Yale trip, day 1

I'm here!!!! Ok, I haven't actually seen Yale yet, but I'm in New Haven.

This morning we left school on a chartered bus at 5:30 AM and drove 5 hours to Dallas. Then we waited 3 more hours before boarding a plane to Hartford, CT. I sat between two strange men who didn't talk to me much. I was ok with that. I wanted to sleep. Best part? We didn't crash! Haha. Have I mentioned how much I hate planes? I've flown a million times, and I know that plane crashes are relatively rare, but I'm still always surprised when I survive a flight. I guess I'm morbid like that.

Oh, and it took my right ear approximately four hours to pop once we landed. FML.

Anywho, when we arrived in Hartford it was around 5 PM, and it was already dark outside! What gives?! Stupid daily savings time! At this point we were all starving, but we still had an hour-long bus ride to New Haven. We drove, we checked in to the Omni, I changed into real pants, and some of us went to 50-cent wing night at Buffalo Wild Wings. 'Twas fun. Later we chilled at a bar and looked each other's names up on urbandictionary.com. "Lucy" was my favorite (unless retarded). Hah!

Well, this post was boring and chronological. That's probably how they're going to be while I'm here. Now I'm watching Family Guy. Oops, did it again. Alas.

See you tomorrow (unless I'm too sleepy)!

Back in the USA

I haven't had this blog for very long, and I've already gotten out of the habit of writing in it. I suppose this is to be expected since I had no (free) internet for nearly two weeks. Also, these past two weeks have been so FANTASTIC that I just don't know how to talk about them. I guess I could just make a bulleted list of the greatest moments:

-Surviving a 12-hour flight from L.A. to Auckland, New Zealand
-Arriving in New Zealand so early in the morning that we get to watch the sun rise
-Avoiding taking pictures of myself the first day in Auckland since we had to go nearly 36 hours without a shower
-Having to dance with a creepy, unattractive guy at a pub so that he wouldn't creep on my super-hot married friend and get her in trouble
-Seeing South Pole penguins at an underground aquarium
-Getting in FREE to the Minus 5 Ice Lounge - a bar made entirely of ice! - which normally has a $35 cover
-Seeing sheep being shorn in Rotorua, NZ
-Seeing ridiculously huge geysers and live kiwi birds
-ZORBING!!!
-Christopher and I ditching our group when we landed in Australia and navigating Sydney on our own in search of Kinokuniya bookstore and JOHN GREEN!!!!
-Being the only Americans at John Green's Sydney event other than John and his wife
-Arriving super early and sitting on the second row!
-Meeting communitychannel Natalie Tran!!!
-Seeing/petting/feeding kangaroos and koalas!
-Going on a harbor cruise
-Working with Dr. Eric Nelson of Emory University
-My friend Ashley's boyfriend flew all the way to Sydney to propose to her!
-SINGING THE MOZART REQUIEM IN THE SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-Being on the same plane as Bernadette Peters for the 13-hour flight from Sydney back to L.A.

It was such an amazing trip. I miss it. I'm still jet-lagged. I can't fall asleep until 5 AM, and sometimes I accidentally sleep all day.

On a sadder note, I had to say goodbye to one of my best friends in L.A. My friend Lindsey (whom you may have seen here) moved to Guam to be with her husband. He's in the Navy and was recently stationed there. They'll be in Guam for at least 3 years. I know that long-distance communication is easier now than ever, but she's SO far away! And with this next school year promising to be my busiest ever, I'm afraid I'll never get a chance to talk to her. Either way, I've started saving for a flight to Guam next summer.

On a happier note, I went to my first wizard rock show a few days ago! Justin Finch-Fletchley and the Sugar Quills, The Whomping Willows, and The Moaning Myrtles came to the library by my house. I finally met Lauren!!!! We hugged. We took pictures. It was so exciting. The audience was awkward for Ben and me (tons of kids and a few awkward adults), but the show was great!

Finally, this trip helped me to discover my "type." Turns out I like New Zealand-Asian guys with crazy hair who play the guitar and wear thick-framed glasses. It's really very simple.

I'm ending with a few of my favorite pictures:


























Heroes re-watching status: Season 1, Disc 5
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Other side of the world, here I come!

I've been working, which is exhausting.
I went shopping today, which was annoying but successful.
I have so much packing left to do.
My mom and brother are driving me up to school tomorrow, and IN THE MORNING I LEAVE FOR NEW ZEALAND AND AUSTRALIA!!!!!!

I'm so excited, but I'm also filled with a certain amount of dread. I HATE flying. Well, I enjoy being up in the air and all, but I'm slightly terrified of the idea of flight. I've been on a plane many times, and I still haven't gotten over it. No amount of comforting statistics can convince my brain that air travel is safe. Baaaaahhhh.

OK. I can do this. Once that 14-hour flight is over, I will be in a magical land that many Americans never get to see. I will be singing the Mozart Requiem in the Sydney Opera House. I will (hopefully) be seeing John Green at a bookstore in Sydney. It will be an AMAZING, once-in-a-lifetime trip. I can do this.

So this is probably my last blog post for a few weeks. To hold you over until I return, here's a video of me doing the Hoedown Throwdown. :-P

Bye guys! See you when I get back!

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