9 November 2007 - This is the end, beautiful friend

There's an old joke: two elderly women are at a Catskill mountain resort, and one of them says, "Boy, the food at this place is really terrible." The other one says, "Yeah, I know. And such small portions." Well, that's essentially how I feel about life - full of loneliness, and misery, and suffering, and unhappiness, and it's all over much too quickly.
-Woody Allen

Except that's the thing about New Zealand. It's over far too quickly, but it wasn't full of melancholy or suffering or sadness (at least, not all of the time). It was happy, it was smiles, it was trusting, it was everything you could want.

And now...t's over.

I just spent a good long while in the lobby saying numerous, teary goodbyes to all the people I've met over this past semester. And since packing is just one step closer to leaving NZ, I'm putting it off as much as possible. How desperate am I right now? I'm watching Smallville. Yes, Smallville. And I'm not even of the opinion that Kristen Kreuk is that hot. But hey, that's 43 more minutes that I don't have to think about leaving the country.

So in the interest of not being filled with the sadness associated with leaving behind a part of yourself, I'm just going to move on. But I'm going to miss so much about this past semester. The people. The clean air. The entire feeling of the country.
And I'm going to miss you most of all, Scarecrow. You know who you are.


Best things I did in Auckland (The G rated version):
1) Bungy jump off the Nevis high wire
2) Sky diving in Lake Taupo
3) Caving in Waitomo
4) CADBURY CHOCOLATE FACTORY TOUR
5) Watching a red lunar eclipse on a private beach in Abel Tasman National Park
6) Overnight cruise in Milford Sound
7) Watching the All-Blacks pound the Wallabies at Eden Park
8) Zorbing in Rotorua
9) Kayaking with Daryl, our ex-con, deadbeat dad instructor in Abel Tasman
10) Jetboating in Queenstown
11) Skiing Mt. Ruapehu
12) Deep sea fishing in Kaikoura
13) Went abroad to another country where I didn't know anyone else.


So first thing I'm going to do when I get home? Simple. Park myself on the couch with a nice big burrito (made by authentic Mexicans). And watch Top Gun for the first time in 6 months.


See you in another life, brother.
-MGD