June 9th - June 13th Days 122- 126

The past few days have certaintly tested me. On Saturday I had my sheep production final which was worth 60% of my entire grade....no big deal. But I can't say I didn't procrastinate because that is what I have been doing with my school work the past few days. I woke up at 6:00am to study and was feeling confident about the material, after all I would say that it was probably my favorite class taken at Lincoln Uni. The exam started at 9:05 and I had 2.5 hours to complete it. It was 18 questions, long answer style and I was able to make it out in 2 hours. It was a good test, there were a couple wool questions that were questionable, but overall it was good.

That afternoon Alan and I had plans to go to a coffee shop and get some fresh air away from the hectic school study environment. On our way into town he had said that he needed to make a stop by a farm to pick up some supplies. Well I didn't think anything of it. We get out of his ute (truck) and go inside a garage. Turns out the gentleman who owned the place was originally a Californian native who had moved to NZ 15 years ago. He had started asking me if I get car sick etc...I said no...well turns out we were going for a helicopter ride!!!

Ahhh I have always wanted to be in a helicopter! I was soo excited. We get buckled up, headsets on and take off. We fly all over the farm land of the beautiful Canterbury area. It was so gorgeous. I have vaguely seen the farm land from the planes, but nothing like this. We flew below the clouds but just above the power lines. As we flew over sheep, cattle and horses scrambled below. The area was a lush green of various colors, it was almost like looking into a crayon box of just green crayons. We made our way out to the ocean. Farm land next to the beautiful ocean...what more could you want!? He flew us along the shore line where I could see the ocean come up on the shore and slide back and forth. It was the most amazing thing, I felt like I was in a movie. As we flew along we came closer to the cliff face and he pulls the helicopter right over the edge of the mountain. As we got to the top the view opened up into a gorgeous scene of the ocean and more farm land. At one point we came face to face with a seagull who was considering suicide. We kept going along the ocean side and ended up over at the Akaroa harbor (where I was during Easter break). It was neat to see a familiar area from a sky view. After venturing in Akaroa we flew over the country side and saw more farms with sheep scrambling everywhere, I will never forget it. The whole experience was truly inspiring and mouth dropping. I can't believe he made arrangements for this, it really meant a lot.

After our flight we managed to finally go get a cup of coffee and a few slices. We sat out on the deck and watched as the sun slowly went down over the mountains. I couldn't stop grinning from the flight, it was just amazing. At least now I can check that off of my bucket list!!!

That evening I cooked some dinner as a thank you and try to use up some of the food I accumulated over the semester. I will say one thing...since I have been in NZ my consumption of veggies has doubled (considering I refused to eat any before).

The rest of the weekend I managed to study for my up coming exams the following week, I had my most important ones on Wednesday and Thursday. Something about studying endophytes in ryegrass pastures and the importance of meiosis in genetic diversity wasn't very appealing to me. So I spent my remaining time in the gym "attempting" to read my notes on the treadmill.

Monday morning I got up early to get some extra studying in. I managed 5 solid hours of plant study then had to head to a group study for genetics. I had to stop by the book store and mail a package home. While I was there, there was another aftershock! Ugg not again....the last time I mailed something home is when the February earthquake happened. I get my package sent and head over to the library. While we were there, there was a series of large after shocks which really shook things up. It was around 2:30 when our world literally got shaken up. The building was rolling, it felt like you were on a ship out at sea. I look around me, the printers are banging against the walls, signs are swinging from the ceiling, book cases are rocking back and forth and books are flying everywhere. It was happening again....
We were told to evacuate the building shortly after the aftershock hit us. People poured out of all the buildings on campus and waited for any news. I managed to make my way back to my dorm where we were later evacuated. We were told to grab our things and put on warm clothes. The Uni opened up the dinning hall for all of us to go in so we weren't standing out in the cold. As the buildings got inspected we waited, and waited. Finally it was 4:00 when I got to go back to my room. I quickly emailed Dad and Mom to tell them what was happening.

The quake was a 6.3 caused 55,000 to go without power. Liquefaction poured into the streets and consumed cars and people. Two men had been trapped in a church in the city, building had crumbled to the ground. It was all happening all over again. So many things were going through my mind at this point. I couldn't help but think of my family back home. I had 9 days left in my journey only to have my world get turned upside down.

Alan and I went to tea at 6:00pm and talked about the days events. Later on we had attempted to study for our plants exam that was in two days. But somehow people thought otherwise...
Due to the quake the Uni had closed campus the rest of the day and Tuesday, giving Aegrotats for all of the exams for those days. Aegrotat is basically an application that you fill out stating you were mentally impaired to adeqautely perform well in our exam. Sadly enough my test was Wednesday so I didn't get that option. So while we were studying the people who had gotten excused exams were across the street drinking and playing load music. We called the police twice, and nothing happened. It was very frustrating not only were they making noise, but we had the added stress of the continuous shocks. I couldn't handle it anymore, I had to leave and go isolate myself in my room. The rest of the evening I talked with my podmates and we just reflected. It was nice because it really helps to talk it out. I didn't get any studying done, which only added to the pressure. Every time I tried to look at my notes I couldn't help but think I was in the library again.

All through the night there were aftershocks after aftershocks waking me up. We had a total of 22 shocks from 3:00 am to 10:00pm June 13th alone. I couldn't sleep, I couldn't focus, all I could do was think about how I was going to pass these exams and there worth soo much of my grade! Ugg I keep think about the quakes. I finally came to the conclusion that Im never going to send a package home ever again. Being as how every time I do there is a large quake.

Tuesday morning I was really feeling the stress. I got up early at 6:00am again after a restless nights sleep. I get in another 5 solid hours of plant study, and yet Im no where close to being ready. At 1:00pm I head over to Alan's so I could watch the endophyte lectures again for the plants test. After watching those I get back to my room, and thats when things really hit me. I was feeling so over whelmed and stressed and scared at the same time. I don't know if a person can really feel all of those emotions at once but it was horrible. Liza had spent the night in her kitchen baking to keep her mind occupied and ended up working in the Uni dinning hall all of Tuesday. I decided Id go to the gym and try to get rid of my stress, it didn't work, not even a little bit. I took my notes so I could read them on the treadmill, but I couldn't focus all I could think about was the aftershocks and that I only had 8 days left. I have a slight break down, all of these emotions and they just kept getting bigger and bigger.

I get back to my room and I was able to skype Dad and Mom, it was such a relief, just to see them. They talked me through everything and let me vent and shed a few tears. My Dad said "get the h*** out of there"! Haha it made me smile a bit. However, during my conversation I found out I could apply for the Aegrotat application. I told my parents what it was and what it did. They basically talked me into it. They supported whatever decision I made, and thats what made me decide to do it. I couldn't focus, I couldn't go 5 minutes without checking the news, I couldn't look at my notes more than 2 minutes! I know it isn't the best option for a student and that I do need to try. But even if I took the exam, that doesn't mean I'd do well, especially when I can't even study without the ground moving. It may be the cowards way out, but it is what is best for me. I didn't solely come to NZ for school, I came to experience the world, see agriculture on an international level and gain a better understanding of ag. If it meant me sacrificing a few exams and grades for me to "be okay" thats a sacrifice I was willing to take. School is important, that I know but at the same time for me there is so much more to life than a 3 hour exam. My exams were going to be on the 3rd and 4th floors of the building I was in, in February and mentally I don't think I could have handled going through another quake in there. To me it just wasn't worth it.

My time in New Zealand has certaintly been a rememberable experience. I have seen and experienced things before I never thought I would. And as my final days dwindle down, Im proud to say I have grown as an individual and have had time to reflect on what I want for my future to become. It has been the single most amazing thing in my life. Yet these 5 months have been the fastest of my life as well. Not for a moment have a regretted my decision to come to NZ, if anything it has inspired me to return.

 The helicopter

 A farm next to the ocean. How about having your personal shore?

 This is just some fo the farm land in the Canterbury

This is a photo of the town of Lincoln and Lincoln University

Some of the destruction due to the 6.3 aftershock on June 13th

Cathedral Square, the heart of Christchurch

The Cathedral

May 27th - June 8th Days 109-121

Coming To A Close

The past few weeks have gone by in a flash. As of today I have exactly two weeks until I’m back in the United States. Last week I didn’t have much going on except for my genetics project. The week started out great. I got my genetics test back and got a B, I got my marketing test back…B and I also got my sheep test back..B+ Woo Hoo I wasn’t going to complain. I spent the rest of the week going over my genetics presentation and my paper. This whole project is 50% of my grade and I didn’t put in all this time to do a half a** job on it. The more I worked on it, the more I seemed to enjoy it. I know eliminating a genetic defect in a cattle breed isn’t the best way to spend my time, but I actually found it rather interesting. Not only that, but I really started to understand the breeding strategies involved and trait selection.

As the week drug on I had gone to the library Wednesday evening to print my paper. I had to do it on the color printer, due to my graphs and pedigrees that I included in the document. Well I thought I was one step ahead of myself…hahaha ya right. I had decided to print two copies so then I could take one home. Well me being the “slow” type I forgot to select to have my document print on single sided paper, not double. So when I went to print I had spent 20 cents for each page only to not be able to use the document. So I fixed the setting and retried it…hahaha nope. I went to scan my print card and the machine took money off my account but never gave me my paper. Uggg…now I was frustrated. I asked the lady at the front desk, and she jus told me tough luck. So the next day I had to go and convince the staff that the printer ripped me off of a whole $3.00. And let me just say, that was not easy. Long story short I finally got my paper printer and didn’t have to pay an additional fee.

Finally Friday came. It was the day I had been dreading for 3 months. It was the day I had to hand in my paper and give my lovely 30-minute presentation on genetics. I was the first to give my presentation. And my puzzle went over well with the class; too bad they couldn’t put it together correctly. It’s a shame how 9 college students couldn’t put together 12 pieces. But nonetheless I kicked butt on my presentation and got an A, so that’s all I could ask for. Mara, another CSU student was the last one to give her presentation Well she went up to give it and the power point wasn’t on her jump drive. She ended up going back to the dorms; get her computer only for it to not save on her jump drive again. Well after much struggle we were able to get it worked out. But it was not a good situation. I felt real bad for her. I got lucky that didn’t happen to me.

After genetics I had plants class, it was the last lecture of the semester and we were going to get back our practical exam (the one I took out in the rain). Well I pick up my test…and thank goodness I passed!! Oh man, for the past week I had been nervous to even pick it up. It was such a relief. The week was a success, I passed all of my tests, and kicked butt in my genetics.

Friday night Alan and I had gone into Christchurch for a bite to eat. I had planned on going to Burgers and Beer Inc. It was a place I had found online. So we put the address into the GPS and away we went. Well the further we drove the quicker we found out that it had been in the city center, where the heart of the February 22^nd earthquake was. I looked out the window. There were buildings and rubble laying everywhere. We turned onto a street and it was blocked off by fences and there were soldiers standing post. One of them came over to talk to us and they had closed down the area. The faces of the buildings were all gone. I could see the broken furniture inside and the streets were cracked and damaged. It was almost surreal. I hadn’t really gotten to see this type of devastation before. I did help with the clean up, but it was nothing like this. Words cannot explain the feelings and emotions that were going through my head. It was almost like I was in a movie. The streets were blocked, very few people were out walking around and the army was standing guard. The images I saw within those few moments is something I will not forget.

We ended up finding a restaurant to eat at in Riccarton. We ate at Robbies Bar and Bistro. I had the pleasure of having a legitimate hamburger. But the whole time I was made fun of for my lovely manly eating habits. Well all I can say is that I enjoyed it. We finished the night by going to the Pirates of the Caribbean movie, On Strange Tides. It was rather good, I really enjoyed it. While being in NZ I have noticed that their movie theatres are much nicer. Not only are the seats big and comfy but also the seat you get is dictated by when you buy your ticket. So since we bought tickets right before the movie started, the seats were closer to the front. It’s quite the system. 

I spent the weekend procrastinating. On Saturday I decided not to do much and just relax. I told myself Id do all my work on Sunday….hahaha nope. At 8:00 Sunday morning I was woken up by a loud noise outside my window. I can usually hear the rec center from my window, but this was ridiculous! It was only a few minutes later that I hear helicopters!!! Uggg now I’m annoyed. I get out of bed; look out my window only to discover there is a marathon going on!!! Wow, a marathon the weekend before finals start….now that’s planning. The marathon went on until 3:00pm. And during that time I didn’t get a darn thing done. I ended up meeting Brianna at the library to spend the afternoon studying for sheep production.

Monday morning started off a little rougher than I would have liked. I woke up at 7:00am to an aftershock. I had a skype date with Dad and Mom at 8:00. Right as we both got on skype my internet decided to die. So I had the pleasure of running across campus to the lounge to use the free wireless internet there. Once I got done talking with them I had just gotten back to my room and we had another aftershock. It was 5.5 and only 6 km away from the University. It was a rather good shake to say the least. As the day went on, the more aftershocks there were. They finally decided to die down come 6:00pm.

The week has gone by slow. I have been studying for my exams…well attempting to. It seems like the older I get the less I want to study for school. I have just 14 days until I’m home. Lately all I can think about is Dad, Mom and Karla. I’m anxious to see them and my friends. It ahs been 5 months since I have seen anyone and I’m getting egger. It has been an amazing time in NZ. I have really been able to grow as a person and have a new outlook on life. At this point I don’t know if I should be excited or sad. I crave Mom’s homemade spaghetti and a big hug from Dad. But I know once I leave NZ I will wish my stay would have been longer. I guess the sooner I leave NZ, the sooner I’ll plan a trip to come back, who knows maybe grad school will be an option for the next chapter in my life.