May was a wonderful month!

The first week I was able to Skype a couple times with someone close to my heart who I had not seen or talked to in a very long time. It was amazing having the chance to catch up and reconnect. Skype is seriously a God-send...

I made sure to put buying cards at the top of my priority list for the week considering May is a month full of special days in my family...it is Mother's Day as well as my dad's birthday. Cards were sent out to their respective addresses, along with a special Mother's Day surprise for my grandma. When she heard that I was going to Australia and that I would be staying in not one but TWO hotels while I was there, she promptly asked me if I could bring home their plastic laundry bags and their signature face wash clothes...don't ask...she has a thing for them and I just smile and love her for it :) I was able to confiscate one was cloth as well as a cloth laundry bag from both hotels! I put them all in a box along with the hotel slippers they put at the foot of your bed, attached a note, and sent them on their way. She was ecstatic when they came in the mail...it made me so happy that I could make her day.

Wednesday was Cinco de Mayo which called for a group celebration at the flats where I live. We all enjoyed a holiday that is so normal to celebrate in the states, and convince the Kiwis and other international students to celebrate with us, even though they didn't completely get the point! :) I also had a paper due earlier that day, which was nice to get out of the way before the celebration.

Thursday I had a group presentation due for my Politics class, and while I was not as prepared for it as I would have liked, our group still did really well. The other girl in my presentation group was so nervous to speak in front of the class. That morning I kept telling her that everything would be okay and that she would do a great job. Later on she told me over the computer how much I helped her and how she wanted to do something to thank me. So the next week in tutorial she showed up with a Starbucks mocha to say thank you. She is by far one of the sweetest friends I have met here thus far :)

On Saturday, Erin and I hurried down to Farmer's Market for some early morning shopping and then headed straight back home to get ready for her lifting competition. Erin has been training for Amherst volleyball season while in NZ, and decided to register for a lifting competition during training. She competed in the bench press, squat, and dead lift and did soooo well!! I was such a proud best friend sitting on the bleachers with her roommates cheering her on, and then going behind the scenes to take pictures to document the occasion. I've never been to a weight lifting competition before...it was pretty cool!

This week was a whole lot of fun, but just like every other week since I've been in NZ, it went by CRAZY fast!