april has a blog: airi visits

One thing I'm grateful for, and always will be grateful for, is the amount of friendships I've made all over the world in just a year of exchange abroad.
I lack the skills to express just how happy I am to have had the opportunity of a lifetime to do so, because even till today, I am still experiencing the benefits of that exchange in Japan six whole months ago.
Time really does fly, and although I wasn't chasing it for a while, I find myself motivated and inspired to be more focused in what I want, taking baby steps all the way up the top.
Or maybe just a step down from the bed will do.
Seeing as I stayed in bed all day, any movement will guarantee progress on my part.

When my host sister Airi informed me of her visit to New Zealand, I was nothing short of ecstatic.
Of course seeing her meant that I'd skip some classes for uni- but with the help of some very good friends, I've acquired notes and feedback about lectures I've missed.
Thankfully I can catch up over the course of the weekend, although my laziness and procrastination combined is not a good way to start.
*sidenote* Google dictionary didn't register the word Zealand. Interesting. Perhaps it doesn't register New Zealand as a country either- although that proves quickly otherwise with the kiwi Google website.

On the topic of starting- where do I start in summing up the past few days with my Japanese host sister?
I'll just bore all of you by writing about it starting from day one.
Don't fret just yet- I am planning to include visual aid! And rhymes! Gotta love rhymes!
If not for the invention of the camera, where will we be now?
A more probable chance that I would be able to write with more fluency without relying on photos to do the describing for me? Yeah, asides from that, seriously.
Think, ponder, and indulge in our first world trivia.
Whilst I commence on with more important things like blogging...

Receiving a summer yukata (its a similar design to a kimono- just without all the winter bedding within it), complete with the Japanese slippers, Airi was armed with presents for all of us on the first day.
I have yet to try on this yukata, and don't plan to until the weather is kinder to all of us.
With the temptation of going abroad and studying in Japan again, I'm definitely bringing this along with me to go watch the many firework festivals in Tokyo.
The cold weather in Auckland is surprisingly annoying this year.
Even more surprising is my newly found appreciation for the heat.
Hearing Airi talk about how hot it is in Japan brings me back to the long summer days I had whilst on vacation.
Summer in Tokyo was truly the start of something new, the start of something amazing, and the end of many things to come. God I miss cold ramen...

My mom acted as a brilliant tourguide/driver in the course of Airi's stay, and knowing how much money and time invested into me over the past 18 years- I feel forever indebted to her.
I'm relieved to know how much my parents are willing to host my friends from Japan whom come to stay for months on end. Say what you want about Asian parents- they've truly taught me a thing or two about hospitality.

Taking Airi to jump off the sky tower, experience NZ beach culture, eat steak, climb mountains, and explore the Auckland that I've come to take for granted has reminded me of how much New Zealand can still surprise me despite living here for more than ten years.
Nature has yet to underwhelm me with its beauty, and I'm glad the Japanese tourists here feel the same way.
The amount of tourists in New Zealand has increased over the years, and I'm not sure to feel intimidated or flattered.
Being mistaken for a Japanese multiple times while visiting these tourists spots proved to be no harm because I can speak the language to a comprehensible degree.
Telling these tourists that I'm actually *not* of Japanese origin, everyone had pretty much the same reaction.
うっそ！日本人っぽいよね。顔と発音似ているよね。全然ここでの人感じしない！すごい！
(no way! You're obviously Japanese. You look like one and you speak like one- you don't seem like a kiwi!)
Most likely I do not speak like one, and even less likely I look like one, seeing that I have unfortunate physical differences. =/

I really enjoy taking my friends from Japan to try out the food here in New Zealand because they all have similar reactions. They always either comment on the portions of the food, how authentic the food tastes here in comparison to the western food served in Japan, and finally, if they can have a second serving or not.
Airi really wanted to try pies in New Zealand, so on the way to Rotorua we stopped by a charming little bakery and ordered her a steak and cheese pie.
I'm glad to report that this wasn't her first and last pie, because she's had almost five to six different types of pies during her stay here.

the foodstore, viaduct

dimsum! ^_^

a surprisingly small burger. I can eat like five of those.

seafood chowder

We took her to eat a variety of Asian food and Western food here, with Korean and Japanese cuisine being the only exceptions to not feature on the menu.
This is largely because the Japanese food isn't authentic enough, and she just arrived from Seoul the week before she arrived in Auckland.
I hope I made you all hungry with the food pictures. It's the only reason why I have so many of them on Facebook and Blogger.

羊ちゃん！

Asides from gorging ourselves shamefully with food, the one day roadtrip in Rotorua was spent doing things like going to sheep shows, walking through a geyser park, and feeling pro at the Luge.
Observing how cute sheep were, Airi was extremely happy that she didn't eat lamb.
Despite thinking that the cows were cute too, she couldn't help but still eat steak.
"Too yummy to give up". =p
A lot of Chinese and Japanese tourists were watching the sheep show too, with a few Canadians and Europeans sitting in the back and taking a ton of photos of the sheep.
It was super interactive, and after attending this sheep show for the billionth time now, I was still entertained nonetheless.

Devil's Home Thermal Pool

Artist Pallete

Everyone I know comments on the smell of Rotorua being rotten egg-y and unappetizing, but Airi seemed to really like it. I guess you'd appreciate the little things more and find the beauty in it when traveling. I certainly did while I was in Japan.
Hence why I ate everything, anything, anytime, anywhere. Which contributed to my weight gain. Oh well.
The geyser park was beautiful as always, the artist pallete and devil's home being the most interesting thermal pools to look at.

the view from up top (Luge area)

On Airi's last day in Auckland, we went around the Auckland domain and gardens, had ice cream, and drank too much wine for our own good. We finished two bottles between the both of us in less than an hour.
Surprisingly I wasn't too drunk. Still could hold a conversation in Japanese, so you know, just a bit tipsy. =p
I'm already missing her and wishing I hid in her suitcase back to Tokyo.
Having her here for that one week gave me a little piece of Japan back.

All I've accomplished today is upload pics onto my blog/facebook.
Even then, I'm too lazy to pick nice pictures to go on this blog. I've only featured a small sample of the 400 photos I took over the week...

I was meant to catch up on two weeks worth of uni work...
Ugh noooo, Economics...
No, scratch that. Information Systems can go die in a hole.
Seriously, you'd think that studying a course that focuses in making the world a better place through technology would also incorporate assignments that do so.
But no. There's shit like MyITLab that wants you to download and update every goddamn thing on your damn computer, to tell you that its not updated enough.
RAGE.
WORSE STILL. "Although you have updated this, the browser needs to refresh. Please close the browser."
So of course, I close the browser, and re-open it.
"DID YOU REFRESH THE PAGE? TRY REFRESHING THE PAGE THEN CLOSING THE BROWSER"
My effing cupcakes. >.<

Hey, look. Asians with the same smile in different locations, how exotic.