West and Wewaxation

Kia ora to all my friends and family!
This will be a rather short post. Nothing incredibly interesting has happened to me here in Kiwi Land this past week. My laziness got the best of me and I stayed pretty close to home last weekend. I hope not to make that a habit.

Emily and I on our tour of Auckland.

That's not to say I have not been productive. I have been turning into somewhat of a gym junky. Emily, Robbie, and I and our two flatmates have been going to the gym every weekday and lifting weights, heavy weights, something I have never really done before. Needless to say, I have expereinced all types of pain from my recent activities at the Massey Rec Center.
"It's good for us,"  Emily keeps telling me. Oh yeah sure! But still, I find not being able to come down the stairs without clinging to the railing because my leg muscles are so sore to be a not too pleasant endeavor.

Beautiful tree canopy on the way to the top of Mt. Eden.

I did have the terrifying privilege of driving on the other side of the road last night. Nic's girlfriend Liz asked if anyone would be willing to drive her car to the McDonald's just down the road. Jokingly, I offered, not expecting she would actually me let do it. Yet, there I sat several minutes later, in the drivers seat, trying to adjust to the blinkers being on the right side of the steering wheel and having to shift gears with my left hand. Liz was in the passenger seat, clearly not phased by a nervous American driving her car down the left side of the road. I am happy to say I made it to McDonald's and back without injuring anyone! An accomplishment in itself!

Rock partially made of shells that I found on the beach at Browns Bay.

Ok serious note here. Even though I have only been here for a little over three weeks, I still find myself not believing that I am actually here! I was walking up the hill to class today, and it occurred to me, like it does almost everyday that I have been here, that I am in New Zealand. I am living comfortably in a place thousands of miles away from my home and everything I have ever known. I remind myself that I am making memories and friendships that I will no doubt be looking back on for the rest of my life. My dad Walt studied abroad in Europe for an entire year when he was my age. And he is still talking about how much fun he had, decades later. Down the road, that's going to be me, reliving the moments I have now to my kids. It's scary to think about it. Even if it doesn't feel like it now, this journey here in New Zealand is something that will impact the rest of my life.
And I will leave you with that!