Back in San Diego now, but man, what a phenomenal weekend. Here's the good, the bad, and the ugly of it:The Good:- Getting back to basics and in touch with nature. Always good, and especially so after having been in the city for so long. Brushing teeth by the stream. Washing your face in it. Bathing upstream from a waterfall. Drinking water which not so long ago was snow. Gathering firewood for the fire... Love it.- The people! A very international bunch, we ...

Off to Yosemite for the long weekend.  Will endeavour to update with pics of this alledgedly incredibly beautiful place when I get back.  (See how it compares with some of NZ's national parks huh...) Gonna be roughing it!  That means I won't reply to any emails until at least Monday night.  We're not gonna have running water, let alone electricity!

Today, for the second time, I had to explain to someone that no, not everyone in New Zealand is white. After I'd explained to them that New Zealand was not a part of the United States. (She had thought it was somewhere like Illinois). Nor Australia. And yes, we do speak English there. (Someone a while ago complimented me on my ability to speak English really well - how flattering!)I suppose it goes both ways though. Today at lunch my colleagues made fun of me...

Well, Rachy told me it's time for an update.  But I've been pretty stationary lately and don't have a whole lot to update about.  I could tell you about my first ever poetry recitation, but I wouldn't want to bore you. That said, I have put pics up in a photo album of some of the stunning dances (and kai!) from the Asia Pacific Cultural Night.  I've also added a vid from last weekend's excursion to Coronado Island, downtown San Diego. Look forward to a...

So, it's Wednesday now and I'm back in San Diego. But this entry is going to be about the rest of my Holland experience, and the super long journey home.My Tuesday was 32-hours long. For those who complain they want more hours in their day: it's possible, but you're gonna have to spend a lot of it travelling. For me it was about 25 hours all up. And it looked something a little like this: train, plane, bus, plane, bus, train, car... home! (No near...