I'm so proud I managed to teach two of my students all about major scales (TTSTTTS) and key signatures! OK that's very sad...The night before recorder classes I'm always dreading the next morning and what class will be like, because when the students don't get it then it's not a very good feeling. When classes go well and you students get it though you finish class even more passionate about what you're doing. Today was one of those days!
I managed to convince my mum to check out the Asian video store in the city that is having a closing down sale with over 50% off some of the items. I have to say some of the dramas sound quite...interesting! Most of them didn't have English blurbs on the back though, so Aonghas had to use his phone to take a photo of the cover and search it up Google (talk about the wonders of technology!).
We also had no idea which dramas were good (just which ones had the hot girls...), so we didn't really buy anything except a DVD set on tai chi for my dad. I was hoping to get a Cantonese drama series so I could improve my Cantonese but maybe I should do some research first!
Right now though, I've been watching this Taiwanese drama called 'It Started with a Kiss' about a girl who isn't the smartest girl in the world falling for probably the smartest guy in the world doesn't seem to have any feelings or emotions. When an earthquake destroys her house, she moves in with the guy (their parents are best friends), and she starts to pursue him. I'm up to episode 18 right now! It's not actually too bad, even though sometimes the characters can annoy me, but it's a drama afterall!
In the latest issue of Metro Magazine they have published their own ranking of Auckland schools for 2010, and it comes with a few surprises. The rankings look at NCEA results from the past three years, retention rates, and also 'added value'. I can't give away too much, for fear of breaching copyright, but here are some of the highlights:
- Half of the top 20 schools have religious character - Six of the top five schools were girls schools - Best NCEA schools included Marist College, Mt Roskill Grammar, Epsom Girls Grammar, Carmel College, McAuley High School - Worst schools included Mangere College, Henderson High School, Tangaroa College, James Cook High School, Al-Madinah School.
The Top 10 ranked schools are: 1. Marist College 2= Epsom Girls Grammar 2= Mt Roskill Grammar 4. Carmel College 5. McAuley High School 6. St Cuthbert's College 7. Waitakere College 8. Western Springs College 9. Marcellin College 10= Auckland Girls Grammar 10= Dilworth School
Because West Auckland is of interest to me since I attended a West Auckland school (Rutherford College), here's how they fared:
7 Waitakere College 13= Kelston Girls College 29= Massey High School 44 St Dominic's College 45 Rutherford College 68 Green Bay High School 69 Kelston Boys High School 74= Henderson High School
So unfortunately Rutherford hovers around the middle of the table!
To read the full article, check out the latest Metro Magazine, or for all you University of Auckland students just find it through Voyager!
Tonight we had a birthday celebration at our youth group, since it was the fifth Friday of the month. We celebrated the birthdays of those who from the past three months, which included Jenny, Phillip and Grace. Each person had to tell us about one thing they got for their birthday that was special to them.
After that, the time was left to me to run the night's events! I was asked a week ago to come up with an activity for the youth group, and so I thought it was about time we had a quiz to test the youth group members on their knowledge of fellow youth group members.
The youth group members were put into four random teams competing against each other for points in each of the rounds. They had to assign one person their Facebook Freak, the person with good ears, good eyes, who likes eating, and who has super strength!
The first round involved teams guessing whose Facebook status was the one shown. I'm amazed at how good some people are! The following rounds included guessing whose voice was played, trying to guess who was in a photo that was gradually uncovered, and guessing the person from clues given. One round also involved teams having to guess drawings of youth group members!
We had a round where I played each team a short video with several clips, then asked them some questions afterwards. If you want to have a go, try watch one of the following videos (don't look at the questions!), then try answering the questions:
Video One: - In shot five which hand was Ben using to hold his bowl of soup? - In shot seven, which card number did Carmen flip?
Video Two: - Name one of the people wearing a Santa hat in shot one
- What was the value of the note Aonghas was holding in shot five?
Video Three: - What colour was Miriam’s scarf in shot four?
- What was the word on Claire’s t-shirt in shot eight?
Video Four: - Which song lyrics were written on the whiteboard in shot four?
- What colour was Andre’s shirt in shot ten?
One of the rounds that didn't go as well as I'd hoped was the Weetbix eating round, where the person assigned the eating task was given a person's name, then once the Weetbix was put in their mouth they had to try get their team to guess which person it was through clues. The only thing was they used hand gestures rather than verbal clues!
The final round was the strong-man round, where the strongest person in the team had to hold up two 5kg weights with their arms straight out, while the rest of their team answered quick-fire questions about the youth group and its members. There was a bit of confusion going on as to the legitimacy of some of the weight holding, but in the end it wasn't too bad!
Tim carries the weight
Surprisingly we managed to complete the whole quiz with 15 minutes to spare! The final points count was close, with Team 2 winning!
I don't pay much attention to the adverts on the back of my bus ticket, but on the bus ride home today I had nothing better to do, and noticed this advert:
Is that banana taking out his weapon to use it on some unwilling fruit?
One big question that was at the top of my mind when the formation of the Auckland Supercity was announced has finally been answered:
According to Newstalk ZB just now, Aucklanders will have access to ALL libraries in the Auckland region! That's good for those of us who live outside of central Auckland who want to borrow books from the ginormous Central City Library!
No longer will I feel like an outsider when going into that library!
It was the annual pharmacy indoor soccer tournament tonight. I wasn't sure if I was going to bother staying at uni to watch it, as I had class from 8.30 in the morning till 2pm. I haven't started class that early since the first aid course earlier in the year!
After a bit of guilt tripping by some other people, I ended up staying at uni for the tournament which was held at the uni gym. It's my last year at uni after all, so I might as well stay and watch us 4th years finally win the competition right? I say finally because our year has made the finals for several years in a row but have always lost it so hopefully this would be the year!
Our team was pink...or was supposed to be pink, while the 3rd years were black (the coolest colour!). There weren't many of us 4th year supporters but at least there were some of us! The rest of the 4th years were probably actually at home studying for our 2% test the next morning!
Anyway, play finally began, but unfortunately the first few games were not that exciting as they all ended in nil-all draws. Aonghas soon joined me when his class finished, and the games began to pick up a little with a few goals scored, but the games still ended as 1-1 draws! The last motorway bus to home was soon leaving so Aonghas and I left before the end of the tournament.
Sadly, I heard in the morning that we came second AGAIN! Apparently our team hardly had any shots at goal! Oh well, as someone said, we can always come back next year as interns and win it then!
After enduring two really boring lectures in the morning, I wandered back to the city to today to have lunch with my friend Angie when she had her break.
After spending some time sleeping/studying at the public library, I went to the Quad at city campus to find bright lights, television cameras and some people sitting in front of a background preparing to film some TV show! I also saw some well-known television journalists like TVNZ's Cameron Bennett sitting nearby with some of his colleagues! I finally figured out that the show was for Maori Television.
Now to try get my five seconds of fame! There was a gap between some of the background panels, so I walked by behind them and stood there between the gap for a few seconds before carrying on!
I met up with Angie outside the library and we went to the cafeteria where I bought these potato wedges that she had told me about earlier in the year. I thought maybe I should try them out! They weren't cooked yet so we had to wait for a while, but once they were done we went upstairs to have our lunch (behind the panels for another shot on TV!).
What was amazing was on the way there, I bumped into three of my high school friends, Shen, Larry and Amy! That is why I wish I spent more time at the city campus! You don't have to walk far to catch up with your friends!
We just talked and ate for a while before I walked her down to her locker and parted ways as she went off to class. I still had some of my wedges that I hadn't finished, so I just sat outside the library finishing them when I caught up with Sarena and John, two other high school friends! What a great day for catching up with old high school friends!
I really had nothing else to do, as I had only stayed at uni to catch up with Angie, so I went to the bus stop to try catch the next bus. That's when I saw that guy...Matt Gibb I think (??) from Studio 2 filming some segment where he dresses up with a giant mustache and interviews people on the street! I overheard him talking about embarrassing moments, so I started to wonder...what would I say if he asked me what my most embarrassing moment was? Could this be my five seconds of fame?
Sadly....no. My bus came, he hadn't interviewed anyone yet and I couldn't be bothered trying to look vulnerable in order to lure him to me!
Now I just have to try find out which Maori TV show was being filmed on campus today, and look for myself in the background!
I probably shouldn't post about my job interview right now for obvious reasons (it will be updated later!), but here's an abbreviated summary of events:
I had my first community pharmacy interview and third pharmacy interview so far this year earlier today. I won't mention which pharmacy for now for certain reasons! Boy did that interview feel like it went by fast! I think in the end it lasted the whole of ~20 minutes. I didn't get asked too many questions but hopefully he was interested in me!
Last night one of the pharmacists from Hutt Valley Hospital Pharmacy tried calling me but I missed the call, so I rang them back today when I got back from the city (I've finally rid myself of that hospital pharmacy placement workbook...for now!) and they told me I was unsuccessful in getting the intern position at their hospital next year.
I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand it would have been nice for someone to have finally picked me over others for a job, and it would be a whole new experience for me to move out of Auckland, live on my own and meet heaps of new people. On the other hand though, I'm relieved I won't have to move away from Auckland.
Where does it leave me now though? Still struggling to find somewhere to do my internship next year! I have one interview at a community pharmacy lined up for Monday. Hopefully it won't go too badly, as I'm fast running out of places to apply at!
I started thinking about what I'd do if I can't get an internship next year (I have two years to do my internship after I graduate, so I guess the worst case scenario would be that I would have to do it in 2012!), and I was thinking maybe I could go back to uni to study post-grad (if they let me!), travel overseas to visit my friends in America or just get a full-time job for a year! Who knows. Right now I guess I just have to keep looking. Oh, and pass this semester!
These past few days I've started uni after 1pm which is quiet unusual for me as I'm used to starting uni early in the morning! That has meant I've ended up sleeping in a bit which isn't good! Talk about wasting my time!
I had a law workshop yesterday that started after 1pm. When I got there, I saw all these high school students in the cafe, and wondered if Rutherford would be there. I did spot a small group of Rutherford students and a science teacher I knew! She still recognised me which was cool!
Earlier today I had my first pharmacotherapy workshop which was supposed to be in level 3 of one of the buildings in Grafton, but it turned out that there was only construction going on. While some of my classmates and I were wandering around the floor looking for our possible room, the tutor came up and realised there were no rooms for us to have our workshop in, so she made a note on a piece of paper, got out some chewing gum, chewed it and then used it to stick the note to the wall! I haven't seen that being done by staff before!
Fortunately I've got Fridays off, so I've been spending the last few hours watching Chinese drama...or more specifically Taiwanese drama, It Started with a Kiss. I know, I know...it's meant for girls but I'm a little addicted now and I've just finished watching episode 11!
I better get off to bed, or I'll never make it to my Dessert Club meeting in the morning!
I got tagged on Facebook in one of these notes so I might as well do it since I want to procrastinate...
WHAT WAS YOUR: 1. Last beverage : Water 2. Last phone call : Fiona 3. Last text message : Grace 4. Last song you listened to: Strawberry Avalanche by Owl City 5. Last time you cried : When my uncle died..... HAVE YOU EVER: 6. Dated someone twice : Nope 7. Been cheated : Hope not. Nope! 8. Kissed someone & regretted it : Nope! 9. Lost someone special : Yep! My uncle and all my grandma who have passed away 10. Been depressed : Once in a while but I try to *think of happy thoughts, think of happy thoughts!* 11. Been drunk and threw up : No LIST THREE FAVORITE COLOURS: 12. Navy blue 13. Black 14. ....either red or maybe yellow? THIS YEAR HAVE YOU: (2010) 15. Made a new friend : Yip definitely! Quite a few! 16. Fallen out of love : Maybe out of like, but don't think love.. 17. Laughed until you cried : Once or twice I think I might have shed a slight tear ;) 18. Met someone who changed you : Heaps of people! 19. Found out who your true friends were : Yip! 20. Found out someone was talking about you : In a good or bad way? Let's just say I've had both! haha 21. Kissed anyone on your friend's list : NA 22. How many people on your friends list do you know in real life : (Facebook) Most of them! I've put those I don't know on my Limited list so I can try figure out who they are! 23. How many kids do you want? : 2 at least! 24. Do you have any pets :Tess and Mao Mao 25. Do you want to change your name: I wouldn't want to be called anything else! 26. What did you do for your last birthday : I had a small 21st birthday at my cousins' 27. What time did you wake up today: ~11am I think? Class started at 1.30pm so all good! 28. What were you doing at midnight last night : Sitting upside down on the couch trying to read my notes on insomnia! 29. Name something you CANNOT wait for : Graduation at the end of this year! 30. Last time you saw your Mother : Right now, she's sitting on the couch a metre away 31. What is one thing you wish you could change about your life : I wish I learnt how to speak Chinese when I was younger so that I'd be fluent by now 32. What are you listening to right now : The TV! 33. Have you ever talked to a person named Tom : I don't think so! 34. What's getting on your nerves right now : Having to complete my community and hospital pharmacy placement workbooks by Friday, as well as having to post something onto the discussion board of CECIL! 35. Most visited web page : Hotmail I think 36. Whats your real name : Calum FTC Anderson 39. Zodiac sign : Aquarius 40. Male or female : Male 41. Elementary? : Henderson Primary School 42. Middle School? : Rangeview Intermediate School 43. High school/college? : Rutherford College 44. Hair colour : Dark dark dark brown 45. Long or short : Short 46. Height : 170cm 47. Do you have a crush on someone? : I think so......... 48: What do you like about yourself? : I'd rather have other people tell me what they like about me than me telling you ;) 49. Piercings : none 50. Tattoos : none 51. Righty or lefty : Lefty. FIRSTS : 52. First surgery: Last February (2009) had jaw surgery on my...jaw! 53. First piercing: None! 54. First best friend : Probably Hussein? 55. First sport you joined : Kiwi sport at primary school! Then it was soccer! 56. First vacation : Hong Kong when I was 6 in 1995 58. First pair of trainers : Primary school...or maybe it was kindergarten? RIGHT NOW : 59. Thinking something more simpler than 1+1 = : Sleeping 60. Drinking : nothing 61. I'm about to : Finish this then try answer as many pre-workshop questions for tomorrow's workshop 62. Listening to : The TV once again! 63. Waiting to : Finish this off and then maybe grab some ice-cream! YOUR FUTURE : 64. Want kids? : Yip 65. Get married? : Yip 66. Career : In the immediate future probably something in pharmacy, but hopefully somewhere else in the long-term! WHICH IS BETTER : 67. Lips or eyes : I usually notice something else :P But I have no idea about those two, maybe lips? or eyes? OK lips! 68. Hugs or kisses : Both! 69. Shorter or taller : Shorter 70. Older or younger : Younger 71. Romantic or spontaneous : Romantic but a bit of spontaneity as well though! 72. Nice stomach or nice arms : Nice stomach! 73. Sensitive or loud : Sensitive but a bit of loudness though! 74. Hook-up or relationship : Relationship 75. Trouble maker or hesitant : Hesitant with a bit of trouble-makerness ;) HAVE YOU EVER : 76. Kissed a stranger : nope 77. Drank hard liquor : nope 78. Lost glasses/contacts : in the house! 79. Sex on first date : nope 80. Broken someone's heart : regrettably :( 82. Been arrested : nope! Been warned though! 83. Turned someone down : Yip but not immediately :S 84. Cried when someone died : Yip but not...immediately either! DO YOU BELIEVE IN: 86. Yourself : When I have a plan! 87. Miracles : Depends on the situation but I try to! 88. Love at first sight : For some people! 89. Heaven : Yip! 90. Santa Claus : Only the fake kind 91. Kiss on the first date : Only if it's meant to be 92. Angels : They come in all shapes and sizes ;) ANSWER TRUTHFULLY: 94. Had more than 1 girlfriend/ boyfriend at a time : nope 95. Did you sing today? : I hummed some Chinese song by Wang Lee Hom....I think! 96. Ever cheated on somebody's relationship? : nope! 97. If you could go back in time, how far would go : Maybe back to when I was at primary school! 98. If you could pick a day from last year, what would it be?: Maybe possibly one of the days at youth group camp? 99. Are you afraid of falling in love?: Sometimes I am but most of the time not really! Hmm maybe it should be called 99 truths...
Once again it was another boring day at uni, with me having to endure a boring lecture on the public health system and then sit through a post-hospital placement workshop. I finished by midday, but I didn't feel like going home so soon, so I walked over to the city campus to check out the uni bookstore and maybe buy some pens to fill up my new pencil case! Guess who I bumped into? My old neighbour, Zippo!
We got talking and after she finished buying her books, we walked towards the Clock Tower to meet up with her Iranian friend. We got talking for a little while before he left and we went over to the food court where Zippo bought me taro milk tea, a red bean ice block and some prawn crackers. Talk about eating Asian! The taro milk tea surprisingly tasted quite like cookies and cream! I only just managed to finish it. I don't know how I got quite full by it though!
She soon had to get picked up by her boyfriend, but it was a good time catching up with her. I was supposed to catch up with her again sometime anyway! Next time I'll be paying for the food!
One thing I've noticed and have come to expect over the years is not to expect friendships to stay the same.
It's always great at the beginning, when they are interested in you and talk to you heaps, and all is fun and well. You actually mean something to them and they're keen to talk to you and hang out with you and everything!
As time goes by though, the person starts to lose interest in you as they find someone new to be interested in and to talk to. You try your best to remain as close as before and you're left trying to keep conversations going, and keep things interesting but it's just not the same. They don't treat you the same anymore and you're just somebody else again!
Why can't friendships just remain as they used to?
It feels quite surreal that this may be my last ever semester at university! If all goes well, I should be graduating by the end of this year and I'll be able to put my name down as Calum Anderson, BPharm (oh so professional!)
I caught the bus with my old school friend Zahir, which was probably the first time in a long time! I then had a lecture in the Architecture school which was also the first time I've had a class in the city this year! I've never been in that building either so it was a good experience. The lecture theatre did smell a little musty though!
It was cool catching up with all my pharmacy friends and seeing them again after a long (or what felt like a long) holiday! I walked with a few of them back to the city so that one of them could buy some stuff at the uni bookstore, before we walked back to the Grafton campus where I had a meeting with my research group.
I only had one more class in the afternoon which was a workshop to discuss our community pharmacy placements. Let's just say it was long and boring! I was glad when it was finally over!
I walked all the way back to the city, bought some McDonald's (the thing to do after a long and boring day!) and then went to the Asian shops in Mid City to buy myself a new pencil case, and bumped into Xin-Yan, one of the Dessert Club presidents! I hadn't seen her since last semester too! After catching up, she helped me choose a pencil case, one that had these Lego men on it. Hopefully it looks manly!
Our youth group had a sleepover last night, which you could say was our camp for the year!
Aonghas and I started off by leading worship with a few songs. We sang 'This Little Light of Mine', where I tried splitting everyone into groups to create competition. Some groups were louder than others!
For Friday's youth group we were going to be doing activities. The first game we played was some very complicated game where we all sat in a circle and picked a piece of paper with someone's name on it and we had to try get all three people sitting on the small seats to be of our gender (so we'd be trying to get three guys) in order to win. Sound complicated? Yep it was! Anyway, the girls won the first game before the guys won the next game.
To tie the game up, we played another game. This one was more of a race, in which guys and girls had to line up in two separate lines and we had to pass a marshmallow using only a toothpick in our mouths! Us guys won of course!
The final game required us to sit in a circle and each of us had to come up with an animal sound and action and the rest of us had to copy. My animal was a Pug! It got a bit messy!
After that game we went to the gym to have supper and then start our epic soccer game which lasted for a couple hours! I think we played all the way till midnight! It was quite even for a while, till some of the girls started leaving our team and then the score ballooned to something like 18-5 to the other team! I also got a big blister on my left foot, which is the foot I use to kick, so I was out too! At least I wasn't the only person to get injured. Grace got hit and Hamish got a ball to the face, but lucky they're both OK!
The game soon ended and we all ended up just mucking around. We were using two separate rooms for the sleepover, one for the girls and the library for the guys. The girls arranged the chairs into 'beds' while the guys didn't even bother!
Some of the guys wanted to have a play around with musical instruments so Aonghas, Cleo, Hamish and Nadine went off to grab some of our musical instruments at home and then go find a supermarket still open after midnight. While they were gone, I just had a go at some of the music in a few books with Grace while others were playing around with Jenny and Jireh's violin and Gabrielle's guitar.
Almost an hour later, the guys got back with some Lipton Ice Tea and some of our other instruments. Jenny really wanted to have a go at playing our clarinet but couldn't seem to make a sound! I couldn't remember how to either! I hadn't played it since the Summer holidays! We eventually gave up.
Jenny then came up with the idea of singing karaoke in the hall since she knows how the PA system works, so she got that sorted and we just mucked around, playing music out of the sound system and singing badly into the speakers! The only problem was we didn't know the words to most of the songs!
Meanwhile, Cleo was straightening Aonghas's hair and applying make-up on him, so that he ended up looking a bit like an emo!
When we gave up on the singing, Gabrielle brought out the Cranium board game. We got into four groups and played for a while. That game involves acting, answering general knowledge questions, drawing and making sculptures with play dough! I was in Ben and James' team, and well...we won...eventually!
It was almost 4am when we finished the game and we were too tired to play another game, so we naturally formed two groups, with Gabrielle, Aonghas, Grace, Claire and Carmen forming one circle discussing some of Aonghas's problems/questions, while Jireh, Andrew, Ben, Jenny, Angie, Cleo and I formed another group and we played Spin the Bottle, in which we found out some interesting stuff about certain people! I can't say what though, as what is said in the circle stays in the circle!
Our game turned into a 'what would you do' sorta thing, where we had to say what we'd do in certain scenarios, before we ended up talking about our life problems and death and other deep topics!
The sun started to rise, and so Gabrielle took our orders for breakfast from McDonald's and went off with Aonghas and Claire to pick it up, while some of the girls shared scary stories (apparently Angie had a really good one) and a few of us just lay on the stage to rest a little.
Breakfast was finally ready! Apparently when the order was made all of the McDonald's workers all got busy working! Most of us ordered the Big Kiwi Breakfast.
We started packing up a bit before most of us went home by 11am. When we got home Aonghas and Hamish just went straight to bed, while I jumped on the computer to check out Facebook and try watch this Chinese drama that I've been following, but I was too tired and ended up falling asleep on the couch!
A lot of us were still quite drained the next day on Sunday, so much that quite a few people didn't show up at church! I had to be there though, since I was leading children's worship with Aonghas and Angie.
Lucky it was only one night staying up. I don't think I'd be able to handle two sleepless nights in a row!
I've just spent the past week working at a community pharmacy. Now usually I would be dreading it, and not looking forward to it at all. This time around was no different. I just wanted to get it over and done with! What was different this time was that I quite enjoyed working there and actually learnt a lot! I can't really say much because of confidentiality and all that but I'll try give you a feeling of what went on!
When I first arrived on Monday morning, the pharmacist who would be looking after me was watching the FIFA World Cup Grand Final streaming on the pharmacy computer, so I joined him. What a way to start off the week!
Throughout the week I had this workbook that had a whole list of tasks I had to complete, and questions I had to answer. I don't really know how relevant or useful the questions were, except to give me something to do. At least the activities/tasks were good! I got a lot of dispensing done, and also blister packing! I kind of enjoyed blister packing when I didn't really need to think about things!
There was one time I put the wrong tablets in the blister packs, but fortunately I spotted my mistake before it was too late!
One of the activities I was required to do was to interview a patient for a medicines reconciliation task, but fortunately (for him, unfortuantely for me!) he was taking his medications well, did not have any trouble with them or understanding what they were for, which gave me very little to write about!
I also had to provide over-the-counter advice to some patients, and came across a patient who had an ulcer and needed something for it. I hope I recommended and sold the right thing!
As well as doing plenty of dispensing throughout the week, I gradually got to learn how to operate the till which was pretty cool! I was finally getting some retail experience! It wasn't too busy in the afternoons, so that's when the pharmacist would let me operate it!
I also drank quite a bit of coffee, as they would always offer it to me! It was only on Thursday night that someone told me it could stain my teeth, so I made sure I didn't drink any on Friday!
As for lunchtimes, I would spend my half hour lunch break sitting outside the pet shop eating my own lunch. On a couple of occasions I did head over to the nearest KFC to buy some food. How often do I get to eat KFC?
Overall I had a good experience this week, and it has made me less weary of community pharmacy!
After having a huge meal at Valentine's the day before with the Huang family, my mum thought it'd be a good idea for our family to go have yum cha today, especially since we were all home! Originally I was going to hang out with Zippo, my old neighbour since it was a long time since I had caught up with her, but I had to bail on her at the last minute!
As usual it took a long time for our family to get prepared, so we ended up leaving for yum cha just after midday, and when we got there (the usual yum cha place we go to is out in South Auckland), there were people on three other tables, and there wasn't much food left! That was OK, as I still didn't feel too hungry after the massive feast at Valentine's yesterday!
After we ate, we had a stroll down the main street, checking out some of the shops, but most of them sold over-sized clothes.
We still had half a day free, so we decided to go over to Howick to check out that Buddhist temple since we haven't been there in a while. We just checked out the outside of it before we went over to the Howick shops so our mum could do some shopping.
It was my last day in Christchurch today, and my Great Aunty Margaret and Great Uncle Rob decided they'd take me to the Antarctic Centre as a treat. I think they also wanted to spend some time with me before I left too so they kindly paid for me which was really nice!
I didn't have too much stuff to pack as I was pretty much living out of a suitcase during the whole week. While we were waiting around before leaving, Great Uncle Rob was just telling me about their canary and other things.
We finally got going and even though the Antarctic Centre was near the airport on the other side of the city, as Great Uncle Rob told me, nothing's far away in Christchurch!
The Antarctic Centre was pretty interesting. There were displays on the wall and models of the Antarctic land. Once we paid and went in, we had to rush past a few displays as we were told the penguin feeding was about to begin. I wasn't able to see much since everyone had gathered in front of the window, but I did manage to get a glimpse of some penguins!
After it was over, my great aunt and uncle and I went downstairs to see the penguin tank from below water level, and we could see some penguins swimming!
We went back to the beginning to check out some of the displays we had missed. There was a room where people could go in and experience an Antarctic storm. I didn't think my great aunt and uncle would be up for it, but surprisingly they were! We all went in and took a few photos before the wind started to pick and up freeze us!
Once that was over, we carried on, checking out some stuffed animals, watching a movie on a giant screen about Antarctica, and ending in the gift shop. While my great aunt and uncle went to the toilet, I managed to get a photo with the wolf and penguin mascots of the Antarctic Centre! They also asked if I wanted to buy the photo of me with my great aunt and uncle that got taken at the beginning. I ended up buying it!
We were meant to meet Great Aunty Margaret and Great Uncle Rob's daughter Alison and her family for lunch at 12, so we left a bit early to get there on time. They didn't live too far away though, so that was good!
We arrived at their house early though, but luckily they got home from church not too soon after. After I introduced myself to Aunty Alison and her husband, daughter and her daughter's boyfriend, we all had lunch. I have to say it was quite European! I haven't experienced something like that in a while! We held hands as Aunty Alison prayed before we ate. We then got a choice between tomato and chicken soup, and had some bread and muffins that we could eat. It was quite nice to experience something different!
My flight was leaving at 2.50pm, so I had to get to the airport by 2.20pm. Originally my Aunty Sally was going to take me there, but there was a change of plans and instead Aunty Alison would be taking me instead.
When we got to the airport I checked to make sure I had a seat on the plane, which I did. I didn't get much time before I had to board the flight! I gave a hug to my aunty and said goodbye to my aunty and uncle before I had to go off and catch my flight.
Once again I had to leave good weather for terrible weather. We had to keep our seatbelts on throughout the whole flight because of turbulence. I got a bit freaked out by some mechanical sounds during the flight, but by the end of the flight I realised it was just from the plane wing flaps moving up and down!
I was relieved to be on the ground when we landed, and had to wait a little while at the airport before my parents came to pick me up. They had been over at The Warehouse shopping while waiting for me to arrive.
And that marked the end of my one week experience in Christchurch. It was good to get out of Auckland for once and check out the hospitals down there, meet my relatives for the first time, and check out the sights with an old friend. However I think it was just the right time for me to come home!
I was excited about today, as my old high school friend and fellow head student Heather was going to take me around Christchurch, something I've really been wanting to do all week but never had a chance to do!
In the morning before she came, one of my Great Aunty Margaret and Uncle Rob's daughters came over and I got to meet her. She showed me some photos on the electronic photo frame of her with her parents on holiday.
Heather finally came over by about 11am and we jumped in her car and she drove us over to the Porthills. We stopped at a few places to check out some sights. There were some very good views, such as one of Lyttelton Harbour, and one of the city where you could see all the houses and buildings. It was pretty cool as you could see the clouds hanging low above the buildings and the mountains in the distance!
As we were driving along the hills and checking out the sights, Heather would tell me all about the geology of the land which was pretty cool! She's studying geology so she knows what she's talking about!
It was slightly past midday, and so it was time for lunch! We went down to this posh beachside area where we parked and bought some fish and chips from the nearby takeaways. Something that I found interesting was when a loud siren sounded (it was the fire alarm apparently), some people ran down the street. I'm guessing they were volunteer firefighters!
Once we got our food, we went to the beachside where we just sat and ate for a while before walking along the beach. Since the sun was out and the weather was great, there were quite a few people at the beach and I even saw Aunty Jill's friend there too!
After the beach, Heather drove us into the city and found some free carparking. We got out and walked to Cathedral Square before deciding to head to the old University of Canterbury building where Sir Lord Rutherford's hut was housed. As former students of Rutherford College, it's sort of a ritual you've got to go through!
We passed the art gallery which had a water fountain alongside one wall. According to Heather, you run your hand in the water along the wall in order to get good luck, so I had a go at that!
At the old University of Canterbury buildings there was a market going on which had all sorts of stalls selling food and a variety of other things. There was also this courtyard which archways which looked like something out of the Harry Potter movie!
We went inside Sir Lord Rutherford's den which was quite interesting. There were all sorts of old machines in there, and there was even an old wooden lecture theatre!
The time was getting late and the fun had to end soon enough, so she took me home, where I found Uncle Rob outside putting something back up in the garage. I spent the evening loading videos on my laptop and watching TV with my great aunt and uncle!
