hi everyone... i'm in France now =D. it is very cold around 6 to 12 degrees, but NZ has trained me to take the cold. The first day we arrived at Paris, we were held back as there was a strike and the people working at the TGV station in the airport were not working! so we had to take a shuttle bus over to Gare de Montparnesse to catch the tgv train at 2 pm. The tgv is very high tech and very steady. they had this bar like area and we played asshole taiti together =D. Audrey's house is very cozy and very country. The dinner was soooo filling. i'm v. lucky coz the first thing i ate for entree is foie gras and baguette... yummy yummy! we had roasted chicken and potatos and this sugared brad for dinnerL. i was so full after that. Her dog lidzie is very cute and furry. she's v. gentle and likes to explore new people and walk arounds me sniffing. Then the second day I took the tran with my buddy from Pessac to school. I went for her nmaths lesson aznd they were learning abt inequalities. not to be offensive, but their method is really long with very long working and long sentences. Later, We had an apllied arts lesson and we walked around the class and observed the students and flipped through their design scrapbooks.very inspiring for coursework indeed, but i dunno what to do till now. this funny guy cmne up to us with a world nap and asked us where our country is. ha! We then learned abt french food later. the reception at 6 pm in the canteen was great they had finger food like chocolates and macarone!!! on the third day, we went for an orientation at college alain fournier. we watched a video on gironde and bordeaux. then we took the tramway to centre ville for a trasure hunt. whezn we need answers to some questions on the village or need to ask for directions, we had to ask in french. we two walked around with mabel, xurui, zhengkai and brandon. xurui and theresa and brandon were the main enthu people while mabel and i were like the umbrella holders for them. but zhengkai actually did help to lead the way but he misunderstood the french woman and led us to this weird narrow long alley. and we walked one whole round to reach our destination again. We eventually saw the fountain in front of the river,aka the mirror. the fountain is so magnificent in the ,idst of all the ancient buildings. wow this place is so immersed in culture! ok now i'm at audrey's house after eating steak and potatoes cooked by her. lessons on wednesday end at 12 nn and so i'm going to town for a walk and some shopping later with elsa and sherlyn. hopefully i'll see theresa and the rest too. bye.
Twinssigning
off at 9:22 PM
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Wow. Time flies so fast and I'm back from NZ in 11 days! It was the beeeeest experience overseas I had =D. My group rox a lot. At first, we were v. quiet but I realised all of us our FUN and we had no cliques! (like v. rarely only)=D. Special thx to all in group4 for making my trip such an enjoyable one! The OPC activities were all v. thrilling. Except tt my camera froze and i couldn't take any pics. Stil waitin for group members to send photos. sobs. Days one and two: Travelling on plane and travelling to OPC. Day three: Bush bashing. We were all muddy coz it was raining q. a lot. Grace slijd down a steep mud slope onto Ju and Ju onto my leg. Haha. It was so sudden! Then we went for the flying fox which rocked thanks to the scenery (a pretty river way way below)and climbed a tree tied to the whole group. So fun! Day four: Caving!!! It was so squeezy in the cave. Rocky. cold. wet. There were certain areas that required us to crawl on all fours and even i got stuck between really narrow rocks at times. I remember the birth canal, escape route and toaster!Caving is also a disadvantage for taller people. coz i couln't stand straight at times. Day four: Mt Ruapehu! We climbed a snow mountain up to abt 1900m above sea lvl. Could see a magnificent view of tongariro national park and the other 2 mountains --- Mt. Tongariro and Mt. Ngaruhoe (Mt Doom in LOTR!)We had fun in the snow and slid down a steep snow slide...really steep and long! Climbing up was tough. We used ice hacks and our feet to push into the ice. I fell the first time but did it the 2nd tim, thx to Georgie for her deep footsteps and Jodie for telling me to move on. coz if i fall she'll fall at the back of me too. Day five: Fist day overnight expedition! We went tubing down river mangatepopo. It was freezing cold. At times it was so shallow i got stuck on the rocks and had to walk. At times the river was so rapid tt i capsized. The first ime I lost my tube. many pple fell too. that's where u see the despo side of people! Clinging onto leaves by the bank was the only answer. =D. The 2nd time i capsized was when the river swept all of us towards the bank and we all capsized in a frenzy together. really had a great laugh! We had the opportunity to see rare blue ducks too! Then we went to trek to our campsite in a pretty temperate grassland with yellow shrubs and thorns all around. The view was so great and it was v. cooling. At night, the sky was so magnificent with stars all around us. All of us lay on the grass and stared at e sky till 12 midnight! We sang many crazy songs (including the school songs)to keep warm and huddled together. I saw bright shooting stars too! It's a really touching moment! Day six: We trekked between Mt. Tongariro and Mt. Ngaruhoe. With a heavy pack and the shit spade. It was going upslope and the ground was covered with white moss and rocks. Q. nice scenery. V. differnt from e other days actually. Then we reached the clouds and were inside it! The last part was to cross lava (spilled out in the 50s by one of e mountains)The lava was like prickly, unstable rocks, and i shook like xiao! v. scary! Then we went rock climing on a cliff which is abt 10m. I didn't climb fake rock walls before, but the real one is much more thrilling for sure. at time the crevice in the rocks are too narrow and if i jam my foot in it could not come out easily. Abseiling down later was q. scary and i did it so slowly tt Georgie came and pulled the rope faster that i was running down the wall. Haha. Thx to Portia and Liying for belaying me. I can hear you two laughing like mad from down there as you two always do! =D. We camped in the forest near the caves coz it was really cold and rainy in the mountains. I rmb the pasta we had for dinner which rocked! =D Day seven: Left OPC. so sad.... We had our last lunch there in Taurewa Lodge b4 heading to Kiwi Paka Hostel in Rotorua. Stopped by Lake Taupo and played in the playground there. the kids are all so cute! I did not bathe there coz I was lazy but I went to the toilet there a few times. Bailu was washing her socks in the basin, right under the sign that says : "No washing of clothes at basins.Pls use laundry room." Haha. Day eight: Fun at Rororua! We took a gondola up a mountain at Skyline Skyrides and played the luge twice. On the intermediate track, I crashed into the grass and lost control q. a few times haha! The chairlift ride back up the mountain was fun to. Then we went to Agro ventures. I tried the Agrojet and Swoop. Agrojet was suprisingly not wet. My first time jetboating. Liying and I came up laughing for no reason. It was fun. =D The swoop was the scary one. Grace, Portia and I were strapped into sth like potato sacks and lifted abt 40m high above ground and swoop down we go. I love tt empty stomach feeling! We had pizza for dinner in Auckland. We were waiting hungrily and on the waiting list, we were called "Hungry People", can't stop laughing abt tt! We had a great diner in me and Sheila's room. Day nine: At Auckland, we hopped on e explorer bus to Auckland Museum to catch the Maori Show. The PM was at the museum since they were commemorating a minute of silence to mark e end of WWI. Then we went on to Victoria Park Market for lunch and shopped around. We went to the Ferry Building and walked up Queens Street. More shopping! It was really great fun shopping with the team. For dinner we roamed aroung the area near our hotel and found Burger King at Sky City Metro. sth like our Cathay Cineleisure. We went to the arcade and I watched them play stuff and we took neoprint together! We went to Borders to read mags too. Day eleven: Last minute shopping at the airport and we had to go! Bye NZ!
I really miss NZ now. From OPC to Rotorua and Auckland. I miss Dog biscuits. I miss our chalet and the loft. I miss the scenery at Tongariro national park. I miss my groupmates!thanks to: Sheila, Liying, Jodie, Valerie, Portia, Yiyan, Grace and Xin yi! You've all been great fun in NZ! Loves, Trixie.
