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I know this blog is called Adrienne in NZ, but it took me coming to Australia to finally update it. As usual my life becomes hectic and I can't find the time to write in my blog. So that just shows that life is back to normal. Good normal though....for the most part. I'm lucky in that I haven't been hard pressed to find work; on the contrary, I've been swimming in an abundance of jobs. It has just meant that I do my normal thing of taking on way too much working and then getting overwhelmed by all I have agreed to do.
So like I said before, I starting working several research assistant jobs (four to be exact) and I started tutoring (TAing) a class. I was teaching the lab section of a research methods class and despite hating public speaking, and it being a seemingly boring topic, I really enjoyed standing in front of the groups and teaching them the art of SPSS (that's when I realised just how geeky I actually am). But the thing that sucked the life out of my soul was marking. Oh my god the marking.
They had two lab reports to do, of about 10-15 pages each. There were 40 students. Each paper took between 30-70 mins to mark. You do the math. On top of my other (four) jobs. Yeah. It really was not something I want to repeat.
On top of that I decided to apply for some PhD scholarships. That took a lot of time and effort, and a bit of soul searching, but I've come up with a thesis topic that I can get behind. The gist is that I'll be comparing multiculturalism between NZ and Canada, but more precisely the general public's individual ideologies or thoughts/feelings about multiculturalism. I think I will probably go through with this regardless of whether or not I get the money... but of course the money would make it that much sweeter.
And of course my life is always filled with socialising and travelling. I went on my trip to the South Island which was fabulous. It was the most spectacular scenery I've ever seen in my life...especially Milford Sound. I met up with my friends Graham and Jeanette there (who I met in Wellington) and we spent four days together exploring Te Anau (near Milford) and Dunedin (Edinburgh of the South). Then I spent a glorious three nights in Wanaka in the Southern Alps visiting my friend Claire (who I met in Nelson just after Christmas). I also drove on the left for the first time in Invercargill, my first stop, in a girl's car who I had just met the night before. It was a great time.
Then in May, Steph and John came to visit all the way from Ontario! It was so nice to have friends around who I've known forever, and good to show them my life in NZ too. My friends in Wellington were so good, especially Jaimee who drove us all over, had us over for supper (with her seven-year-old daughter and roommates' six-year-old son--perfect playmates for John) and even got John a babysitter so Steph could come out with us on her last night (actually second last--the plane was delayed by a day thanks to the lovely Wellington wind).
The three of us also went for a long weekend trip to Christchurch and I drove for the second time on the left! Look at me go. Didn't even kill anyone. The highlight was going on a nature cruise and seeing dolphins in the wild!
And now I'm in Sydney. :) I realised when Steph and John left that I didn't have another trip in the works, so I got on it right away and booked my trip to Australia. I just got here a couple of days ago. I saw the Harbour Bridge and Opera House yesterday and now feel like I've actually been to Australia. I have spent today at Bondi Beach with Wendy, another friend of mine from Wellington who also happens to be visiting Sydney at the moment. It's hard to believe that it's winter. Honestly, it was a beautiful 18 degree sunny day by the beach. Tonight I am going to catch up with a girl, Robyn, who I met in Greece. She is having people over to her house tonight for 80s movies, so I'm going to join.
Then tomorrow I am off to Melbourne. I am going to be staying with my former flatmate Kylee (from Wellington) who just moved there a month ago. I am also going to catch up with Stacey and Sally, two girls that I met in Northern Ireland--get this--a year ago. I can't wait.
So that's my update. I promise I will try to update more frequently. It's crazy it's been 3 months since my last one. Eek.
I've posted pictures of all my adventures to Facebook. Check them out. It's too much a pain in the ass to post them here too, so here are the Facebook links:
South Island
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=71365&id=517393204&l=6cebbc2b97
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=71366&id=517393204&l=a586ea472f
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=71367&id=517393204&l=26affee380
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=71368&id=517393204&l=ac631a1b43
Christchurch with Steph and John:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=85022&id=517393204&l=1a5477d38f
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