Skyline at Rotorua

where I (kind of) dominated the LUGE. . .

     I do not know if I have mentioned this in my blog yet, but I get pretty competitive.  I get competitive in things that really matter, like school sports BUT I also realized that I get super competitive when I do things that do not really matter.  For example, going "Lugeing" in New Zealand should not warrant my most competitive nature.  After all, it is a fun activity.  Until. . . I decided that I wanted to race the guy in front of me (without him knowing!).  Using the valuable knowledge that Talladega Nights taught me, "If you ain't first, you last," I set out to become the ultimate Luge champion!

     The hill was steep and the course was wet from all of the rain.  So, it was slippery and I was trying to go fast because the little boy in front of me had a 10 second head start.  Before I began, the employees showed me how to break, but they did not know that I would not be using the breaks that much, especially because my race was going to be close.  AND GUESS WHAT?  I Won!  Hurray!  Sure, the guy in front of me did not know that we were racing.  Oh ya, and he was also like 8 or 9 years old.  And. . .I don't want to say any more because it is going to make me sound like I didn't deserve the victory, haha!

     The Luge was so much fun, and I ended up doing all three courses!  There was a scenic path, intermediate path, and advanced path.  After finishing the Luge races, my friends and I headed back down the gondola to the bottom of the mountain. 

     That's all for now from Luge Champion Lauren :)

The Australian and New Zealand Rivalry

     I was shown this video during the culture and adventure program during the first week that I was in Australia: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AIppqNePdM. Check it out- it is hilarious!
     The subject of the conversation was Australian and New Zealand relations.  (Aka: the sibling friendship of Aussies and Kiwi's).  People from Australia and New Zealand love to joke with each other about a number of different things- Australians joke about New Zealand's lack of defense (like in the video!), and they also joke about their plentiful sheep and make sheep jokes.  New Zealanders joke with Australia about Rugby and the fact that they have an overwhelmingly higher percentage of Olympians than the Aussies.
     I experienced this relationship on the bus in Rotorua on the way to the Maori Dinner.  Our bus driver named all of the countries that the visitors were from on the bus.  Of course, he said Australia last and poked fun at Australians about their accents.  For some reason, both countries love to make fun of how the other country says "Fish and Chips."  AND here's the thing: Australians joked back!  I thoroughly enjoyed the dry humor on the bus ride.
     And, just in case you want to hear any more jokes, I found a FUNNY one from the prime minister of New Zealand in the 1980s.  During the 1980s, many New Zealanders were moving to Australia to find jobs, and when the prime minister was asked about it, he said, " That by doing so, they [the New Zealand immigrants] were raising the average IQ of both countries."
     Gotta Love Sibling Rivalry!
      

Australians joke that New Zealand is 100% there for the taking because New Zealand does not have a strong defence force

New Zealand: the land of extremes

A brochure that I saw prompted this blog:

     Though I just created this New Zealand "advertisement," there was a similar ad that I found while in Rotorua.  The advertisement showed a sheep and a skydiver on the front cover.  Talk about contrast!  At first, I thought it was HILARIOUS but I soon realized that it was really smart.  Truth is, I actually thought about this in a marketing perspective (marketing professor-can I get bonus points PLEASE???).

Here is is:

     Since the target market of New Zealand is everyone, they are trying to get people-tourists like me :) - to come and visit.  BUT here is the problem: people have different needs and wants and enjoy different things!  So, why not create an advertisement that is perfect for sheep lovers AND lovers of AdVeNtUrE?  Sounds like a pretty smart plan to me.

New Zealand's Advertisement with Sheep & Skydiver = Success  

The World's Youngest Geothermal System

Waimangu Volcanic Valley is 20 miles away from Rotorua and we decided to spend the day walking by steaming lakes, hot springs, and geysers! 

Funny story on how we decided to visit Waimangu-

Our accommodation in Rotorua was a hostel called Crash Palace.  (Ya, the name sounded a little sketchy but it ended up being a really good place to stay!)  Two people manned the front desk, one during the night shift and the other during the day.  How do I know this?  Because I asked both people dozens and dozens of questions.  They knew me well and I knew them well.  For our free day, the front desk employees suggested the Waimangu tour.  I don't know if they told us to do the tour in order for them to get a little (probably much needed) peace and quiet or if they really thought it was a neat place.
     Turns out, Waimangu is an amazing place!  It reminds me of Yellowstone (and to tell you the truth, it is hard to take a bad picture because it is so beautiful!).  The trail through Waimangu wrapped around the lake and by several hot springs and geysers- including the largest hotspring in the world!!! 

Though it was sprinkling the day that we went to Waimangu, the ground was still HOT and the water was still boiling- pretty amazing if you ask me!  Seeing the volcanic valley was an excellent way to spend the day in New Zealand!

"Ode to Rotorua"

     The last two weeks have been extremely busy due to exams (and my beautiful broken finger) so I still need to write about my holiday/Easter trip to New Zealand!  Though we started our trip in Auckland and then went to the New Zealand town of Rotorua, I am going to start with the smelly, yet, pretty town of Rotorua.

     I have summed up some of my experience in Rotorua in a song.  AND to make it even better. . .the song is to the tune of "Old McDonald had a Farm."  Hum the tune and enjoy the song :)

Ode to Rotorua:
Old Rotorua had a geyser-
Speeeew, speeeew, spew.
and by this geyser, there was a hotspring
That. Smelled. Bad.
And there were sheep by this geyser,
baaah, baaah, SPEW!

And though that sheep just died, (aww)

There. Are. More.

With a sheep sheep there and a sheep, sheep there- here a sheep, there a sheep, everywhere a sheep, sheep.

Because 40 million sheep cover this island. . .

Outnumbering. People. By A LOT

But New Zealand is more than geysers and sheep-

Woo Hoo Hoo!

It is a land of dare and challenge
Which. We. Did.
like jumping off of a very tall bridge
OH. MY. GOSH!!!

(I performed this "Ode to Rotorua" for my friends on the bus and we all laughed so much!)

"Organizing"

     I am OfFiCiAlLy a COLLEGE SENIOR!  My last exam was on Monday- I am so relieved to be done with all exams (and hopefully I passed them all).  Exams here are a lot different from exam time in America.  Students are told to meet in the hall 15 minutes before exam time.  The associate dean is very strict about being silent in the hall and we form a line.  One by one, we pass through the "bouncers" (aka our actual teacher) to show them our school id.  After taking a seat, ONLY fill out one sheet for your name, subject, and teacher- then put the pencil down.  At ICMS, 10 minutes of "reading time" is given for each exam at the start.  We are allowed to ask questions at this time, but not make any marks on the test.  At the end of the exam, if you finish early, you can leave- the only exception is if you finish in the last 10 minutes of the exam.  I finished my last exam RIGHT after my teacher said "10 minutes left- you can't leave the room!"  So, I had the pleasure of sitting there, chillin', for 10 more minutes! 
     Now with exams completed (most of my friends are either done or have one more), we have started to look to the future.  The very close future.  In 3 days, I will be flying over 9,000 miles back to Birmingham- it has flown by so quickly!  Which brings me to what we are doing now- "organizing"!  No one is allowed to say packing- we are organizing our stuff in suitcases, haha!  Going home for all of us will definitely be bittersweet.
    More to come about saying goodbye and the last couple of weeks!

The dangers of American Football

     I have NEVER realized how many times per day that the right ring-finger is used.  It is used in the morning rituals of brushing teeth, tying shoes, and showering, but I especially did not realize how much I use it when I type and write.  This week I have figured out how to do all of these things with a splint in my ring-finger and pinkie.
     This weekend, I broke my ring finger when I was playing football on the beach.  I was the wide-receiver and was determined to catch one of the passes!  The ball was thrown a little short and tipped in the air by another player close to me, and I had little response time to move my hand.  So, the football hit the very tip of my finger and it caused it to jam (I thought it was a jam at that time!)  But, my finger started to get HUGE and turn blue and black.  I decided to wait until Monday to go to the doctor.

     Let me just take a minute to say that I am in Australia and I feel like I should hurt my finger doing something else other than playing American Football.  I should have broken it doing some extreme sport, playing cricket (just kidding- haha), having some type of poisonous animal bite my hand.  Or, an even better option would be to not get injured in the first place! :)

     This week and next week are exams at school.  Since my marketing exam is mostly essay and short answer questions, I talked with student services at ICMS about how. . .uhhhh. . . .I couldn't write very fast!  So yesterday I took my marketing exam in a secluded room at a different time than everyone else.  And here is the cool part- I was given an additional 30 minutes to finish it (which I really needed!)

    

     Three things learned after my finger broke:

              1. It stinks to have a broken finger!

              2. I was given a new nickname (in addition to Bama, bam-bam, Alabamie): Tiny Tim

              3. There are test benefits for having a broken finger.  If you have the option of when to break your finger, do it during exam time because you will get extra time on a long exam!