Here we are.

Hello there! It's been a while. I've missed you. You may have missed me. Well, it's no matter, we're together now, and that's all that counts. Just take a few moments and stare deeply into my eyes... Bask in the glory of information. How powerful this is. Knowledge. It's been quite a while since I updated the blog, and for good reason. I've been having a blast. Hanging out with the individuals that I will spend the next 8 or 9 months with, playing ultimate, being Alaskan amongst many North Americans, eating delicious food, running in the mornings(really, I have been, monday wednesday friday, usually), doing homework(which is not as considerable a task as I originally thought), listening to amazing lecturers and watching great sermons, skyping people halfway across the world that talk about how awesome God is, contemplating the future, and so on and so forth. It's been fantastic. Since I have failed to update the blog for so long, I won't be able to relate to you the entirety of the two first weeks at Capernwray, which really is a shame because they were so great. But from here on out I will attempt to keep up on this a lot better. This is the first step. That's mostly what I wanted to tell all of you lovely people. Mostly that and this: I will be departing for a bible camp located in Gore, NZ which is about a 5 hour drive from here, and I will be there all week. Therefore, I will not be able to access facebook or update this incredible blog. (Heartbreaking, I know.) That is all. Continue to rock the party, my dear friends. I feel like I know you so well already.

To live is Christ.

No news is great news

Well, hello. I have been having a fantastic time here at The Crossing. There is a total of thirteen students, ages ranging from 17 to 22. This past week has been amazing, we're practically already family, and it feels like its been weeks rather than days. I got on the bus from the hostel on monday at 9:30 in the morning, tentatively scoping out the other passengers, wondering who were my fellow students. We had a few hour ride in which mostly other Kiwi passengers talked. We all piled out at Geraldine and waited in the windy weather for our ride to the crossing. Jordan, who had been here the year before was letting us know how most everything worked. We mostly just stood around and had a few bits of conversation concerning names, where we were from, why we came, etc. We got a ride from Gen to the Crossing, where we had our first meal. It was lunchtime, and we had stuffed potatoes. Cheese and potato and goodness. I'll never forget that meal. Delish. The other students showed up a little later in the afternoon and we played a few games, which was super fun. I taught them the three objects game, which they were irritated by. Props to Andy for teaching us all on the jr high float trip when I was in 6th or 7th grade.



Alright. I wrote this a few days ago, haven't gotten around to posting it till now. Here you go

Well, hello.

For those of you who are curious, I slept quite well last night, due to the fact that I was able to sleep in an actual bed. That's right, no more airport floors and corners for me, I reposed quite comfortably with sheets, a blanket, and an actual pillow! It was quite fantastic. When I first got to the hostel, I was the only one in my dorm, but that afternoon two guys from the UK showed up. Later last night a guy from Spain or somewhere showed up, and this morning a guy from France arrived. They're all pretty cool, fairly chill. The guys from the UK dubbed me "Jay-Jay". Cool beans. I talk to them most, just as we go in and out of the dorm. Nobody's sketch, so I'm confident my bags won't be rifled. If anyone's considering traveling, hostels are the way to go. As I've already written, I'm staying at the Coachman, which is a hostel here in Christchurch. It's located in a very cool section of town, which I believe is the "City Centre". Yep. Tonight is my last night here in Christchurch, because tomorrow morning I depart for Geraldine on a naked bus. Don't worry. It's just a company. It's a normal bus. Yesterday and today I've been walking around Christchurch, on streets with names such as Glouchester, Hereford, Liverpool, and Cashel. I haven't gotten too lost. Only once or twice. You may have seen the pictures on facebook of my various adventures. There's some really cool stuff here. Statues, old buildings, lots of touristy shops, a huge flipping cathedral. Because of the earthquake, there's quite a bit of construction going on, which is too bad. Some sections of the area have been shut down for renovations and repairs and such. But I've mostly just wandered the streets, gone into various shops. It's been fun. Next time I travel, I definitely would like to be with friends though. The excitement of being away fromfamily, alone and confident in the world, wears off after you realize there's no one to be excited with. I'm still having a blast, though, wouldn't trade this time for anything. Also: I used a phonebooth today, called home, talked to my mom. That was really good. Glad we could talk, even if it was like a $40 conversation. Twas worth it. (Don't worry, mom, that's NZD, so its really like a quarter. Basically.) I've been skyping and chatting with my friends and family all during my time here and my travels here. Glad to have the contact. Don't be afraid to message me or chat or whatever. I'd love to talk. Well, tomorrow I'm off to school. A few of my classmates will be on the bus to Geraldine tomorrow, so that should be good. Can't wait to rock the party at The Crossing. Kinder egg.

I love this country

Well, after a nine hour layover in LAX (which always makes me want to sing the miley cyrus song), about a 12-13 hour flight over the Pacific and a quick flight (relatively speaking) to Christchurch, I have arrived in New Zealand. On the flight to Christchurch I just stared out the window, looked at the beautiful country, the greenness, the sheep, and thought to myself, I bloody love this country. It's beautiful. After a brief hiccup involving my visa-evidently it wasn't in the system- I walked out into the street and into spring. Random fact- right before immigration, just as you enter, there's a huge "duty free" shop filled with nothing but perfume, cartons of cigarettes, and copious amounts of alcohol. Every size, shape and type you could imagine. It was ridiculous. Also, I exchanged quite a bit of my money at the LAX at an exchange rate of .83, which I thought was a little strange. Upon getting to New Zealand, I saw that they exchanged their currency at a rate of .77. Though not a huge difference, when exhanging hundreds of dollars, its quite irritating. And for those of you who have only experienced alaska airlines, you're missing out. I took air new zealand across the pacific, and it was crazy awesome. Two free meals, movies, games, tv, music. For. Free. I played tetris! Quite fantastic. I took an airport shuttle to a hostel, the coachman. Admittedly a little sketch, but whatevs. I got a dorm all to myself, for the time being anyway. Zack, you would absolutely hate it. Stowed my stuff there, grabbed all my mostly important things and am now at an internet cafe. Crazy. I'm just very stoked on NZ in general. Hopefully it wears off when I have to come home. I've been taking pictures, but I haven't had the opportunity to post any, for lack of adequate wifi and such. Also, I don't really like taking pictures of just the landscape or trees or things of that nature, so generally take pictures on the rare occasion that I can fit myself in there. So, I try to post them sometime, perhaps when I get to school. I'd appreciate your prayers for everything in general! Things have been quite smooth the whole way through, so praise God. Also... I'm in the future. Yeah. You heard me right. Its September 18th here. The future. Be jealous.

San Fran

Arrived in San Francisco at around eleven last night. After skyping a few friends, I threw my stuff behind some chairs and slept for around three hours on the floor. Upon waking, I checked my ticket status, worried about it for a little while, and then set off for United. I found that this particular airline demanded that I trudge through letters of the parking garage before finally arriving in the correct terminal and viewing the queue of epic proportions. This lengthy line didn't take as long as I expected, however, and I soon was at the check in station. I got my tickets with no problem, and checked in my bag after removing a pair of shoes that are now attached to my carry-on. So now, I'm most likely going to buy half a piece of bread for seven dollars or something equally ridiculous. After eating something for the first time in a while, I'll take off -after a short wait- to Los Angeles, where I will suffer a long wait. And then a long flight. To New Zealand. Super pumped.

The Land of the Ports

I've been flying all day since eight this morning, went through juneau, sitka, ketchikan, seattle, and now I'm here in portland waiting for my flight to San Francisco. I may have to wear a flower in my hair. Truth be told, I don't think I'm even halfway to NZ. Still got the flight over the pacific to go. A few interesting things: Airports are somewhat like the perfect business model. Trap customers in a large open area with nothing to do. Make sure they're bored, dehydrated, and hungry. Don't let them out. Threaten inconvenience if they do have to leave. Make available to them food, water, and mindless things to do and ridiculous things to purchase. Charge five times the normal price for these items. Make tons of money. Also, I believe a flight attendent on my flight to seattle had some sort of UK accent. Twas pretty sweet. I'm hungry. Time to pay through the nose for a measly scrap of food.

Traveling is bloody expensive

Well, interestingly enough, I'm still in the big AK. My flight was cancelled because fog made most of the planes fly right past. I re-booked my flight, so now I'm departing at eight in the morning and going through Juneau, Seattle, Portland, and finally to San Francisco, where I'll be arriving at 10:30 PM. I had to change my departure time there from September 15th at nine PM to September 16th at 10:30 AM. From there I'll head off to NZ. The cost to change this second ticket was around 400 dollars. Ouch. Ah, well. That's life. Can't wait to finally be there! Now, time to catch a few hours of sleep in a random corner of the airport before checking in my bag, again, and then off to San Fran. Rock the party.

Hello world. I'm leaving for New Zealand tomorrow night. You can check back here for updates detailing my exciting adventures in the faraway place known as New Zealandia.