In less than half an hour, we're off to the San Fransico Airport, heading home to New Zealand. I dunno if I'm esctatic or depressed. I'm mostly thrilled.
In terms of doing things today, I have pretty much nothing to report, just going out for breakfast and getting an English Muffin for my last breakfast in America, and then curling up on the couch because I felt terrible, and only waking up three hours later....
Anyhow, I think I better mention in passing that I just realised today that people as far away as Russia and the UK and Malaysia and Australia as checking up on this post. Please, I cannot actually fathom why you awesome, multicultural people are reading about the mostly dull, or at least dully reported, holidays of one rather odd New Zealand girl? By all means, I hope you've enjoyed reading this, and I'm rather annoyed to have to stop writing it now.
To Mr. Mackenzie, as the person who asked me to write this blog for my school assignment, I hope it's of a good calibur. It's actually been hard to remember that this is a school assignment, and I've thoroughly loved writing it!
AS for photos... my American friends have seen them, and I really have not had the time to dowload all five hundred and something pics I've taken. Sorry! I'll bring my camera to school just to prove that photos have been taken. Promise! ;o)
As my Last Post (give me credit for an inventive name. ;o) Please?), this is bound to be highly philoscophical, and mostly repetitive of my last two posts. I still confuzzled as to what is going through my brain most of these last few days. I know I will miss my friends in Pennsylvania and California, and I still feel like I'm abandoning them, but I know that I don't really have a choice, and that is the very reason that email and phones were invented.
I have to sign off now, as I haven't eaten anything since that English Muffin, and I won't get anything to eat until I get back to NZ. So, I say a fond farewell to all the people who have read this blog throughout the world. Wish me luck on the flight home. ;o)
To my American friends, I loved seeing you again, and it really made me think about how lucky I am to have the life experiance of living in multipule places across the world, even if it's hard to say good bye. Thank you so much for the time you spent and all your have done as we travelled the USA. It's been an amazing trip, thanks to you all.
To my New Zealand friends, I can just say....
See you really soon,
Rachel
Friday 13 July 2012
Thursday 12 July 2012
*Deep Breaths* Landed Safely.
Okay, the plane did not fall out of the sky, and we landed safely in San Franciso. Today was... interesting. Went out, and when we came back, the dog, Katie, had gone into the bedroom and eaten Mum's valued jar of Marmite that she had been rationing. Ate the whole thing. Mum was so mad, as she had carefully scraped every scrape of Marmite she had left into that jar and saved it, rationed it, for months. She hates Vegemite, so is really quite devastated. The dog's fine, just ended up drinking two bowls of water and licking her chops.
We met Karen and Richard for dinner at a nice little low-key restaurant, which was very nice. They couldn't believe how much Bennett and I have grown, as they haven't really seen us since we moved to PA, when I was four and Bennett was one month!
Afterwards, we visited the bookshop Copperfield's. I remembered it from when I was four. We used to go there all the time. And, I am a DANGER in a bookshop! Talked to the guy who runs it, who is an avid fan of Sir Auther Connan Doyle, and we chatted Sherlock Holmes for the whole time I was there. I now have three new unread Sherlock Holmes novels to plough through on the plane home. Very happy. And, now I know better than to rush through the books, and will take my time and try to deduce what Sherlock sees in each of the clues before he works it out in the end. That's all it takes to resusitate me - a good book and a chance to use my little brain-box!
Not quite, actually. I've still been a bit muddled and depressed, but I'm trying not to let my mind wander on any... philoscophical tangents. Thinking too much only gets me in trouble! (Taking back the bit about being happy using my brain....) I miss everyone so much it hurts now, from two different continents, and I still don't know where "home" truly is for me. I'm more and more convinced, as I think of how great it will be to see all my friends, and have the steady routine of school, and the upcoming Choir trip to Wellington. I have things to look forward to, and my life is there now. It's where I've settled down, and I would continue to hate the schooling in the USA. I think, all in all, the choice to move and to be held back half a year was a good one, in the long run, as much as I miss my friends in the States.
There we are, I'm thinking too much, and have the tears in my eyes to prove it!
Have to sign off now.
See you all soon,
Rachel
We met Karen and Richard for dinner at a nice little low-key restaurant, which was very nice. They couldn't believe how much Bennett and I have grown, as they haven't really seen us since we moved to PA, when I was four and Bennett was one month!
Afterwards, we visited the bookshop Copperfield's. I remembered it from when I was four. We used to go there all the time. And, I am a DANGER in a bookshop! Talked to the guy who runs it, who is an avid fan of Sir Auther Connan Doyle, and we chatted Sherlock Holmes for the whole time I was there. I now have three new unread Sherlock Holmes novels to plough through on the plane home. Very happy. And, now I know better than to rush through the books, and will take my time and try to deduce what Sherlock sees in each of the clues before he works it out in the end. That's all it takes to resusitate me - a good book and a chance to use my little brain-box!
Not quite, actually. I've still been a bit muddled and depressed, but I'm trying not to let my mind wander on any... philoscophical tangents. Thinking too much only gets me in trouble! (Taking back the bit about being happy using my brain....) I miss everyone so much it hurts now, from two different continents, and I still don't know where "home" truly is for me. I'm more and more convinced, as I think of how great it will be to see all my friends, and have the steady routine of school, and the upcoming Choir trip to Wellington. I have things to look forward to, and my life is there now. It's where I've settled down, and I would continue to hate the schooling in the USA. I think, all in all, the choice to move and to be held back half a year was a good one, in the long run, as much as I miss my friends in the States.
There we are, I'm thinking too much, and have the tears in my eyes to prove it!
Have to sign off now.
See you all soon,
Rachel
Aahhhh! Sorry! I know I didn't upload anything....
12 June, 2012
Plane to California... again
Oh, God. I have managed to go a whole month without getting behind on my blog, and now look at me! Two days down the tubes. I’m well aware that I am terrible. What is wrong with me???
In my defence, it was our last days in Pennsylvania, so my thoughts have been more than taken up with packing the mess that had cascaded over the edge of my suitcase, and saying good-bye to all my friends. I never got to see Jacob or Grace, and that stings. I know it will sting them more when they realize. Though, I have no clue what’s going through Jacob’s head. I had his email, had contacted him with a list of times and dates that might work to meet up, and he completely ignores me, and doesn’t answer my email. What is it with me? Why do guys always avoid me like the bloody plague? Am I that unattractive and clueless? But that is three for three of boys that were supposed to email me and didn’t. I'm the only common denominator, and apparently I can't take a hint.
Just briefly, we went to WildWood nature reserve, which was nice, but sad in it's way. They're in the middle of a drought, so the water level is down so much, and there were no animals other than birds, squirrels, and bugs.
Anyhow, it was so hard to say my farewells today. I miss all my friends in PA already, and I never got a chance to properly say good bye to Olivia, which hurts more than the good bye would. Not that it is ever easy. Saying good bye to Robyn was sad, as she's a mentor for me and leaving her reminded me a lot of losing my mentor here when she went to Uni in Wellington.
But, to see the pain and betrayal in a friend’s gaze as they know it will be the last time you meet in... another four years for us. I can’t miss this much school again, and it’s exams for the next few years, so my big holiday will have to come after I’m out of college. I mean, I abandoned my friends once already, left them behind as I went on to adventures many and unknown. Now, I have to do it again, travel far away, leave them to the will of bullies and bomb threats and the big, wide world.
I mean, I was Kira’s only true friend; I’ve known her since she was two years old, for crying out loud! She is my oldest friend. Now, to hear her sniffling, fighting back tears, as I hug her farewell, knowing I am leaving her behind for the second time... It’s not an easy thing to do.
I just can’t explain it in any way that will do my fledgling intelligence justice, I’m afraid, so please just bear with me for now. I’m so tired and so stressed and so miserable that I can’t really think straight at the present moment, but I promised a post every day, and I know that promise was broken yesterday, but it won’t again. I swear.
Oh, God. I’m crying now. This is a great turn of events, and I’m liable to short out my keyboard. This is just fantastic. I’m so weak. And, the cold, pressurized air in this bloody winged tin can of a plane makes my damp face sting and freeze.
I don’t want to leave America, but I want to return home... but, being here has been amazing and my friends are here, not just NZ, and now I am so confused and hurt, and I don’t even know where “home” is for me. They say that “home is where your heart is”, but how does that work when your heart has been thoroughly rent in two??? Both places hold friends that are very dear to me, both are places where I have lived and breathed and created memories, both have sentimental reason for my attachment. Why am I so torn? I didn’t expect this, and I don’t want it. I hated my time in the States, as a whole, because of what the thugs at my school did to me, but take them out of the equation, and I just have the affection for my friends left. And, THAT means a lot to me.
I know that reading this will hurt friends in NZ, but please, don’t be offended. I wouldn’t be torn if I had not been homesick for NZ and the people in it for this whole journey. I’m actually looking forward to school now, to being back in a steady routine, classes, rehearsals, practise, homework, nationals for choir that I need to focus on with the whole of my mind. That’ll be the only thing that succeeds in returning my mental state to how it was. Expect me to be completely bi-polar for a while after I get back. Just a warning now.
To add insult to injury, the plane, a 757-200, had a malfunction with the fuel valve, so we have to stop in Denver, Colorado on the way to San Francisco, adding another hour and a half to our trip. So, instead of getting to Jayne’s house at three in the morning, it’s gonna be half past four. And, I’ve spent the last hour on this dumb thing hoping like hell it’s not just about to fall out of the sky. It’s midnight now, hence my tired, dishevelled and generally grammatically mangled and uninteresting post. Sorry. I have to repeat, please bear with me. I also haven’t eaten since half a sandwich at lunch, so I am seriously running on “Low” here. I got a Sprite on the plane a while ago, so I have some sugar and caffeine to keep me going for a little longer, but that’s just making me more of a jittery, prone-to-tears, nervous wreck.
I feel so despondent and lethargic. I’m usually good on very little sleep, so I doubt it’s that. I just can’t place my finger on what’s causing me to do my head in, so I better settle down and try and get some sleep (like that’s really gonna happen). We’re all going to be nightmares tomorrow.
I won’t write good night or good bye, as that will be too depressing, so...
See you all in less than a week,
Rachel
Plane to California... again
Oh, God. I have managed to go a whole month without getting behind on my blog, and now look at me! Two days down the tubes. I’m well aware that I am terrible. What is wrong with me???
In my defence, it was our last days in Pennsylvania, so my thoughts have been more than taken up with packing the mess that had cascaded over the edge of my suitcase, and saying good-bye to all my friends. I never got to see Jacob or Grace, and that stings. I know it will sting them more when they realize. Though, I have no clue what’s going through Jacob’s head. I had his email, had contacted him with a list of times and dates that might work to meet up, and he completely ignores me, and doesn’t answer my email. What is it with me? Why do guys always avoid me like the bloody plague? Am I that unattractive and clueless? But that is three for three of boys that were supposed to email me and didn’t. I'm the only common denominator, and apparently I can't take a hint.
Just briefly, we went to WildWood nature reserve, which was nice, but sad in it's way. They're in the middle of a drought, so the water level is down so much, and there were no animals other than birds, squirrels, and bugs.
Anyhow, it was so hard to say my farewells today. I miss all my friends in PA already, and I never got a chance to properly say good bye to Olivia, which hurts more than the good bye would. Not that it is ever easy. Saying good bye to Robyn was sad, as she's a mentor for me and leaving her reminded me a lot of losing my mentor here when she went to Uni in Wellington.
But, to see the pain and betrayal in a friend’s gaze as they know it will be the last time you meet in... another four years for us. I can’t miss this much school again, and it’s exams for the next few years, so my big holiday will have to come after I’m out of college. I mean, I abandoned my friends once already, left them behind as I went on to adventures many and unknown. Now, I have to do it again, travel far away, leave them to the will of bullies and bomb threats and the big, wide world.
I mean, I was Kira’s only true friend; I’ve known her since she was two years old, for crying out loud! She is my oldest friend. Now, to hear her sniffling, fighting back tears, as I hug her farewell, knowing I am leaving her behind for the second time... It’s not an easy thing to do.
I just can’t explain it in any way that will do my fledgling intelligence justice, I’m afraid, so please just bear with me for now. I’m so tired and so stressed and so miserable that I can’t really think straight at the present moment, but I promised a post every day, and I know that promise was broken yesterday, but it won’t again. I swear.
Oh, God. I’m crying now. This is a great turn of events, and I’m liable to short out my keyboard. This is just fantastic. I’m so weak. And, the cold, pressurized air in this bloody winged tin can of a plane makes my damp face sting and freeze.
I don’t want to leave America, but I want to return home... but, being here has been amazing and my friends are here, not just NZ, and now I am so confused and hurt, and I don’t even know where “home” is for me. They say that “home is where your heart is”, but how does that work when your heart has been thoroughly rent in two??? Both places hold friends that are very dear to me, both are places where I have lived and breathed and created memories, both have sentimental reason for my attachment. Why am I so torn? I didn’t expect this, and I don’t want it. I hated my time in the States, as a whole, because of what the thugs at my school did to me, but take them out of the equation, and I just have the affection for my friends left. And, THAT means a lot to me.
I know that reading this will hurt friends in NZ, but please, don’t be offended. I wouldn’t be torn if I had not been homesick for NZ and the people in it for this whole journey. I’m actually looking forward to school now, to being back in a steady routine, classes, rehearsals, practise, homework, nationals for choir that I need to focus on with the whole of my mind. That’ll be the only thing that succeeds in returning my mental state to how it was. Expect me to be completely bi-polar for a while after I get back. Just a warning now.
To add insult to injury, the plane, a 757-200, had a malfunction with the fuel valve, so we have to stop in Denver, Colorado on the way to San Francisco, adding another hour and a half to our trip. So, instead of getting to Jayne’s house at three in the morning, it’s gonna be half past four. And, I’ve spent the last hour on this dumb thing hoping like hell it’s not just about to fall out of the sky. It’s midnight now, hence my tired, dishevelled and generally grammatically mangled and uninteresting post. Sorry. I have to repeat, please bear with me. I also haven’t eaten since half a sandwich at lunch, so I am seriously running on “Low” here. I got a Sprite on the plane a while ago, so I have some sugar and caffeine to keep me going for a little longer, but that’s just making me more of a jittery, prone-to-tears, nervous wreck.
I feel so despondent and lethargic. I’m usually good on very little sleep, so I doubt it’s that. I just can’t place my finger on what’s causing me to do my head in, so I better settle down and try and get some sleep (like that’s really gonna happen). We’re all going to be nightmares tomorrow.
I won’t write good night or good bye, as that will be too depressing, so...
See you all in less than a week,
Rachel
Monday 9 July 2012
Washington DC... and yet another Science Warning ;o)
A ha ha ha... It official - I need a white lab coat at this rate. Dad took me, Bennett, Danielle, and Connor to the Capital City today, and goodness, if they have a lot of museums! I loved it, jotted down more notes that Chicago and Museum of Sciences combined, and had a blast!!!
My first stop was the Newseum. No, I did not spell that wrong; it is the museum of the press and popular media. Pretty clever play on words, huh? I thought so. Anyhow, they had an exhibit on the workings of the press in gaining the FBI its reputation and the top 10 cases of the past century. So... frickin... interesting... in a scary sorta way. (Some of the artifacts were a partically-melted credit card found in the Twin Towers, a uniform of the Ku Klux Klan, a machine gun that had belonged to Patty Hearst, kidnap-victim-gone-murderer, and a pic of the burned/probably dead body of a child pulled from a building in Waco, Texas in the search of the "Sinful Christ") But the main characters of my novel are a reporter and an FBI agent. I could not have done better in my research!
The timeline of the press included an article from the Chicago Tribune in a 1964 edition. Perfect. This gives me the most accurate account of the laylout I need to follow or allude to when mentioning the character's work.
I was lucky, too, as there was a meeting for the National Youth Journalism Conference, and I met with two girls - one from Oklahoma, the other, Tennasee - by chance who happened to be interested in novel writing as well as journalists-to-be. Anyhow, they gave me a website for a writing competition in November, some tips for a realistic reporter character, the do's and don'ts of journalism and writing, what the world was like in the 1960's and one had taken a forensics course, so she could answer some of my questions concerning gel electrophorisis, fingerprinting, luminol, and suchlike. I'm down to fingerprinting in my novel, however - the other two had yet to be invented. Dang. They were interested to find I was from NZ, thought my mix of accents was "cute", said that essay writing comes with practise, and that they used to both suck but had to get good because of the journalism classes, and wished me good luck with my future novels! Yay. I am happy.
Not necessary to my story, but scary, there was a section of the Berlin Wall, all cracked and broken and covered in graffitti. I dunno what it was, but there was something about it that just gave me the creeps. All that that wall would have stood sentry to.... It's not a plesant thought. I just snapped a few pics from the level above, and skittered away to find some newpaper something.
There was a spy museum as well, so that gave me notes for the one scene where our brilliant FBI agent and her sidekick are undercover and when they must interrogate two suspects. It also gave me a lovely pair of handcuff earrings... and a seriously paranoid attitude. After all, "the greatest spies are the ones that are never known."
AND the FBI Headquarters are really in Washington DC, not Chicago, so we got to walk around the building, and take pics and notes. It just gives me that much more realism when I defy the laws of physics and move the whole 7-story building to Chicago.... ;o)
The aeronautics and space museum was interesting, if not necessary. ;o) We got to go on the "Cosmic Coaster" 2D Motion Master, which I remembered from last time we went, and loved. Most of it was rather... so-so for me, who is rather intimidated by planes and similar large, mechanical objects, but I enjoyed myself enough. There was a model Wright Flyer, a Messershmit ME 262, a Boeing Something-or-other hanging from the roof, a model of the Space shuttle and International Space Station, and much more. I loved going when I was younger, and captured most of that enthusiasm for today. I don't much like planes or war, as Kristen will sullenly tell you, but space interests me, so that was fun. There was one haunting cartoon that proved my point about the horrors of war, actually. It portrayed an elongated, evil-looking skeleton with the wings of an early fighter plane, soaring above a serene countryside. The caption was "Many believed the Grim Reaper would rule the skies."
Okay, I can see all you folks giving up on my normality in dismay by this point, so I will log off, and let you completely forget every informative fact I have written on this post.
Thanks, folks. Too kind.
Cheers,
Rach
My first stop was the Newseum. No, I did not spell that wrong; it is the museum of the press and popular media. Pretty clever play on words, huh? I thought so. Anyhow, they had an exhibit on the workings of the press in gaining the FBI its reputation and the top 10 cases of the past century. So... frickin... interesting... in a scary sorta way. (Some of the artifacts were a partically-melted credit card found in the Twin Towers, a uniform of the Ku Klux Klan, a machine gun that had belonged to Patty Hearst, kidnap-victim-gone-murderer, and a pic of the burned/probably dead body of a child pulled from a building in Waco, Texas in the search of the "Sinful Christ") But the main characters of my novel are a reporter and an FBI agent. I could not have done better in my research!
The timeline of the press included an article from the Chicago Tribune in a 1964 edition. Perfect. This gives me the most accurate account of the laylout I need to follow or allude to when mentioning the character's work.
I was lucky, too, as there was a meeting for the National Youth Journalism Conference, and I met with two girls - one from Oklahoma, the other, Tennasee - by chance who happened to be interested in novel writing as well as journalists-to-be. Anyhow, they gave me a website for a writing competition in November, some tips for a realistic reporter character, the do's and don'ts of journalism and writing, what the world was like in the 1960's and one had taken a forensics course, so she could answer some of my questions concerning gel electrophorisis, fingerprinting, luminol, and suchlike. I'm down to fingerprinting in my novel, however - the other two had yet to be invented. Dang. They were interested to find I was from NZ, thought my mix of accents was "cute", said that essay writing comes with practise, and that they used to both suck but had to get good because of the journalism classes, and wished me good luck with my future novels! Yay. I am happy.
Not necessary to my story, but scary, there was a section of the Berlin Wall, all cracked and broken and covered in graffitti. I dunno what it was, but there was something about it that just gave me the creeps. All that that wall would have stood sentry to.... It's not a plesant thought. I just snapped a few pics from the level above, and skittered away to find some newpaper something.
There was a spy museum as well, so that gave me notes for the one scene where our brilliant FBI agent and her sidekick are undercover and when they must interrogate two suspects. It also gave me a lovely pair of handcuff earrings... and a seriously paranoid attitude. After all, "the greatest spies are the ones that are never known."
AND the FBI Headquarters are really in Washington DC, not Chicago, so we got to walk around the building, and take pics and notes. It just gives me that much more realism when I defy the laws of physics and move the whole 7-story building to Chicago.... ;o)
The aeronautics and space museum was interesting, if not necessary. ;o) We got to go on the "Cosmic Coaster" 2D Motion Master, which I remembered from last time we went, and loved. Most of it was rather... so-so for me, who is rather intimidated by planes and similar large, mechanical objects, but I enjoyed myself enough. There was a model Wright Flyer, a Messershmit ME 262, a Boeing Something-or-other hanging from the roof, a model of the Space shuttle and International Space Station, and much more. I loved going when I was younger, and captured most of that enthusiasm for today. I don't much like planes or war, as Kristen will sullenly tell you, but space interests me, so that was fun. There was one haunting cartoon that proved my point about the horrors of war, actually. It portrayed an elongated, evil-looking skeleton with the wings of an early fighter plane, soaring above a serene countryside. The caption was "Many believed the Grim Reaper would rule the skies."
Okay, I can see all you folks giving up on my normality in dismay by this point, so I will log off, and let you completely forget every informative fact I have written on this post.
Thanks, folks. Too kind.
Cheers,
Rach
Sunday 8 July 2012
More of Friends, and a bout of... homesickness?
Today was fun, too, and I spent it with Olivia and Robyn. We hung out at church, and then all went swimming afterwards. I showed them my sketchbook, as Olivia does cartooning. She says she's very impressed. Robyn, too. I was pleased that they liked the pics, as most of them are from last year, and are hence not very good.... I've improved quite dramatically over the past six months, but I sucked before.
Anyhow, more importantly, we got to see the new church building. It's kinda stuffy and old, and in a neighbourhood where I wouldn't want to be caught after dark, but they are helping there, and doing well. Supporting the food drive (like our cans week at Macleans... but they don't get a muffti day!), and setting up homeless shelters and putting money into a neighbourhood that could be gorgeous if it was not so forgotten.
We went swimming in a creek in the 5 Senses Garden. Good God, it was freezing! I couldn't feel my feet after about a minute. I didn't go in past my thighs, coz I didn't want to get my swim suit wet, coz that would make it colder! (I'm a wuss, I know) It also didn't help that this was the most overcast day we've had so far. Bad planning.
I really don't want this to be the last time I see them, however, as... it's starting to really hit me how hard it is to move countries, and live in two places so far apart. I mean, I know they say "your home is where your heart is", but what is your heart has been thouroughly rent in two? I mean, I wouldn't want to live here, as the school system is terrible and I have close friends that I miss terribly, even having been gone for only a month.
But, when I go back to NZ in... wow, it's only really a week, isn't it?... I'll be leaving close friends here, and an environment in the UCH in which I feel truly safe and cherished and able to be myself.
And, I know it's terrible for my friends here, as they've lost me once, and now they're losing me again. I'm losing them again, and now meeting again when I'm older, being able to really chat and gossip and all that, knowing them, it's harder to go back to NZ. I'll miss Robyn's quiet, non-judgemental wisdom, and Olivia's advice and witty, slightly off-base humour. Kira's shy spunk and young innocence. She's only 13, and doesn't hang with the usual popular gang. And, I think my friend Grace is away, as she hasn't replied to my email, and I know she wanted to see me. It's a real shame. I miss her so much, but maybe it's for the better that I don't have another link keeping me here. I haven't even seen my old friend Jacob yet. That will be hard. I've missed him a lot, and we didn't part on very good terms last time.
I'm starting to think that the tectonic plates should up and move themselves so that Pennsylvania is a close drive to NZ, and we could drive to Cali, too, damn it. Long-distance is a pain in the butt. *shakes head in dismay* What am I gonna do?
Sorry, this has been a very depressing post, so I will sign off now, and let you all get on with your lives, be cheerful and such.
Bye,
Rachel
Anyhow, more importantly, we got to see the new church building. It's kinda stuffy and old, and in a neighbourhood where I wouldn't want to be caught after dark, but they are helping there, and doing well. Supporting the food drive (like our cans week at Macleans... but they don't get a muffti day!), and setting up homeless shelters and putting money into a neighbourhood that could be gorgeous if it was not so forgotten.
We went swimming in a creek in the 5 Senses Garden. Good God, it was freezing! I couldn't feel my feet after about a minute. I didn't go in past my thighs, coz I didn't want to get my swim suit wet, coz that would make it colder! (I'm a wuss, I know) It also didn't help that this was the most overcast day we've had so far. Bad planning.
I really don't want this to be the last time I see them, however, as... it's starting to really hit me how hard it is to move countries, and live in two places so far apart. I mean, I know they say "your home is where your heart is", but what is your heart has been thouroughly rent in two? I mean, I wouldn't want to live here, as the school system is terrible and I have close friends that I miss terribly, even having been gone for only a month.
But, when I go back to NZ in... wow, it's only really a week, isn't it?... I'll be leaving close friends here, and an environment in the UCH in which I feel truly safe and cherished and able to be myself.
And, I know it's terrible for my friends here, as they've lost me once, and now they're losing me again. I'm losing them again, and now meeting again when I'm older, being able to really chat and gossip and all that, knowing them, it's harder to go back to NZ. I'll miss Robyn's quiet, non-judgemental wisdom, and Olivia's advice and witty, slightly off-base humour. Kira's shy spunk and young innocence. She's only 13, and doesn't hang with the usual popular gang. And, I think my friend Grace is away, as she hasn't replied to my email, and I know she wanted to see me. It's a real shame. I miss her so much, but maybe it's for the better that I don't have another link keeping me here. I haven't even seen my old friend Jacob yet. That will be hard. I've missed him a lot, and we didn't part on very good terms last time.
I'm starting to think that the tectonic plates should up and move themselves so that Pennsylvania is a close drive to NZ, and we could drive to Cali, too, damn it. Long-distance is a pain in the butt. *shakes head in dismay* What am I gonna do?
Sorry, this has been a very depressing post, so I will sign off now, and let you all get on with your lives, be cheerful and such.
Bye,
Rachel
Saturday 7 July 2012
Friends! I like friends!
OMG! Most of my day was boring - I stayed holed up in Danielle's room and rewrote part of my story - but then it got fun! We had a party to go to, and I didn't realise that is was thrown so that we could catch up with people we knew from here.... ^-^ Dumb, I know. And, even dumber, I didn't have a nice pair of shorts left clean, so I had to wear my long jeans... in 102 degree weather. I was not a happy gal by the end of the day, trust me.
And and and... ROBYN AND OLIVIA WERE THERE!!! It was so cool! Robyn's 20 now, and in her second-to-last year of Nursing Training. You've heard about Olivia yesterday (and it was at her house, this party, so she was going to be there... Duh). But, we just hived up to Olivia's room, and gossiped and talked and chatted. We gossiped HEAPS. I mean, serious, door-closed, shun-the-outside-world, girls-only gossiping for AGES. I protect my friends' secrets, however... and my own.... No more on this subject! ;o)
I told them what was happening with my school and I got the lowdown on the American college system, we looked up random stuff on the web, and it was just awesome. They are such neat people. I've only just realised how bloody much I've missed them, and how hard it is gonna be to leave them on Wednesday!!! *Sobs*
Thankfully, we're all going swimming after church tomorrow (We all know each other through the Unitarian Church of Harrisburg), so that'll be really fun. I can't wait!
And, again, it was great to see my mum so happy, being back with her friends. She's been hit probs the hardest by the move to NZ, actually, and it's really good to see her cheery and chatty and fun again.
Bye for now,
Rachel
And and and... ROBYN AND OLIVIA WERE THERE!!! It was so cool! Robyn's 20 now, and in her second-to-last year of Nursing Training. You've heard about Olivia yesterday (and it was at her house, this party, so she was going to be there... Duh). But, we just hived up to Olivia's room, and gossiped and talked and chatted. We gossiped HEAPS. I mean, serious, door-closed, shun-the-outside-world, girls-only gossiping for AGES. I protect my friends' secrets, however... and my own.... No more on this subject! ;o)
I told them what was happening with my school and I got the lowdown on the American college system, we looked up random stuff on the web, and it was just awesome. They are such neat people. I've only just realised how bloody much I've missed them, and how hard it is gonna be to leave them on Wednesday!!! *Sobs*
Thankfully, we're all going swimming after church tomorrow (We all know each other through the Unitarian Church of Harrisburg), so that'll be really fun. I can't wait!
And, again, it was great to see my mum so happy, being back with her friends. She's been hit probs the hardest by the move to NZ, actually, and it's really good to see her cheery and chatty and fun again.
Bye for now,
Rachel
Friday 6 July 2012
Who YOU Callin' an Air-Headed Mall-Rat???
Yo, folks. As you may have guessed from the title of this post, I spent the day at the mall with my friend Olivia today. I expected it to be boring, as I don't really like shopping, but we had a blast. Olivia is 19, studying bio at uni, obsessed with comics and dragons, and the most tomboy person I know, pretty close. (Kristen, my tomboyish sidekick, in order to give her a run for her money, you would need to cut your hair all off shorter than your fringe. Just sayin')
So, we just meandered about the mall, got lost, told lots of jokes, rambled on about the stories we're in the middle of (we are both authors in our free time, but she inks cartoons more than writes the old fashioned novel base I prefer), laughed and gossiped and chatted.
She's doing an early Halloween gig with a gang of her friends, as several of them will be away this Halloween, and they figured "What the heck? We'll do our own Halloween party in July for the hell of it." So, we were shopping for costume bits-and-pieces for her, and basic clothes and gifts for people back home for me.
She got everything she needed, but I struck out almost entirely. Everything is too big for me clothes-wise, and I got into a very unfortunate situation in the stationary shop, but I'm not going into detail about that, as it is just plain too awkward for a school blog. Sorry.
I did, however, find a Queen CD that I have not got, A Day at the Races, about which I am stoked. Listened to it in the car. Teo Torriate is haunting, You and I is funny and adorable, Good Ol' Fashioned Lover Boy is always a favourite and not as iffy as the name suggests, Somebody to Love is cute... I really like Queen! ;o)
But, that was only part of the day. The morning was spent at the house of a woman from church. Her son keeps and breeds snakes, so Mum and I got to hive down into their basement, and hold the most gorgeous albino Rosy Boa. I know it's hard to believe someone as fussy and scardy-cat as me likes snakes, so this may just be the boot up the backside I need for downloading pictures... tomorrow. It's 12am and I haven't gotten any sleep for two weeks, darn close. There are several of Mum and I with the snake. Unfortuently, Jonothan, the son, is away at the moment, and his mum is somewhat scared of them, so their cages haven't been cleaned, the water is dirty, their shed skins are still in there.... I really feel sorry for the poor things, and wish like anything there was more I could do. I didn't have the stuff or the time to help clean the cages today, and some of those snakes are big enough to pose a real danger to me. I'm not risking handling them alone.
Kendra and Peter, other friends, had invited us over to their place for dinner, and Olivia could stay as well, so that was really fun. I also saw another old friend, Libby, who's 16 now. I hate to admit it, but I can't really remember her all that well. She's changed a lot from the few memories I do have.
Olivia had to leave early because she was more tired than I was. I curled up on the couch and slept for most of the evening, I'm ashamed to admit. I still have a bit of a headache from yesterday's adventures at Hershey.
And, OMG, I finally got in touch - albeit briefly - with another old friend of mine, Jacob, who was my best friend in Year 4. I haven't seen him since then, and it was good to get his email today. I had called, but was told by his mum that he was spending the week at his grandparents, and wouldn't return until Sunday. We fly out on Wednesday, so I'm hoping he has some time just to go out for lunch or something and catch up.
Sadly, the friend that most wanted to see me, Grace, I think is away, as she has not answered my email, and I know that she has moved from where she lived when I lived here. I'm really sad about that. I miss her something awful.
On that cheerful note, it's late... again.
Cheers,
Rachel
So, we just meandered about the mall, got lost, told lots of jokes, rambled on about the stories we're in the middle of (we are both authors in our free time, but she inks cartoons more than writes the old fashioned novel base I prefer), laughed and gossiped and chatted.
She's doing an early Halloween gig with a gang of her friends, as several of them will be away this Halloween, and they figured "What the heck? We'll do our own Halloween party in July for the hell of it." So, we were shopping for costume bits-and-pieces for her, and basic clothes and gifts for people back home for me.
She got everything she needed, but I struck out almost entirely. Everything is too big for me clothes-wise, and I got into a very unfortunate situation in the stationary shop, but I'm not going into detail about that, as it is just plain too awkward for a school blog. Sorry.
I did, however, find a Queen CD that I have not got, A Day at the Races, about which I am stoked. Listened to it in the car. Teo Torriate is haunting, You and I is funny and adorable, Good Ol' Fashioned Lover Boy is always a favourite and not as iffy as the name suggests, Somebody to Love is cute... I really like Queen! ;o)
But, that was only part of the day. The morning was spent at the house of a woman from church. Her son keeps and breeds snakes, so Mum and I got to hive down into their basement, and hold the most gorgeous albino Rosy Boa. I know it's hard to believe someone as fussy and scardy-cat as me likes snakes, so this may just be the boot up the backside I need for downloading pictures... tomorrow. It's 12am and I haven't gotten any sleep for two weeks, darn close. There are several of Mum and I with the snake. Unfortuently, Jonothan, the son, is away at the moment, and his mum is somewhat scared of them, so their cages haven't been cleaned, the water is dirty, their shed skins are still in there.... I really feel sorry for the poor things, and wish like anything there was more I could do. I didn't have the stuff or the time to help clean the cages today, and some of those snakes are big enough to pose a real danger to me. I'm not risking handling them alone.
Kendra and Peter, other friends, had invited us over to their place for dinner, and Olivia could stay as well, so that was really fun. I also saw another old friend, Libby, who's 16 now. I hate to admit it, but I can't really remember her all that well. She's changed a lot from the few memories I do have.
Olivia had to leave early because she was more tired than I was. I curled up on the couch and slept for most of the evening, I'm ashamed to admit. I still have a bit of a headache from yesterday's adventures at Hershey.
And, OMG, I finally got in touch - albeit briefly - with another old friend of mine, Jacob, who was my best friend in Year 4. I haven't seen him since then, and it was good to get his email today. I had called, but was told by his mum that he was spending the week at his grandparents, and wouldn't return until Sunday. We fly out on Wednesday, so I'm hoping he has some time just to go out for lunch or something and catch up.
Sadly, the friend that most wanted to see me, Grace, I think is away, as she has not answered my email, and I know that she has moved from where she lived when I lived here. I'm really sad about that. I miss her something awful.
On that cheerful note, it's late... again.
Cheers,
Rachel
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