Pictures and Updates

Hello again,

Life has been busy, as it always seems to be for me. My 21st birthday was a success! My friends from Wheaton baked me vegetarian lasagna as well as a chocolate cake (with white and dark chocolate icing - mmmm!), and then later on in the week I hosted a "Halloween in May" party as my birthday theme party. It was a great time, and although my camera died before I could take many pictures, I'll be sure to get some from my friends to post later.

Although of course I'll be attempting to send thank-you cards to all of you who have sent me gifts, I thought I would at least mention how thankful I am to every person who thought of me on my birthday while I am away. It really meant a lot to me that so many people remembered me from across the world!

I'm going to add some pictures and captions from the past few weeks, because I think it will be easier than making you read books upon books about my adventures.

View from the top of a glacier in Mt. Cook, on the South Island.



View from the top of the Gondola ride in Queenstown, South Island.

Sydney Opera house at night.

Koalas at the Sydney zoo!

Alive!

Hello!

I'm sorry to have been so out-of-touch lately. No, I do not have swine flu. And if I hear one more person worrying about me... well I'm not sure what I'll do but just stop it! There have only been three cases of swine flu here (all friends of one of my Kiwi friends, they were studying in Mexico and are now being treated), and many more in the US. So don't worry about me, please!!

Two days ago, I managed to knock my "Klean Kanteen" (sort of like a Sigg water bottle, but better for the environment and the drinker) over while attempting to grab something for a friend of mine... onto my computer. Although for a brief period of 20 minutes my computer was somewhat useable, it is now completely dark and devoid of any signs of life. I took all of the parts that I could possibly figure out how to take out of the computer, and ran everything under a fan overnight, but to no avail. Oh, here's the kicker! My computer has a full warranty - including accident damage - but... you guessed it, this warranty is only valid in the country in which the computer was purchased in.

Just my luck, right! Well, I've been trying to see "the good" in this situation, which includes the fact that I can still get a new computer if I can get my computer back to the states (or when I return to the states). Also, I have gotten a lot more reading done for pleasure as well as class, and my room is now much cleaner than it had been in weeks. Catching up on sleep rather than spending endless hours talking on AIM and watching US tv shows from megavideo.com has also been a plus.

Alas, this is why I have been so out-of-touch, and why the photographs from Sydney and my most recent adventures have not appeared on my blog. I'm excited for my birthday (5 days! Well, 6 days til my REAL bday in the states), and have had some good times celebrating others' recent bdays as well.

Will post again when I have time, or a new computer...