Ambassdorial Scholar messages

Since my last e-mail made it sound as if I have not been attending university at all, this one will fill all of you in on my life as a student- and then hurry on to more exaggerated tales of off campus adventures.

I have been reading, reading, and reading for my postgraduate studies here at Lincoln. My days generally start at 7:30am with a book or paper in front of my face. I read until class in mid-morning, come back from class and eat lunch, and read/take notes until 3:30 or 4pm. Next, I usually go to the library to search the literature for sources for a paper that will be due after the weekend, and head back for dinner. I teach kickboxing from 7pm until 9pm, and head back home to socialize with my neighbors before climbing into bed and reading until I fall asleep. It's a tight schedule, but it's been working well. Along with three others, I received an A- on my last paper- the highest grades in the class. Keep in mind that nearly a third of my peers are writing in a second language, though. I can only imagine the marks I would receive if I were writing in Spanish.

And the advantage of keeping this schedule is that it frees-up my weekends. This is important because I have scholarship commitments many weekends where I do public presentations for Rotary clubs in various locations around New Zealand. This past weekend I went to Hokatika on the West Coast to present at the Rotary District 9970 Conference. 420 people from South Island New Zealand attended the conference. About twenty people presented during the 3 day conference, on subjects ranging from water collection systems in Tanzania to the importance of the "larakin lifstyle" in Westland New Zealand. And there was plenty of humor. As a former British colony, drinking culture is alive and well in NZ. And everyone over the age of sixteen and under the age of dead is a part of it. Rotarians dressed as pirates, gold diggers, and leprachans sipped Southland wine until singing turned to dancing, and dancing turned to all night laugh-athons in hotel rooms along the main drag through town. I wonder if the District Conferences in the States are this lively?

I had a wonderful time and met some very interesting people. I hope to do a building project in Fiji this June with some of the Rotarians I met at the conference. My two week Easter break will start one week from today. During the break I hope to do a mountaineering trip in Mt. Cook National Park with a bush pilot named Mark. There are a number of places to go and things I'd like to do while I'm here. I can hardly beleive my stay in NZ is 1/3 of the way through.

Enjoy the on-coming spring! I'll say hello to winter as she pays us a visit in NZ.

Glen

What is a Hoohoo grub??A large (6 inch by 1 inch) , white worm that eats rotting wood.?What do the locals do with them??They eat them.?This weekend I attended the annual Wild Foods Festival on the West Coast of South Island New Zealand in the small town of Hokatika. 18,000 people from all over NZ pour into town for one weekend a year to enjoy delicassies such as bull's testicles, chocolate covered cicadas, frogs, possum, wild pig, horse, kangeroo, kava juice, and crocodile curry.?And yes, I tried all of these things.?The live Hoohoo grubs were definitely not the worst thing I tried, though they were the most expensive (5 NZ dollars for one- yikes, I should have stayed in Thailand).

Along with strange food there were strange outfits.?Ferries and nuns, lumberjacks and Hulk Hogans, tennis players and fencers.?I wish I would have dressed up. A garbage can would have been a good outfit.?I think they could have used a few more of those.?

I hitched back through Arthur's Pass this morning in time to begin reading about German refugees in New Zealand for my New Zealand Society class.?That was interesting because one person who picked me up on my way back from the West Coast happened to be a German refugee.?We had a good chat before I was dropped off just outside Lincoln.?

And now it's back to work.?Monday begins tommorrow, as it always seems to after Sunday.?But luckily this week has only two days of class for me.?Next weekend I will be attending a Rotary function in the capital of Wellington, and my kickboxing club has its first meeting this Wednesday.?That's all from me for now.?

Life has been good here in New Zealand. All of my major payments have been made, I have been registered, and my student visa is scheduled to arrive in one week (at last).

It has been easy to make freinds and meet people at Lincoln University. My largest class is fifteen people, and my smallest is seven. The Crescent Flats where I live are full of internationals from China, SE Aisa, Europe, and North America. There is even a rumor circulating that a couple of Kiwis live here. I have started a club on campus and have the first meeting next week. I have also started internationally themed Monday night gatherings. This past Monday was a cheese party. I think half the people there were French, though the best wine was definitely brought by the Kiwis. I supplied two fish I caught last week and a can of notorious "canned spray cheese" as can only be found in junkfood isles of US grocery stores. About sixty people came, and I gave a PowerPoint presentation about the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Next week is Asian food night. I hope to encourage my Chinese rommates to talk about China and show some pictures.

I will attend the National Ambassadorial Scholar Orientation in Wellington, NZ on March 18th and 19th. I will also attend the Rotary District Conference on April 8th and 9th. My first presentation to a Rotary Club in New Zealand is scheduled for April 4th.

The biggest decision I have left to make is whether or not I should purchase a car. Many of the scholars I have talked to (we had a meeting last weekend) have already purchased vehicles, and those who have not are in the market. Lincoln University is a 25 minute drive from the closest city (Christchurch) and has one overpriced grocery store. I have been using the bus to get into the city to do my shopping, but it is relatively expensive and takes more time than if I had my own vehicle. Also, a car would make planning future Rotary Presentations much easier because I would not have to rely on bus schedules, hitch hiking, or borrowed transport. And there is no denying that running into the mountains for the weekend is something I always want to do. Cars are cheap here, but I have to see if it will fit into my budget.

That is my update for now. I hope to have some pictures on New Zealand online by the end of this week. I will send all of you a link when they are ready.

Ambassadorial Scholarships Program