Don't Forget Your Roots

I spent my last day in Dunedin running errands, hanging out with people, and generally savoring every last moment. I began the morning by lugging my bedding package in the rain to the Uni Flats office. Along the way I made my way past robed graduates and their parents. I felt awkwardly under dressed as everyone around me was in formal attire and I was in a t-shirt and work out shorts, sweating (though you couldn't really tell from the rain) and carrying a large plastic bag over my shoulder and looking much like a hunchback. After my bedding was returned I went back to my room and Skyped while I finished sorting out the rest of my things. I then headed into town with Sophie and her rowing friend Katie to get lunch and close my bank account and send a package. I sent a package of yummy New Zealand goodies back to the Mawr. I was originally going to send it home, but since post is so expensive here I decided to choose the cheapest option, sending the parcel by ship. This parcel of goodies is due to arrive around the end of January.

In the afternoon Gaia and I met up with Ebony and we went out to see Port Chalmers. Although it was foggy out we were still able to see some good views from the lookout point. The three of us hung out for a while and went to some other places around there as well before Ebony drove us back to the Lofts. At the Lofts I caught up with Eirin and Sara. Eirin had just come back from Australia and Sara from traveling around New Zealand. We all talked about our adventures while eating dinner and for many hours after. Eirin gave me a bottle of Summit (beer) and I snacked on Kinga's Cookie Time Christmas Cookies. I'm only mentioning the beer and cookies because I have actually really wanted a Summit in the last couple of days which is really out of my character because i'm usually not in the mood for beer. One of the million things i've learned here in New Zealand is that there is actually good beer.

The past six months have been the best six months and I am so happy to have had the opportunity to come to this beautiful and amazing country. I have met so many awesome people and had so many epic adventures. I also learned a lot about myself. New Zealand has taught me so much more than just academics. I have now had the experience of planning trips, finding accommodation, traveling alone, traveling not alone, and generally I have done a lot of "growing up".

While I will NOT miss freezing my butt off in the middle of winter in a house without insulation, I will miss all of the amazing people I have met here and all the fun adventures we have gone on. As Anton Ego famously says in Pixar's Ratatouille, New Zealand has given me a taste of "perspective". I continuously surprise myself now-a-days, mostly because I have all these new perspectives that I haven't quite wrapped my head around everything.

With that said though, outside of all of this "growing up" and having amazing life experiences, I am probably still a child at heart as playgrounds are still fun, and I am almost 21...

After much debate about what to do with my blog after I arrive back in the U.S. I have decided (for the time being) that it will stay a travel blog, but for my later travels as well. Thank you for reading and I hope you have enjoyed it. As kiwi's would put it, I have truly had a sweet as time here.