Hello ladies and gents,
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Right now, I am sitting by the fire place (who came up with that name anyway?) in my cozy home of Southern California. It’s definitely getting colder here! (a weird switch from springtime in NZ!) Anyway, for those who have indeed been following me on this journey, thanks. What a pleasure to share it with you. Be assured that your responses and updates encouraged me during the year. I do believe this is my last letter to y’all (for my NZ friends, it’s likely the first and only!) and in it I will tell of a bit of my ending times in New Zealand as well as describe some of my immediate reactions upon returning back to California. I’ve given every subject a heading so you can skip stuff if you’re not interested. Also, www.michellesjournyes.com should be up for the next year.

LAST WEEKS OF UNIVERSITY (and in Auckland)
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My ending times in Auckland were pretty much like a whirlwind. I found it hard to focus toward the end of classes as I was trying to process a lot of partings, studying for exams, leaving the planetarium, seeing my family soon, and a whole trip to the South Island. Like first semester, we had a week between end of classes and exams. That week was ‘busy as’! One of my planetarium cohorts suggested I have a going away party, so I had at the planetarium and the park right in front of it. It was good fun and quite memorable! For the first hour my friends I chatted and nibbled, the next hour we played Frisbee, and finally I brought them into the planetarium and showed them around the northern skies. I told them how you can only see about 10 stars at night where I live due to light pollution and smog, and then I showed them the constellations in the very order I had learned them. Then I told them how much I appreciated them, which helps me have closure, I find.
That Wednesday my parents and brother arrived!. They spent the next few days in Auckland, traveling to places I suggested they go, visiting the planetarium, and meeting some choir friends over dinner. I saw them sparsely since I was studying so much. Then they left to Rotorua and Waitomo Glowworm caves the next week while I had exams. It seemed like I had one right after the other and they were all quite hard. Thursday afternoon was my last afternoon in Auckland and God designed it as the finest present I could imagine. It looked like this:

Math exam ends at noon (btw- NZers don’t use the term ‘noon’).
I talked and said goodbyes to my math buddies.
Took pictures of my favourite places around campus.
Met with my philosophy teacher (who I really look up to!) for a half hour.
Grabbed a date scone at my favorite bakery.
Layed on my bed at the Railway Campus and read some Oswald Chambers while the sun poured through my window onto me with a slight breeze rustling my curtains (don’t tell me you don’t know how great that feels!).
Spur of the moment decision: Ran about 2-3 km to Ferg’s kayaks on the waterfront. Got there just in time to rent rollerblades for the last hour before closing.
Rollerbladed from Mission Bay all the way to St. Heliers where I picked up some Neenish tarts from another bakery that I love. Rollerbladed back to Ferg’s Kayaks and then walked all the way back to the Railway Campus and ran into my roommate jogging along the way.

>>>>A little insert here. The best part about this rollerblade is it was such a novel, uplifting, freeing experience. Every time I’d been on that stretch of beaches, I had been walking or jogging. I’d thought out many struggles and praises on that stretch, and now the year was all over. While rollerblading, I witnessed such a beautiful day with the sun tossing around its rays in the clouds and the ocean quietly lapping on the shore. God gave me the vision that I was flying. Look how far I’d come, what experiences I have to treasure- He’s brought me thus far… and yet what heights (a promise!) await me.
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Family arrived and helped me finish packing out my room. Talked to my sister in the process. Also at this time, my brother who holds custody of my cat up in Chico, was given a call that my cat was being put down due to liver damage. (okay, that’s the one not-happy thing)
Met with Fiona and Pinamin who gave me their goodbye presents (Paua necklace and date scones!)
Went to the planetarium one last time to give Angela (my boss) the car keys and see the Auckland Meteorite which had just been given to the Planetarium just a few days before! Did some last chores around the Railway Campus and ran into Fiona several times during the process- what a treat! Crashed like you wouldn’t believe.

The next morning Fiona got up early to meet my family and see me off (it was like 6:30) and then my fam and I were on our way to a 2 week trip in the south island. Woohoo! You can read all about it and see all the pictures at www.michellesjourneys.com. Mind you, that’s where a lot of the Lord of the Rings was filmed- I got to go to the very spots!!