Yes, I am alive!

It's hard to believe its already May! Sorry, I haven't been updating- I haven't been doing much traveling- just hanging out in Dunedin. It's been two weekends and no excursions! needless to say, I am going tramping this weekend! haha.
Anyways heres some updates on my life...

Weather:
I'm so turned around with the actual date. If someone were to ask me what month is was, I would probably say... late October. It's funny how was associate the weather with the accurate month. Right now, its getting cold in Dunedin and winter is approaching. When people think of New Zealand, they think tropical little island. Wrong. Haha. Its actually quite cold in winter. It rained for 6 days straight, we had 2 days of mixed clouds and sunshine, and now it is raining again, ick! We had "southerly" winds the past week and they were freezing.. why?! Because they come from Antartica. haha. crazy concept. So yes, it is fall turning into winter on the other side of the world. It isn't bad, except for the fact that Dunedin houses were 1. built without insulation because back in the day (ours was built in the 1800s), it was really expensive to get thick windows and insulation all the way down here 2. built without central heating... i wake up and see my breath! When we cook dinner, we close the curtains and all doors to keep the heat in haha... It definitely makes me love my warm bed and hot water bottles. im still completely jealous of all of you, i regret shoving the beach in your face in feb!

School:
I had a couple papers due and my first test today. It wasn't bad. I guess I should tell you about one of my professors, Phil. he teaches Exercise Prescription and he is my favorite here. The lecture is at 8, and he usually has about 3 cups of coffee before class and the only reason the rest of us roll of out bed is because it is warmer in the lecture hall than our rooms- haha. He knows most of the class by name and its a lecture of 100+. He even knew my name! I talked to him today after my exam and he started laughing at me. He said I stress too much about school, "you're good mate, its all good..." haha- if only he saw me in the states! yikes.

Friends:
We have been hanging out here watching movies, going out to eat and just hanging out. My friend Jess and I attended a 24 hour book sale- it was awesome. There were thousands of old books for $1 and it was insanely crowded.. I think the whole town was there ; ) Lily and I went on a day hike last weekend around the area which was nice. A group of us rented movies and picked up pizzas last Friday which was fun. We don't make it out to the pubs/bars that often... Flat parties are more common and then people plan to go to town later, but usually we all end up staying put due to the rain, the second bottle of wine, or pure laziness.

Free time:
I have too much of it! I always wish to not have a to-do list and have that afternoon to sleep or read... wish came true and i hate it! I caught myself making a to-do list the other day, "-make dinner -call home" you see where this is going. I had to laugh. I really had nothing to do. I have been reading books and watching movies and tv like its my job! I also started training for a couple races to occupy my time. So yes, its great to just have free time- but im ready to be back and have some purpose- some job or volunteer work. i'm not used to being alone so much- haha. I regret complaining about being surrounded by 70 girls the past two years.

2 months left:
I have exactly two months left abroad- so crazy! I have 2 more weeks of class! I am going tramping this weekend and then next weekend a group of us are traveling up to christchurch to do some sightseeing, shopping, and we are running a 10K. I'm looking forward to it. Then i have 3 weeks of finals, haha so much time. We are planning little trips and hopefully some ski lifts will open and we can go skiing. On June 26, I am leaving for australia! Three friends (jess, david, and john) and I are having an ultimate vacation. We are going to australia for 2 weeks and then the norht island of nz for a week and then we are stopping over in the cook islands for 5 days... I will be arriving in LA, broke and tired, July 19th...! Seems so far, yet it will be here so soon-

Let me know what you will be up to this summer- I'll be around with nothing to do!

Also, look back soon for another entry about interesting facts of new zealand- haha-take care.