Snow Day = Dunedin shut down

Woke up today to about 3 cm snow.. Which I didn't fancy too much.. but what can I do.

Wet and cold.. So now I really miss home, which this week is going to be nice and warm.. Well.. not too long til LA, so excited!  So, about the snow; New Zealanders handle snow about the same way that people in Oslo do the first time it snows every year, except 10 times worse. Haha. Some lectures was cancelled, I mean, that is a funny experience to bring back in the suitcase. Cars sliding of the road everywhere, roads closing, and air ports closed down. Crazy times! The worst about this is that the Christmas feeling hit me, and now I'm totally confused about what time of the year it is! :)

Tomorrow I'm having my first exam, and it is an two hour test in Child Development. Then it is a week til my next exam in Institutions of Childhood. Finally my last one in Food Science is the 15th. Can't wait to be done!

Autumn weekend and just 7 weeks left in school

We just had a lovely weekend this weekend. Saturday we did some errands in town, had an ice-cream at an ice-cream bar. We went for a walk in the botanic garden, and we were amazed at how beautiful it was there.

By the duck pond a lady gave us some bread to feed the ducks. They actually ate out of our hands! 

Quite funny! 

Relaxing in the botanical garden.

We stopped at the university at took some pictures there too. You can see the clock tower in the background.

We also went to a rugby game on Saturday night. It was the Highlanders (Dunedins local team) vs. the Sharks (from South Africa?). It was really funny and exiting, even if we didn't know the rules. The Highlanders won 25 - 23!

On Sunday we went to Octagon and had a beer and coffee with Aina! Also very nice.. So this weekend has been very lovely.

At school this is the last standard week for me. Next week and the week after on of my classes is not going to have any lectures, and the week after that I have my final exam in Child Development, and then the week after that the exam period begins!

Visit at the museum.

I got permission to post some pictures from my trip to the museum last Sunday (21.04) with young mr. Houman.

We had a very nice and fun day! He is an expert on butterflies, and could tell me a lot about how they develop, from Caterpillar to cocoon to butterflies. :) Great day!

Other than that we have started a bone carving course, and it is quite exiting. Looking forward to the next 4 Wednesdays.

Update, and plans for the weekend

Not much happening these days. We have started or second part of this semester, and because of that there is a few weeks where there's not much activity in school, other than the lectures. So apart from the lectures the days are spent in the gym and home relaxing.

This weekend I'm planning to get one of my projects for my Education 307 done (it's not due til 8th may or something, but I have to do something). This project is quite cool, because we are going to do an activity with a child for 3-5 hours. I'm so lucky that my neighbor has a 5/6 year old boy that I'm going to borrow. We are going to the museum, and we are either going to see the butterfly colony, or the fossils. I think he can decide. :-) Then we are going to take pictures of what we see, and then make a scrap book/photo album. He is really into these subjects, so its gonna be fun to observe him in the museum.

I hope that I will be allowed to put some pictures on my blog from the trip to the museum with the neighbor kid in, because he is just the cutest kid! So I'm really looking forward to Sunday! 

I also got back the results from my midterm exam in 307. And I got an A-, so I'm really pleased with that! Just got to keep it going for the next 7 weeks with lectures, and the 2 week exam period before we leave for Los Angeles! :D 

Back to school!

After a lovely holiday we have now started school again. This week I got back two assignments, and I had one in-class test that count 40% of my final grade. The assignment I got back from food science class did not go so well... just 25.5 of 50.. haha.. But I have never written a lab rapport before, so I didn't know what they wanted.

The in-class test was for my Child Development class, and was structured with 70 multiple choice question + 3 short answer questions. I have a feeling that I did OK, but I'm excited to get back the result.

The other assignment from my other education paper I was very worried that I had done a mistake with the structure of the assignment, and that that would have a great impact on the outcome.. but I was pleasantly surprised that I got 85%, and an A (it's the same as a B in Norway). So now things are looking better, and I'm not so worried about school anymore.

The grading system down here is a bit different than the Norwegian one. Down here we got the grades (A+) (A) (A-) (B+) (B) (B-) (C+) (C) (C-) (D) (E). If you get C or C- (not a 100% sure) you just passed the test/assignment. And you need to have at least 50% correct to pass. D and E is to show you how bad you failed.

Easter holiday

We drove to Akaroa on good Friday, which is about a 5 - 6 hour drive, and when we were there the weather was absolutely lovely!

From one of our stops along the way to Akaroa. 

From one of our stops along the way to Akaroa.

The road down into the volcano crater, where Akaroa is.  

My birthday was celebrated with a bike ride on the summit of the volcano crater. 

We left our bikes for a little while and hiked up a small mountain top, beautiful view! 

On Sunday we hired a Sea Kayak, and were hoping to see some dolphins, but the sea was a bit ruff on us sea kayak rookies, so we turned back early. 

Akaroa harbor by night. 

On our way "home" to Dunedin we stopped along this beautiful lake, completely turquoise water. 

Yesterday (Wednesday) I got my birthday present from Geir, which was a 90 min massage at Actively Healthy. This was absolutely perfect, and the masseur was very nice and very good at here job! 

Now we still have a few days left, but we haven't got anything planned, and I think we'll just relax and not do too much. :) 

Easter Holiday is coming..

We just booked a 4 day trip to Akaroa, a small charming town east of Christchurch. We are planning to do some sea kayaking, hiking, and just relaxing. I found a really cute hostel, so now I'm waiting to hear back if they have any rooms available, fingers crossed!

AND, the weather is not looking to shady.. hehe