Thoughts on a Thursday

Hello Again! I don't have anything too monumental to report today, just a few minor excitements and things I've forgotten to mention recently... First off, I feel great about the exam that I had yesterday. I'm fairly certain that I got every question right. There's no better feeling in my opinion than walking out of an important test knowing that you knew everything you needed to. That was the only test for the class before the final exam, which will happen in mid Feb. I celebrated yesterday with a yummy dinner of pasta with some roast veggies, and a mango sorbet/ lemonade float for dessert. I made the sauce for the pasta just by throwing some diced tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, onions, basil and cilantro  in a pan and letting it simmer for a little over an hour. It was fantastic on top of linguine. I also had some roasted butternut squash and carrots. There was tons of left over pasta and a bit of sauce, so for lunch today I'm planning on throwing in some chopped raw tomatoes and basil and having it cold.

Speaking of food, my fantasy of picnic + planetarium in the park that I mentioned the other day will finally be realized this evening! I'm planning on bringing my camera with me. I'll likely get some shots of One Tree Hill as well, because the planetarium is in Cornwall park also.

Lost the Wicket! (Photo Source: http://cricket.yahoo.com/)

I forgot to mention yesterday that I watched the cricket test match between Australia and India on tv over the weekend. I've seen very little cricket before watching this match. My familiarity originated almost solely from the 2001 film "Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India". Anyway, after this weekend I can confidently say I know how the game works. I was with some true cricket enthusiasts and they were incredibly disappointed that what was scheduled to be a five day test ended after only three, with Australia taking the win. It was funny to me that their disappointment was not over the match's victor, but over the fact that they lost two days of watching cricket. I certainly wasn't as enthusiastic about the game, and much prefer to watch tennis or rugby. I've been watching the Melbourne Open this week as the ATP World Tour continues. On the topic of rugby, I have a ticket to go to each of the eight Auckland Blues super rugby matches starting at the end of February and I'm really looking forward to it.

When I wrote about my research yesterday, I forgot to include a link for an interesting and related Youtube video. Its a BBC production called, "The Nine Months That Made You." Its in four parts, and discusses the significant impact of a mother's nutrition during pregnancy on a child's future health. It explores the recent discoveries of scientists that imply that maternal diet can potentially have a greater effect on a person's health than lifestyle choices. The researchers at the Liggins Institute have produced many of the same findings as those in the video and this would give you a bit of insight into some of the work that I'm involved in.


Each day I have a 15-20 minute bus ride from my house to university. Coincidentally this is the perfect amount of time to listen to Ted Talk podcasts. This makes my time on the bus feel productive and meaningful because I always feel so stimulated by the new ideas and incredible research. I desperately want to give a Ted Talk one day! One of the talks I listened to most recently was by the three teenage winners of the Google Global Science Fair. All three winners were women which I thought was really neat. I also just found out that a friend of friend recently gave a Ted Talk as well. I really admire these teenagers presenting their ideas and I think Ted is an incredible organization for recognizing extraordinary thinkers, no matter their age.


One of the things that I really like about Ted is that almost all of the talks concern, in a way, the speakers opinion of what should be done about an issue that can be examined in a very factual manner. I use the word opinion loosely in this statement, because almost every solution proposed by a speaker is backed by fact and research. However, given all of the facts and background research, the listener still often has the opportunity to consider whether or not he agrees with what the speaker proposes. This brings me to something I've been considering recently; that is that it is crucial to respect everyone's right to have an opinion, but it is a personal choice whether or not to value it. This thought was inspired by a person I've spoken to several times, who each time rants about how terrible America is in a purely inflammatory manner. However, this person does not remember my name or anything about me despite having heard me reiterate these details a number of times. Because of this and my general impression of the person's character, I've decided that I respect this person's right to an opinion on American military and politics, as it is obviously based on their own life experiences, but there is no need for me to value it. I choose rather to value the opinion of people like my parents who have both served their country and continue to serve their communities in their current careers. Anyway, I'm excited that I'll be able to express my opinion and vote in the presidential election later this year!

I'm so happy to have received great feed back from you all about my posts. I love hearing from you! Thanks for reading : )

P.S. Lacrosse started up again this week!

Until Tomorrow...

Lots of Love,
A

Welcome to the University of Auckland

Hi everyone! Recently I've been spending the majority of my time at the University of Auckland city campus. Although I'm only taking one class for this summer semester, I have lectures every week day because of the shortened term. I also do most of my pre-reading and post lesson exercises in the maths and statistics assistance room just in case I have a question.

Here's Albert Park. The building in the background is the General Library where I have my math lecture.

The art gallery and central city library are located at the other end of the park.

The city campus is spread throughout downtown Auckland, but concentrated mostly on Symonds Street. Auckland Uni is the top university in New Zealand and something like 55th in the world. The university was established in 1883 and has become New Zealand's largest university. The various buildings around the campus feature an incredible range of architectural styles. Some of the buildings are modern while others are clearly colonial. Theres also variety among the older buildings. For example the political science department is housed in a series of quaint villas, while the international office is located in a rambling brick building.

This is the Alfred Nathan house where the University's registry is located.

Its one of the oldest buildings on campus.

Here a drastically different style of architecture- the new Kate Edgar Information Commons.

This building houses the bookstore, cafeteria, short lone library and computer labs.

The Old Choral Hall is right next to the Information Commons. The international office is in this building.

This is the business school. Its one of the newest buildings in the city campus.

The University of Auckland is so highly ranked in large part due to the innovative research that occurs there.  The university's medical research facility is called the Liggins Institute. It is located in the neighborhood of Grafton, just a few minutes from Symonds street. I spend three half days there each week. I'm currently working with two different researchers on their projects, one involving full body vibration chairs and their effect on youth affected by cerebral palsy, and the other involving follow up clinical research looking at maternal diet and the effect on the fetus. The Liggins Institute's research focuses mostly on endocrinology and early childhood development. I couldn't really get any good pictures of the institute. Its a lot like any older hospital. The university is actually remodeling the medical school at the moment and constructing a new building to house the institute. Its very exciting for everyone there, and they are scheduled to move around September, 2012.

University Clock Tower

I really enjoy the uni campus, especially the incredibly lush parks and fantastic old buildings. In my opinion, the modern buildings are nice, but they can be found almost anywhere. There's certainly something special about the places that were constructed with such care and craftsmanship so many years ago.
Well, I'm off to do a final run through of my notes for my exam this afternoon! Enjoy your day!
Until Tomorrow...

Lots of Love,
A

Welcome to Rotarua + Taupo

Good morning! I just woke up and am so excited to tell you all about the great long weekend I've just had. I'm back in Auckland now, just in time for the start of a very busy week, but this weekend I got to go to Rotarua and Taupo in the central north island with friends. Both Rotarua and Taupo are geothermal zones so we saw lots of hot pools, mud pools and a few geysers. All of Rotarua smells like sulfur. One of the people I was there with is a chemist for a geothermal power company, so I learned a lot about the area and geothermal activity. Most of the hot pools are far too hot to bathe in, but there are several areas where you can jump in and go for a swim. We went to a public hot pool spa in Taupo and I really enjoyed it. One of my favorite parts of the weekend was kayaking on the Waikato river. We also had a great time jumping off a rope swing into the river near the public kayak access. The Waikato is New Zealand's longest river, and it flows out of Great Lake Taupo. There are a lot of mountains around Lake Taupo and that's where most people in the north island go skiing and snowboarding during the winter.

The Waikato

Kayaking! The last time I went, it was sea kayaking with my mom in Mexico.

It's a bit easier with a current : )

This is the Haka Falls on the Waikato. We kayaked the section of the river between lake Taupo and here.

Some very experienced kayakers actually go over the falls. Its much bigger and far more powerful than it appears in the picture. Standing where I was, it was difficult to talk because of how loud the water was.

Another thing I did over the weekend was go to a Maori cultural performance at Te Po in Rotarua. Almost all of the Maori tribes lived on the North Island, especially in the central area. There are still a lot of Maori people in that area and the culture is apparent throughout the communities.

Performers.

The Marae meeting house where the performance took place.

This is a traditional Maori meeting house. They are intricately

carved and very sacred.

We also went up in some gondolas in Rotarua and then went down the luge tracks at the top. The view on the gondolas and at the top of the hill was great. There were also a few little walks and mountain biking tracks that could be accessed from the gondolas. Anyway, luging was tons of fun!

Gondola. You can also kind of get an idea of the view from this picture.

Here are the luge tracks. There were three tracks, scenic, intermediate and advanced.

The scenic track is 2km long.

Usually I'm not one to enjoy car rides, but I was in awe of the scenery for the entire trip and the lengthy ride flew by. There was a new and beautiful view around every turn. My dad warned me that I would be amazed by the size of the sky and the enormous scale of all of the mountains and trees... and I certainly was. It was a little like upstate New York, but even more grand. Living in Auckland, its funny to think that only four million people live in New Zealand, but on the drive I really got some insight into how spread out the population is. It seemed like there was one house every few kilometers outside of towns, which all felt about as large as Paw Paw. Most of the land is used for farming or commercial logging. Its incredible to see all the hundreds of sheep, cows, goats and deer grazing on the sides of the very steep hills. I hope you all had a good weekend as well! A few people have asked to know more about Auckland Uni and the research I'm involved in. Plan on hearing about it tomorrow! 

Until then!

Lots of love

-A

Some more Haka Falls pictures (some, clearly candids!)

 





Welcome To The Museum

Hello again! I've had such a full day today! I had a meeting with my Davidson Fellows mentor early this morning, then I had a little time before I was due at the university so I decided to go to the Domain to get some reading done. While at the park I also visited the museum.

Auckland War Memorial Museum

The ground level of the museum is home to the Pacific People Exhibit.

Level one is dedicated to natural history. There's quite a lot on birds, as they are the most abundant wildlife in NZ. Bats are actually the only native land mammals in the country.

A boat formerly belonging to a Maori chief extends nearly wall to wall in the Maori Court room.

The Origins room. I found myself picturing dinosaurs wandering around the dynamic NZ landscape.

There was a special exhibition on the history of the New Zealand All Black rugby team in the Tamaki Gallery on the ground level. In case you don't know, the All Blacks won the Rugby World Cup in October. Also, if you've never seen a Haka, which is a traditional Maori "battle chant," check out this video of the All Blacks Haka.

The museum from across the park.

 I posted one picture of the Winter Gardens in the domain earlier this week, but I took some more today...

NZ is famous for its silver fern, so of course the gardens would include a fernery.

This is a picture of the tropical house, taken while standing in the doorway of the cool house. The houses  open out to this beautiful courtyard. The entrance to the fernary is on the left and an exit on the right leads to the duck pond.

I have been carrying around my camera like a shameless tourist... and I'll admit I've come to enjoy it : ). My mom and dad were right, taking pictures is a good thing. Anyway, I have one lecture tomorrow and then I'm looking forward to a very fun weekend (with a bit of studying for my upcoming exam squeezed in of course!). I would love it if you let me know what you think of my posts and what you would like to hear about in the future. 

I hope you all are having a good week!

Lots of love,

Anna

Welcome To My Neighborhood

Good Evening! Today was a fairly standard (but wonderful!) day filled with pre-reading, a uni computer lab session, study group, lecture, workout and Davidson Fellows tasks. The rain that's been going on all week subsided in the late afternoon and everything was looking incredibly green, so I decided to make the trek up Mount Eden and take some pictures for you all! I also took some shots of my flat and the village.

My front door.

Fresh summer flowers and produce in an organized kitchen makes me smile

Garden study session

Looking toward Mt. Eden Village. My apartment building is just out of sight on the left...

A path leading up Mount Eden

Top of the mountain : )

A view of the iconic Sky tower. The ocean on both the east and west coast, the Auckland Museum, Rangitoto (an island) and much more can also be seen from the top of Mount Eden.

A blurry shot of an always-bustling cafe called Frasers in the center of the village.

After one run and one walk up Mount Eden in the same day, I decided to treat myself to a dinner of Israeli cous cous with grilled veggies and mozzarella, basil and olives at Frasers. Delicious! I sat outside with my date for the evening, "Apollo's Angels." : )

A pretty display window at an Italian home wares shop. I have a crush on those lamps.

The Heineken Open is going on this week in the nearby village of Parnell and I was hoping to make it to a match at some point this week, but I waited too long and all the tickets are sold out for the rest of the tournament. There's a party after the final on Saturday that I'm thinking of going to though.  There will be several kiwi bands there. I hadn't heard of any of them, so I looked them up on Itunes and fell in love with an artist named Barnaby Weir. If you want to listen to his work, it is on the Itunes store, but you'll find a better selection of songs if you change the country to New Zealand.  Also on the to do list this week is to see a presentation about "Summer Stars" at the Stardome observatory in Cornwall Park. I'm thinking planetarium + a picnic in the park sounds like a great evening : )

I'm looking forward to another busy day tomorrow! Until then...
Lots of love,
A

Wet Weather

Good morning! This is my first "things I've loved post," in honor of the amazing Christmas presents I just received! I was so excited this morning to greet the parcel-bearing courier at the door shortly after waking up. One package was from my parents (containing pretty pajamas, magazines and copious amounts of candy) and the other was from my lovely aunt, Angie. From my aunt I received a beautiful trench coat (Thanks so much Angie!), which came at the perfect time. That brings me to my first love of today, which is this weeks forecast... rain. ALL WEEK! I think this could only be a "love" for a girl who can't wait to wear her new coat, as well as Christmas wellies from grandma, to class : )

rain boots (gumboots as they say in NZ) + new coat

Another love of mine currently is the Auckland Art Gallery. It just reopened in September after being remodeled. The art is fantastic and the architecture of the building itself is as well. I've been numerous times to see the art,  to go to talks and performances and also just to enjoy the cafe and outdoor sculpture installation while reading a book or studying. I first visited the gallery very recently after it had opened and there was a special exhibition of very famous works by artists such as Picasso and Matisse. That was quite a treat.

Gallery entrance from the second floor

A chandelier of flowers (and check out that ceiling)

One of my favorite rooms in the gallery.

My absolute favorite is the oversized painting gallery,but the

room is so large its impossible to capture with one photo

One of my favorite things about Auckland is the amount of nature in the city. There is a reserve on nearly every block and a number of volcanic cones around the city. I currently live about 100 meters from the base of Mount Eden, the second largest volcanic cone in the city. The paths to the summits of these mountains often veer directly off of the normal walkway, largely unannounced. This can make taking a new route to the library or dance studio somewhat of an adventure if I choose to explore an obscure trail : ) The main parks in Auckland are the Domain (home to the Auckland museum... future post alert!) and Cornwall park (home to the largest volcanic cone, One Tree Hill). The smaller reserves can be great as well, one that I love is the Orakie reserve.

A view of the Orakie river basin with NZ "Christmas Trees"

There's also a path that follows the outside of the basin. Here's the bridge over the Orakie river

My plans for the day are to skype with Mom, pre-read some lecture notes, go to class for a few hours, then visit the Auckland museum. When I get home I have a date with my laptop to analyze some survey feedback for my Davidson Fellows project. Should be a great day! I hope everyone is adjusting back to their regular schedules after the break.

Until tomorrow!

Lots of Love,

A

Welcome to My Day!

Hi Everyone! As I have been so negligent with emailing you all I've decided to create a a centralized updating system... my new blog, Welcome to My Day. I'm sure that most of you also know that I take pictures with painfully nonexistent frequency, so I'm hoping this will help change that habit as well. I plan to write posts in three categories, "things I've done," "things I've loved," and "things I've learned." If anyone prefers to receive emails, you can subscribe to the blog and my posts will be sent directly to your inbox. I hope everyone enjoys!

The gorgeous Winter Gardens in the Domain

I'll begin with an update on my activities as of late... I started class at Auckland Uni on January 4th. Its the summer term which only lasts seven weeks, and I'm already amazed at how its flying by. I'm taking a math paper and really enjoying it so far.
New Zealand, very much unlike the U.S., "shuts down" during the holiday season until roughly mid January. Because of this, I've had a lot of free time. I'm looking forward to starting lacrosse again soon. I'll also go back to work at the Liggins Institute (The medical health research division of the University of Auckland, for those of you who don't know) next week as all of the researchers return to work. I'm going to be assisting with some clinical projects and subject recruitment and I am beyond excited. I'll be sure to let you know more about it.
My project for the Davidson Fellows Scholarship Competition is coming along well. There's so much to tell about it, I'm thinking it deserves its own post in the weeks to come.
Tomorrow I have class and a tutorial, but I'm also planning to run by a few of my favorite places around Auckland to share with you all. Get excited! There are some really beautiful places to visit around here that I feel so fortunate to be able to experience (Like the picture of the Winter gardens above!).

Some less monumental happenings... I've been doing a lot of reading and I am definitely a near constant Auckland Central Library patron. At the moment I'm reading "Apollo's Angels," which is essentially about the history of classical ballet. Its written beautifully and reads far more like a novel than a history text book. It makes me so excited for the Royal New Zealand Ballet production "NYC," that I'm planning to go see in March. I've also just started the classic "Goodbye to All That," which I've found very interesting so far. The dust jacket summary promised a "candid self portrait," of a young man who left home to live abroad and his experience serving as a young officer during WWI. The story line sounded a bit familiar.

Isn't the dancer on the cover breathtaking?

Also today I decided to make some peanut butter cookies. Mhmmmm. But good judgement kicked in when I thought about going for a run, as I've been doing every morning, with a belly full of butter and sugar. I then decided on a healthy vegan recipe to satisfy my craving. Looks good... right? Sadly they crumbled with the slightest touch : (

Until tomorrow everyone!

Lots of Love,

A