the beginning of the end...but not quite!
By now you're likely tired of me saying how fast this year has gone by and how I can't believe that it's already May....July...September....and now October! I feel like I'm in some kind of bizzare time machine- but maybe that's more because it's October (which I associate with pumpkins and fall harvest) and yet the tuilips are blooming and my allergies are out of control. Nevermind, you'd think by now I'd be used to the opposite seasons.
Right, so it's spring in New Zealand which unfortunately brings along the end of the semester (not such a bad thing) and exams (which unfortunately equal stress). Study week is now over and my first two exams are next week (breathe...) and are Biochemistry and Industrial & Organisational Psychology. Cognitive Psyc is the following week and then I'm free! Exams here are quite different than what I'm used to back at Auburn where the exam period lasts five days and most exams are re-testing information that was tested throughout the semester. Here there are no tests during the semester (except possibly a midterm in some courses) and so final exams are worth a lot- anywhere from 50-75% of the final mark. Hence the stress.
The light at the end of the tunnel is becoming visible- after exams my parents and uncle are coming to NZ for two weeks and we have what should be a great trip planned. First week includes Queenstown, Wanaka and hiking the famous Milford Track in Fijordland (wayyyy down South) one of New Zealand's 8 "Great Walks". The second week we're heading North- from Christchurch to the top of the South Island, across on the Interislander ferry and then up to Auckland.
From there I'll head back to the tropics (Malaysia) for a few weeks of sun and then back to the US. I heard yesterday on the radio that Christmas is only 13 weeks away!
Enjoy the fall weather on your side of the world, and get extra candy for me at Halloween- New Zealand kids haven't quite picked up on that trick yet!
cheers-
s.
Sorry- no new pictures to add...my textbooks aren't that exciting! I'll try to take a few pictures of campus soon though, the Spring flowers are impressive!
Right, so it's spring in New Zealand which unfortunately brings along the end of the semester (not such a bad thing) and exams (which unfortunately equal stress). Study week is now over and my first two exams are next week (breathe...) and are Biochemistry and Industrial & Organisational Psychology. Cognitive Psyc is the following week and then I'm free! Exams here are quite different than what I'm used to back at Auburn where the exam period lasts five days and most exams are re-testing information that was tested throughout the semester. Here there are no tests during the semester (except possibly a midterm in some courses) and so final exams are worth a lot- anywhere from 50-75% of the final mark. Hence the stress.
The light at the end of the tunnel is becoming visible- after exams my parents and uncle are coming to NZ for two weeks and we have what should be a great trip planned. First week includes Queenstown, Wanaka and hiking the famous Milford Track in Fijordland (wayyyy down South) one of New Zealand's 8 "Great Walks". The second week we're heading North- from Christchurch to the top of the South Island, across on the Interislander ferry and then up to Auckland.
From there I'll head back to the tropics (Malaysia) for a few weeks of sun and then back to the US. I heard yesterday on the radio that Christmas is only 13 weeks away!
Enjoy the fall weather on your side of the world, and get extra candy for me at Halloween- New Zealand kids haven't quite picked up on that trick yet!
cheers-
s.
Sorry- no new pictures to add...my textbooks aren't that exciting! I'll try to take a few pictures of campus soon though, the Spring flowers are impressive!
posted by steph at 10/21/2006 12:20:00 AM
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