My last few days…

So, i’m sitting in my room thats now been stripped bare. Feels weird. One whole year has passed and i’ve caught myself reminiscing on so many wonderful adventures and experiences. I’ve done some pretty neat things this year that i’d never thought i’d do. For one skydiving, oh my gawd i still cant believe i did that! Visiting Sydney, seeing wild yellow-eyed penguins, zorbing, traipsing through native new zealand bush forests, tramping in the fiordlands, seeing lady gaga, many many parties and so much more.

I’m definitely going to miss this country. Maybe not Massey University and maybe not Palmerston North, but definitely the country. I have met so much great people and friends over here, whether it be the other international students, fire clubbers (lol), people on my courses or hall buddies. Each of you has helped me life a have one of the most memorable experiences of my life.

I really don’t know how to sum up a whole year of my life in a few sentences so i’ll just post a few pictures, cause of course they can speak so many more!

Us Internationals at the Park At the Ice bar in Auckland

Beautiful Views

Me and Capri in Christchurch, on our tour of the South Island!I’ll be missing these guys.. 

 

I cant believe it’s almost over!!!! SCARY SCARY! But i look forward to seeing you guys back home be it Stonehaven or Edinburgh! Headed on a quick tour of the bay of plenty before heading back home from Auckland via Hong Kong and London. It’s gonna be a long journey. But i’ll survive. I’ll sign off for now before my head explodes from all these thought processes and crash very much like my computer…

Blair Xxx

Almost Done with my Massey Exchange!

 

Okay, so this might be one of my last few posts from New Zealand! Everything's coming to a close, just tackled those awful last internal assignments. Hopefully, they’ll be good enough to pass my two internal papers and give me good enough marks so the exams wont be as stressful.

So I've just been procrastinating all day downloading music videos, thinking of all the people back home who i cant wait to see when i return and watching Big Brother’s 10th anniversary shows on 4OD cause they havn’t uploaded the opening show yet!!! Grrr! My first exam is in less than a week, you’d think i’d be more panicked but sadly no. I’m kinda over uni. It’s been a long year, 2nd and 3rd year just seem like a combined mess with weird summer holidays, maybe when i get home it will feel more like an actual summer.

Massey University has also been doing my nut in recently. I guess seen as this is a blog about my time on an exchange with this university I should evaluate some things. Basically the accommodation services here are pretty crap. First of all when I was trying to decide where to live before coming here there is little pictures of the rooms that you have to scrutinize to get any sort of indication what its like.

Then, I found out I was in the non-drinking hall. Which turned out to be not as bad as I thought, however it wasn’t exactly party central most of the time. Then when applying for accommodation the next semester I find that i get no special circumstances because I am in as what they class a “returning student”. Fuck off. I’ve hardly been here half a year. So for second semester I tried applying for the accommodation that was for mature students.

Sadly, I never got offered living in these apartments, which would have been fine. BUT and BIG BUT, the accommodation services here at Massey lost my application form and had forgotten all about my application. I’m currently living in the courts which look more like a low-key prison, with their breeze block walls and poor design and bars outside the windows. Maybe I'm exaggerating slightly due to my anger with the accommodation services.. but I think I have the right to so if you’re thinking of coming to Massey, pester accommodation services and apply to Atawhai or Tararua or Rhuahine. They’re all good choices for International Students!!! Big fairly spacious rooms with your own sinks and nice living areas between about 6 residents.

Palmerston North as a city is alright, just fairly dull really, there’s not a huge amount of culture or things to do and see here. I would say if you have the choice to study in Wellington or Auckland go for it. Coz they’re both awesome. It’s obvious when you travel New Zealand and people ask where you’re living and you say “Palmy”, people either say “poor you” or “oh well that's not the best part of New Zealand” ha ha I know sadly. But yeah, the university itself is really good, the ecology lecturers here are very enthusiastic, helpful and approachable. I’ve also really enjoyed most of my papers here and not resented any of them really, yeah maybe the ones with 8am lectures and ones with field trips in my semester break, but all in all they’ve been pretty sweet.

Okay I think i’m gonna give up on evaluating the university and so on. But I thought I’d give an honest and hopefully helpful opinion for people who are thinking of coming to Massey, Palmerston North on an Exchange or Studying Programme etc! There are some fantastic people that you’ll meet here i’m sure, just like anywhere i guess!

Here’s some photos that i’ve totally forgotten about on my phone or some newies!

 

If you wanna pretend that you saw Lady GaGa in Auckland..

Paparazzi


Beautiful Dirty Rich

Lovegame

Just Dance

Poker Face (Acoustic)

Poker Face

Let me put my STRESS ON.

Okay so it's coming up to the last 2 weeks of my term at massey university. It's really scary how quickly the last half of my year has went. I've just got over a month left. Yikes. Anyway uni as always has to put a dampner on my short while left here as i've got hundreds of assignments left to do. With two of my courses not having an exam, they're throwing heaps of internal work at me right in the last week. It's over two weeks until most things need to be handed in however ALL of them need to be done by the same day, the 29th. UGHH

May is one of those months i find that always, and i mean always seems to be crap. Year after year, exams and assessments with weather that is never fantastic. Screw you May!!! Anyway, theres one thing i'm really looking forward to and that is seeing Lady Gaga and the Pussycat dolls at the Vector arena in Auckland this weekend. I know most of you are sick of hearing about Lady Gaga, or hearing ♪she's got to love nobody muhh muhh muhh muhhhh♪ but i fell in love with her about Septemeber last year when i heard just dance again. (I recall watching the video last MAY on youtube and thinking this is cool but not much else of it..now it has over 55 million views yikes!) So yeah and now she's blown up bigger than a jumbo sex doll and i'm gagging to get some... oh dear

My friend Blair (no i'm not meaning me, i've not gone crazy since i left the UK!) and Lynelle are coming up to see them with me. Man i can't freakin wait. I've been stalking them on everyone's fave new social site twitter. Although it still annoys me that i can't for some reason make updates on my phone, not that anyone cares what i'm up to anyway. I know that works gonna hit hard when i come back though, but stuff it i'll suck it up and just take it. Wont be long until all my work is done and I can party my ass off for the last little while i'm in the land of the long white cloud. 

I think i'm gonna miss it a lot... 

P.S Dragonette are back and still rock, maybe even HARDER! They're giving out their new single for free. Here's a fan music video for the song.

P.P.S and they're bringing back the cowbell!!! woop woop x

Blair Xxxx (View original post)

Project Started!

Omg i've finally started my community and ecosystem ecology project. Basically i'm comparing the insect communities under native and non-native trees. So i had to set up pitfall traps under 3 Miro trees and 3 Alder trees just down the back of my hall. Meant getting dirty a bit, but nm, that should be that sorted now and one less thing to worry about!

Got a field trip for Limnology tomorrow (on a Saturday!) which kinda stinks because Cole and Theressa are headed to Wellington this evening. No matter, we're apparently headed there in two weeks anyway and not too long after that i'm headed there again to see Duffy, which will be well cool too!

Anyway i'm completely hooked to loads of new music that is coming this year. I'm sooo looking forward to The littleboots album along with frankmusik and the new Dragonette album. Ahhh the anticipation is too much. These traxx are currently being played to death by me. help yourself :P

Little Boots - Meddle
Frankmusik - Gotta Boyfriend

Also the amount of cool music videos which have surfaced lately. I'm loving the piss take that britney takes with F-U-C-K Me. (or in other words If U Seek Amy) The press surrounding it was just stupid, so i think it's right they use it in the video. If you havnt seen the video of her announcing her pussy hanging out in florida, i seriously advice you to google it and rofl over and over!


Bat for lashes, so pretty music and pretty video. LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!


Calvin Harris. I've totally changed my opinion on him.. The girls seriously got on my tits and until Dragonette covered it I couldn't listen to it without cringing. But I think he's seriously grown up as an artist. Maybe it's with producing songs for Kylie or Roisin Murphy, i dunno. But this is awesome--->



Omg I also can't stop listening to the new Yeah Yeah Yeah's single zero...


Anyway i'll stop ranting

Bye x (view original post for vids!)

Funny and Cool New Zealand related Videos

...and the last one is just for general amusement...no kiwi connections. lol













Click on "view orginal post" if on facebook to see the vids!

Blair Xxx

Recent Pictures

Week one, Second Semester underway!

So it's nearing the end of the first week of the second semester and it's been a bit of a rollercoaster of ups & downs while i try and settle into the routine of classes and activities again.

So with my papers this semester i'm really cool with my Sociology of the environment paper. The lecturer is real cool and we just have discussions about our readings in the first hour of the seminars then watch a video on the topics we've just been discussing. My community ecology paper is cool, except the paper organiser is really blazay about everything. I had a friend in one of my papers last semester warn me that it was very poorly organised and run and i think she was spot on. We're basically left to it, doesnt even feel like and internal paper, might as well be extramural. Grrr. So i need to pick a project for that over this weekend, when i can be bothered. My limnology paper however seems pretty standard and i dont think ill have any real problems with it.

However my soil and sustainable land use paper is a different story. Its ran by the agriculture department and ive been annoyed at the amount of time they mention farms, cattle or sheep. Ok i shouldn't get annoyed at that seen as it is an Ag course but it dont have a huge amount to do with it. Also there are about 7 full day field trips that take up half of the easter break.. Sucky.

On the fun side tho this week there has been a few things worth mentioning. Theres been foga parties (toga+foam), fluro parties and cool body combat courses at the gym.

There were plans to go to welly this weekend with a bunch of us but theres been a huge storm this weekend so we couldnt go in the end. Maybe next week? ;)

Blair Xx (view original post)

Spiders, Robins and Rats! Oh My!

Ok so my "at least every month plan" didnt really work either. Nevermind though.. I just wish i could update you guys on goings on, on my phone more easily, as i carry that everywhere i go and it can pick up wireless. But to be honest it's just a bit over my head!!

Anyway the past few days i've been helping one of my lecturers out by volunteering in doing some research work up at bennydale. (which is pretty much near the centre of the north island!) No mobile reception AT ALL. Which is a bit crap and i just managed to get on the internet once while being up there. It's so sad how bad I cope without my mobile or internet for a few days. I get a bit twitchy and eager to know whats happening. Very sad indeed...

The volunteer work was awesome, very tiring mind you! Basically there are these patches of natural new zealand forest around the house that we were staying at during the week. Each patch had a funny name like Dizzy, Fatty or Flag to name a few. Within these patches were grids of tracking tunnels to see if there were rats present. The first day we went around all these patches putting in pieces of paper and sponges of ink to detect if rats were there and some peanut butter to attract them to the tunnel. This took forever and involved me getting lost in the forests on multiple occasions. (I had to use a compass to navigate, never a good idea) When navigating the forests, to the best of my abbility I managed to get cuts and scratches nearly all over my body along with running into nearly every cobweb out there!

The next day we had the challenge of remembering where all the tracking tunnels were and collect the papers. This was the main objective when i was up there as what Doug my lecturer called me a "voluntary slave." Although we also did some radio tracking of the new zealand robins in these forests. Basically you walk around with a tv aerial that bleeps louder as you get closer to the robin that you're tracking.(See image below of random guy)


While doing this, I had to carry around a tub of mealworms to attract the robins over. NZ robins aren't like the robins back home with their gorgeous red breast, nor are they like robyn he swedish popstar that i often talk about..they are grey and fairly bland in colour, however still happen to be quite cute.

So i'm back in palmy ready for round two. The people are back, it's busy again, sun's holding up today and here's new internainal students to keep me company which is good. Lookin into getting a new digital camera soon as my other ones decided to pack in on me. Oh and here's a song that's doin' really well over here at the moment featuring one of my fave new zealand artists Gin Wigmore.





Talk Soon and View Original Post

Blair Xx