Update?

its hard to believe i have been in new zealand for a month. it feels like a decade has passed since i had my last day of northern lebanon high school. but then again, time is going really quick! Despite my first 3 weeks in new zealand, i am incredibly happy. My host mom and my host dad are really cool people and my host brother, Nick is really funny. ( :
I'm starting to become familiar with the school grounds and i'm not getting lost quite as often- which is a major plus. Definitely, love how relaxed school is, too. I came into class 10 minutes late today (i had slept in and Nick was at the gym) and all my teacher said was, "Good morning, Evelyn. How are you today?" The relationship between teachers and students is weird! it almost seems unprofessional! I have to say i like the more relaxed environment over here. But, The earthquake in Christchurch is affecting my school a lot. A lot of the teachers and students have family in Christchurch which is horrible. The death toll was up to 103 yesterday and over 200 people are trapped (not counting the missing)! Tomorrow we get a "mufti" day or a day of not wearing our uniforms. it costs $2.00- which isn't bad at all- and all the funds are going to Christchurch. my whole school is dressing up tomorrow in black and red….too bad i don't have any red things. :\ but, The scary thing about the earthquake is Christchurch isn't even supposed to get big earthquakes- Wellington is. The fault line is so close to my house! I can't help but be a teensy bit paranoid.

Lovely things that have happened so far:

• saw my school's Dragonboating team compete (and win!) races at the bay.
• joined my school's Running Club- we run BEFORE school in the morning. insane.
• saw the South Island (in the distance) while standing on the North Island. crazy!
• set off my house alarm (purely by accident). and had the cops call my house. i insisted i was fine and no, there was no bad guy.
• learned new Maori slang words at school. :)
• went to see the Lord of the Rings gift shop- where they have actual things from the set.
• ate vegemite (YUM!)
• bought an "All Blacks" rugby team flag. 
• got booked in for a 10 day South Island trip in April.
• went swimming. in the ocean. which is practically right outside my house. amazing? yeaah, i think so.

Me and Dot at the Lord of the Rings gift shop. 

Both of us standing near a stage prop that was actually used in the movie!

and again with my very attractive facial expressions.

Me with Dorothy's host sister, Nikita.

This past saturday, watching the Dragonboating events (this was actually St. Patricks team).

watching Heretaunga's team go by!

making cookies with Dorothy and her host mom.

the bay.

That's all for now. Updating this blog is starting to seem more like a chore than anything, but  its a good way to show all you guys back home what i've been up to! 

-evelyn

reality

today i woke up and just lied in bed for a little bit thinking, "am i really here? is this a dream? is this me trippin'?" at first, it was such an odd feeling to be so far from home and not know a single other soul. i don't know how to describe it, its just weird. and other people who have done this kind of thing know exactly how i feel, but until you're actually on your own, by yourself, you'll have no idea of what i'm going through. and its cool because its like a fresh start. no one in new zealand knows anything about you. but then again, these people have known each other for at least the past five years of their high school. its kind of like you're on the outside, looking in. and its sorting through the good and the bad people. haha, if that makes sense at all. its just such a good feeling of having that freedom and independence, meeting new people and being immersed in a completely different culture.

anyways, i slept over at dorothy's house again yesterday,
for those of you who forget she comes from Rhode Island, back home in the states.
We climbed this massive (and when i say massive, i am actually under-exaggerating) hill/mountain. it was so exhausting. and i must admit, when dot told me that the view was great, i was just thinking yeah, yeah. a view is a view. there's nothing special about that.
but when we got to the top i saw things from her point of view. it was incredible. words cannot describe it. it was just really exhilarating.

all in all, it was a pretty good day.



-evelyn

School and Athletics Day

Today was my second day at Heretaunga College. It is wonderful. i know i made the right decision to speak up about moving schools and host families. definitely. The guys and girls at Heretaunga are so nice and welcoming. They're so curious about America and and where i live and my accent. A lot of kids talk really fast and sometimes its hard to follow them because they use slang words i have never even heard of, so i have to ask them to repeat themselves a few times! Two maori kids (year 13- my age) today tried to teach me some of the maori language, (so coool!) but it sounded so strange with the rolling tongues and foreign, tiki-like words.

And since today was "Athletics Day", we did no school work! Woohoo! :) We got together in our House groups (think harry potter's hufflepuff, slytherin, etc) and we got to compete in different events, like the 100 metres, javelin throw, 1500 metres, discuss and relays. It was so much fun! It was like an over-the-top pep rally back home. There were costumes and each house dressed up in a different color (red, blue, green, and yellow). somewhat like halloween. Anyways, we're competing for the "House Cup" and whoever has the most points will come in first at the end of the year. crazy.

Here i am (Blue house) with Dorothy (Green House). I don't really want to hang out with her too much at school because already people are labeling us "the two crazy americans."

and now for some more lovely photos:::::

^^^me trying on the enemy's (friend in the Yellow House) costume.

Me with Irene and Jaimie and the gang. 

My friend Jaimie (Green House) on the left and Simran(Blue House) on the right (obviously he doesn't wear gloves like that on a regular basis. or i wouldn't talk to him.)

-evelyn

Kiwi Phrases;

Here are some phrases and/or words that are different than in america, i'll probably be adding more as i go along:

• togs- swimsuit "Grab your togs and lets go."
• jandles- flip-flops "Don't wear your jandles for such a long hike, evelyn."
• petrol- gasoline "We need to fill the car up, the petrol is low."
• buggered- tired out; lazy "i can't be buggered."
• brekkie- breakfast "C'mon then, lets get some brekkie going."
• rubbish- trash; unbelievable "That can't be right. That's rubbish"
• bush- forest/undergrowth area "Don't get lost in the bush."
• pakeha- non-maori person "She is such a pakeha."
• quite nice- often used with sarcasm or as a compliment "Your hair is quite nice."
• justin bieber- the ultimate insult. "Your hair reminds me of Justin Bieber." 
• hammies- upper leg muscles "Your hammies tired yet, from all this walking?"
• bloke- friend (see also mate) "My bloke and i are going into town."
• torch- flashlight "Grab the torch for camp."
• eh- used at the end of questions "The weather's a bit shitty, eh?"
• oy- an exclamation "Oy! What the hell do you think you're doing?"
• dairy- think of a tiny grocery store that's really expensive "Go down to the dairy and get some lollies."
• cuppa- a cup of tea, coffee, etc. "Make me a cuppa, will yah?"
• brilliant- used quite often as an exclamation "That was just brilliant beyond words."
• mate- friend "and how are you, mate?"
• lollies- candy "Go buy some lollies, yeah?"

I'll continue adding more when i hear them, but a lot of them i have forgotten. :\

hogwarts themed?

I got my Hogwarts-Gryffindor themed school uniform and it is a million times better than St. Mary's uniform. For one, St. Mary's skirt went down to my ankles. Heretaunga's skirt reaches just above my knees. Secondly, Hereataunga isn't so god damn strict, meaning i can show a little skin.
picturezzz? yes, i think so.

 i also have this oh-so attractive pullover cardigan for when it is a bit nippy outside;

Heretaunga College, itself, looks so confusing. There's construction going on and they have these construction workers running around everywhere like ants! Its insane. They have fences to keep kids out of work zone areas and so you have to walk around everything (it takes 10 minutes longer to get to one class) and its just one big mess. But things should be settling down by term twooo! hopefully.

i am so excited to start school tomorrow. I cannot wait.

too cool for school

welps, i am officially no longer going to Hell everyday (also commonly referred to as St. Mary's  All Girls Catholic College).

haha no- just kidding, it wasn't that terrible.

i am now enrolled at Heretaunga College. Tomorrow i will be going into school to get fitted for a uniform! For those of you who don't know, school is very different over here. College consists of 9th year, 10th year, 11th year, 12th year and 13th year students. Kind of like back in the states, how we have 9th grade through 12th grade but its like adding another year. 

My american AFS friend, Dorothy, is actually in year 12- which sucks because i'm in year 13. Nick, my temporary host brother is the "head boy" (or class president as we would say back home) of year13 though, so at least i will know someone in my grade level. 

And exams are also really different. There is no graded homework or anything like that. Sure, we get homework and assignments and what not, but my teachers at St. Mary's have been stressing how important it is to pass the Internal Exams (hard tests given in class) and the External Exams (even harder tests given out of class. Think something like the SATs but for school. I like this, because back home we are constantly having tests and quizzes every week it seems. 

-evelyn

a fresh start?

Well a lot has happened recently. i switched host families, which is probably the biggest change for me and i am in the process of switching schools as well. All you need to know about that, was it wasn't my fault and i didn't get kicked out or anything along the lines of that.

 Currently i am staying with a married couple, Jane and Craig and their son, Nick. They're all so nice and its really peculiar to go from such a terrible situation to such a great one. Nick is in my grade and i'm going to try to go to the same college that he goes too. A few people have been asking me what happened with my host family situation and to that i must respond with,

peace&love, 

evelyn

Kia ora!

Things here have been going pretty quickly. It seems like a lifetime ago when i left my hometown for the airport.
My school's yearly "Leadership Camp" for the year 13 girls wasn't too bad. We hiked, went swimming and did a high ropes course- that was pretty badass, not going to lie. It seemed like the longest three days of my life though. We were constantly praying, which was kind of unsettling for me. Still hate St. Mary's with a passion.

the view of the ocean in the distance = <3

swimmming : )

high ropes course ^^

Some girls were crying and freaking out (by the way, it was onyl 6 meters off the ground) and i was just like:

Anyways, that's all for now. I'll update soon!

-evelyn

Settling in

School has been the hardest thing for me. my old school back home, is just a piece of cake compared to this one. St. Mary's allows no cellphones, no makeup and no nailpolish. However, it does come with the worst school uniforms of all time. Gray and black tartan skirt (full-length) and baggy sweater plus an overcoat thing. ew.
we have prayers every morning. Most of the girls are into unicorns, braiding their hair and skipping in meadows while picking up flowers. haha no but really, the girls are annoying and catty and snooty too.
I have decided however to join the rugby team, the badminton team (most badass sports ever!) and the lawn bowling team. haha. all the 'badassery' sports!

This is basically what me and Dorothy did today. Drove around with her family, hopped out, took photos, hopped back in the car and drove to the next destination.

That's actually the view of Lower Hutt, not Upper Hutt. Lower Hutt is slightly bigger. It was really foggy today so you can't really see much but continuing on...

i don't even know why i have this on my blog. dororthy and usher. chyeah.

peace, evelyn

The First Glimpses

I have now been in new zealand for over a week.
how is it, you ask? asdflakAMAZINGasdf;djsf;;;
Its really green and pretty and just clean.
I arrived at the Wellington Airport, greeted by my two..interesting... host parents and they took me on a "little"  road trip a.k.a six (yes, SIX) hours up to Rotorua, which smelled funny due to sulfuric acid deposits or something but nonetheless, it was cool. I also got to meet my two host cousins (David and Jason) and my Aunt Tracey and Uncle Alan who were all really welcoming and nice to me. We stayed the weekend there and drove another six hours (of agonizing silence, which is so freaaking annoying- if you have a car radio, you should use it!)  ohgod. it was just freaking terrible.


T My host sister Kate, is okay. She's very 'tom-boyish' which isn't really me (at all!) but its okay. School is……interesting too. The all girls catholic school is such a disappointment to me. :\ i regret not asking to be put in a normal school. Its so strict, i just can't see me ever liking something like that.

Anyways, i spent the day over at Dorothy's house today swimming and just hanging around. We're so lucky we live ten minutes away in Upper Hutt. Next weekend, we're planning on going to the Zoo in Wellington and then soon, it'll be AFS camp-time! woohoo!
and now time for some pictures : )

First of all, yes, we met Kesha. it was kind of really exciting even though i don't really like her music and i think she's tacky. 

This is flying from Auckland and into Wellington. As you can see, the north island is beaaaautiful.

This is the local maori church. The inside was decked up in all different carvings, but no pictures were allowed. rules? Cathie was going to have a heart attack if i took ONE photo inside or something. 

This is some crazy waterfall i saw on my second day here at rotorua. It was so hot, i just wanted to jump in. 

This explains the river. 

This is in Dorothy's backyard, her best friend. :)

Goodnight,

evelyn