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Theres so much to write I don’t really know where to start.
How’s about…a little town in upstate New York, early in the morning of the 17th of December. I start here because this was the day that it all began. The day that was the beginning of my adventure to the motherland – that’s the United Kingdom, just in case.

I left school early; well it was about midday before we left but after a long night of celebrations for the completion of exams that’s early!! So we got on the road, I managed to find a ride to the city, as I was flying out of JFK. The drive wasn’t long and I was in good company so things started well, but if there is one thing I hate about traveling it would have to be the hours you spend doing absolutely nothing (except maybe reading a trashy magazine) waiting in airports. Oh the things you got to do to travel the world. Such a small price to pay I would say!!

So finally later that night I boarded a plane bound solely for one of the fastest paced cities in the world, London!!
I arrived early the next morning, feeling surprisingly refreshed for having been confined up in a tiny economy class seat for the previous 6 hours. Has anyone ever walked out to the arrivals lounge in Heathrow airport because the feeling I had was like I was a new born puppy being put on display in a large glass cage. Its nuts you walk out and there are people hanging over every inch of space there is to snatch the first sight of the unknowing innocent people getting off their planes. I felt the urge to bust out a dance or something – but you will all be happy to hear I restrained myself and held back!!

I was picked up by one of my really good friends from home’s parents, who now live in greater London, which was nice to see a familiar face as opposed to the many unfamiliar. I went from there and spent a few wonderful days catching up with them and a few of my other friends and people that I knew that lived in London, even managed to bump into a couple of unsuspecting on Bond Street as well, small world aye!! Was awesome to hang out for a while and not have to worry about the daily things of school and training, and I really got to relax for the first time in a while. Great feeling. Next on my list of travels was a flight to Edinburgh to see my sister – it had certainly been a while but when I saw her nothing looked much different. She looks great and was so glad to see her. We spent all of that afternoon, night and a large portion of the morning chatting away over a few beverages just catching up.
From there once work was finished (for them not me) and all xmas parties had been attended to we hit the road and drove down to my grandparents place in Southport in Northern England. This was cool, it was the first time I had seen my grandparents since I was much younger and also my brother came up and the three of us kids spent xmas with our English cousins, it was weird but cool, because we are all grown up now and hadn’t seen each other for a long time.
Christmas day was wicked. We had a huge feast, I say feast here instead of just dinner or meal because that’s exactly what it was – a feast of massive proportions I think there were 5 courses in all. I was stuffed full after that, we rounded off the afternoon by playing that game; I never am sure what it is called, where you write names on paper and stick it to their foreheads and then they have to guess who they are by asking questions that can only have ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers. This was a great way to entertain all the family – a game for all ages. Once the oldies retired to their beds, the younger generation of James’ headed out to the pubs to dance off their xmas dinners, mind you I think we might have burned off more than that as we walked the whole way home after the pubs closed. I think it took us over an hour, though on any given day I’ve been told it takes less than 20minutes!!

On the 26th – Boxing Day to those of us from ‘down under’ – my sister, her boyfriend, one of her friends that has just moved to Edinburgh and I all set off once again in the car, this time however our destination was Newcastle to board the Duke of Scandinavia en route to Holland, Amsterdam in fact. After a extremely rough crossing where many were only just managing to hold down their xmas dinners from the night before, we spent the next three nights in a hostel right in the center of Amsterdam. The country is so beautiful I could hardly believe it. It was so different to what I thought it might be. We spent our days walking the canal-lined streets and window shopping and marveling at the buildings that looked more like they belonged next to the leaning tower of Pisa rather than on a quiet street in Holland. It was amazing how these buildings stood up, apparently we learnt that they were built on very soft soil due to the moisture from the canal water and so gradually the soil is moving and therefore they are moving with them. By night we walked the infamous red light district and saw some sights you would never see in up-state New York. But like I said the city is amazingly beautiful and the people are so nice and friendly!!

It was back to Edinburgh on New Years Eve, after a much nicer and not so rough return crossing on the Duke. Had an awesome time with my sister and some of her friends that were staying in Edinburgh for a visit. A couple of them had just got engaged and so there was a double celebration to be had!! We headed for the huge street party – hogmany. One of the biggest in the world for New Years Eve I think!! There was so many people, such an awesome experience. I almost got lost but managed to find my way back to the pub we were planning to meet back at and sure enough everyone was there.

After a crazy time after Christmas and during new years I headed south and back into the empire land and to Birmingham, well actually kind of south of Birmingham, a little brand new village type setting called Solihul.
That is where my older brother, Scott works. He got a job from London about 6 months ago and moved north to take the job and its ins quite a cool little place actually. Very different to anything else I have experienced in England, a very new, modern little place where everything looks the same. It seems as though it should be part of the countryside, and kind of is if you go more than 5 minutes out of the center, but has the feeling of a cute little township!! After much good food, and a little tiki touring around the mid section of the motherland I jumped the 9am bus down to London and managed a flight out of Heathrow and before I knew it I was back in NYC jumping yet another train upstate to head back to school.

Looking back I can’t believe how fast time flew by, and how much I managed to jam pack into my little 3 week tour. I loved the time and the experience and more than anything being able to hang out and catch up with my sister and brother again!!

Well I guess this is it for me for the time being, I hope you have all enjoyed the travels with me as I have taken you about the life of a upstate NY liberal arts college student, who spends more of her time submerged in water rather than standing dry on land!!

I wish you all well in your travels as they continue through life and I leave with just one piece of advice….. – just do it! Whatever the cost the benefits will far outweigh it in the long run!!
Travel safe and I look forward to reading the experiences of the new season!!
Kez

I come to you not from my nice, sometimes clean and very spacious suite in the dorms but tonight I sit and write from a small, slightly elevated corner of the 4th (commonly regarded as the social) floor of the Hartwick College library – I think it’s got some name of some famous old dude who probably gave a ship load of cash to the school but I couldn’t be sure of the history and do him the justice he deserves so I’ll just leave it at “the lib”!!

So here I am, 3 days in and 3 of 5 finals deep.
Now the truth comes out…in an earlier blog I seemed to give off a sense of there being a lack of importance to these end of semester finals in which I currently partake. Well, for the sake of my family who read these little tidbits and believe I am the perfect student that every professor wishes for (haha), it seems you read and understood me slightly wrong!! They hold significant influence over your grades …..
And on that note you will understand why I have left “the lib” in the last 3 days only to buy red bull (on sale at the moment 3 for $5 at the local petrol station), pee, eat or sit an ‘extremely important’ exam!! Its nuts!!! I am suddenly regretting my venture home (umm NO I’m not!!), for the simple reason of missing a few too many classes that I am now left to teach myself the course material!! (So lucky my mums a teacher – it cant be too hard…right??) So I am surviving right now on less that 4 hours sleep in 3 days and a luxury cruise liner (rather than a mere ship) load of coffee (we even have our own personal percolator thingee here because the coffee cart ran out of coffee – honestly its exam week, how does that happen??), and red bull (thank god for that little place in Switzerland that producers that wonderful stuff – yes I have read the can THAT many times).

I apologize for my rather ‘random’ blog but under this weeks circumstances I believe I can be forgiven!! Ohh how I love exams!!

So like I said 3 deep – they haven’t been bad, only one was hard – well actually tested me - accounting and I think I came out with a pretty good feeling so I was stoked!! And the other two were a bit of a joke!!
So I must run now. First sleep of more than 2 hours in one go for a while. No exam now until 4pm tomorrow. Will be a good nights sleep, a good workout in the morning and then straight back into it right here in this very spot I have claimed my own!!

Catch up soon, wish me luck!! & for the rest out there experiencing the same thing…I wish you well – “it gives you wiiings”
Kez

Hey all,
Finally this long semester is drawing to a close!! Early next week I will partake, along with about 1600 other Hartwick Student, in the long awaited final semester exams!! They make them sound so serious!! I’ve been here too long - I know the drill. They mean no more or no less than the other 3 or 4 that you have undergone in the duration of the semester and really all the hype is just for those wee freshman that are sitting their first ones, so they can make that phone call home to mum and dad and tell them how hard they have been studying and how well they are going to do. Ohhh back in the day!!

Its funny, when you all arrive on campus everyone is happy and rejoicing in seeing all their school friends again after a long break but as we come closer and closer, and the length of time between the last trip home and the present is getting longer and the need getting stronger, people are changing. Their patience seems to burn away and everyone seems like they are sleep deprived. Whether it is a bad case of sleep deprivation or what but its bad and the further on in semester the worse it gets, except for those kids who (and I would only call them lucky for the fact that they get to go home all the time, but I would call them very unlucky for not living in such a beautiful exotic place as some of the rest of us – not to say that upstate NY isn’t exotic, just in its own way!!) go home every weekend.

Well as I said exams are upon us and I really haven’t opened a book, I have 5 of which I get two I don’t NEED to open a book, I’m assessing management companies on proformas already set up on my computer – just put in the numbers, and the other 3 will have their books cracked and the dust blown off once again before I trek off down the hill to sell them back and make a stunning profit.
Well other than that I will be living in the library for the next couple of days to study for these three exams. I figure I might as well keep up my excellent grades that I have maintained through the semester so far!! Oh well you can only hope for the best!!

Catch up soon, will write again when I’m right in amongst the hustle and bustle of packing and getting where you need to be for the Christmas break!!
Kez

Just wanted to say there are some, believe it or not, absolutely beautiful and extremely worthwhile reasons to getting up at 5:30am and being in the pool at 5:45!!! This is one of them!!

You know what they say “Red sky at night Sailors delight, Red sky in the morning Sailors warning”
Also, the weirdest thing today, little did I know but last night as I sat and watched the awesomest (I think I just made that word up, as it is certainly not in my computer’s dictionary) episodes of the OC and making the bad 3 last night that the entire time the heavens were opening up outside and all the snow was falling to the ground. This might actually be the first fall that we have had that has actually stayed longer than a few hours too, pretty cool. So here’s a shot of what lies underneath all those crazy clouds in the first pic!!

Enjoy!!!

Well, well, well. Once again I return to this small town, minus a bag!!! This time however, I am lucky (if you can call it that) it is not my bag of clothes that I have lost, it is more the bag my father kindly sent me back to school with packed full of Christmas presents for my brother, sister, grandparents and cousins in the European nations, where I will be heading for my Christmas break!!  Oh how I love airlines and the whole traveling thing. Wouldn’t it be so much better, and quicker, if we could chose our destination, buy our ticket, go to the airport, push a button and be where we our destination was, rather than having to endure the torture of the 20somethign million hours of being cramped up in that little seat, with the fat smelly guy on your right and the crying baby two rows in front!! Dreams are free!!!
 
No I have to apologize for my slackness of the last week. I have to say I have had an amazing time at home and being completely honest have not wanted to sit down and take even the slightest amount of time away from it to write you all, I know I am going to hell for being selfish!! But I wanted it all to myself!! I knew I would share it all when I got back to school, promise!!

Between simply just being in a place you not just call home but mean home when you say it, is refreshing in itself. I felt refreshed the moment I could see land when my plane was descending into Auckland airspace, and I mean that’s something because we Wellingtonians really don’t like a thing about Auckland. Flying in was gorgeous, for those of you that know what I’m talking about, you could see the entire way down the south island, it was just that clear, almost every detail from the patchwork of the farms on the Canterbury plains to the furtherest peak on the Southern Alps, it was all in plain sight. I felt so lucky!!!
 
This was only the beginning, although I do have to remark, this was the best weather I was to get in my entire stay, but I mean not everything could be perfect right, there had to be some reality!!

I was so happy to see my dad at the airport, I have missed him so much this year, and the worst part about that is I have only been away nearly three months, for some unknown reason however I have found this year the hardest yet in terms of being away. I was lucky enough to be treated with an unexpected visitor at the airport on my arrival, my puppy Bruno!!

I went from there for a much needed shower, it’s gross how gross you get when you’ve been on a plane for, well I lost count of how many hours!! Next on the agenda was surprising my best friend that I was home for her 21st the following Saturday, she nearly fell over backwards and out of her chair when I walked through the door. I was happy to see how surprised and excited she was to see me. That night continued with many a beer, now that I was once again legal to drink (18 is such a better age). I then went to see my boyfriend, I have missed him too, I think this might be a large factor in what has made this year that much harder, long distance = no fun (until you get to see them again!!).

This is pretty much how the majority of my week went. However I did manage to get in some excellent timing with 2 of my good friends, who I went to high school with, 21sts on that first weekend. One was a lunchtime affair and so it made for an early start while the second continued well into the night!!1 Such a good way to catch up with so many people you haven’t seen in so long.
 
Just an insert here for all of you who are wondering why the hell we put so much on for a 21st. I guess at home it is a celebration of independence and life. Pretty much its the time your parents, if they haven’t already; say “here you go now you have to support yourself, no more leaning on us”. It’s a big thing in a young adults life if you’re a New Zealander, and I know Americans don’t do it that way because I am trying to plan mine to have here in January and no one knows what I’m talking about. There are speeches by those close to you and friends who just want to give you a good roasting and its all out on and it’s a big thing!!! (Big enough to warrant a trip half way round the world in a week) Just thought that might help some of you who are confused!!
 
Back to the time at home, the week flew by way too fast, and consisted of me taking my friends out for dinner or lunch, who’s 21sts I had missed, and spending more time with Popz and Manu (boyfriend) and loving every minute of it!!! Then a Friday roll around, this also, purely by good timing, was Manu’s birthday. I had brought tickets to the Foo Fighters in concert, in Wellington. And I must say one of the best concerts I have ever been too. They are amazing live, such a great show to watch and they played songs off old albums that hadn’t been played live in nearly nine years. Makes shows that much more worth it!!

And the Saturday night was the big night, Nicole’s 21st!! My speech went down, despite how nervous I was, I hope without a twitch and things went really well. Was so good to be able to share such a awesome night with her and certainly catch up with many of her family which I know really well as well. Now I’m getting a little nervous as she plans the big trip out to New York for mine. Ohh no I feel pay back for my speech coming on!!

Well I hope you all enjoyed my little recount but I’m sure not nearly as much as I did living it!!! Want to go back already!!!

Hopefully this makes up for my slackness last week!! Will write again soon, as I slowly get into the swing of things all over again. But only two weeks left and I am off to England and Scotland, hard life this one!!

How were all your thanksgivings???
Catch up
Kez

Hey guys,

Just thought I’d write and let you know about all the fun stuff I’ve been up to while on my quick trip home!! It’s been one crazy week so far; I got in on Friday afternoon, flew into Wellington which put on the most gorgeous weather for me, I could see right down the south Island, was beautiful. Pity that has been the best of it, haven’t had weather so good since!! Went and surprised my best friend on Friday night that I had come back to her 21st, she nearly had a heart attack!! And then on Saturday morning I was straight into it with a friend from schools chanmpange breakfast for her 21st which turned into an all day affair, then at night had another girl I went to school with had her 21st!! Which was awesome and it’s been so good to catch up with everyone!! But then I wouldn’t miss it for the world, the all blacks were playing the english in a rugby test at 3:30am, so that just added to the excitement of the night as we beat them in a very hard fought test match!!

Since then I have been recovering mainly. Have been out for dinner on a few nights and have spent the rest of my time catching up with my boyfriend and my dad!!! What a combo!!

Well for the weekend ahead, it is my boyfriend’s birthday and we are going to a foo fighters concert, with around 18,000 other NZ’ders (and by the way that’s huge for us on concert size, I know it’s nothing to you Americans though!!) so im real excited about this!!! Then I have the real reason I came back my best friends 21st which should be a cracker of a night, have spent so much time writing my speech and stuff for it. I’m sure we will be heading out to town once we have drunk the bar tab. Then once again we have another test match, against scotland this time, and they shouldnt put up as much of a fight as the english but it will be a huge feat for the all blacks and cap off a huge year and a grand slam (you probably have no idea what I’m talking about - I’ll try and explain, pretty much it is a southerm hemisphere rugby nation going to the 4 home nations of ireland, scotland, england and wales and beating their teams at home - it’s not often done and a very hard feat all the same)

And then ofcourse , there’s no rest for the wicked and I fly out at 11am on Sunday morning!!! Should be one very quick flight back as I should sleep all the way, as I certainly won’t get any before that!!!
So will be back at school sometime on Monday, will write again then and update you all on the antics of the night and of course that the all blacks have made history!!!
Speak soon
Kez

Hey guys,
Just a quick update, I’ll be coming to you for the next two weeks at least from home, yeah that’s right I’m heading back to New Zealand for a quick 12 day visit. Some would say it’s crazy, yes, I know but I have my very best friend’s 21st to celebrate on the next Saturday so I am flying back in home to surprise her. It’s great timing actually because it’s over thanksgiving break for school, so I don’t miss too much, and I manage to fit in 3 other 21sts, my boyfriends birthday and a foo fighters concert and of course some quality time with my Popz.
Yeah it is going to be one nuts as week. I am leaving here midday on Wednesday and return a week from the next Sunday. I am very excited, have actually believe it or not been counting down the days from when it was way up near 40something.!! I’ts sad but true!!
So I will keep you all informed of my crazy antics while at home and will be sure to grab some nice pics in there too!!
Hope all is well with you!!
Kez

Hey guys,
Well I’m coming to you all, after a hard days work in the pool. We had a Canadian club team, called DDO (really it’s something in French, but I’m a little rusty) and we played our first off season games since we began training way back in early September. Ohh what a wait it has been!!!

Well we split the games 1 and 1. They took the first and we came back with our crowd on our side and took the second. Two very hard fought matches though, I have come out with plenty of war wounds – but its ok I’ve been known to give as good as I get so I’m sure the opposition is feeling it too!!

Awesome games, both of them, scores were 8-9 to DDO in the first and 11-9 to us in the second. I’m shattered now. My body is exhausted. I know I am ‘swim fit’ as they say, because of all the training we have been doing and we usually swim around 3000 yards or so a days but man you really know it when your body is not ‘game fit’. I finally got into the swing of it all about the middle of the second 8 minute stop clock quarter and found my rhythm. Thank god for that.

Here’s some pictures , sorry for the lack of clarity but one wall, which is actually kinda cool on days with cool weather, but it is all glass and it overlooks the valley we live in you can see right down it. Which in return provides us with loads of glare for any photography of any kind!! The things you do for a view!!
Just a note, I’m wearing the number 6 cap, I’m not sure you can see me in any of these. The girl who I asked to take my pictures for me, wasn’t the best choice but all the same….Enjoy….

Hey guys,
Well sorry to report in that things haven’t exactly been exciting around this place lately. The most exciting thing might have been the massive thunderstorm last night. It was huge, large flashes of lightening like I have never seen before; cutting the night sky with such ease and the deafening roar of the thunder that accompanies it. Wow, it was a spectacular. This all goes with the fact that the world weather is just getting crazier and crazier, in all my time here I have never heard or seen of a thunderstorm under such proportions as last night!! Was awesome, I just wish the pictures I took  come out because it was a real sight to see and hear!!
Other than that life is pretty much just chugging along.
Have games against the Canadian junior national team here this coming weekend which we are busily preparing for!! I’m really excited to see how all this training for the last 2 and a half months has paid off!! I will have some pictures from that game too for you all too see. It should be a very competitive competition as the Canadians are one of the dirtiest playing nations in the water polo’ing world and they certainly don’t like to lose, and neither do I!!
Nothing else really to report, just thought I would check in and see how people are and let you all know I’m still around!!
Will catch up soon with a detailed rundown of the games complete with pictures (this is me keeping you all in anticipation!!! )
Kez