"It Starts" (a lion king reference just for Moazzum):

This week marked a series of new beginnings. Having settled into my apartment and a general routine, I felt the birth of a new era in my studies and my journey of self discovery abroad. I started my second class on Monday (digital photography), and am looking towards beginning my internship with DiversityWorks (www.diversiyworks.co.nz) in the next few weeks. The presidential inauguration (which came bright and early at 5:30am in Auckland), mirrored my feelings of rejuvenation, as I felt the whole world watching the end of a downhill battle meet the spark of a second chance. Like Obama, I know I may be nervous and stumble through the words at first in my internship and other experiences, but I look forward to seeing the sun rise on each new day, just as it shown into Forde’s bar on Wednesday morning.

G's "Yay Inauguration!" at 5am

Other than the inauguration, this week has been rather uneventful. We all had breakfast at Forde’s bar on Wednesday morning to greet our new president with eggs, bacon, toast, hash browns and OJ. It was a good time. Having class all day, and our first test in my New Zealand studies class has been a bit of a wakeup call from the seemingly endless vacation though. We still manage to fit in an afternoon at the beach every now and then .

I have a paper due Tuesday I’ll probably start working on this afternoon. However, I probably won’t work on it long because I have tickets to see Girl Talk tonight! I’m very excited. It will be a nice birthday gift to myself. I will update my photos in the bday album over the next few days.



Yesterday, my friends and I went to Wiateke island. The island is known for its great wines, beaches, and art work. We saw the art on the gulf sculpture exhibit while we were there and it was AMAZING! You should def check out my pics to see all the different amazing artwork against the ocean and mountain backdrop. (http://picasaweb.google.com/IamRoshon/BDayWeekend?authkey=sYycyP8As6I&feat=directlink) We ate lunch on the island and explored some beaches and rocks on the northern shore. After we got back, my friends took me to dinner and out to a club for my birthday celebration last night, which was really nice and I had a good time. We knew we would all be working on our papers on my actual birthday tomorrow, so we started the celebration early.

I miss everyone back home and I hope you are doing well! Please share you stories too.