10 things I have learned while travelling...

1) Don't forget to meet random people in the airport- the old timers almost always have good advice... even if your not lost, ask for directions. It will often turn into a short chat, and it seems to make my airport experience that much better!

2) Check your passport 5 times a minute.

3) Listen to the different languages around you... if one of them seems interesting (as in you have never heard it before) then you should try and learn it! If it caught your attention, then your going to have no problem finding the time to become fluent in it. For me, I find Swedish extremely fascinating... so I am currently learning how to speak it from a Swedish student!

4) Think about your life and those who make your life so wonderful. Cherish them by telling them how much you care about their existence in your life.

5) Get to know yourself when you are sightseeing. You are so happy to be learning and seeing new things... why not try learning and seeing new things about yourself. I am amazed how much I learn about myself when I am in a 'different' place that is full of surprises. 

6) Don't just take mental notes and visual memories, take photos! Grab a nice SLR camera on Ebay or Trademe and start snapping pictures! Use your pictures to tell help tell a story to your friends and family about your travels. Don't bother with a bad camera, you will regret it!

7) Write a diary (online or personal)... keep quotes that you hear, write about people you meet and what you like about them, and also how certain situations made you feel. When your feeling down, or you just want a refresher on your travels and all your good times, your diary will come in handy! It will help you remember how to feel amazing!

8) Don't trust anyone, except those who have been travelling with you for a long time. But don't not trust everyone...  it will really ruin your experience if you are not open to new things. I have found the happy medium, by checking my passport (in my pocket) constantly and keeping my money and valuables in my front pocket. Besides my passport and money, most other things are replaceable. 

9) Ask to become facebook friends with those whom you meet along the way. If you really enjoy someones company, or have met someone who you think is just so unique, ask them to connect on facebook. It may seem awkward at first, but in the end, you will be so happy you did... because now, you can see where they go in their travels, and keep in contact! It is so cool to watch others' adventures... knowing that you could do the same adventure one day. Also, who knows, he or she could be your best friend for the rest of your life!

10) Cherish the moment. Don't rush anything, soak in your surroundings, and realize that in no time at all, you will be back to work or school, and living the 'real life.' Not that it is a bad thing, but travelling is just so much fun! If you can remember that the moment won't last forever, you will appreciate what you are doing more, and will feel so much more accomplished, than if you just get wasted and party 24/7. 

MB

Dunedin Adventures

Dunedin

New Zealand

August 13, 2011

With my new found talent, coordinating tours for my international friends, myself and my friend Sam booked yet another trip. Kaikoura was spectacular, the scenery, the wildlife, and the memories were/are fantastic and will be remembered for the rest of my life. The trip to Dunedin, was a different sort of trip. It was just as good, but it wasn't about seeing wildlife, it was about experiencing a nice mix between nature and city.

Taieri George Railway Station.

Boarding the train... headed on a 4 hour tour throughout New Zealand's Wilderness.

Over the bridge, and through the woods... Taieri George Railway.

A breath of fresh air... ahh, nature at its finest!

The juxtaposition of a bridge crossing the native bush- remarkable!

Great friends, beautiful scenery... Does life get much better?

After riding the wooden train through nature's backyard, we begun the evening. Great Thai food, lots of laughs, and best of all, the late night was spent with 'The Big Night Out!' We visited 6 pubs, had pizza, met new people and most of all, enjoyed the buzz of Dunedin's downtown. The next morning, we woke up, made a hearty breakfast omelette filled with sausage, bacon and onions for everyone, and were back on the road. But before leaving, we checked out Dunedin's Historical Museum which was filled with artifacts, stuffed native wildlife, and live butterflies! We had to visit one impressive street... the steepest street in the world!

At the base

Making a run for it!

This caught my attention... Woah, cool!

Halfway there... It started snowing a lot (time to hurry up and get on the road)

Enjoying our time on the steepest street (19 degrees) in the world.

We made it!

It was really getting snowy out, so we decided it was time to hit the road and head for the Moeraki boulders before the weather got too bad to travel in!

Entering the Moeraki beach... we were in for a surprise!

Beautiful.

I took a little hike away from the beach, and experienced some of the most beautiful views I have ever seen!

This is how a Moeraki Boulder is formed...

Slowly forming into a Moeraki Boulder... nature is powerful!

We grabbed a cup of cafe, some sammies, and were headed back on a 4 hour trip to little ol' Lincoln University. Our next adventure will probably be in Queenstown, New Zealand, doing some river rafting or bungee jumping! For now, myself and ten other buddies are headed to Australia on Saturday to tour Sydney, rent a car and drive up to Brisbane, sightseeing in between, and snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef! Cheers.

″A traveler without observation is a bird without wings.” – Moslih Eddin Saadi

Some Kiwi Slang That I've Learned... with a splash of Kaikoura Adventures

College -- high school, not university

Bush -- forest or scrub wilderness

About to be surprised by a mass of seals!

Biscuit -- cookie

Fizzy drink -- soda pop, i.e., carbonated softdrink

Seals.

Gidday-- hello

Gumboots-- rubber boots (Everyone wears them! At the library, right at the entrance is a bin for you to drop your Gumboots into. It is normally quite full. People often walk around and go to classes in wool socks or bare foot.)

Found a rare, pink seal.

Ground floor-- first floor

Hotdog-- corndog

Hooray-- goodbye

Half Hour later... still watching in amazement.

Hire-- rent

Lolly-- candy

Lift-- elevator

Is this reality?

Ladybird-- ladybug

Mum-- Mom

Oz-- Australia

Right before we got on our bus. 

Sammies-- sandwiches

Tramping-- hiking

Stuffed-- exhausted

Toasties-- grilled Cheese (often with many extra toppings-

 Resting... There baby is in the bush.                       such as ham, spaghetti, pineapple and creamed corn)

                                                       Swot-- study

I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world.  This makes it hard to plan the day.  ~Elwyn Brooks White

Bringing a slice of home to Christchurch, New Zealand

Project:

Red Zone- Re-Housing 30,000-45,000 People

Bulldozing the Red Zone

= Green, Open Space + Sustainable Housing

The Challenge: Where do we re-house all these residents?

A n d r e w       T e s s a       H i l l a r y       M a t t h e w     ~ Lincoln Landscape Architecture

Okay so where do we start?

Soils...

What's exisiting...

What do we see...sketching our ideas...

Housing Densities... How will they look...

Low- 30 homes per hectare ( 2.3 acres per hectare)

Medium- 55/ HA

High- 73/ HA

Building Models...

Presentation- Friday!

Then a presentation to Christchurch City Council!

Then we split off and create our own, detailed designs of what we envision.

For Housing Densities, I am using Croton-on-Hudson's Half Moon Bay (housing development)
as a concept to work off of... my classmates thought it was the perfect
solution... so perhaps Christchurch will one day look like Half Moon Bay!

(In case you do not know, I live in Croton-on-Hudson)

How cool would that be?


MB

5 Thing's I've learned while travelling...

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."     

 - Ralph Waldo Emerson

 1. Take a deep, deep breath

Arriving at your destination can be overwhelming. I know when I arrived in Aukland, New Zealand, there was a Tsunami warning issued ten minutes before I landed. If that's not welcoming enough...

2. Know your surroundings (well, at least try to)

When I was in the bus provided by Lincoln University on my way to my dorm, I wasn't sure what was going on. I was exhausted, restless, but none the less, I wanted to explore! Meeting the people who were in the van was a great start to my trip. The next day, when most people had arrived to the university internationally, it was time for an International get together. It was awesome, though I was still shy and was hesitant to meet many people. Over the course of a couple weeks, I got to know most of the international students, and am currently having a great time!

3. Language Barriers ?

Luckily, I didn't have to worry too much since our American language isn't too different than the Kiwi (New Zealand) English. What I found fascinating though was that it is so easy to communicate with the international students. They know english quite well... in fact most of them took english courses as a mandatory class growing up. I'm finding more and more that wherever you travel to (I've gone to New Zealand, Canada, Mexico, Turks & Caicos, Domincan Republic, and the Bahamas... going to Australia in a few weeks!) english is usually understood. I've begun to understand that if you can speak their language, it is a sign of great respect to their country. Just as we are appreciative of others speaking English in America, other countries feel the same about their own language.

4. When locals are being over generous, take it as a compliment.

In most parts of America, we think of people who are being 'abnormally nice' as people who are either trying to scam us, rob us, or are simply on drugs. Outside of America, that can remain true, but not from my personal experiences at least. I have met some of the nicest, and friendliest people while travelling. In New Zealand especially, people have been over generous and will go out of the way to make sure you enjoy every second of your stay. It is sort of like bragging rights for them (Everywhere in New Zealand is breathtaking!) Not only are New Zealander's extremely friendly, but so are the international students! They are a fantastic bunch of individuals and all have their own life stories which are unique. I hope to hear everyone's by the end of my time studying at Lincoln University.

5. Be yourself.

One of the most amazing and inspirational things that I have learned already, in the short few weeks that I've been here is that being yourself is by far the most important thing you can do. Of course, when you meet new people, you want to make a good impression. For the first time in my life, I was true to my self from the very beginning. I didn't try and act extra 'not Matt Berger ish.' From one of the most intelligent individuals in the world, "Why wouldn't someone want to know the real Matt Berger." How I look at it, either you act like yourself from the beginning, or it comes out when you have a few drinks, so its really your choice.

Lincoln University International Students 2011

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10?

Hello everyone!

I asked a Danish guy, a swedish girl, a french guy, a norwegian girl, and an austrian guy to count to 10 in their own language. I counted to 10 in spanish and english! It turned into a pretty cool conversation and we shared cultural 'slang' with each other. It was tons of fun!

Before that, we were on a school trip assessing the damage in Christchurch (from their major earth quake months ago). In the next few weeks, we are drawing up a design to re-locate all of the damaged homes... if it's good enough, the council of Christchurch will review it! After the trip, my self and another classmate went to one of our classmates homes... a real kiwi home! It was so much fun to meet his entire family and share our backgrounds. They were so intrigued to hear what we had to say. We enjoyed a glass of their homemade wine (really sweet and tangy) too!

I'm looking forward to Saturday... myself and 25 others will be heading to Kaikoura Park in New Zealand to enjoy cabins, the ocean and snowcapped mountains all in one overnight trip!

Cheers,
MB

P.S. : Ken Smith, an admirable Landscape Architect will be visiting Lincoln University to give a lecture on Monday!!!! If you don't know him, google him and you will understand my excitement. I met him once before at one of his lectures at Columbia University... bought a book from him and got his autograph too!

While you are on google, search Jan Johnsen... she's also an aspiring Landscape Architect! She does better Landscape design work than Ken Smith... trust me! Check out her blog too, www.serenityinthegarden.blogspot.com !

Wall of Hope

Let the beauty we love be what we do.

There are a hundred ways to kneel and kiss the earth.

~ Rumi

Clear Blue Skies... 

What better place to visit than the

We were greeted by many welcoming residents enjoying the gentle breeze and natures soothing flow of water.

As we flowed through the winding walkways, we made our way to a sub-tropical alpine forest where we bumped into my Professor at Lincoln University!

We had fun at the Gnome Grotto Showcase in the Fern room!

We had some fun climbing trees... and even spotted a gnome palace!

Extracted from Serenity in the Garden Blogspot... written by me... The following pictures are by Jan Johnsen.

When you walk into a garden [designed for serenity], you feel a sort of energy. A fusion between relaxation and excitement.

...Your first rush of energy is usually captured at the entrance way...As you leave the stressful world that we all share, and enter into the garden of thoughts, dreams, and peace, you become the feather floating in mid-air....

a garden for healing - j.johnsen

You look down and appreciate as the ladybug sits on the plant's leaf, you notice the bee's pollinating the magical wild flowers, and the the squirrel keeping an eye on you as it cracks open a fresh acorn.

Rock Garden - J.Johnsen

This is the feeling of Serenity.

You become one with earth as you sit on that rock, which is perfectly situated between that ground covering of moss and the tall zebra striped grass. You feel ... its slightly vibrating rush of intensity ...

Dry Stream garden - J Johnsen

As the rock takes you in ... it forms a relationship with you. It allows you into its very diverse environment. You are now an accepted being in this garden. Whenever you enter, you will know that you are in your ...room of comfort, peace, and of course, serenity.

This is the feeling of Serenity in the Garden.

Now take that  feeling, which hopefully, you have absorbed after reading my snippet of thoughts and imagine walking out of the Bush (Forest) and into a city which is mainly blocked off by fences all around it's perimeter. Completely vacated and off limits. I stopped taking pictures because I was in complete shock... but here was the last one I took before putting my camera away.

Look closely, and you will see a crack going down the whole left side. It was terrifying to see that this brace system is common practice and a common sight to see around Christchurch... not just the city, but also at Lincoln University!

Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine.  

~Anthony J. D'Angelo

MB