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 22nd 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.
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