Is it summer yet?

I took these photos from the Remarkables last weekend, looking down over Queenstown.  It was beautiful and sunny, but the clouds were low!

A warm winter, earthquakes and a new school year

So I remember getting real dramatic and saying that winter was basically like being in Antarctica. That was a smidgeon of an exaggeration. The month of June was pretty brutal, but after going to see a speaker that, with a partner, was able to make it to the South Pole unassisted, I realized I had it pretty easy. I didn't come near frost bite and really I rarely wore gloves or the ba-gillion scarves Carol packed up and mailed to me. June was cold because the days were short and tucked away here in the mountains gets a bit cold. However, when I compare it to trips to Colorado, this was pretty warm. We had 2 really good snow falls, but other than that the snow remained on the mountains and not down in town. In fact even the ski fields got very little snow. If it rains or the weather is slightly bad, the mountains are closed. It's quite bizarre. This winter most of the snow has been made my machines at night since there hasn't been much natural snow falling. With it being so unusually warm they have been much more cautious of closing the mountains since the avalanche risk is so high. There were 2 guys who went rock climbing last weekend and started off a massive avalanche, which neither of them lived through. It was accidental obviously, but they had been warned not to go up. Luckily, it happened on the side of the mountain where you can't ski, so it didn't put anyone else in danger.

Along with the warm winter have come several earthquakes in the central part of the country. Luckily I visited Wellington a few months back, because I would be a little cautious of going now. They have not been anything like the Christchurch earthquake, but it is feared that it will only be a matter of time before the big one comes. I still have yet to experience an earthquake and am not sure that I really want to. Queenstown does sit on a fault line, but I have my fingers crossed that it doesn't shake until after I'm gone.

This week is my first week of school! I am pretty sure I haven't ever been this prepared. Ever. I'm talking over achiever style right now. I got so excited that when my first book came over the weekend I started reading it. I am also having one of those "oh I am going to be focused, organized and go above and beyond this semester" moments. Let's hope this time is a bit different than the last times I have said that. Online learning is a whole new thing for me. It's been stressful to say the least. It is supposed to be easy to 'learn by distance', except when you get the run around on what books you need and how on earth you get them shipped internationally before school starts. I will definitely be adding in my feedback at the end of the semester. Let's hope I live through these 3 classes: Cultural Anthropology, Psychology and Life Span Human Development.

I have filled out the mound of paperwork and gotten my medical certificates done to extend my visa. I am going to an immigration clinic tomorrow where I can submit it all. It will take about a month to process, which will be perfect timing. If they tell me I can't stay, then it won't be so perfect!

My brother is coming to visit at Christmas! I will spend my last couple of weeks in the country traveling with him! Depending on a few things that are up in the air at the moment, I plan to stay until some point in January and then head to Bali, where my friends Cheryl and John Mims have said they are meeting me. Maybe now that they have been pointed out, they will know there's no backing out! From there I plan to meet a friend from college in Bangkok and then travel through Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos.

The weather here is starting to really warm up and the days are growing longer. I am so anxious for spring and summer! More to come soon! Much love to you all.