Giving it a Go

Thailand #4: Ayuthaya

2010-02-02T17:56:00.004+13:00

Due to train schedules, we followed our hostel's advice, and took one of the many van shuttle services back to Bangkok. We'd been warned about the shadiness of these services, but our hostel assured us that the one they used was reputable. It was cheap, and worth a chance so that we could catch our train out of Bangkok that night. The driver picked us up in a 12 passenger conversion van equipped with rims, a nice sounding exhaust system, and super tinted windows. We were the only ones in the van for about 15min. Then we picked up a few elderly Thai couples. I fell asleep about 25min into the drive only to awaken at what appeared to be a gigantic flee market/carnival. Our driver and several of the Thai couples were outside smoking cigarettes and conversing. Christy and I were the only westerners in sight. I had to use the bathroom and after 30min of sitting around, I decided to ask what was happening, and if there was a bathroom around. The driver said, "Everything...okay! Toilet...." and pointed to a waste high concrete structure that appeared to be the old foundation of a shed. Sure enough there was an open air trough system. As I stood and did my business along side several Thai men, (the women were squatting at a similar structure about 100ft away) I took time to look around at all of the pleasantly strolling, apparently indifferent, Thai couples who were just feet away. It was a rather awkward experience. Anyway, despite the fact that our driver wasted the better part of 45min at this place, we did manage to make Bangkok 20min ahead of time. How, you might ask? Little did we realize that all such drivers were aspiring Formula-1 drivers. How a 12 passenger conversion van can manage speeds and corners like that one did, I have no idea. We were passing cars like they were stopped, and despite being rush hour in Bangkok, they were clearly moving. The rest of our transportation that night would not be so rapid or exciting.

We arrived at the Bangkok train station at 8:30, and booked a 9:00 train to Ayuthaya. The ride would be about 1.5hrs. 9pm rolled around, and there was no train. 9:30 came to, and still no train. At 9:45 a message came across the speakers (in Thai...one of the information staff translated for us) stating that, surprise, the train was late. It should arrive in 15min. 30min later the train came. We got on...then we were told to get off. It was apparently not in condition to make the trip. We watched as it rolled away with several dozen Thai locals on board. We have no idea what happened. The next train was to arrive in 15min. We finally left Bangkok at a little after 11pm...in a hot, crowded, and stinky 3rd class train car. Luckily we got seats. The train was dreadfully slow, and made frequent unexplained stops. After an hour a group of Thai teenagers sat down on the floor a few feet away from us (totally blocking the way). They were playing some kind of drinking game, and had beer bottles, ice, and plastic cups strewn about their human circle. This was all done in front of train personnel, a monk, and two police officers. Nobody really seemed to care. They invited us to join in a beer, and after 20min of broken English and a cup or two of beer, we arrived in Ayuthaya. It was a 12:30am.

As with everywhere in Thailand, especially train stations, the tuk tuk drivers were there to greet us. Unfortunately, none of them had any idea where our hostile was located. We had made reservations at a cool, river front hostile and were to be meeting a friend named Maggie there in the morning. We had told the hostel we'd arrive around 10pm. We had the address, but none of the drivers knew where it was. Two motorbike taxis decided they knew where it might be and charged us a reasonable flat fee to take us there. If nothing else it would be in the right vicinity...or so we thought. We got dropped off at a hostel that had a very similar name to the one we'd booked. It was just that unfortunately...very similar. We were in downtown Ayuthaya, and the bars were beginning to close. The tuktuks disappeared, and call-taxis stop at midnight. We talked to some local expats, and they too had no idea where this mysterious riverfront hostel was located. After 30min of walking around, we found a hostel with its doors open. They were fully booked, but let us use their internet for free. We found a map to our intended hostel, and got a phone number as well. Nobody answered the phone. We began to walk. We really had no idea how far it would be. We guess quite a ways, since it took awhile to make it from landmark to landmark (as seen on the map). Finally we stopped at a 7/11 to see if they could help. The girl behind the counter was as friendly as most Thai, and spent a good 30min trying to call friends who might know where we were going. No luck. Eventually, an off duty police officer came in to fill up with gas, and offered to drive us around until we found it. Sure enough, it would have been quite the walk.

The hostel did exist, and it was beautiful. Unfortunately, there was nobody around. We went in through the gate, and sat down in their open-air lobby/dining area. It was a very cool little place, and the well-lit temple across the river made for quite the backdrop...but nobody was home. We gave more than a few "Hello!" shouts to no avail. We resigned to sleeping there in the lobby...outside. After I had washed my face and taken out my contacts, we heard footsteps come down the porch staircase. It was a friendly-faced, middle-aged Thai woman who said, "OH! I knew YOU would come! Something must have gone wrong!" She quickly took us to our beds (with AC, TV, and fully functioning hotwater!). I fell asleep before turning on any of them.

In the morning we emerged at around 9:30 to find our friend, Maggie, an English teacher in China, waiting at the desk. She had been told of our situation, and that we might sleep in late. I can't say enough good things about the woman that ran that hostel. We decided to leave Ayuthaya that night...and head straight down to the beaches in the south. We made the appropriate arrangements, and went out to ride around the town. For a dollar each we rented bicycles to make the day's trip a bit easier on us. The bikes were in pretty lousy condition, but still quite ride-able ...even with the flat tire that mine sooner developed. Ayuthaya is a relatively quiet little city. It was the capital of Siam until the Khmer wars in the 18th and 19th centuries. The old ruins are often compared to Anchor Wat, but they are in much worse condition. The capital of Ayuthaya was mostly destroyed during the wars, and the kingdom moved its capital to Bangkok. It is still quite impressive by any standards. One of the most famous attractions is a giant reclining Buddha that is on the southwest side of the city. There really isn't much to say about the city. It's hard to describe it in words, and once you've seen part of the ruins, you've essentially seen them all. I felt like I saw pretty much everything during the 12 daylight hours I spent there. For the long-term backpacker looking to chill out for a few days, it might not be a bad place to park. Otherwise, it's just a nice day trip from Bangkok. I'm certainly glad we had Maggie along that day, because I think Christy and I would have gotten quite bored without the new company.

Christy and I left that night at around 7pm on a train for Bangkok, which would begin our overnight journey south to Surathani (essentially the hub for all Thai beach travel). There we would meet Maggie (traveling by bus), and bus to Krabi, and finally taxi to our beach destination of Au Nong.

Thailand #3: Kanchanaburi

2010-01-29T18:03:00.002+13:00

An uncomfortable night...yes....but it could have been worse. We were lucky that the train was mostly empty. We were each able to lay across two economy class seats (although it took quite the contortionist attitude), and get an adequate amount of rest. We had to switch trains in Bangkok, and boarded a 3rd class car to Kanchanaburi. The trains in Thailand are all quite old. 3rd class REALLY shows it. Wooden bench seats with fans that may or may not be working are the norm. Most simply open their giant windows for the ride. Luckily there was no livestock in ours, but I towards the end of our trip I do remember seeing crated chickens being loaded into a 3rd class car. At each of its annoyingly frequent stops, salesmen/women would either board the train or come to the windows and try to sell everything from what may have been pad thai to fried chicken feet. We passed...again and again and again. After 3hrs that felt like 5 we arrived in Kanchanaburi, and split a ride with 2 french girls we met on the train.

We arrived at our intended hostel only to find it completely booked. Walking with the French girls, we ran into the same situation 2 or 3 more times. Each place had no rooms for rent, but seemed to have one "extra room" that they could make available for an absurd price. Since when do hostels in an out of the way, day-trip from Bangkok town book up? We're pretty sure they were just trying to take advantage of us. We finally found one that had two expensive units available, but we decided the ambiance was worth it. We stayed in quaint, stilted bungalows that stood over a marshy area of the river Kwai for $10 a person (yes, I know its still cheap...but not by Thailand backpacker standards). The atmosphere was very cool.

The next day we we walked down to the Bridge over River Kwai, which was rebuilt, using mostly original timbers, at the end of the 2nd world war. It is now a gigantic tourist trap of a place, but if you avoid the souvenir shops it's still quite beautiful. Christy and I walked over the bridge (which despite being done by hundreds of people a day is potentially risky due to lose planks, narrow, uneven walking surfaces, and a complete lack of railings...crazy considering 50ft drop just 12inches to side) and then followed the train tracks for about a mile on the other side. Once you cross the river, the tourists disappear. We were flanked only by palm trees and farm fields. We had a really nice walk down a local highway, and Christy found a large flower that smelled exactly like vanilla frosting. We spent all day walking around the lesser visited areas of the town. We must have covered a good 8miles. At one point a local woman even stopped her motorbike and said something along the lines of "I saw you walking this way from the other edge of town. You walk TOO FAR!" That night we went to a restaurant looking for some spicy food. Korean food has mostly desensitized us, but Thailand is supposedly notorious. We had yet to find anything that even made us sweat. All the restaurants in Thailand have signs that say something like "It OKAY! We can do NO spicy". The restaurant we chose had the same sign, but we told the waitress to make it "Thai style". She said, "Maybe you like little spicy?" We said, "No, we want it VERY spicy." When our curries came to the table, we were pleasantly surprised. Indeed, they were nice and spicy just like Korean food. We had also ordered a papaya salad (a Thai favorite) and told the waitress to also make that "VERY spicy" also. What we got was hell on a salad. It was a large salad. To our credit we finished 75% of it, but before we were half way through, we knew we were in for some pain. The temperature in our mouths just kept going up. It didn't level out like it was supposed to. What started as a salad with kick, ended up kicking our asses. It was ever bit as hot the "Insanity Wings" you try to trick your friends into eating a Buffalo wild wings or comparable establishments. It was a rough recovery.

The next morning we decided to go to a Erwan National Park, about 65km outside of town. It's famous for a 7-step waterfall chain that stretches through the jungle. We had to catch a train out of town at 3pm, so we decided to motorbike it. Off we went on a beautiful country ride. An hour later we arrived at the park, and were on our way to the top of the climb. The walk up was beautiful. The water was a clear blue/green, and the temperature was great. We hiked past monkeys and scenic overlooks, all the way to the top, before getting wet. It was amazing, and once at the top, we had plenty of time to pool hop our way back down. My favorite part of the swimming was the abundance of what the Korean's call "Doctor Fish". They are commonly used for messages (glorified tickling) and to treat dry skin/psoriasis here in Asia. These sucker fish are like elderly piranhas who forgot their dentures. They swarm you, and gum at any flesh they see. It's a strange, but very cool sensation. We swam in many of the pools down this stretch of jungle paradise, and enjoyed ourselves the whole way. While we were in the water, we were enjoying the assaults of these fish...while we were out of the water we had another, less enjoyable predator to keep an eye out for...monkeys...."Fierce Monkeys!" These pint-sized simians were enough of a nuisance that the park had posted signs all over advising visitors to hold tight to their belongings. We had seen a few on the way up, but had no issues. On the way down, a troop of 6 or 7 was entertaining onlookers as we passed by. I reached into my bag to get my camera, and the crunching noise from my bag of banana chips was a ring of the dinner bell. An adult male (still only about 20-30lbs) jumped down within an arms length of me to investigate. It got closer and even looked as if it would lunge as I tried to zip up my bag and back away. Despite having several millions years of evolution, opposable thumbs, and 140lbs to my advantage, the little thing was menacing. Would you want to get between a monkey and a tasty bag of banana chips? I quickly jumped over to a group of tourists, and it finally gave up. Safety in numbers.

A short time later, having returned to the safety of our motorbike and Thai traffic, we buzzed back to town. Our train was on time (used up our luck), and we were heading back to Bangkok en route to Ayuthaya, the old capital of Siam.

Thailand #2: Chang Mai

2010-01-28T18:20:00.003+13:00

...and we were off to Chang Mai on my first real train-ride. I think the closet I've ever been to riding a real train was at Dollywood (as in Dolly Parton) theme park in Tennessee (yes, it does exist unfortunately). Luckily, no tomahawk wielding 'injuns' raided our cozy over/under sleeper cab. Our only company was a teenage couple from Denmark who had seats across the isle from us. They were traveling SE Asia on a gap year before university. After trading stories etc., we pulled down our bunks and went to sleep. Sleeping on a train (in a bed) is one of the best sleeps you can have. You are lulled to sleep by the rocking of the cab and the rhythmic harmony of the wheels on the tracks. I loved it.

We got into Chang Mai at around 9am, and caught a tuk-tuk to the hostile we hoped to stay at. A tuk-tuk is essentially a high powered, 3-wheeled golf-cart. They dominate Thailand, and depending on where you are and how far you're going, they are more convenient and less expensive than taxis. We arrived at Julie's Place hostel which gets great reviews from almost every source. Apparently other people had read those sources. It was filled up for 2 nights, and it was only 9:30am. The lobby/lounge/restaurant area was packed, so we decided to come back for the social life later. They suggested the hostel nextdoor, which was empty when we got there. It was a great little place (I'll find the name later), and for some reason there were no guests. Everyone wanted to stay at Julie's. The rooms at ours had great beds, big bathrooms, and balconies...for $6/person. There were even two great porches for relaxing. I guess that's marketing for you. Nobody knew to look there.

The only problem with the location we'd chosen was that it was tucked away in a nice little neighborhood alley-maze. During the course of our 3 day and 2 night stay in Chang Mai, we never once made it home without having to ask for directions (...to Julie's, lol). We also tend to not pay attention when we go walking. The first day we walked around the entire perimeter of downtown Chang Mai. It's bordered by crumbling fortress walls, and a much newer, rectangular canal. We looked at quite a few wats, ate some good Thai Curry, and sampled it's famous coffee. The coffee lived up to its standards. It took about 20m to get an iced mocha, but it was one of the most potent mochas I've ever had. They make them thick. That night we went to a reggae bar, and met the spitting image of Bob Marley. He was the owner, and spoke English well enough to make conversation. The drinks were nothing special, but he loaded us up with bar snacks and played the entire "Magical Mystery Tour" album, which kept us around. After an hour or so he recommended another bar around the corner at which we could meet more people our own age. Having been at the open air bar for about 20m, I went to order a 2nd beer, and low and behold an elephant walked in. It sounds like a joke, "...so an elephant walks into a bar right...," but it wasn't. It was a baby elephant, so about the size of a VW Beetle, but it was right there wanting pretzels and bananas. The owner was walking it around the bar scene letting people feed it for $0.75 a banana. Petting and picture taking was free. Of course we obliged.

The next morning, I realized my passport was missing. I needed it for renting a motorbike, and it was nowhere to be found. After an hour and a half of "oh shit" frustration/panic, we arrived at the train station to see if it had somehow made it to their lost and found. When the woman behind the window asked my name, I said "Benjamin Carrier"...and the smile on her face was priceless. It was half "haha, dumbass tourist" and half genuine happiness. She pulled it out of her cash registrar and said it had been found on the train. After a good bit of thanks, I brought her back a giant cafe mocha. It was a very neat exchange. I'm sure she rarely sees much appreciation from tourists.

We rented a 125cc Honda scooter (er...motorbike), and after 20m of deciding I was semi-comfortable with a passenger on the back, off we went. We drove about 20k outside of town to a lake/park that locals escape to. It was virtually empty, and very pretty. We didn't go swimming, but some general relaxing was quite nice. I even taught Christy how to ride the motorbike...and for some reason was brave enough to ride on the back for a ways :) She did really well for her first time, but was frustrated that I wouldn't let her drive in traffic. Not with me on the back...and definitely not in Thai traffic. I still hold that it would have been a recipe for disaster...she still calls me a "worry-wort". We'll never know..but I'm still alive. We also drove out to a neat waterfall on the opposite side of the city. It was the first that we saw in Thailand.

The next day we decided to risk being "too touristy", and signed up for a 1 day "jungle-trek". It included a bullshit stop at a butterfly garden (it really was pretty pitiful), a 1hr elephant ride, a 1hr hike to a waterfall/swimming area, a 1hr whitewater rafting adventure, and a 30m bamboo rafting experience. These packaged tours are sold everywhere, and it's best to shop around for the best price...just make sure to use a licensed guide service. Hostels are a good place to book from. We spent about $30 for the day (lunch included). To our surprise, it was worth it for just the van ride. It provided a great view of the country side. Elephant riding was a blast. The elephants in Thailand are considered sacred, and traditionally only kings could ride them. Nowadays they are tourist attractions, but well cared for nonetheless. Christy and I got an elephant that was a bit of a glutton. It slacked to the back of the pack, and wonder off into the fields to munch away on the vegetation. We sat on a bench seat strapped to its back, but Christy was allowed to ride straddle on its neck for a good ways. The elephant could hardly feel us. They are so incredibly powerful. Just feeding one and feeling its trunk lets you know that they simply allowing you to be in charge. The hike to the waterfall was scenic. We walked through a farm, and I attempted to pet a water buffalo (essentially just a cow). The damn thing dropped its head and tried to gore me. Thankfully it was on a rope. Christine, apparently oblivious to my encounter, walked over to pet it as well. Rather than present its horns, its proceeded to lick her hand profusely...go figure. The waterfall itself was cold and refreshing. We have several pictures of me trying to pull Christine in. Eventually I got her. Rafting was fun despite the low water. We played pinball with some giant boulders, and had water wars with other rafts. Bamboo rafting was fun, but mostly just a good photo opportunity.

We returned to Chang Mai that night, and hopped a train bound for Kanchanabury via Bangkok. No sleeper cars available this time. It was an uncomfortable night.

Thailand #1: Bangkok

2010-01-27T17:31:00.005+13:00

Okay,

I'm sorry it's been so long since I'd made an addition to my blog. Aside from having little free time, Christy and I really haven't been doing much worth writing about. We go to school, climb, workout, and go to Korean lessons...that's about it. Our weekend trips have ceased for the winter season, and have been replaced by...Korean lessons. I'm happy to say that the dry spell has come to an end. Christy and I just returned from Thailand, and have some good stories and pictures to share. I'm going to try to use links to the pictures rather than include them in this blog, so please let me know if you cannot access them.

My Pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?page=5&aid=2674773&id=8632531#/album.php?aid=2851846&id=13909273

Christy's Pictures
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?page=5&aid=2674773&id=8632531#/album.php?aid=2674773&id=8632531

Bangkok:

We flew out of Seoul on January 9th, and were more than happy to leave behind the 15F weather, and still unmoved snow from the week before. A short 2hr flight landed us in Beijing around 3pm, and after making our way through their pretentious and redundant security areas, we got to enjoy a beautiful airport for the next 4hrs. For some reason it was REALLY quiet that day. After a late lunch we went to the end of one of the airport's terminals, and enjoyed a 270` panoramic view of runway and sunset whilst being completely undisturbed. There was nobody else around, and we even found reclining lounge chairs. Okay, enough about Chinese airports.

We made it to Bangkok at midnight. It was 75, the air was thick, and the heat/humidity hit us like a long overdue bath. We didn't want to leave the boarding gate. We hired a taxi to take us to our hostel, and an hour later we paid him an exorbitant 400Baht...$12 :) We knew instantly that we'd like Thailand. We stayed at the Sinnad Inn in the Kosan Road backpacker area, and found it to be clean, convenient, and cheap. One night set us back $5 each. We ate at a small outdoor Thai "restaraunt" and each ordered a generous plate of Thai Curry/rice, and two large Singha beers. I opted to be a gentleman and pick up the bill, $6...that's right, 2 meals, and 4 good beers = $6 ....heaven.

The next morning we went to the train station and bought unlimited 1st class rail passes for $90 each. Our total trip covered about 2,000miles, so it's a pretty good bargain. It also meant that we could take overnight sleeper trains, and save money on hostels (although it wasn't as easy as we'd hoped...I'm going to dedicate a blog post to train travel as a resource for any interested travelers).

We left the train station with our passes in hand, and a reservation for a sleeper train to the norther city of Chang Mai that night. Christy, being Christy, decided that we should try to walk back to our hostel (at least a few miles), and catch a cab or a tuk-tuk (I'll explain later) if we got lost. The weather was 85F and sunny, I couldn't say no. So we walked...and walked...and walked. Along the way we realized just how large and scatterbrained Bangkok actually is. It's organized like a toddler's Lego box...shit scattered everywhere. A shrine here, a 7/11 there, a highrise apartment complex next to a run down paper factory, next to a shimmering wat (a Buddhist temple). You never know what to expect on the next street. It was quite different from the touristy area in which we stayed the night before.

We walked through several wats, and began to realize how much Buddhism is ingrained in the Thai culture. Most are very similar, and their gold trim and detail sparkle wildly in the sun. The flared tips of their roofs are very distinct of the Khmer style. They look very different from those we see here in Korea. Each has several Buddhas in rooms around the wat, but typically there is a primary Buddha that is the focal point of the premises. Near one of the wats we found a produce stand, and sampled a few local fruits; one of which being the durian, a fruit that I've been wanting to try for a long time. On the outside it looks like the offspring of a porcupine and a hand-grenade. The inside looks like lemon pudding, and its consistency reminds me of the character, Slimer, from the movie Ghost Busters. I've also been told that its smell is horrid (to the extent that it's forbidden on public transport), though neither Christine nor I thought it was too bad. Despite its unappealing qualities, we ate some, and bought more. What it lacks in beauty and scent, it makes up for in taste. I don't really know how to describe it, other than strangely delicious. We also bought a bag of fresh cut jack fruit, which was a nice addition to our snack.

We then walked through the Chinatown Market. It was overwhelming. Not only was it gigantic and packed with people, it was even more disorganized than the city in which it is located. Fruit juice stands next to used electrical outlet covers, next to switchblades and Buddha trinkets (same stand), next to airsoft guns, next to Barby Dolls and cotton candy, next to sex toys and bootleg porn. No matter where you are in it, there's fun for the whole family. Maybe that's the appeal. Anyway, after an hour or so of pushing through crowded stalls selling everything from umbrella handles and baby doll parts to custom tailored suits and knock of XBoxes, we found a nice grassy park where we could sit and relax. It was the first grass we'd seen in months. There isn't much in Korea to begin with, and what little there was disappeared in November. It was great.

We continued to walk around the city, and eventually did end up back at our hostel. We grabbed another $4 dinner, a taxi to the train station, and were off to the jungles of Chang Mai.

Happy Birthday Dad

2009-10-29T21:29:00.002+13:00

Happy birthday "Jimmy" from my students.

Still Cooking With Gas

2009-10-16T16:50:00.003+13:00

It's been awhile since I've updated this, so I'm sorry to anyone that checks on a regular basis. I've picked up 7 new classes each week, and they are keeping me pretty busy. My typical schedule is as follows. Monday: Night Class til 9; Tuesday: Korean Language Exchange til 10; Wednesday: Climbing til 9; Thursday: Night Class til 9; Friday: Climbing til 9; Saturday and Sunday travelling. My biggest problem is the amount of time that it takes to get around over here. Leaving from school, I'm 1hr from climbing, language exchange, and Christine's. In a single night, I lose 2hrs to transportation (not including waiting/walking-time at the bus stop). It's really wild to think that it takes that long to go no more than 5-10miles as the crow flies. There is just no direct route anywhere due to all the little mountains.

Christine and I went to our orientation two weeks ago, which proved morehelpful than I'd expected. I got some good ideas for lesson planning, andwas provided a crash course in Korean pop-culture...something that the kidshere are crazy for.I also played hours and hours of ping pong. I was definetly the best of theAmericans, which was quite fun. I had a similar experience to yours atSchindler I imagine. There were a few players that were quite good, but"the jizz" I was putting on the ball really messed with their heads. One ofother teachers from Wisconsin said that after I left the ping-pong room,there was wild speculation about how I held the paddle, where I wastrained, and exactly what kind of angles I was hitting the ball at to makeit spin the way it did. Still, as much fun as it was to have strangers comeand ask me to play them in ping-pong after the seminar, playing the Koreanswas a much better time. The Koreans (a separate group at a separateconference) took over the table in the evenings, while our group wasdrinking/socializing. They seemed very surprised when Christine and Iwalked in, and asked to play. They were even more surprised that a 'miguk'(essentially means...a white person) played so well. All of them wanted tosee the miguk (me) beat their friends (the crowd was completely on myside), and they piled into the room like it was a tournament. I beat thefirst Korean 21-15, which created one hell of a ruckus. The second wassignificantly better, and beat me 21-17. We played a second, much closergame, that he won 24-22. The other 30+ full games I played were a mixedbasket. Of the Koreans that were playing regularly, there were 2-3 that Icould beat confidently, 1-2 that were at my level, and 2 that I could keepup with, but who were clearly better. It was an awesome time.

The weekend after the conference Christine and I joined 3 friends, and went to the islandsoff the west coast. We stayed on an island called Dokjeok-do, which wasreally beautiful. The weather was sunny and clear, and the tempurature wasin the 70's during the afternoons. It was a holiday weekend, so we spent 3days and 2 nights there. We got in some good hiking, swimming, relaxing,and eating for less than $120 combined (including transportation). I made friends with one of the local dogs, and it kept us company for most of the trip. The area we stayed at was run by the dogs. There must have been 10-15 (none of which stood taller than your knee) that patrolled the beaches and whored themselves out to whatever tourists had the best food. I carried the fatty grizzle from the soups we ordered, which seemed to be the top dollar. On the ferry ride home, our group was befriended by a men's hiking group that was hopped up on soju and makoli. Our two hour ferry felt like four, as we spent the entire duration desiphering their cherades and having odd foods shovelled into our mouths . On the brightside, our tolerance of them and their food won us a ride home, and saved us each about $8. Because they had offered the ride on the ferry (while they were intoxicated and apparently unable to count our numbers) they insisted on fulfilling it. We fit 8 people and all of our packs into a small 5 seat SUV. Oh the random fun you can abroad.

This past weekend, for our 1yr anniversary, Christine and I went to the opposite side of the country, and visited Sokcho on the east coast. The trip takes about 5hrs , but we were each given the afternoon off of work. We arrived in Sokcho around 6pm on Saturday. It was nice to finally see some waves in the ocean. The west coast (where we live) doesn't get any. On Saturday we hiked through Soraksan National Park, which was breathtaking. It had the best scenery I've seen in Korea. Christine had caught a cold, so we decided to do a short 6k hike up to the top of one of the shorter (but more famous) peaks in the park, Ulsanbawi 880m. From the bottom, it looks like a long blade of rock was forced up from the earth. The slopes were so dramatic compared to the landscape around it. Unlike most mountains in that area, it did not have a conical shape and incline. It was just 2 or 3 tall pitches of rock face, and there were plenty of roped-in climbers taking advantage of its features. The hike that WE did consisted of a 2km approach and a 1k nearly vertical stairway ascent. No need for the gym's stairmaster this week. On the way down, I found some neat boulders and coincidentally had my climbing shoes in my bag. They were nothing great, but it was still a fun addition to the day. We spent Sunday on the beach, waiting for our bus home.

This weekend we're meeting a Korean friend in Seoul. Christine and I have wanted to see the 4 palaces that are in and around the city. Our friend, Sungguan Shin, has volunteered to be our tour guide, and it's sure to be a great time. I'll post pictures soon. They are on my home computer. Take it easy, and keep in touch.

Why I Love Traveling

2009-09-28T14:21:00.008+13:00

The past few weeks have gone very well. I'm finally starting to get into a routine. I know what to expect from my different classes, and they seem to be more comfortable talking in English. My last two lessons were on "The Great Outdoors" and "English Music". The kids seem to really enjoy a break from the monotony of their other lectures, and are slowly learning that they can't memorize all the answers in my class. Some of the kids who are considered only average students in their other classes are actually doing better than their above average peers in mine. It is simply because they are somewhat creative, and can take a sentence they heard the week before and manipulate it to answer a totally new question today. Many of the "brightest" want to be given the answer before hand, so that they can memorize it. I've decided to begin teaching evening conversation classes a couple nights a week, and look forward to challenging the kids to speak in much less constraining way. At the moment, my class is most definitely a lecture.

After school, I've been staying busy at the gym and at a Korean language exchange on Tuesday nights. Christine and I are definitely ahead of most the teachers we came to Korea with, in terms of understanding the language. Unfortunately, that's not saying much. We know the Hangul (alphabet), and can pronounce the words we see, but 95% of the time, we've got no idea what we're actually saying. We each know the standard greetings and farewells, thank you, your welcome, don't worry about it, I'm sorry, can you please help me, where is the ___, 'I do not speak Korean well', etc. Like our students, however, we're stuck with what we've memorized. It's VERY difficult to get creative with what we say. There are a handful of ways to say a simple sentence, and the correct way changes depending on who you are speaking with (older, younger, friend, strangers, boss, etc.). There are several different words for the verb "to like". For instance, I would use a different word to say "I 'like' soccer." than if I were to say "I like 'pancakes'." Then you have to insert subject and object markers, use a verbal comma for multiple nouns, and remember that the sentence structure (the easiest part for me) is - subject, object, preposition, verb- ...and adjectives usually go before each noun. Needless to say Christine and I have our work cut out for it when it comes to learning the language. We are still looking for a more frequent/intensive class that is within striking distance on a weeknight.

Last weekend we went to a teachers conference in Suwon, the capital of our province. Before the conference we hiked around an ancient fortress, and walked through a rebuild of the royal village. These are the first pictures you see in this post. That night we went into downtown Suwon for dinner. We had bulgogi, which is a classic Korean beef dish. At the restaraunt, you sit down at your table, and there is a circular grill in the center. The waiter fills it with coals, brings you your meat, vegitables, rice, and side dishes, and you prepare the meal yourself. Essentially, you build a lettuce wrap of meat, mushrooms, vegis, rice, and spices, then eat away. I'm a pretty big fan of it, but the meat was a bit too marbly for Christine's taste. Accompanying our meal we ordered a couple bottles of mockoli, an alcoholic rice OR soy drink that tastes like champaigne mixed with beer (see picture). It says that it's only 6% alcohol, but it's the best 6% I've ever had. What a great drink. It's the happiest, clearest, most social drink that I've found. Anyway, when we had almost finished, a group of three Korean guys (in their upper 20's) sat down at the table next to us. We looked over to see what they were eating, and before we knew it, they were putting it on our plates. Sharing food is a very Korean thing to do, so to be polite we ate it (pork) and said thank you. To return the favor, I ordered a bottle of 'soju' (Korean moonshine 20%abv) which is also a very normal gesture. We poured eachother shots (never pour your own), and the night began. The next thing we knew, Christine and I were speaking broken Korean; they were speaking equally as broken English; and we were having a great time with our new found friends and our bottles of soju (see pictures). They bought our dinner, and clearly I needed to return the favor. I decided that the only place to take this party was to the noraebong. "Bong," in Korean, means 'room'...to all you hippies out there. "Norae", means 'to sing'. So to the 'singing room' we went. Karaoke to those of you who haven't peiced it together. Asians, not to generalize or anything, love karaoke. You can rent karaoke rooms by the hour, and they come fully equipted with thousands of preprogrammed songs, multiple bigscreen lcd's, disco/laser lights, and an assortment of random percussion instruments with which to party the night away. And party we did. I sang karaoke, and yes, I liked it (see picture). Alex Jensen, you were right all along. Karaoke is a damn good time........but only in Asia. You won't catch me dead singing karaoke at a bar in the states. Here, they always think I look like David Beckham, and sing like Paul McCartney...and that's before soju.

This Saturday we tamed it down, and went to an area in north Seoul that is close to the mountains. It cuddles up to some of the best hiking and climbing South Korea has to offer, a place we have already visited once, Bukhansan National Park (pictures can be seen in the first post). Our mission was to find a tent, so that we can travel on the cheap. Tent and cheap cannot be used in the same sentence here. Koreans simply do not camp, although most of the parks have camping areas. They buy high-end day-hiking gear, but tents are rare, and thus expensive. Think $400 for a basic two person. That quickly axed our intentions. We did, however, find a great outfitters where the prices (except on tents) were spectacular and the owners were highly knowledgable and experienced. I bought some climbing gear that I needed, and they let us use their climbing wall for free. We spent the better part of 2hrs climbing and chatting with the owner. Yesterday, we decided to save money and hike locally. There are little trails all over Korea. Every hill has a trail to the top, so we started with my backyard. There are many old graveyards and mini-shrines littering the hills, and they are always fun to look around. It appears that almost no one uses the trails near my apartment, and for the first time since we've been here, Christine and I were actually alone during a hike. We saw only one or two other people all afternoon. It was a great way to unwind. We were probably the first white people to ever have walked through many of the areas we visited yesterday.

This week we teach only today (Monday). From Tuesday to Thursday, we will go to another town for a new teachers' orientation. Friday begins the Chusok Harvest Holiday (Korean Thanksgiving), and we receive Monday off as well. Koreans spend the time indoors with their families, so I think we may try to meet some friends and enjoy what may be the relatively empty outdoors. I hope all is well. Take care, and keep in touch.

The final picture is of us and group of our friends that go out for Indian food every other weekend. Everyone you see is an English teacher.

Pictures

2009-09-17T16:34:00.008+12:00

Okay, I'm sorry. I can't seem to get captions to line up with the pictures. I'm just going to count them off. 1. Boiled silk worm larvae (oh yes, I ate it) 2. National War Museum 3. Christine and I in Soul 4. ...self explanatory 5. Those aren't rabbits she's looking at, they are what Koreans call dogs. 6. Bukansan (san=mountain) 7. ...us 8. More Bukansan...that wall went for miles and miles with ancient turrets at regular intervals 9. More Bukansan 10. Buddist Shrine 11 -13. My apartment 14. West Siheung City...they call this rural 15. They have inukshuks here too apparently...I've seen quite a few along the trails.

A few years later...and in Korea

2009-09-17T16:20:00.003+12:00

The following are copied from emails that many of you have already received.
I plan to add one per week from here on. Pictures coming SOON.

Day 4

I'm now through the afternoon of day four in Korea, and am liking it more
each day. My jet-lag cleared up yesterday, and I'm finally feeling like
myself again. Christine and I found eachother Sunday morning, and we are
living about 5 miles apart (30min by bus...10 by taxi). She lives 2min from
the last subway stop on the south side of Seoul, so made the hour commute
and spent Sunday afternoon in the country's capital. It is by far the
largest city that I have ever seen (in both population and sheer physical
size). We spent a good 6hrs walking around, and barely made a dent. We took
a gondala to the top of the small mountain at the city's center, and were
blown away by the view from the top. As soon as I am able to upload
pictures, I'll send them your way. We also ran into a few other westerners
where were provided a lot of useful information regarding everything from
teaching techniques to cell phones. Yesterday we met and hiked a few miles
to the west end of Siheung to a small mountain that sits at the edge of the
harbor. It gave us a great perspective as to the area in which we are
living...basically, it's crowded. Today we decided to tackle the bus system
between our apartments. After an hour and a half of broken English and a
lot of walking around, we finally got on the right one....and then learned
that there was a transfer. It all worked out well enough. Shortly
thereafter we decided to investigate a 5th floor gym we saw from the street
near Christine's. Aparently it was on the 4th floor, because when the
elevator doors opened, we were greeted by a bubbly Korean woman who
enthusiastically ushered us into an auditorium where a group of dancers
were warming up on stage. Not knowing how to explain the mistake, we
decided to go along with it in order to keep from offending her by leaving.
Two minutes later a slew of at least 75 elderly Koreans entered, locking us
into our seats. We were not just the only two white people in the room, we
were the only two under the age of 60. Somehow, by the grace of God, a
younger (60ish) woman sat down next to me, and began speaking to us in
understandable English. She is a nurse, and lives in New Jersey most of the
year. Aparently we were at the community center, and had entered the Korean
equivilent of Grandma's senior's event. The dancers were performing a
traditional Korean folk song/dance about weddings. It was a damn good show,
and we even got a translation free of charge. We attempted to get out
quickly after it ended 45m later, but were practically pulled from the
elevators by our unintended hosts. They insisted that we sit and eat a
Korean lunch with them. It was mostly doughy, cookie-like, rice cakes, but
Christine ate sliced pigs feet and nose...unkowningly. I had already taken
a few bites, and figured out what it was. So much for her going vegitarian.
I'm not quite sure what will happen with the rest of our day. I think we'll
probably try out the chicken and beer restaraunt nearby her apartment. Who
knows. Days like today are why we love to travel, and we're hoping for many
more. Take care. We'll talk to you soon.

-Ben and Christy

-----

Day 7

I still don't have internet at my apartment, and can't access blogspot at
work, so email will have to do for now. I'm forwarding on an email I sent
to my family on Monday; my first day at work. Since then, things have not
changed too much. I am a school celebrity, and am learning to live with it.
The nice part about it all, is that, at least for now, I have their full
attention during class. Each class sits for my lectures once a week, so
things are already getting a bit repetitive. This week is question and
answer week, where they get to ask questions about me. Most are very shy
when it comes to speaking, and are averse to the idea of doing so alone.
They are, however, very willing to speak as a group, and are much more open
to written discourse.

Today is our first day at work, and mine has gone quite well. I was almost
immediately ushered into an impromptu school television broadcast, in which
I addressed the whole of students and faculty. Apparently I did well. I was
then invited to have tea with the principle and assistance principle. I
gave them each their gifts, and was heartily thanked. I was told later by
my co-teacher that I made an excellent impression...big time brownie
points.

I will only have 3-4 classes each day, and today I only have 2. My first
was a boys class, and it seemed fairly typical of a U.S. classroom. Today
was "Question Day", and I let them ask any question they could. There were
a few students that were eager to talk, and did so quite well. Most sat
silent, but paid attention. A few others clearly did not. It's hard for me
to get a good handle on their capabilities, as the class is all speaking. I
believe that most can read at a basic to average level.

I ate lunch with a number of the faculty (before the students arrived), and
it was quite good...but REALLY spicy. As we were leaving, the students
arrived and I was made fully aware of my celebrity status. It's funny, just
yesterday I was talking to Christine about how it would be a guys dream to
have cat calls made at him wherever he walked (like she had in Ecuador).
That "dream" came true to today, but was more awkward than I had imagined.
I kid you not, I felt like Paul McCartney. The girls were literally
sticking there hands out, screaming, and wanting me to say hi. Even the
boys jog from the opposite side of the building to say "he-roe". My
co-teacher even told me that number of students coming into the office for
"injuries, sickness, etc." is about 2x the number they get on a normal
day...apparently the disparity can be attributed to my presence. I think
this may take some getting used to.

I will plan to be on Skype tonight at 7pm my time, 5am your time. I really
hope Christine's internet works, otherwise this might fall through. I will
be going with her and her co-teacher on Wednesday to apply for an alien
identification card. It will take a week for it to reach me by mail, and
another day or two to get internet at my house. I'm sorry it has taken so
long. I'd really like to be able to talk with you guys via webcam. Speaking
with Christine's parents last week was really nice. I'm glad to hear that
everything is going well there. Tell Wes that I have witnessed "Star Craft"
being played by hordes at PC-cafes, and have indeed seen it on TV as well.
Even my co-teacher is excited about the sequel that is coming in
October...he'll understand. Tell grandma I love her. I'll hopefully speak
with you tonight.

Take care,

Ben...aka Bin-ja-min

Pictures from my road trip...sorry no story yet.

2007-06-14T23:36:00.000+12:00

Hitch-hike to Queenstown

2007-05-23T16:00:00.000+12:00

Last Thursday, I was talking with some friends about who was doing what for the weekend. I had no plans, and was hoping to catch a ride out of town...to where, I didn't care so long as it was somewhere new. Everyone who was going someone I wanted to go had a full car...everyone who was going somewhere I'd already been was begging for others to split the gas with. My flatmate ,Curt's, family had arrived and they were all heading to Queenstown for the weekend. It was #1 on my list of places to see. Unfortunately their car was full as well. Kat, Curt's friend from home, also had an interest in weekending in Qtown (as it's become known). When I mentioned hitching out there, she surprised me and insisted that we do. We met the next day at noon.

We caught a ride out of Dunedin with a friend. You never get any luck inside city limits. I assumed that with Kat on my side (see bottom picture) we'd have no problem catching a ride. Unlucky for us, almost every car that past us for the first hour was driven by a middle-age woman (not exactly our target market). It was a guy in his mid thirties who worked in the pest control business that gave usour first hitch. I sat Kat upfront, guessing she was probably the reason he stopped. Being that he spoke primarilly to her, I assume I was correct. Although he lacked any sense of appropriateness, we didn't complain when he decided to go out of his way and hitch us an extra 45min. We got dropped in a town that was literally one block in size. There was a bar/store, a couple houses, and a sheep farm. That was it. We walked a few hundred yards, to a spot where two roads came together and ran towards Queenstown. Although there wasn't much traffic, we caught a ride with a man in his mid 40's/50's who had been in Dunedin to see his son, and get some surfing in. He was a nice guy and got us about 10miles outside of Qtown. From there we hitched two short rides into the center of the city. We arrived just in time for sunset, and it was beautiful.

Kat and my flatmate Curtis had a friend, Steve, that lived there who was willing to give us a place to stay for the weekend. He got off work at 8, so Kat and I got dinner at Furgburger (a world famous burger joint found only in Qtown, NZ). I paid NZ-9$ (U.S.-$6.50) for a cheeseburger that blew my mind. The beef was amazing...the toppings were amazing...the special sauce was out of this world. It was by far the best burger I have ever eaten. We met with Kat's friend Steve at the same time we found Curt and his family. They drove us to their condo on the west end of town. Besides the fact that the place was 1st class all the way, Curt's dad passed out some beers to us guests, while Curt made dinner for his family. Afterwards we all drove up to Steve's flat, which was just up the hill. By that time it was dark, and we had no view of the city. We hung out for awhile, drove back to Curt's condo to drop off the car, and walked to town for some drinks and a game or two of pool. We made it to bed around 1am that night...Saturday was to be busy.

I woke up Saturday morning, to a beautiful day, and an incredible view (see next picture). This was the view from the deck of Steve's house. After I got over the view, it was time to figure out what to do that day. Kat and I desperately wanted to find something to jump off of. Queenstown, besides being beautiful, is known as the adrenaline capital of the world. Whether it be boogie-boarding down grade 3 rivers, or bungee jumping, it's hard to not do something "extreme" while your there. We walked about 30min down to the center of town, and started looking for things to do. I wanted to bungee jump or skydive...but I preferred to have some company. She had already bungeed, and skydiving was too expensive. We asked around, and decided that the "Shotover (a river) Canyon Swing" was right down our alley. We booked a 3pm visit. Having about 3hrs to kill, we decided to get to the top of the main hill in Qtown. The gondala was too expensive, so we started to hike. It took us the better part of an hour to get to the top, but when we arrived, it was worth it. There is a very large cafe'/restaurant/observation building that juts off the top of the hill. Almost entirely comprised of giant, blue, glass windows, it was a perfect place to sit, take pictures, and grab a bite to eat. We sat on the deck, and enjoyed the view (see pics 4,5, & 6).

At 3pm we were picked up by the Canyon Swing Van...during the 20min ride to the location, we watched a video of all the different ways you could jump off. The swing process consists of three main parts. 1) Choosing how you want to jump off, and waiting as the operators have their way with your nerves while you stand at the edge...saying "we've just got to connect the main line," as they bump you over the edge, and other cruel methods of getting a good laugh. 2) Jumping off and free falling for 60 meters (4.5 seconds). 3) Swinging out across the canyon, and realizing that you are still alive...and having one hell of time. Kat and I jumped 3 times (thanks in large part to a $5 second/third jump charity promotion). The first time, and after 30s of intense hesitation, I jumped off feet first. It was a rush I've never felt before. The second time, I fell backwards. I knew what was coming, but the fact that I couldn't see where I was going made it even more intense than the first. The third jump (thanks to some flirting on Kat's part...nobody else got one) I fell in a style that they call "Gimp Goes to Hollywood." Apparently its famous or something. Your harness goes between your legs, around your waste, and over your shoulders. The corde you're attached to extends from your belly-button. This jump entails being suspended off of the platform, back to ground below, feet towards the cliff. I then was told to lean back and wrap my feet around the corde, so that I was held upside-down and vertical, with my back towards the canyon wall (see next picture). Then I was dropped. You'd think that it would have been the scariest of the 3, but to be honest the free-fall was the most relaxed 4.5s I've ever had. I could see the ground the entire time, and it felt like flying. It was surreal. I can't explain it, it was just awsome. I was in a state of complete relaxation for the next 3-4 hours.

We got back to the house, and Steve (works at Subway) had brought back his "special sub" for Kat and I to try. Probably the best sub I've ever tried...would also have been the most expensive, had I had to pay for it. Curt and his family had left, so Kat, Steve, his flatmates, and I all decided to take a night on the town. The bars in Queenstown are a lot of a fun. Steve knew almost every bouncer by name, so we never had to wait in line. We also got cheap drinks at most places. We hopped from one to the next, enjoying the different themes at each. We finally ended up at a large sports bar called "Altitude" at around 1am. It was packed, but we managed to find a couch in time for the big English League soccer match. Chelsea was playing Manchester United. We only stayed for the first half of play, but it was a great time thanks to the atmosphere created by all of the routy British tourists.

Kat and I had planned to catch a bus back to Dunedin on Sunday. Unfortunately, it had unexpectedly filled up. We found this out at 1:30pm. We had to hitch again to make it back for class on Monday, and knew it was a 4.5hr drive + hitch time. We caught a bus to the outskirts of town, and walked/waited for 30min for our first hitch. It only got us 10 miles outside of town...same place we had been dropped at on the way in. By then it was 2:30. We started to get a bit nervous when 3:30 rolled around and we were still there. We didn't want to get stuck in the dark, and were about to switch sides of the road. Luckily a woman picked us up and hitched us an hour in our direction. We had been waiting near an apple stand for 30min when a man in a brand new Honda Accord (rare to be picked up by nice cars) pulled out from the apple stand, and asked where we were going. Lucky for us, he was going to Dunedin himself. He was a doctor who had been in Queenstown for the weekend. He hitched us the entire way back, and dropped us off at Kat's doorstep. I offered to help pay for gas, but he turned me down saying, "nope, you kept me awake with a good conversation...always nice to meet someone new." And that was that. Our weekend adventure was over.

Since then, I haven't done much. Today I gave a presentation for one of my classes...it went very well. Afterwards I sat by the river that runs through campus and got some video of salmon jumping up the rapids on their way up stream. Thursday night I'm going to camp out with some friends in a large, open cave that is at a nearby beach. On Saturday I'll be kayaking with some friends at the Waiori River, which is about an hour west of town. Those are about all of my plans. I've finished all my school work for the semester, and now I'm just waiting for finals to start on the 7th of June. Take it easy.
-Ben

Decided to add another picture

It is a picture of the flat we stayed at, and the group that lives there. From left to right, Alex-19yrs (Kiwi), Brooke-18 (Aussie), Sam- 23 (British), Kat-20 (my hitchin-buddy), and Steve-18 (Canadian)...we were a multi-cultural crowd.

Ps. Due to parental demand, I will work to get pictures of just ME with PRETTY backgrounds.

Day trip to Tunnel Beach

2007-05-08T13:21:00.000+12:00

This was the highlight of my weekend. I've got some good video of this place as well. Go figure, it's only 20min from my apartment.

Forget Cancun

2007-04-18T17:49:00.000+12:00

This past week I went on spring break (fall break in NZ). Most people go to a warm beach towns like Cancun (here they go to Australia). I went to a small town in nowhere-land New Zealand. It was not warm, it rained every morning and evening, and I was camping. It was the best break...ever.

The kayaking club met at our shed at 7am on Sunday April 8th. We were on our way to Murchison; a paddling Mecca of sorts. There were about 25-30 of us packed into 2.5vans each towing our gear for the week. It was so remeniscent of spring training for crew, it was almost making me nervous. The van ride was about 11hrs long, and we only turned twice the entire trip...two lefts...one in Christchurch to go west...the other in Murchison to pull into the campground. The highway system here isn't very extensive...highway 1 runs the perimeter of the south island...I think highway 2 is what we took from Christchurch to Murchison...I don't believe there is a highway 3. I may be exagerating, but believe me, paved roads are minimal once you get outside of cities. Anyway, the ride was simply amazing. After getting through the Canterbury Plains, we crossed into the mountain region. The road traversed a long section of foothills. To our left was a huge (talking many many miles) river basin. Most of it was green, but in the center was a large expanse of grey river rock bording an aqua green river. I'm going to stop with the fluff I suppose, but it really was breathtaking.

We arrived at the campground at around 7pm. Apparently we had asked for a lot in the back, so as not to disturb the other campers. Unfortunately, the manager didn't think it necessary. We weren't routy, or obnoxious, but by the time we got off the river our first day the rest of the campers had moved to the opposite side of the campground. Honestly, how quiet can 30 college students be when on a spring break kayaking trip?

The first day of boating was relatively tame. The rivers were warm ups. I was eager to get out on some "real water". That night around the fire, a few of the guys were talking about doing an instructor's run down the Lower Matak (grade 3/3+). I said I'd like to join, and knowing that I had some experience, they agreed. They described it as a creeking run (series of technical drops) that you can paddle in a playboat (what I've got). I was hesitant, being that I've never done any creeking before, and that they insisted that Americans over-grade their rivers for difficulty. Nevertheless, I decided to go for it. We put in, and the 1st of 2 main rapids was our warm up. It was a series of small drops/chutes, after which you needed to catch certain eddies. I was caught a bit off guard, but made it through the first main rapid just fine. When peeling out of and eddy near the bottom of the first rapid, my stern was caught by the current and I went vertical (the problem with running that kind of water in a playboat)...then upside down. To my dismay, it was somewhat shallow, and I got a bit of a beating against the bottom of the river for the duration of the rapid. I couldn't get my paddle around to roll, and after hitting a rock which knocked it out of my right hand I pulled the cord. I haven't had to swim while kayaking in a long time. The beating to my ego was the worst part of the experience. I finished the run without any other difficulties. I did conclude that the Kiwis were right. Americans do over-grade their rivers. What they called a grade 3 run, we would have considered a grade 4. We ran two more rivers that day, but I honestly can't remember what they were. I don't believe they were anything exciting.

The next day we paddled a run called Grannity. The highlight of it was a grade 3/3+ gorge section. It was about 75yds long, and dropped over 20ft. Unlike creeking, this was "big water". It wasn't so much technical as it was big and fast. We stopped above it to scout, and I decided that I'd run the left line. It involved an immediate 4ft drop/chute into a wave train, after the wave train, there were 2 semi-sticky holes to punch through, and a big buffer wave that pushed you away from a hard right hand turn & wall just above the bottom drop. I ran the first drop fine... the the first hole fine...but at the 2nd hole, I was slowed down enough that my stern caught. I went vertical. Luckilly, this time, I managed to stay upright by overhead bracing. I was just leveling out again when I hit the bottom buffer wave, and got flipped in the air as I was going over the final small drop. It must have looked really cool from the shore. This time I rolled up...as one should. The rest of that run was fairly easy. I can't remember what we paddled that afternoon. That evening, I realized that my seat was WAY too far back. Hence the alway going vertical. Changing it made a world of difference.

Thursday we ran the Buller Earthquake Run. The section was created in 1929 when a major earthquake hit the region, and changed the flow of the river. What was once flat water, is now whitewater. Its know for its big-water characteristics. What a fun run. It was all grade 2+/3 water (keep in mind, this is NZ scale), so perfect. As far as characteristics, it was primarilly big waves/holes and strong eddy lines. Some of the waves were easily 5-6ft trough to crest. It was not uncommon to catch air off of them. (Nora, the wave-trains were like the one at the bottom of the initial drop at Wausau...except about 2x as high...and there were a lot more waves in them. The surfing was awsome. Unfortunately, the water was lower than usual (despite the fact that it rained almost every morning). The major rapid on that run, Gunslinger, was hardly even there. It's normally a 200yd stretch of big waves, bigger holes, and little hope of getting to the shore until you're at the bottom (I saw a video). This day, it was pretty tame. Even the new paddlers ran it. The low flow did create a nice little wave/hole to surf. This run was by far the most fun.

Friday I didn't paddle. It wasn't entirely my choice, but I volunteered to drive shuttle for a few of the more experienced paddlers to a 4+ creeking run. The drive was beautiful. It was just green mountains, rolling grassy hills, and us. After driving for about 45min down old dirt roads, we finally got to the put in. They paddled the run in about an 1.5hrs, but rain slowed our drive back. We missed the main group for that day's paddling. I was a little disappointed, but enjoyed the break. That night was the big party. It was called "Court Session". Essentially, you are held accountable for all the stupid stuff you've said/done during the course of the week (there had been a box to leave accusations in). I'm not going to get into any specifics, but the throne I am sitting on the in the previous post's picture should give you an idea of type of night we had. It was a fun evening.

The next day, our group had only two goals. The first of which was to paddle off of Muraia Falls (see waterfall picture from previous post...or just click on the link). The second, going home, was most difficult to cope with. Honestly, who wants to realize that a week like that is over? As crazy as some people might think were for paddling over a 30ft waterfall, it really isn't that difficult. You just kind of...paddle off. The consequences for screwing up (over rotating, running the wrong line, or losing your paddle at the bottom) weren't actually too bad. Though really, really powerful, it typically spits you out quickly. It wasn't so high that land flat would break your neck...you might just not want to move for awhile. Anyway, I ran it, and it was awsome. I would have done it again if we'd have had the time. The feeling of falling over the edge is nothing but surreal. It was actually kind of peaceful. I ran a sweet line, and didn't over rotate, so when I finally hit water, I just sliced into foam....and then got tossed like a twig for about 4 seconds. I was only under for 4 seconds, and in that time I was flipped bow over stern two full times. My paddle was ripped from my right hand during the second loop, but luckily my left hung on. I rolled up fine, and was running on adrenaline for the next 30min. It was awsome.
The van ride back to Dunedin was even more boring after having just done that.

Since break, I've been kept busy with assignments and exams. I haven't been able to travel on the weekends, and it's starting to get to me. I'm hoping to catch a bus out to the Dunedin Penninsula this weekend. Its only about 30min away, and is apparently spectacular. I'll obviously have my camera. As far as other adventures, I am saving the best stops for last. My goal right now is to hit Queenstown in the next 2-3 weeks before final exams come around. It is one of the most scenic areas in NZ. It's also the adventure capital of the world. If seems so crazy it's stupid...you can probably do it there. I will be leaping from the world's highest operating bungee jump...Nevis. 134m of free fall (8.9s), another 50-60m while slowing down. It's something I've planned to do since before I was even accepted to study here. I can't wait. I'll let you know when the time comes around.

Till then, I hope everyone is doing well. I certainly am. Mom/Dad, I'm sorry for not calling on Monday. I was finishing my history paper and completely forgot until it was too late. I'll call Sat. evening 7-8ish (your time). Take it easy.
-Ben

In the Meantime...

2007-04-15T23:17:00.000+12:00

I'm working on a full report for my fall break this past week. It may take some time. Here are some pictures I took along the way. For a cooler view of the bottom picture, click on the this link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhYaKBXDQ5g (highly recommended). Enjoy.

For those not informed...

2007-04-01T13:52:00.000+12:00

So the whole dating thing...it was a clever ploy to scare my parents on April Fools Day. I had "my girlfriend" come over and speak with my parents for a few minutes today on the phone. Afterward, before she had to rush off to practice, she said very loudly "Tell them the good news Ben!"... (Oh sweet perfection) ... I then informed my parents that I had actually been dating her for about a month...and that I was pretty sure she was the one...and that we were talking about marraige.

1-semester abroad...many dollars, 1-international phone card... $10. Hearing a heart attack from across the world...PRICELESS.

Anyway, thought I should inform those of you who were out of the loop. No, I am not in a serious relationship with Kiwi....but I've still got a few months.

Finally, some Kayaking

2007-03-27T10:17:00.000+12:00

This past weekend I went with the University's Kayaking Club to paddle the Rangitata River near Christchurch. I had no idea how many people were going until I arrived at the boathouse Friday afternoon. We had around 25 people of all abilities in the group (see the boat trailer picture, and add about 8 boats). It was scary how similar the group/travel process is compared to the Crew Team at the UofM. Not only did the prominant members in the group act the same, but some even looked similar to their respective counterparts in crew. To those of you who would know...a girl named Jess looks/acts exactly like Maggie (coxswain). A guy named Clem looks/acts exactly like Nate Handle. Anyway, the drive took about 4hrs. Myself, Marene, and Virgine' (two new French girls) rode separate from the vans with a guy named DJ. It wasn't as though we rode separate for being internationals...I chose to ride with him, because it was better than being in a cramped van. The French girls knew me, so they asked to come along. The drive was awsome. I hadn't been north of Dunedin (at least on the S. island) before. It was nothing but long streches of uninhabitted beach bordered by giant, green, rolling hills. For awhile, we drove along an enormous bay that was receeding with the tide. By the time we reached the north end, there was almost no water to been seen. It was really wild.

*I made the mistake of leaving my camera in my bag, so I don't have any pictures of the drive yet. I will be travelling that route again in 2 weeks, so I WILL get some.*

The majority of the drive was in the dark, and it got REALLY foggy. For Mom, Dad, Wes, and Grandma, it reminded me of the drive from the airport to our house the first night in Costa Rica. We arrived at the campground around 10:30pm. The main camp was taken up by a military search and rescue training camp. We were put by ourselves about 1/2mi away. That night, we basically just set up our tents and went to bed. Other than a small campfire and a few people playing the guitar and bongo drum, there wasn't much to speak of.
I woke up at about 6:30am with the sun shining right in my tent. By the time other people were crawling out, I had already cooked breakfast and cleaned my dishes (why I can't do this in Quetico, I'm not sure Dad). The put-in for the section we were doing was just south of a class 4 run. Our run never got above class 2+. Despite the fact that it was REALLY easy, it was still a lot of fun. Besides enjoying the scenery (large, less green, hills...and lots of bush), my new boat kept me entertained even on the frequent sections of flat water. I LOVE my All-Star (the boat name grandma). We even ran across two or decent play features on the 4hr paddle. When we go to the takeout, and a few of the group members decided to run the upper gorge. Had they been willing to take a couple hours to rest up/eat up, I'd have been gung-ho. Unfortunately, their plan was to head straight there (good plan, being that they almost had to paddle the last rapid in the dark). I went back to the camp and ate up. After the gorge group returned (8ish), the festivities began. It was basically just a big campfire, a bunch of music, and beer...there was some glow frisbee as well. The kiwis sucked at frisbee...I think it must just be an American thing. The next morning, we paddled the lower section again. The water had gone down a bit, but it was still a fun time. The play features had changed some, so that kept the more advanced boaters content.

Other than packing up and driving home, that was basically my weekend. I got to meet a bunch cool people, see a new part of the country, and finally get some paddling in. I'm really looking foward to our fall break the week after next. The group heads to Murchinson (basically kayaker's heaven...15 rivers within 45min) for a week. It's also in one of the most scenic parts of NZ. I can't think of a better way to spend a break.

In other news, I'm officially dating someone now (as of Monday afternoon)...my partner in dance class, Angie. We've been hanging out quite a bit when she's in town (she competes nationally in lifeguarding competitions, and has been training/competing out of town on the weekends). Anyway, we've decided to give it a shot. I'm pretty happy about the whole situation, she's a really cool girl (with an awsome accent no less). She has off from competitions during fall break, and I think I've almost convinced her to give kayaking a shot (fingers crossed). Mom, I'm pretty sure you'd approve...but I'm sure I'll hear about it anyway. And yes, of course, I'll do my best to get a picture.

I hope everyone is doing well. I certainly am. The next week or so is going to be a bit hectic. I've got a major paper due next Thursday, and a group presentation to start on. Needless to say, I won't be going anywhere this weekend. Yes, I am still managing to focus on schoolwork...somehow. Mom/Dad, I plan to call Sat. around 6/7pm (your time). Cheers,
-Ben
ps. Pictures are loading WAYYY slow right now. I will try them again tomorrow.

Another Week

2007-03-21T16:53:00.000+12:00

Well, there's not much to report for this past week. It's feeling a lot more like normal school. My weekly schedule consists of class, gym, and homework. It seems a lot like being home...with a much better backdrop. This past weekend was St. Patty's Day, and Kiwis celebrate just about as much as they do in the U.S. A few of us got together and a bought a keg of St. Patty's Day Green Beer from a brewery just down the street. We set it up on a picnic table outside and played cards for the majority of the day. You'd be amazed at the number of people who want to meet you when you've got a keg...then again, it's a college town. Sunday I borrowed my roommate's car and drove 4hrs to Te Anuau to pick up my kayak (same town we stopped in on the way to Fjiordlands). I had to wait a couple hours for the woman who was holding it for me, but spent the time talking to a Swedish girl/woman (mid 20's) who worked at a small tourist information center. She moved from Sweden about 6months ago, because she fell in love with the area. She didn't even have a job lined up. It seems to be a fairly common story here though. I'm not sure whether to think of it as having big balls or a lack of brains. Either way, I've yet to meet anyone like her that is unhappy with their decision.
So, anyway, after a few hours of waiting I picked up my kayak.

That basically sums up my last ten days or so. Right now, I'm just waiting for Friday when I leave for Christchurch to go kayaking with the Canoe/Kayak group here at the university. I should have some nice pictures to accompany my next blog. Till then.

Fiordlands...

2007-03-06T15:32:00.000+13:00

(I'd like to appologize for the lack of pictures in this...technical difficulties. I am posting two that a friend took.)

We left last Thursday afternoon in a haze of confusion. Myself and 13 other international students decided to rent two vans and travel to Fjiorland National Park and the Milford Sound area on the west coast. My friend Lauren organized the whole thing, but she was really the only one who knew what exactly was going on. I thought we were doing a 3 day hike (with 14 people, that'd be idiotic). Even the day of, I had no idea when/where to meet, until I bumped into another friend that was going as well. We were supposed to meet at 4:30 at the museum on campus (why...I'm not sure...6 or 7 of us live in the same complex). I got out of class at noon, and still needed to buy a textbook, buy food for the trip, pack my bag, and stop by the library. At 1pm, I was informed that I'd be sole driver of the 2nd van. Nice to know.

We packed everyone in and left around 5pm. It was supposed to take 5.5hrs during the day...we'd have to make the last quarter (literally, the most dangerous roads in NZ) at night. We lost the other van about 1.5hrs outside of our final destination...they had forgotten that we had to drop off two of our van members for a separate hike. Being that there was only 1 road to where we were going, we just kept going. Fast foward 2hrs...it was dark, we'd just driven 3/4mi through a mountain via unlit, creepy-ass tunnel, hadn't seen a vehicle in over an hour, and had no idea where we were (except that on either side of the road was a long drop. We pulled over to think things through. A few moments later, we saw lights coming from the tunnel a few hundred feet above. It was the other van. After a few profanities were exchanged, we followed them to where we had planned to camp. Unfortunately, no reservations had been made. It was full...the office was closed, so we couldn't get suggestions. We were also low on gas...just under 1/4 tank. We decided to camp on one of the pull-offs just on the other side of the tunnel. Half slept in the vans, while the others slept on the rocks. In the morning we were awoken by a flock of pissed off Kea's (mountain parrots). They were divebombing us, and pecking at our vehicles. I felt like I was in a Hitchcock film. We left as soon as possible, but it wasn't easy. We had camped in in a horseshoe shaped valley, about 200 feet below the top of a mountain. On the peaks were small glaciers, and around us were tall, thin water falls. It was breathtaking (sorry, but these pictures would not upload from my camera).

That day we found a small campground, and went on three separate hikes. The first was to the top of small mountain (just above the lowest cloud level). The second was to a lake 3/4 the way up a mountain we could see in the distance from our first hike (the glacial lake I standing in, and later swam in, in the pictures I sent last week). The third was not nearly as fun, being that it only took 3omin to walk. All in all we hiked for about 10hrs that day. The next day we did another 5hr hike to a scenic river just east of Milford Sound. Except for the biting sand flies, the river and its scenery were perfect.

We camped above a large near Gore that night, and left the next day. It's hard not to elaborate on the individual hikes and subplots in this mini-adventure...but it would take a very long time. I'm long winded as it is. The gist of the story is that despite driving a van full of people through dangerously distracting roads/scenery...on the wrong side of the car/road (at night sometimes)....and swimming in/cliff diving into freezing glacial lakes....nobody got injured, and we all had an awsome time. The scenery was spectacular, and I cannot wait to return for more.

Thumbs Up to the Catlins

2007-02-28T11:04:00.000+13:00

Last Wednesday I was asked by friend, Mark, if I'd like to leave the week long party known as "O-Week". He suggested taking a 3-4 day trip south through the Catlins. I agreed to the proposal, and we were to leave the next day. After finally catching a bus at the train station (we missed the first one), we were on our way to Barclutha (a small town about 1.25hrs south...15miles from the shore). Our goal was to reach the ocean by nightfall. We arrived in the town, and that was about it. We had no real plan on how to get to the Pacific. We decided to start walking East. After about 45min of walking through the country, we started "thumbing"...hitchhiking. Soon thereafter, we were in a car with a young guy and girl who were studying at a sheep farming school in the direction we were going. After passing their stop (after about 5min of driving), they said that they would drive us all the way to the beach. About 20min and a long dirt road later...there it was. We arrived in Kaka Point a small town of about 200 people; almost all of whom were sheep farmers. Once again, we started walking...this time south...down the beach. Unlike the beaches we think of, there were only a few small houses in sight...it was just a long long strech of empty beach. In the distance were giant bluffs and a lighthouse. We had about 4hrs of light left (4pm), and we made the bluffs our new goal for the day (see 3rd to last picture). After a few hours of hiking, we ran across a house and decided to ask to fill up our water bottles. The owner suggested stopping halfway up the bluffs to take a look at the penguin reserve on the back side. We had another goal to add to the list. Once again we started walking, switching back and forth between beach and gravel. When we were about 1/4mi from the bluffs, a man in a van (see 4th to last picture) stopped and asked if we would like a place to stay for the night. Although we had planned to tent our way around, we decided to take him up on the offer (hesitantly). He drove us up to see the penguins and the lighthouse, and gave us a local's tour. It was awsome (see next 2 pictures). We got back to "his" house. He does repairs for a friend in return for a place to stay in the fall. I'd say it was a good deal...the place was right on the shore. Francis (his name), Mark, and I were having a glass of wine when an old woman crossed the street to see who the visitors were. She then invited us all over for tea. Gene was a great host, who clearly enjoyed having new people to talk with. Her stories were fascinating (she had toured the world with her father, a horse trainer). After tea, Mark and I went back with Francis and were treated to food/drink yet again. He is a botanist and a vegitarian. His cooking speciality is juicing vegitables...basically the only way he eats. That night we drank sea-weed, cucumber, carrots, ginger, grass, green pepper...the list goes on. The next morning he drove us to another destination we had hoped to see. It is called Jack's Blowhole. It is a deep virtical hole (about 100ft deep and about twice that in diameter) that is fed with water through a 200m tunnel in the face of a cliff. As water hits the cliff, it pulses water through the tunnel and blows it out...Jack's Blowhole. It was low tide, so not overly dramatic, but still worth watching for 15-20min. The next picture in the sequence is a veiw from above Jack's Bay (just above his blowhole). In far right distance of the picture, you can see the small islands from the previous picture. After walking back to the van, we asked if we could help him with anything in return for his generosity. He asked us to help him collect food. The next picture was what we had to work with. At the time there was about a foot less water. The kelp beds were still very present. For about an hour, we walked around filling buckets with certain sea-weeds, plants, and kelp. He even served up some raw delicacies on the spot (all the aforementioned + sea-snail & clam). It was the coolest thing I've done in...a long long time.

We soon parted ways with Francis and hitched to a small town not far away. We discovered that there was a substantial hiking trail about 15miles away. It was supposed to take about 5hrs to hike, and have a campground at the end (finally we'd get to pitch a tent). We hired a taxi to get us there, and started our hike following a small river (see next two pictures). Skip the next 3hrs 45min...yeah, beat the quoted hike time...with packs on. We got to the campground...but Mark wasn't happy with the location. He wanted to camp on a BIG hill. So...back we went...about 15min up the trail. We crossed the river, and comprimised on a smaller hill to save our legs. The next picture was the view from our campsite. That night was cool...I used sheep shit to help start a fire...almost as good as the buffalo chips from the movies. The next day we crossed back over the river by slided down a fallen tree (so as to keep our feet as dry as possible). It was intense at the time. We walked for about 3hrs down an empty dirt road towards the main road that we'd be able to hitch from. We stopped to fill our water bottles up at the only building we had seen all morning. It was a small lodge that was under construction. While filling up, the only two men there came over to see who we were. They promptly asked if we wanted a ride...then took us back to their house for lunch. They took about an 1.5hr break to sit and talk...made us get out maps and mark where we were from. They were travelling to Dunedin (my town) that evening, and offered a ride if we would wait the 4hrs until they left. They then suggested we try and hitch our way back to save some time. If worst came to worst, they would pick us up if they saw us on the road (only one road along the coast). We never did see them again...we were in Dunedin before 4pm. We had no problem hitching rides. Each person was as eager to find out about us as we were to save our legs. It was a damn good exchange.

Since then, I haven't travelled anywhere. School started on Monday. It is done a bit differently over here. Final exams are typically worth 50% of the final grade. One of mine is worth 60%. This semester I am taking Operations Management, International Management, NZ/Aus. History, and Fundementals of Dance...for a total of 16credits. My dance class is a joke...the professor is a bit...out there. The course is not really about learning any styles of dance...it's about integrating our mind, body, and spirt with the earth that surrounds us. The only thing that concerns me is that the major project requires me to create a self-descriptive dance with a partner...I really hope I have the skills to bullshit my way through that one. The other three classes are fairly legit...with concessions to the guys at 1165...not my fault your in engineering classes. Well, I think that's about it...my great adventure thus. This weekend we'll be leaving for the west coast...not hitching either. I'm sure I'll enough to write though.
Cheers,
-Ben

Dunedin

2007-02-20T11:28:00.000+13:00

What a sweet city. When we arrived last Thursday, it was a bit dreary and cool. Each day since has been infinitely better. The mornings are always cool (50F) and sunny. Around noon it heats up to around 70F and gets windy. At around 3 or 4pm we get a short stint of rain, and then a nice cool, clear evening. My days have been spent touring the city as much as possible. The botanical gardens are out of this world. I should have pictures of them on my next post. The gardens surround the entire north end of the city. They engulf about three small mountains. I spent about 4hrs hiking through the closest portion the other evening, and still haven't seen a fraction of the entire garden. I'm going to leave the pictures to do the explaining...worth a 1000 words right? Yesterday we took the bus to St. Claire Beach...the primary beach in Dunedin. No houses along the shore, just a large sand dune with a park behind it. The water is fairly cold, but still swimmable. The breaks were amazing. Apparently yesterday was a small day, but the waves were about 8ft from trough to crest. The body surfing was awsome.

This week is orientation week, and is designed to get freshman and internationals accustomed to the campus. It is also the #1 party week in all of New Zealand. People actually come in from out of town to join in the festivities. The town goes a bit nuts from what I can tell. Don't worry mom and dad. I'm leaving tomorrow afternoon to do a night or two of hiking north of town.

We American students still tend to cling together a bit. We tend to go out in groups at night, although we've befriended a few kiwis that seem to enjoy taking us around. I have been branching out a bit, but it's been a bit tough...last night I went with my French roommate and her three friends to the bars...I don't know how I do it. The nights previous were primarily spent at a big Chinese festival that was going on about 20min walk from my flat. For about three nights they had live bands (mostly NZ rock...) and cheap food without admission fees...couldn't pass it up.

That's about it so far...hopefully these pictures work.

This is of lake Roturua (mentioned in first blog). I hope I can find a faster computer. The pictures take about 4min each to upload.

the next two are of a group of us at the pub (first night) and Lake Roturua respectively.

Assuming the last two uploaded correctly...the next two are of of Dunedin. The first is the view from my flat. The second is of Dunedin from the far side of the bay.

Auckland to Roturua...Roturua to Dunedin

2007-02-16T15:47:00.000+13:00

The plane flight from Los Angeles to Auckland was the longest I've ever been on (12.5hrs + 1.5hrs waiting to taxi out of LA). Luckily, however, the plane was well equipt to keep one occupied. Seat-back television monitors were pre-loaded with dozens of free current movies and programs. We had an entire multimedia center at our beckon call. Even better, all meals and drinks were complimentary...wine and beer included. I highly suggest New Zealand Air.

On to New Zealand...

We flew into Auckland (North Island), the largest city in NZ. They call it the city of sails...being that it sits on a large popular bay. Within an hour, we left for our first destination, Roturua (Roe-too-rah). Within 5 minutes of driving (as soon as the airport stopped blocking our view), we quickly realized we were in a completely different world. There are more hills in New Zealand than anywhere I have ever been. It seems that every building somehow sits on its own personal hill. The land is incredibly 3D. We drove through what I suppose are Auckland's suburbs for almost 20 minutes. They couldn't be any more different from suburbs in the states. There were no business parks and shopping malls, neighborhoods were not clearly defined, small businesses were mixed in with housing developements, and livestock grazed in backyards. It was overwhelming different. As we left the outer boundaries of Auckland, neighborhoods turned into giant bulging hills of farmland. Sheep were everywhere. So far, the drive was scenic...but not what I'd expected.

That changed as we entered the valley that Roturua sits in. The town is built around a large lake (Lake Roturua). In the center is a large island/mountain. The entire place is encompassed by high, rolling hills (not quite mountiains). Like everywhere else in NZ, the landscape is dominated by the color green. Even the lake itself was a bright, transparent, emerald green. The thing about Roturua, is that it confused your senses. Visually, you are overloaded (except for the beach town-like archetecture.). The lake and the surrounding area are beautiful. However, Roturua is a geothermal hotbed. The town itself is like a cherry sitting on top the crust of a steaming hot pie. Only it doesn't smell like a pie...its smells like fart. Throughout the town, there are hundreds of bubbling mud pools. Each emits its own share of gaseous sulfer...hence the aroma. The pools themselves are fascinating. Some are the size of a small pond, while others are no larger than your feet. Most have been fenced off and act as tourist attractions, but there are many smaller ones that are scattered even throughout the downtown. It was somewhat scary actually. Just two blocks away from our hostel, there was a pit of bubbling mud where a house stood just six months ago. The town is literally imploading. Even the local rugby field was shut down due to a man-sized hole (although they filled that particular one with concrete).

We spent four days in Roturua, travelling each day to see sights in the area. On the second day in town, we travelled 30min to a traditional Maori (May-or-ee) village (recreated of course...but done surprisingly well). Cooking in giant sand pits, filled with red hot rocks, and wet leaves, they served the best plate of fish I have ever had.

On the Maoris.......

The Maoris are the indigenious peoples of New Zealand. They arrived in the 8th century, and are related to most of the tribes found throughout the south Pacific. Unlike Native Americans in the U.S., their culture has been heavily integrated into New Zealand life. The language here is full of Maori vocabulary. It is about 80% English, and 20% Maori. It reminds me of Tex-Mex along the U.S./Mexican border.

The last day in Roturua was by far the best. We left that morning at 8am for a small town about 3hrs away. I forget its name (it was Maori), but it meant "place of caves and water". We were going caving. There were two different caves we could go in. One was advanced, and required repelling and climbing skills. The other was for the average person. Unfortunately, the 10 spots for the advanced caving filled before I could get on the list. I thought I'd be walking on paths through lit caves (like in the U.S.). I was wrong. When we arrived at our "base-camp" we suited up in full body wetsuits (6mm neoprene...thick stuff), large water boots, and helmets with lights on them. I was a bit surprised. To get to the cave, we walked about half a mile through mountain pastures (breathtaking). After climbing down a hole (even I had to squeeze through) on a 15ft ladder, we ended up in the cave. However, this cave was special, because in it, there was a large stream. It would take forever to get to all the details (this post is getting too long as it is), but the highlights would include: crawling down little rabbit holes to advance in the cave, swimming sections of the underground stream, and turning out all of our lights to see the constellations of glow-in-the-dark larvae that clung to the cielings...I'm talking millions...and they lit up entire portions of the cave. It was a cool day.

Sorry about the segue here...I'm running out of time.

Yesterday I left Roturua for Dunedin...my final destination. The 2hr plane ride was incredible. The south island is even more beautiful than the north....somehow. To the west lie the Southern Alps...an incredible mountain range with peaks that fall only a few thousand feet below Everest. To the east is a clear, aqua-blue, Pacific Ocean. In the center, there are nothing but giant rolling hills and saphire blue rivers. What blows my mind the most is that the land is so uninhabitted. Towns are surrounded by rural farms, but beyond the farms lies nothing but wilderness. To give you an idea of how little of the land is populated...just last month scientist discovered a new and very distinct species of moose (large animal...hard to miss) just 200km northwest of where I am.

But on to Dunedin...

It's a town of 110,000 people...20,000 of which are university students. I can't really compare it to any town/city that I've ever been to. It is an intense contrast of classical European/Scotish and "new-age" archetecture. Picture the Macnamara Alumni Center sitting next to a gothic cathedral. The campus is absolutely beautiful. It is primarilly buildings of the classic architecture I spoke of, with gardens and green areas tying them together. It even has a swift little stream that runs through the center of campus. I wish I could say more, but I haven't had the time to do much exploring yet.

My flat...

It's about 4 blocks north of campus in an apartment complex. I do not live with any New Zealanders...despite being told that I would. I have 5 roommates...2 guys and 3 girls. We are all from the U.S. (only one AustraLearn student), except for Anuk (female) who is from Paris. The two other males have yet to arrive...so at the moment, I'm swimming in estrogen...not all bad. The flat is nice, but not great. It has a decent sized kitchen, a large living room, two showers, but only one toilet. I have MY OWN LARGE ROOM on the second floor with a lovely view of a parking lot/alley way.

I've got to go...time is about to run out. I am having trouble uploading pictures, but should have them up soon...65 taken so far. Mom and Dad...I plan to call Saturday at around 7pm your time. Gooday..

2007-01-22T09:37:00.000+13:00

Just to make sure this works...a picture of the family.