Taking the Longs way home

Meike is going to teach me a song on the guitar. I can't wait. It's going to be hilarious, but then I will come home and wow everyone with my amazing skills. hahaha.

Anyways, so yesterday when I had finished class I decided that I didn't need to go to practice since I have been so active lately that I haven't had a day off in like 2 weeks nearly. So after class I went to go pick up some photos from Longs (drug store so kinda chemist kinda supermarket), which is like a 20 min walk away, and I was all bitter because my moped didn't work and Meike's bike is just too tall for me and woe is me I had to walk!?! But then, I started singing and it was a really enjoyable walk.

And then when I got to Longs and got my photos and started browsing, and then stopped myself because I didn't have time and had to be going. But actually I didn't have anywhere I had to be or anything that had to be done. And so I just hung out at Longs, and smelled all the nice smelling stuff and looked at greeting cards and cleaning products and other cool stuff that is so amazing to look at and inquire about. And I think I ended up spending like an hour there or something it was so fun. And I was singing along with the radio that was on, and then this lady walked past who was singing too! And it was really cool. And I had a bit of a boogie in one of the isles and it was just so fun!

And then I walked outside to make my way home, and there was this awesome big cool rainbow so that made me smile even more. And as I got closer to home it started dribbling but it was like, you know those really nice big fat drops that are so refreshing and when they hit the ground or whatever they splash? like when they hit your cheek it splashes back onto your eye-lashes? yea like that. It was so refreshing.

Anyways, better go. Here is a cool photo of Kathryn Cox when she came to visit



This is my beautiful friend Alyssa at the beach one day



And this is Kezia eating (another beautiful friend)



This is Kezia, Alyssa, Meike and me making human towers.






fun!

ok all, I hope you're really rad. I'm coming home in 6 weeks, thats so soon! Anyone want to come to Waikawau with me?
peace out
much love
A xxox

Crazy/Beautiful

OK so the last week has been insane. I feel like I've been living like 5 different lives and each one is like, totally different. I had 3 mid terms, we got a new assistant coach (Coralie Simmons for those who have heard of her, was a silver medalist in Sydney), got some sad news from home about a family member, and improved my fire dancing and acrobatic skills!

I feel like I haven't stopped moving for a while, but really, I don't think I want to. I'm having so much fun and such an adventure.

Thursday night I was supossed to study for a mid term on friday and I just couldn't concentrate, and Meike was going to meet the french guys to practice some acrobatic stuff, and so I was like, well I'm not doing anything here so I'll join them for a little while anyway, but I'll totally be back by 9.30 to study. Didn't get home till like 11ish I think, and just crammed early friday morning, but I learnt how to do a flip. I couldn't land on my feet properly and was jumping onto the mat but I duno, have never done anything like that before so felt pretty cool actually : ) and decided if I can make a fool of myself like that with almost strangers, then I can pretty much do anything. And I learnt how to do a proper cart-wheel and we did some hand-stands against the wall it was just really rad.

Meike is playing this beautiful song on the guitar and I'm getting all lost in the moment hahahaha its really cool, its called "jeux interdits"

On Sunday we all went kayaking, we were supossed to leave at like 9.30ish and didn't end up leaving till like 11ish but that was ok because we needed some time to convince Jeremie to come, he was being a real cranky pants because he didn't get to sleep on his bed the night before. But we managed to persuade him so it was really cool. And we just had so much fun, caught a few waves, had a wee swim, kezia found some sea snails and big cyril educated us as to why snails ooze slime! So not only was it fun, it was also educating!
Yannick taught us how to do his radical dance. I wish I had a link for it! *hint hint* and I managed to get a really nice pink nose. You know you've had an awesome day when you get a pink nose : )

And then after bible study we went and had crepes for dinner and they were really good, even with stick to your teeth american cheese. And Meike played her guitar for us and we had a wee sing along, and I showed the boys Manukau city on google, and somehow we got into a chocolate fight with the left over chocolate from the crepes. Kezia put a bit on my nose and after that it was all over.







We spent a lot of the night trying to get a photo of Arnaud smiling, which we finally did, even though he has his eyes closed. But it is a beautiful smile :)




And this is the whole group, twas really quite a lovely evening



Hopefully this week things should calm down a bit, but next week we go to 20 hours practice so I am guna enjoy the chance to breathe a bit while I can.

It would be so rad to get an email or 2 from home *hint* Hope everyone is doing so radly

much love
A xxox

Really cool photo

This is Arnaud with the stick. Isn't it so cool! I took it, I'm so proud of myself!

Cool Photos

This is Aurelien standing on Big Cyril's shoulders.
Aurelien est magnifique au janglange, et Arnaud aussi mais je n'ai pas une photo.
Did I get it right that time?


This is ME! I am the bomb!


I just think this photo is really cool...I think its Aurelien but you can't really see him.

Tuesday

OK so last night was such a bunch of fun! First of all we all went out for dinner, to this vietnamese place and it was cheap AND good food, and the waiter was really nice. But we took quite a long time there so ended up only catching like the last 45 mins of the fire dancing but that was still really cool, and then we went to cold stone SO good. Vincent had a gotta have it size with a waffle cone and THEN rode really fast (i.e. beat the car) to a beach near by where a few of us kept up with the fire dancing for a while. I got the hang of the stick somehow (yes, this is the same unco amy you know and love) and managed to twirl it through my fingers AND go side to side. So really I'm a pro now : ) haha.
And Meike! Meike was doing the poi on fire, standing on Aureliens knees! And Kezia was standing on Arnauds hands and even Alyssa had a go with the poi on fire. So now we all have some pretty mad fire dancing skills : ) so fun. Em and Coralee and Michelle I wish you were here so much!
And there is a bit of chemistry in the air people. Its so cute! tellement mignon and lots of people in trees ; )
OK have to go practice now. Hope everyone is awesome. Photos to come soon

peace out
xxox

Amy the Fire Dancer

Hey guys,

So the weekend was really really fun. Not only did I get to laugh at my attempts at french AND learn to juggle almost, but I did some fire dancing with a stick!

So a few weeks ago Meike and myself met a bunch of french guys who have discovered Hawaii is like a home for gypsies or something and have been learning acrobatics and flame throwing from these people they keep meeting. Meike has been hanging out with them and learning lots of cool tricks, and on Saturday night, Meike, Alyssa, Kezia and myself went to a bbq with them, and it was heaps and heaps of fun. They gave us french chocolate on the condition we would have our photo taken with "mini potam" this tiny magnetic hippopotomaus (sp?) that has travelled the world and has his own blog spot. And I was playing around with the fire sticks (unlit) and the boys were being very patient with me it was so surprising! And so I finally got the hang of it a little bit and even lit the stick, but I was too scared to do the cool tricks Í'd learnt coz you have to do them fast otherwise the fire comes down the stick and burns your hands. So I just twirled the stick around a few times in front of me and felt really cool. And then we practiced some juggling (jonglant en francais?) and the boys showed us a few tricks and Kezia got a halo. And it was so rad. And then on Sunday we met them at the beach again, and then tonight Alyssa and myselfs Bible Study and Kezia are coming to the actual place where you learn fire dancing and stuff. So thats guna be awesome.

I am eating snifters. SO good! Aparently they have them in Europe too so Meike tells me, just not here. Thanks Em for puttin them in that pack!

So anyways, here are the photos


This is Jeremie (not Jeremy^^), Arnaud and little Cyril (there are 2) and mini potam with the last of the chocolate



This is Kezia with her halo, Aurelien (sp?) is behind her with the fire stick.


This is Kezia and Alyssa with Mini Potam

FUN!

Hey Everyone,

I'm tryin to make my 21st invites, so my dad has emailed me all these photos reminding me just how cute I was! Thought not many had seen this side of me so will post them for you. Let me know if theres one in particular you think should be on my invite : )



I always have been one for washing I spose...



The Builder



The Runner!!?!??!
Funny though - I was number 5 all the way back then even!



Biker with a mullet! YUS! Mel are you so proud of me??



YAY for Pottys!



This is me stealing strawberries from Dad's garden



Man I'm Hot!!!



Afternoon Nap Time at the Beach

Thats all for now folks. Hope you enjoy : )

A note from Meike

Hey guys, this is a wee note my room mate Meike wrote for me to help me get started on my blog. See I got a blog a REALLY long time before I put anything on it, so she wrote this for me and I just found it. So you can get an inside scoop on what its like to be my room mate : )

hope you're so rad!

Hello Folks
This is Meike, Amy’s room mate. I got her into this blog thing, but I think she needs to get a hand in keeping it up.
So here’s some news for ya!
We’ve been doing a lot of practice and Amy has even gone for the extra workouts (that are optional) most of the time. Then somewhere randomly on a day either one will pass out in the middle of studying and have the other one wake her up to go to class…
She’s been doing her job, sitting behind a desk and waiting for people to come and swim. She talks to them, receives and returns cards, and supposedly has really interesting conversations and is getting to know some of these people rather well. So well even that TWO! of them asked her out the other day! How sweet is that! So Amy is supposed to go dance somewhere in the near future.. I’l have to keep an eye on her!
So.. she’s busy, and in between activities she tries to make some time to spend with God. Or maybe it’s the other way around, she spends time with God and plans everything else around that! She’s managing very well though! LOL
This weekend there is a retreat and they are going up into the mountains with a whole lot of other Christians. She’s really looking forward to it and I think it’ll be good to get out of here for a bit. I met some of the girls that are going and I reckon it’s going to be a great weekend.
She has taking up giving bible study get-togethers (I don’t know if she used to do that before, at home) but she keeps them in our room and I am rather fascinated. It teaches me a lot and it’s nice to have everyone around. She goes to Cru, I don’t know if that is something common, but it seems like a mass to me. I’ll be going with her to see what it is like sometime soon.
At the end of the day before we turn out the lights we usually have a little quiet time because we both keep a diary and sometimes we end up discussing things just then. Or we just pass out due to lack of sleep.
She has seemingly mastered the art of riding on a moped.. it took a while to get over her fear and the speed limit ;) but she can now be found racing across Dole Street (where we live) and around the pool! Go Amy! Once I get my bicycle I’ll catch up with you!
What else.. well I think this should have helped he on her way, and I probably missed out on a lot of things so she will be motivated to correct me! Let’s have it Amy!!!

Thanks

Hey guys,

So its time for my weekly blog and I was sitting there feeling really boring but wanting to post something, and then I remembered a conversation I recently had with a girl who moved to the states when she was like 12 from Russia and is taking Arabic at uni and stuff, and I asked her what thank you is in those languages, and wrote them down on my thank you page in one of my books, and she was like why do you have all these thank yous? and I was like, well, I just really like the word, and even though it always means the samet thing, it means different things too in different languages when you think about the language and culture and stuff (even though most of the time I dont know what they are myself). haha, that was the first full stop in a while sorry guys! ok so back on track.
And then just now I was thinking, why am I so fascinated by the word thank you? and I came to the conclusion that even though I probably only very rarely express it, I'm really thankful. Quite simple really! Thankful for my friends, every one, seriously people, you have no idea how much you bless me and how much I appreciate you, even if I haven't spoken to you for like a year. You're amazing and I'm so glad to know you. And I'm so thankful for my family, you're actually incredible like you have no idea. And I'm thankful to come from New Zealand, and I'm thankful to be here in Hawaii, and I'm thankful to play water polo, and I'm thankful that even though experts say so many bad things are going to happen in this world (like global warming and extinction of animals and peoples, and the sun blowing up in 50mill yrs time), that I'm here now, and I get to experience them while we still can. I'm thankful that I get to travel so much. I'm thankful that I can see how beautiful people are. I'm thankful that even though sometimes it takes ages and ages, that I can forgive people. I'm thankful I have a camera and all those material things that so many people actually dont have. And I'm thankful that I'm thankful, because thats really hard for some people. I'm thankful that I know God.
So here are the thank you's I have learnt - I learnt the Czech thank you a couple of weeks ago but I lost it.

Thank you (English), Merci (French), Danke (German), Gracias (Spanish), Közönöm (Hungarian), Kia Ora (Maori), Mahalo (Hawaiian), Obligado (Portuguese), Grazie (Italian), Ta (Kiwi/Aussie), Dankje (?), Trimagassi (Indonesian), Arigato (Japanese), Tanks (Pidgin Hawaiian), Tak (Danish, Norweigan and Swedish), Beidanke (Dutch), Hvala (Croatian, Serbian), Sposibo (Russian), Shrukran (Arabic), Faafetai (Samoan), Dankie (Afrikans), Malo (Tongan), Asante (Swahili), Noa'ia (Rotuman)

and thats my list for now. if you have any more, you totally have to let me know.
k everyone, love you lots, have an awesome week.

much love
A xxox

the Weather Rocks my World

OK so its 8.30 on Saturday night, I was just driving back from the bookstore (yes, I am a fully fledged geek) on my moped and there was all this heaps and heaps of lightning. But I didn't hear any thunder. But it was really awesome. Meike is on her bicycle behind me, so I hope he didn't get struck on her way home! But it was seriously so cool! And the sky doesn't look that cloudy either. It's so awesome. We just don't get it that much at home. Ok so I am sure there is way more exciting stuff to see on a Saturday night but I just think it was really cool and wanted to tell everyone. It like, streaked across the sky like a spot light, but not. Agh, can't explain it. Too cool for me. but it's so cool ok? do you believe me? good. Meike just got home so she's ok you can stop worrying about her. But its really cool. : )