Hey Everyone

Hey Y'all
I know i haven't been on in awhile but there is not a whole lot of new going on with me, or at least i wanted to build up a few cool things to say before typing out another post. First things first, the weather is getting incredible and it's officially spring here!!! I'm loving it except that the beach is constantly calling my name, making it incredibly difficult to focus on class and sometimes making it even harder to go to class. But don't worry mom, I'm doing what i need to. Last week we had a beautiful day so me and a small group of friends went to our favorite hidden away beach, Taylor's mistake, where we made a fire and camped under the stars for the night. It was so much fun, we drank, played music, sang songs, then curled up in our sleeping bags right on the sand with no roof over our heads. It was so much fun! The next morning we woke up and sat in the sun all day. A few people paddled out on there surf boards while me and a few other did a short but beautiful hike. On the way back from the hike, we heard our friends on there boards call out to us. Well they were just down in the water below us ranting and raving about the cliff jump they had just done. Well, who am i to pass up on an opportunity to do something cool while in New Zealand, no one that's who. So after watching my friend Ryan jump in with no wet suit, both surfers had them on, and come up alive I was feeling confident enough to do it myself. It was so much fun, absolutely freezing cold, but sweet nonetheless. I've never done a cliff jump before so I'm was more than happy to make that one my first. This past weekend my friends and I headed to a place called Hanmer Springs, a sweet little village known for it's natural hot springs. After getting a late start on friday night, we made up for it with a hearty party. The next morning we woke up, did a nice hike and checked out the sites before jumping in the hot pools for the afternoon. The place was really cool, it had pools of varying temps, ranging from 28 degrees Celsius to 41 degrees Celsius. After taking all we could of sweating and being dehydrated we hit the road on the way back, which for the guys in my car and I was an adventure in of itself. After noticing some weird shifting patterns we had all the emergency and warning lights come on in the car, certainly nothing of which we wanted to see. Especially since our other friends in the other car were well ahead of us and in a rush to return the rental. After pulling off and restarting the car all seemed fine, that was until we smelt a prominent burning smell throughout the car. Again we pulled over, promptly followed by a police officer who told us there was a garage just 5 minutes up the road. Well we made it there, where we checked the oil to find it had absolutely none. We promptly put a liter and a half in and hit the road again. From there on we had no more problems and luckily enough got home safe. Crisis averted, thank god.
Overall, my classes are going fair. They're really difficult to deal with sometimes because they have so many references to there own politics and history of which i have no idea. My social work class especially has been difficult because it is all about the welfare of New Zealand, so when i have to write a paper, i have no basis to start it since i know none of their programs nor know any of the history of their programs.It is also way more difficult to get an A here. For my first antarctic studies test, we had 50 minutes to write 4 essays, i wrote the entirety of the time and was still unable to do better than a B, ugh. Good thing there is only one class that my grade transfers home and effects my GPA. That class is going OK, again tough to understand, but the one grade i've had in it so far has been an A.
Otherwise things here are pretty standard, my friends are all super nice and i enjoy them, but i am still definitely missing everyone at home. This upcoming weekend i plan on heading up to Kaikoura to go whale watching which should be absolutely amazing and possibly hang out at the sea food festival.
Any other questions, feel free to shoot me a comment.
Love, Cheers!

-Garrett