Sorry!!!! (August 6)

So, I haven't written on this in forever and would like to apologize to all those who actually check this often. I will be better about keeping this updated and you can decide how much you want to read or not.

Ok, so it ended with me complaining last Wednesday. Awesome. I would like everyone to know I'm done being negative and pessimistic; it's too energy-consuming. Plus, I really am enjoying myself here, and things have been so much better since I've moved. I really didn't realize how much added stress and depression it was to live there and not feel connected with anyone in any way. So, I'm on to bigger and better things :).

Last Thursday, the 30th of July, I went ice-skating with my flatmate Sara. There is a Winter Festival going on in Christchurch, and one of the attractions is an igloo-dome thing with ice on the inside. When Sara and I got there, they didn't have our sizes in skates (which I learned is different than in the States of course and they actually DID have my size), so we were able to just sit inside and watch. It ended up being kinda lame anyways since the area was so small, and I would definitely have gotten bored going around in such a tiny circle with all these other people and on crappy ice. So we were able to watch and see the City Centre at night was beautiful too. Afterwards we rode in THE MOST GHETTO van ever! It was awesome; it looked like a Scooby Doo van, one window was broken out, and the back seat wasn't tied down or properly in, so it was wobbly haha! It was probably the most dangerous vehicle I've ever ridden in, but it was extremely fun and a short ride. Upon returning to our flat [at this point Sara and I are the only 2 people living in a 6-person flat], Sara and I invited our friends over, Nikki and Jayme. Jayme goes to Wesleyan, which is awesome since we both know Bloomington! Anyways, we made brownies in our awesome oven while Jayme did her laundry, and then Nikki and Sara taught us how to play Dutch blitz! It's a fun game, but definitely hard to get used to. After pigging out and staying up late for my first time ever in New Zealand, we all said goodnight and then it was off to bed.

Friday, 31st July: Sara and I went souvenir shopping in the City Centre. We needed some dish towels and pot holders, so we bought some and are going to give them to our friends/family back home as souvenirs (I promise I'll wash them before giving them away). We wanted to be practical, so this was our way of spending money without feeling bad about it haha. We were searching for this supposed "3-story shop" and couldn't find it anywhere. We did end up asking in another souvenir shop if they knew of a 3-story shop...they said 'no' and I felt the need to buy something from their store since we were basically saying "hey, your store sucks, can you tell us where the 3-story one is?". I bought an All Blacks umbrella, which is the National Rugby Team, and I'm really happy with my purchase. It's awesome. Anyways, we were about to give up when I said "let's just try this one right here, maybe they might know where it is or something." As we were walking in, Sara's jaw drops open and she looks at me in wonder because I had found the 3-story shop completely on accident and without even intending to. The store really was 3-stories full of souvenirs! It's awesome and cheaper than the others as well! After spending some time in there, we ate at this awesome place called Carnivores that I think I mentioned in here earlier but who knows. It was delicious and hit the spot. Later that night we went to a Global Potluck which was OK, and then we Skyped Joshua until 6 a.m. his time....Not my fault, he called me. Anyways, that was fun and afterwards I think I went to bed.

Saturday, 1st August: Our new flatmates moved in today. I was extremely nervous about them, but they're great. They brought heaps more stuff, including another toaster and couch. They're really cool and they like to cook, so the place always smells great now. Their names are Emma, Hannah, and Ash (the only guy currently). Sara and I spent most of the day at the library reading, then grabbed some Subway. We were invited to a birthday bash that night, and I got sucked into this horrific New Zealand movie on the Tube about a man who went nuts and started randomly shooting everyone near his uber-small town. It was crazy and a true story...I guess he just lost it one day, hauled off and started killing anyone who passed his house, including his best childhood-mate. Because the town was sooo small, it took FOREVER for people to realize, and the closest hospital/police force was a town away. Plus, it was on the outskirts of town, so no one inside the town fully knew what was going on! It was absolutely crazy and scary, but it happened in 1990. Anyways, I was transfixed until the movie was over, and then went to the birthday bash for about 45 minutes. Everyone else went to town after that, but it was already midnight and I had a headache, so of course I was lame and went home and to bed.

Sunday, 2nd August: I woke up early and went to church with Amy and Joe. We went to an International Church, and it was very different. The churches here are very extreme, either conservatively or liberally. There is no in-between, which is why Amy and Joe are trying to start one that is. This particular church was very modern I guess, and it was an interesting service and worship. I've noticed that here in New Zealand, there are about 2-3 songs sang per worship service, and each song is repeated over and over and over before they move on to the next. It's quite annoying actually. There was a girl screaming during this worship and it definitely creeped me out. I didn't want to judge, but I was still creeped. The pastor's wife preached (in New Zealand the wife of the Pastor is a Pastor as well) about this vision she'd had of heaviness and etc. and it was similar to the first service I attended. Basically, I feel like they talk about this "cloud of heaviness" over the congregation and how God will uplift it...but only on "Wednesday and Thursday nights, make sure you show up!" They all preach on how God is all-powerful and how he can change lives, but then they confine the life-changing process to a "Wednesday or Thursday prayer-service." I dunno, it's tricky. Just different than what I'm used to I guess. And the other side of the spectrum is shown too...either you attend a very "modern" church, or a very conservative one. But denominations have no meaning here really...you could go to an Anglican church, where you might expect conservative and traditional, and you may get that or you may get an extremely "modern" one (I'm using " around modern because I don't know how else to describe it). Anyways, I pretty much chilled the rest of the day and did homework. Nothing too exciting happened.

Monday, 3rd August: I ran with Sara today, went to class, and talked to Joshua and Morgan on facebook. My conversation with Joshua was fantastic, and made me soo appreciative him ;). He's great and I'm blessed. That was pretty much my day. Sara and I made chicken breast and pumpkin soup that night, or maybe it was the night before, but it was nice and a good meal. That's pretty much it.

Tuesday, 4th August: I woke up, went to class, went to the gym and bought a membership hoping it'll give me motivation to work out if I pay for it, went to the library and studied, went to class again, then went back to my flat and made pasta. I was going to go to a Trivia night, but was too late, so I sat in my room and did homework. Sara came back from her dinner out and we talked, watched Luke's, Danny's, and Jordan's youtube videos, then went to bed. Another boring day.

Wednesday, 5th August: I didn't do much yesterday either. I went to classes and then came back home, made lunch, talked to Morgan online, then called to remind Joshua that he'd missed our Skype date...we ended up talking for quite awhile on the phone and I'm so glad I've figured out my calling card since it only costs me 3 cents a minute to call a landline in the States. After talking to him I hit the gym for PUMP, which is a muscle-toning group class...and it was hard. I didn't convert kilos to pounds before I went, ended up thinking "oh, 15 kilos isn't a lot" and then after class figured out that it was around 40 lbs and I haven't lifted in 4 years. I was quite sore after class and was going to stay for Fusion but couldn't move. Ugh. I went home, made tacos with Sara and Daniel, chatted with them, tried to teach them the right way to eat Tim-Tams (the most delicious cookie ever), talked the night away and then went to bed.

Thursday, 6th August: Today I woke up sooooo unbelievably sore! I was going to go learn how to roll tonight in a kayak, but I can't lift my right arm higher than my face, so that's a no-go. I went to class and then came back here and have been updating this blog and facebooking people. I just finished an interesting conversation with Tyler (a friend of my other flatmates) about politics and religion, though it wasn't deep at all. Basically I was asked if I voted for Obama, if I was sad that McClain didn't win, and if I was a Christian and if I'd read the whole Bible. I then found out that Tyler is an atheist, and we'll have some interesting discussions I'm sure...so pray that God speaks through me and that I don't screw up this kid's perception of Christ even more. I'm feeling way overwhelmed and inadequate...thankfully God provides the tools eh?! Anyways, I'm off to send some letters and pick up some milk before class!!!