Not so much of a Beach Day!

Rain, Rain, Go Away!                                                                                      Jan 7

I woke up early today, excited to meet my group for the beach! When I walked out to the bathroom I caught a glance out the back windows! Gray and rain was all I could see and clearing up did not look promising! I decided to call our director Ramona and see if plans should be changed, but to my surprise when I picked up the house phone the dial tone was different! The ringing was different than America as well. But no the beach was still in in hopes it may clear up.

Never play Mind Games on the bus

I met a boy on the bus. He was a college student and started talking to us when he heard our “cool accents” haha. He asked us to play a game. I was thinking what kind of game…..he then told me it would be a mind game. I agreed to play the game and at this point he had me imagine a blank playing card. He told me to think of a number while he very obviously flashed me a 3. He then told me to think of a shape while he then flashed me a diamond with his hands. I thought to myself hm, 8 of clovers. He then says let me guess you were thinking the 3 of the three of diamonds. Ha I was like no I saw you do that, so I purposely did not choose that. After telling us he is studying psychology he tried to claim that 90% of people would guess the 3 of diamonds! I wonder where this statistic comes from!

Hot Chocolate on the Beach

Stacey, Natalie, and I

We met everyone and loaded up in 2 large vans and my director’s small pink car. It was rainy and pretty cold at the beach. I may be a bit of a wimp, but I had no desire to swim in the ocean while I am cold! Most of the girls went in but I am waiting for vitamin D! It was nice to watch from under the trees. I actually went to walk to some shops and bought hot chocolate. I walked down to touch the water, with my umbrella and hot chocolate in hand. I was surprised how warm the water was! It was warmer than the rain! As soon as the girls got out of the water they were freezing!

Forgotten at the Thermal Hot Pools

It was still early when we left; we headed to the “hot pools”. I was picturing these to be like hot springs, but I was wrong. We pulled up to a small water park! This was not just any water park, but the water was natural and so that is how they were hot pools. They had pools of all different temperatures. The movie pool was nice probably about 95 degrees. You never know because they use Celsius here! There was another covered pool a little bit warmer, with a lava pool flowing into it at 48 degrees Celsius. I believe that converts to doubled, plus 32 ish, so I am thinking 130? It may have been! It was so hot, dipping my foot in singed off any hairs on my feet! My favorite of the waterslides was the Black Hole Choob!! I got to try out my new underwater camera and it working so great! Well my roommate Emily and I were planning to meet up with a few more girls at a shopping center called West Gate to hang out and go out to dinner, so we decided to take our stuff and change out of our suits. When we went to the bathroom all the other girls were still in the pool. I did not think we were in there that long, until we came out and our table was empty….Where could everyone have gone so quickly? Emily, Brooke, and I went walking to the entrance, but could not spot any of our group. We decided to go out and look for the vans and to my surprise the vans were gone! They had seriously left us high and dry and all alone! I had taken out leader Ramona’s number out of my backpack with my notebook that morning, but luckily Brooke had it on her. I went and asked to use the office phone! We got ahold of Ramona and she got everyone to turn around to come and get us! Hmmm….I guess I am glad it worked out, but I better not get forgotten like that again. Oh the crazy adventures!

Westgate has NO normal food and everything closes at 5pm

Emily, Brooke, Kirsten (no not me, another girl here!), Mikayla, Amanda, and I all arrived to Westgate and did some shopping around. We went to a craft store where people rent out booths and put the items they make in there to sell. There was some really cool stuff. It was basically Pinterest on steroids! The best find was probably the trucker hat that said, “SWEET AS BRO”. Don’t ask me how this expression makes sense, but sweet as is a common one. I am still trying to get down the context to use it but to my understanding it means cool or another word you hear often here is “far out!” I also think you can make variations to this such as Hot as or something to those lines! I will let you know once I get that figured out. Just about every store closed at 5 and the food court had indian and thai food. We ended up eating a burger and chips at a café! Oh so American. I realized after I got my meal that chips are fries, not potato chips! We also indulged in some desserts we all split! I have tried so many more desserts and candy here only to find out how much better they are than the US! Well somehow we looked at the wrong bus times and thought our but would arrive at 6:40, so we waited at 6:30. Well this is the coldest it has been since I have been here and it was starting to rain harder. In my capris and flip flops I tried to get warm and wait for the bus, only to find 30 minutes later the bus still wasn’t coming! I asked another driver and said the bus was done for the night! Ah I just about could have cried until 7:10 our bus finally came! We were the only people on the bus and the last stop of the night! I sweet-talked the driver into dropping us in front of our house, and it worked!! He also gave me his number because he is LDS and told us we could come over for lunch! That is the 2^nd number I have gotten in less than a week! Job well done if I say so myself!

Sunday’s are a wonderful day!                                                                                     Jan 8

Today I got to go to church with the Sorenson’s! It was so much fun. The ward was very small, but so similar to church back home! The people were very funny and I tried to get used to the handshake to hug to fake kiss on the cheek. Every time it is just awkward! One of these days I am going to mess it us and hit some square in the face haha! After church I got to skype my family and that was so nice to see them! We had a YSA activity at our house that night and most of the BYU girls came! It was great to see everyone and we took up at least half of the YSA (keep in mind this is the stake activity, they do not have singles wards here!) More people filtered in and it was fun getting to know people! Everyone was asked to bring “a plate.” Most people brought desserts, a few brought chips, but one group of BYU girls showed up with an empty plate! So hilarious, everyone got a good laugh! The party seemed to go on forever, well until they were kicked out and I was about to fall asleep!

It’s Monday, so school continues on….                                                                          Jan 9

Today is over and that means only 14 more days of classes for me! Things have been so busy, but I did get in a beautiful run today to the harbor! My oh my I sure sweat a lot. I thought it was a lower elevation than Utah so running here would be easier, but boy was I wrong. Either I am out of shape now or I did not take into consideration the humidity! I could just feel the air sticking to me, but taking in the sunshine was such a treat! I am so lucky to be staying in the area I am in! You have a beautiful view of Auckland city and can see the ocean all around! I have to get to bed so I can make it to my early bus tomorrow so we can see our usual driver, but I will keep this posted with more updates soon! Miss you all and hope your new year is going as well as mine :)

The Harbor

Auckland City in the background and me on my run!

There is no such thing as parking lots here!

P.S. 

Light switches switch down for on and up for off and I am still trying to get used to crossing the road and figuring out which way traffic is coming (I know its opposite, but I sometimes forget which direction is opposite) I basically just run across the road quickly swinging my head side to side. Even if they clearly see you, no one stops or even slows down unless you are in a crosswalk. Also you must wave to the bus, because if you just get up off the bench, stand there looking at it, and don't wave, it will drive right past you. Luckily I have heard other girls stories and my bus driver complained about people not waving this morning. Now I know better it will not happen to me!

Kia Ora!

No my plane did not crash, I have just been so busy since my arrival I have not found time for this blog! But I am watching green lantern now and have found time to get it updated!

Day of Travel

Mon. January 2

After having been charged twice for my plane ticket and getting refunded, I arrived to the Salt Lake City airport only for the man checking me in to claim my entire flight reservation was cancelled! I just about flipped out on him, until I got my travel agent on the phone. It was still considered a holiday so the office was closed. My mom called the emergency hotline while I was talking to my travel agent, after about 25 mins, the man somehow found my reservation and said he got my boarding pass printed………sketchy, I think YES! I got to San Francisco and instead of sitting in the airport 7 hours like all the other girls I was picked up by all 4 of my grandparents and taken out to BJs! Man can a girl get any luckier? It was great to see them all and helped my nerves with my big flight ahead! I got back and waited to board my plane. The weirdest thing was sending my last text. My phone service I turned off, but I still carry it around as it I could be on it! My flight only took 12 hours, instead of 13 so that was a plus. All 20 of us girls flew together and were sat in the same three rows. All of the flight attendants had accents, so what could get me more excited. I loved it! They had over 70 movie choices and some pretty good ones too! They had some tv episodes too! I chose Kung Fu Panda 2 and the Office. I had not slept much the night before and all I could think about was falling asleep for the night. I took my shoes off, pulled on the blanket and somehow managed to get into an Indian style position with my legs on the fold down tray! I never quite got the sleep I wanted. I slept in intervals, like an hour at the most before waking up uncomfortable. I probably slept for 6 or 7 hours total.  I read my magazines while snacking on my nilla wafers and twizlers. I also filled up on a chicken macaroni bake for dinner and a cheese omelet for breakfast. The food wasn’t half bad for airplane food!

The Roes

The Whittakers

On the Plane!

Maori Tongue and My Tourist Pants

All Blacks........HOT

The Grand Arrival

I landed and I could not believe it. It was 4:17 am Wed. January 4^th! It went pretty fast going through customs. I got my two bags and headed out to wait. The airport looked fairly normal; there was even a McDonalds right inside where we were waiting. My host mom Freeda came shortly after to meet us! I said goodbye to the other girls and headed out into Auckland. Hans (the dad) was waiting in a 5 series BMW!  Um so the weirdest thing…..HANS WAS IN THE PASSENGER SEAT AND SO WAS THE STEERING WHEEL! Driving on the opposite side of the road is really weird. I could not watch the driving. As we left the airport I immediately saw the strangest trees. They look like Christmas trees, but the pine needles are growing straight up. I still haven’t figured them out, but I will let you know once I do. I arrived to my new home. I am in the West Bay, which is very close to the water. You can see the city of Auckland from here just over the harbor! It is beautiful here, so many trees. Palm Trees everywhere. I just love it! I am sharing a room with my roommate Emily! It has been so much fun to have someone with me going through all of this and moving into an unfamiliar place. We have our own bathroom and it is pretty big! Because of the different outlets, I did not bring any hair appliances. We are lucky to be given a hair dryer in our bathroom! SCORE! There are 2 children in the family, Michael is 11 and he is fun. He reminds me a lot of Caysen! Elyse is 23 and she is very nice. You pronounce her name Elayse, but only because of the accent. So which am I supposed to call her? I think Elayse because that is her name, right? My name is Kirsten, not Kirsten with an Australian accent! One of Hans brothers is moving to Australia so I got to go to dinner with all the family at another brothers home. It was so much fun. They had a ton of delicious food such as sweet and sour chicken, plain chicken, rice, rolls, and salad. They also had curry, taro, and some other random foods I had never heard of. We all hung out and there were some very cute nieces and nephews! One was about 5 and her name was Braxton. She was laughing at me because I am apparently saying her name wrong. I haven’t seemed to master the accent yet! We then had some apple pie, banana cake, homemade custard and whipped cream, fruit, and ice cream! New Zealand is the dairy capital of the world, so there milk, ice cream, and all dairy is just delicious! I was so tired I fell asleep on the way home!

My House!!

My cute little room!

Bathroom

Trampoline

Kitchen! I love the white!

Backyard!

Day 2

The day began with a crazy adventure. School began today and it is about a 20-minute drive to get to the church building we will hold our classes in. We planned at night so we will know what bus route to take and where to go. We were planning to get on the bus at 6:40am, so we set the alarm for 5:30am. Early! I know! Well unfortunately we forgot to turn on the alarm after having set it! Luckily Emily woke up at 6:15 and woke me up! I jumped from my bed and got ready in a hurry. We ran out the front door and ran all the way to the bus stop. In our rush, we forgot out directions we had printed out, so we just hoped to find the school and our way home. We arrive to the bus stop and this is what we find……..BUS STOP TEMPORAROLY CLOSED. Please use other stop.  Just my luck, right? We ran to look for another stop, but found nothing.  We thought the bus must pass by the stop so we ran back to it, just as we saw the bus coming up the hill. We ran out to the street and flagged him down! He was nice enough to pull over in the middle of the street. We got in, but were unsure what to do. Luckily I was with Emily because I have little to no bus knowledge! She had to pay for the both of us because I had no cash. She only happened to have a $20 and the bus is $3.40 each. He had to flag down another bus with his speaker and get change for us! At least we made it to the bus! Sweating a bit we could finally relax until we got close to our stop. Because it is still a holiday for most workers here, we were the only people on the bus for the first while. Our bus driver is named Tuae? I’m not sure, but I know it sounds like Tour with an accent! He got us to where we need to be and we found the church so early! We had not had time for any breakfast so we went to a coffee shop. I got the most delicious strawberry muffin and Emily got a Neenish tart. We made it to school and barely survived it all day! It is fun to be around all the girls, but the same room for almost 8 hours is killer. We had a picnic for lunch with sandwiches and chips! It was delicious. By the time we got home it was almost 5, we cleaned up and helped with dinner. Dinner was sausage, pork chops, salad, corn, potato salad, and brownies for dessert! I am really branching out from my picky eating, not by choice, but because I cannot say no!!! They asked if there are any foods we do not like, but I just responded with a smile, no I will try anything; this was ironic because I am a very very picky eater and do not like a lot. The salad was made with cilantro…..dang I should have thought before I took such a large scoop because I had to gag it all down and hated every bite. At the end I was like wow this was great that you so much! I better hope this is not a recurring problem! Things are very different here. The roundabouts are the opposite way and it is still freaking me out. You must look the opposite way when you cross the street, I am still trying to figure that one out! Families, at least the one I am staying with are super close. Not a lot of technology and not really ever on the cell phones. The 23 yr old I have never seen on the cell phone! There are many different words they use here, I am still getting used to it! The flushes on the toilets here are crazy! They actually scare me a little bit. There are 2 buttons on the top of the toilet, one for a half flush and one for a whole flush. The toilets are supposed to spin the opposite way, but I have not really been able to tell. You do not really have time to watch the toilet flush because it shoots down so fast, almost like airplane bathrooms. I have only used a have flush and it is pretty crazy, so I do not dare use the whole flush! I will let you know when I venture out and try it one day! I got to skype my family! It was so good to see them and catch up! The nice thing about New Zealand is it stays light until 9pm. I was able to go for a jog last night at 8:30 pm in the light. The weather and sunset was beautiful! It is like paradise here! After my jog I had homework to do and got to bed!

The flushers!

Bus Adventure

Coffee Shop!

I will spend a lot of time here if I continue to take the early bus!

Day 3 It’s Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday!

Well this has been a short week! I cannot believe it is Friday! This has been a short week, literally! We got up and to the bus this morning! The bus driver is so nice!! He asked us how our first day of school was and makes so much small talk! He is a cute old guy! I will have to get a picture. I have found that I can ride a later bus, but it would not have the same driver, so we decided to just go early and do our reading at the coffee shop in the morning before class! It worked out nice today! School was SO LONG today! But I am glad it is over! About 9 other girls and I went to the big Pack n Save close by our school. It is a large store like a Wal-Mart! We sure looked like tourists all in backpacks and wandering around aimlessly. The only thing I bought were these cookies that are a big marshmallow with a graham and covered in chocolate! Delicious! We walked around to some shops that reminded me of Chinatown! They had just about everything in these shops, from Justin Bieber backpacks to costume pieces to pieces I believe are used to smoke weed! So I know I have only been here a few days, but I talk in an accent on accident all the time! It is absolutely hilarious! I cannot help it! Every time a person is talking in their accent I naturally am thinking to myself how I can repeat exactly what they are saying.  As I talk with the 11 yr old Micheal I repeat back to him things he says in an accent. Today I asked a lady for directions and went back over to the group of girls and on accident I repeated them all in an accent. Funny thing is New Zealand is similar to a British accent, just with a twist! My accent sounds more like just a British accent only!  Well I may be coming home with an accent! All us girls split on our own ways to get on our buses to get home. I arrived home in perfect time for chicken salad for dinner. Yes the thought crossed my mind that the parents think I loved the salad the night before so maybe this salad too included cilantro…..ahh I thought, at least I have cookies to eat! To my surprise the salad did not and it was pretty good! We also went to a very cool park and are back now to watch a movie! Tomorrow is going to be a beach day with all the girls! I cannot wait! We are going with 2 of the girls who live by us to a local shopping center called West Gate and shopping around and going out to dinner after the beach! I will let you know how it goes! For now this is about all I have to write and that is a good thing because this is longer than just about any paper I have ever written! Phew! Well I miss my family and friends like crazy and hope they are having fun back in America! I will update this again soon, hopefully so I do not get behind like this! Love you all!

Panoramic of the Park

Some sort of nut or something to climb in!

Beautiful Palm Trees

Michael and I at the Park

Here is some New Zealand Vocab for you all:

Ice Block – Popsicle

Jangles – Sandals

Knit ball – women’s basketball

Trolleys – shopping carts

Motorways – freeways

Sick bed – nurse’s office

Cloakroom – coat closet

Jumper – coat or sweater

Kitchen bench – counter

Togs – swimsuit

Lollies - candies

The Final Countdown

Less than 24 hours now and I will embark upon my journey! I cannot believe 2011 went so fast! It has been a busy month for the Whittaker clan! I love having all of my family so close to me and getting to spend so much time together, but I am really beginning to miss El Dorado Hills. The December traditions I have had all my life, going to applehill to cut down a christmas tree or dovewood court every year to admire the christmas lights. Things just aren't the same! Kendall turned 18 this month, which makes her an adult, while Caysen turned 8. Now I know I am Old! Packing into one 50 lb suitcasae and one 15 lb carryon for 4 months has sure been a process. The thing that freaks me out most is just leaving all my stuff as it is....and leaving my heels of course, that sucks! I have thought about sneaking in, but doesn't seem logical if we have limited space and a lot of walking to do. Here are some pictures I will leave you with to wrap up December and 2011! Best of luck to all this new year and hopefully I can stick to some resolutions or something!

Cutting down a Christmas tree in Alpine, Utah......a change, but a new tradition maybe?

Hogle Zoo Lights on Christmas Eve (So much fun if it weren't for the freezing weather! Also a lot of the animals were closed like the giraffes, elephants, and monkeys and those are my favorites)

Kendall's Surprise 18th Birthday Party! Chocolate fountain, mocktails and more! Check out that DJ set up behind us....shout out to Brae for helping out!

Early Christmas Before Cassie left! Sister's Are Best Friends as our new alisa michele necklaces state! So True, I sure am going to miss them while in New Zealand! 

Opening our early Christmas Gifts from Grandma and Grandpa Whittaker!

New traditions have been formed and new memories have been left in all our hearts as well as photos! I am so blessed to have the greatest family! Not talking to them daily will be hard for me, but I know we will talk so much while I am gone! Things changing it weird and getting older, even weirder! I would never change how close my family has grown and our situations for anything! It is always a party in the Whittaker house which has held strong now that Caysen keeps us busy with Nerf wars and xbox Kinect! I have packing to try and finish (almost seems impossible) then spending time with the family! Until next time......

Haere ra (Farewell) 

E noho ra (Stay Well)

A day of THANKS

I cannot believe how fast time is flying by!

Working in the schools is complete and I am so sad about it! It has been soo busy, but I have loved every second of it. Here is my amazing first grade class :)

I got to dress up this year as Minnie mouse, an Ipod, Morticia Addams, and Princess Leia! Here is a little taste of Halloween:

Halloween was short lived because it is already Thanksgiving

1st that means less than 40 days until New Zealand

2nd that means I ate way more than necessary

I learned to sew yesterday by making an infinity scarf. The youtube videos are so simple and I thought how hard could it be. Yes my lines aren't sewn straight but for this scarf they don't need to be. It turned out great and the fabric was on clearance at walmart:

TOMORROW'S PROJECT

a mens dress shirt into a skirt!!!

I will let you know how that one goes

Today: I have so much to be thankful for I could go on forever, but I will spare you and give you a short list. I am thankful for my family being so close and being so great and for the opportunity to go to BYU and New Zealand, and as Caysen would say, I am thankful for everything!

If you know me at all, it is all about the show, who cares what something tastes like as long as it looks good! I make Pumpkin sheet cake with cream cheese frosting off this website http://tammysrecipes.com/pumpkin_sheet_cake. Super Easy and Super delicious! I also folded the paper napkins into fleur de lis to fill all the champagne glasses! I cannot wait to have my own house to get all done up for Thanksgiving! I helped Caysen make name cards for everyone and either pilgrim or Indian hats. They turned out excellent and really added something to our thanksgiving dinner. I will get pictures of that up soon! Time to go Black Friday shopping...this years list, under water camera for New Zealand. I have to remind myself I only can buy things i Need. I get so carried away with the good deals I will end up buying things I have absolutely no need for because it is so cheap!! Wish me luck...

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Ultimate Dilemma

What do I wear for Halloween? What will I do for Halloween?

HALLOWEEN is one of my very favorite holidays! I don't know why, but it does not feel like halloween to me yet. I hope this weekend will change that!

Starting next week I will be working the the 1st grade monday through friday! I cannot wait and this is the perfect timing with needing a little more halloween in my life. What better way to celebrate then with 6 and 7 year olds! One of my very favorite halloween memories is my elementary school carnival. Let's keep our fingers crossed that they have a carnival at Rocky Mountain Elementary.

School is killing me now! I feel I am always at school and somehow I am always behind! I am sitting in a class right now and we just finished discussing how our income as teachers will classify us in the working poor group. The equivalent schooling level of the working poor is some or all high school. What the heck am I doing this for? I hate thinking about that....

On the bright side ONLY 70 more days till New Zealand! I cannot wait. I am a little sad that this will be my last semester on campus because then what?

Along with Halloween this month is birthdays!

My beautiful mother's birthday was on Wednesday! She is such an example to me and it is so nice to have all my family close by. My oldest sister Cassie's birthday is on Monday!

A Tribute to

My Mom: She always needing to do something. I remember as a child I thought she never slept. She was always up first, and always last to bed. You would walk in her room after having a nightmare and she sat right up to ask what's wrong (me being the deepest sleeper, I did not understand how this worked). The house is always clean. She is totally nosey. She loves to get in on our drama and she gets so concerned. She cares more about my dating life than I do. She can talk on the phone for hours. She cannot drive somewhere without talking on the phone because she is wasting time. Ironic because this is me. I am exactly like my mom. As I child I was described as the energizer bunny or the rabbit on Pooh, "So much to do, so little time." This is exactly how I would describe my mom. I get so frustrated with her lack of decision making, only because I cannot make my own decision. I depend on her for everything. I hope to know as much as she does one day. Thinking back I don't know how she was able to start at the age of 20 and raise all of us kids. We always got what we wanted, but at the same time she taught us so much work ethic. She must have done something right to create such brilliant children. She is the hardest worker I have ever met. Tell her what you want and she will search the internet for hours, call all her possible connections, and find you the best deal ever! I love having her here in Utah and I am so happy I have moved home. She totally pampers you. My mom is the most giving person I know. She can somehow find a way to provide her children the best of the best and does not care what she has. She has provided me with everything I have and says she does not want anything for her birthday. I wish I could give her more. Maybe one day, but then again I will be a teacher in the working poor class of America so maybe not!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Cassie: She is another great example to me. It is crazy to look back on the past 5 or more years to see where she is today. She is the girl you would see on that extreme couponing show. She knows what she wants and she knows how to get it. I see a lot of my mom in Cassie because she also needs to be doing something. Her daily life includes: getting Emmett ready and taking him to the DI for the unload time so she can score the best deals before anyone else. She then leaves on her daily run to the Provo library for story time. She checks out some new cooking books, a movie for Emmett and heads home to begin writing an article for someone who pays her. She uses that extra money to shop on KSL and find some new piece of furniture she can antique and put new handles on. She then calls all the sisters and rounds them up for bracelet making at 8, while she gets dinner cooked and on the table just in time for Jared to get home from school! Wow to think of her in her studded belts and punk rock style in high school, listening to hard rock, who would have thought? I am so happy to have Cassie here in Provo and I love going over to hang out with Emmett! I cannot believe she will be 26 and has her own family now! I am so grateful that she is our second mother, can organize family activities and I can always count on her to bake something great!

Happy Birthday Cassie!

What's up DOC

So I had the pleasure of greeting one of my best friends back from his mission in the Philippines on Thursday!

Kaity I and were reminiscing on old times and here is some of what we came up with...

THEN:

The Purple Unitard!

FHE groups!

SABATOGE

Parties

Doc being our paparazzi in Park City

SNEAKING IN THE BOYS DORMS

So many good times! I feel like the past 2 years have flown by!

NOW:

Waiting at the Airport

Kaity and Doc REUNITED!

Last night was Doc's last night in town until he comes back in January. It's never too early to get in the Halloween spirit, so we went to Nightmare on 13th! Since it was opening night we also got to partake in the Zombie dance after party! You can tell by this last photo that Doc still has his moves! So happy to have him home!

5 more hours and the large football game RIVALRY between BYU and U of U begins.

LET'S GO COUGARS!