Breakin the silence

It's been 2 months since my last blog, and a million things have happened. I mainly didn't blog because I was crazy busy. Coming back from fieldwork I had to catch up on almost 2 weeks worth of classes, plus a bunch of basic maths and physics that I've never learned properly and hadn't used in years. Fun times... not so much! I spent most of my weekends working on assignments, and not only didn't I have time to do anything, I was also lacking power and creativity. I produced exactly one little sketch since I got here, and am not happy with it, to say the least.
Things got a lot better in October though. More spare time, so I could finally start settlling in properly. Got a gym membership for my addiction, started doing some yoga again, enjoyed a Vancouver Symphony Orchestra concert, went to watch a few movies, tried some restaurants, pubs, and more. One thing I'm particularly happy with: My new bike, Ranger.

my new amazing friend Ranger

As you can see, he's a true beauty. Amazing color, perfect size for someone like me, who isn't exactly born to be a star basketball player, or reach things on the top shelf ;) Switching from Kettler Alurad to Maruishi wasn't too much of a step: Both brands seem to produce super light bikes. Of course Ranger's arrival doesn't mean I don't like my good San Juan anymore. But he's back home with the family, enjoying his retirement days, and resting so that he can give me rides on my Germany visits. I'm sure the two of them would get along quite well.
So far I haven't used Ranger a whole lot, mainly due to the fact that it's slowly getting more and more wintery. We've had a beautiful fall, with an apparently surprisingly large number of sunny, clear and cold days. Vancouver in the fall is simply beautiful, and I'm so excited to finally get proper fall colors, something that I really missed in Welly.

View from my porch on a cold morning a few days ago

Went for a really cool little hike in the snow last Sunday with a bunch of people from my lab, enjoying the sunny day and the view from the mountains. 6 people, 3 dogs, snow, sun and amazing lunch afterwards. I really don't need anything more. Only 3 days later, Kirsten and I went for an hour of skiing out to Cypress, making the most of our season passes. They only had one run open, and it was raining quite a bit, but it was fun nevertheless. When have I ever been skiing as early as Nov 9??? Earliest skiing ever, and will definitely be followed by more, now that I spent half a fortune on my season pass :)

Winter wonderland on our hike to Hollyburn Peak last Sunday

Kirsten and me doing some rain skiing

The successes of the week didn't stop with skiing: I finally got my phone back on Friday, after it had been in repair for several weeks. Fingers crossed that it will be ok now *knock on wood*. Also managed to call my grandma for her birthday, which hopefully put a smile on her face. Saturday was all about getting out of the city: Ted and his roommate took me on a fishing trip. The weather wasn't super awesome, but at least there was only a wee bit of rain, a lot better than in Vancouver. Fishing-wise we were unsuccessful, but it was nice to see Vancouver Island, Whistler, the mountains and just to be outside. I took my camera and went on a little photo exploration. A good way to get some artsy feelings out of my system, until I get around to finally buying some paint, brushes and canvases to get back into painting, which I have neglected since I left all my stuff in NZ. Pictures from the trip yesterday and some more Vancouver impressions I collected during the last weeks on Picasa, where I also made an album with fieldwork pictures, for those who haven't seen the pics yet.
In addition, flat hunting started this week. After telling our landlords early in the week that I will be moving out I started calling up people and going to flat viewings. Housing situation in Vancouver is very similar to Munich, and to some extent Wellington. There's a huge demand, and landlords can pretty much charge you a fortune for a crappy place, at least in certain areas. I wanted to stay reasonably close to UBC and downtown, and that of course on a limited budget. However, after only looking a 3 different places I got lucky: The ground floor of a cute little family home, 5 blocks from the beach, close to shopping, restaurants, cafes and major busroutes, between UBC and downtown. The house has a nice, south facing backyard, so I'm already looking forward to summer time! I'll be moving at some point in December, and my new roommate Susi will be arriving from Germany a couple of days before New Year's Eve. Good times ahead!
This semester ends in 3 weeks, and I'll be off to AGU in San Francisco for the first week of December. It's gonna be nice to catch up with everyone there! Hopefully I'll get around to giving another update before that, or otherwise for sure afterwards. Now it's time to get back to my cosy Sunday, finish baking cookies and living the good life! See ya all soon :)

epic everything

So here I am, more than three weeks in my new home already. Ok, to be fair, I spent half of the time in the US doing some serious hanging out and working a little, so not actually three weeks at home. Yet, it's been great! Vancouver is still this amazing place that I had in mind from my visit. Fieldwork was awesome too, it always amazes me that I can get paid for doing some camping and climb a bunch of volcanoes :)
But let's start in the beginning: Arrived in Vancouver after some serious stressing out in Toronto. I basically didn't realize that I would have to go through a bunch of controls, so when I booked my flight I didn't really realize that less than one hour layover wouldn't be such a good idea. Either way, after passport control, immigration, picking up my 2 regular plus one oversize bags, going through extra customs for shipping stuff and beating everyone in line at the transfer check-in I made my connecting flight. Poor people next to me though, since I was basically soaked and had to stay next to them for another 5 hours :P
Keaghan picked me up at the airport, so I had a great welcome beer with him and Amanda. The next days were mainly heaps of errands to run, ID to apply for, social insurance, health insurance, the usual blabla.
Left for fieldwork 11 days ago, and had tons of fun: Crater Lake (Oregon), Medicine Lake and Lassen volcanoes (California), super sunny weather, successful fieldwork (took around 3000 pictures of rocks, do I need to say anything else??), camping, wilderness. Highlights included almost getting killed but survived a rockfall, finding a potentially dead body that later turned out to be just a tent, and an intense hail- and thunderstorm. Pics will be up soon!
Now I'm getting into class mode, and of course more settling in. Can't wait for October to start, less things to do, more fun and approaching the skiing season. Also can't wait for all my stuff from NZ and Germany to arrive. Stay tuned!

One more sleep...

... until it's "Pfiadi Bayern" and "Hello Vancouver". I'm quite excited, all my bags are packed (although way too full, as always), my room is (abnormally, almost terrifyingly) tidy, and I managed to get almost everything done that I had planned (always one or two things that I don't get around to). The tiny bit of my life left here in Germany got even tinier thanks to some serious cleaning out. I'm waaaaay more relaxed than when I moved to Welly. Partly because I managed once, so I know that I can do it again. Also, I already know people, have seen the university, the city, my flat, etc.
Summer finally decided to give me a nice goodbye performance: We've had temperatures over 30˚C and serious sunny days for almost a week now. Good times, seeing people one last time, hanging out in the sun, enjoying some nice beer. Hiking on Sunday left me pretty sore, but a dip in the lake afterwards might have prevented the worst. The last few days felt a little like the big summer holidays we used to have during highschool times. Not really having ANYTHING to do except one or two minor errands every 3 days or so, mainly chilling in the sun, drinking beers, eating ice cream and doing nothing, and being able to read something like one book a day. Can't remember when I last read one book a week, and more than that seems like it was in a different life. However, even though the slacker life is pretty amazing I'm glad that I can get back to work, have some routines and start thinking about volcanoes and other awesome geophysics again. *Nerd alert*
Either way, I'm off now. News from my new home will hopefully follow soon, latest after I get back from the US from fieldwork at some point in September! :)

Jag älskar Sverige!

It's incredible how time flies! It feels like just a few days ago that I was travelling through Oz, but somehow it's only another week and a half until I finally embark on my trip to my new home in Vancouver. The time in between brought heaps of fun and travelling:
The last weekend of July brought back some memories from good old times. Karen had arrived on Thursday already, and we had some time to hang out in town, even though the weather wasn't exactly summery. On Saturday we had a "Wellington-Reunion"-BBQ with a few people, which I (and hopefully everyone else too) really enjoyed! Sunday was sightseeing day in Munich for all the out-of-towners, including original Bavarian beergarden-experience.
I tried to use the next two days to let my voice recover, which I had lost almost a week before due to a little cold (hello - summer!? something clearly went wrong...). Not quite successful, so I decided that sounding like a rusty watering can is the latest trend. Wednesday we left for Sweden, only Sarah, Melli and I at first. The 3 days in Stockholm were awesome: A lot of sun and warm weather, pretty decent amounts of vodka and gin, a cool town with cute islands and nice, old buildings, and not to forget a great language. Moved into our little cabin in the middle of nowhere on Saturday, and spent another amazing week: Some sightseeing in towns closeby, awesome canoeing on a series of 3 lakes, more vodka, gin, martini, beer, ..., 6 of us girls in our cottage in the forest with sauna and some serious skinny dipping in the pond in front of the house - do I need to say anything else? ;) We're still debating whether this trip should become a tradition, which would probably also be benefitial for my Swedish skills! Sverige, du är fantastiskt! (Pictures will follow, but probably not for a few weeks)
Got back on Friday and spent the weekend in Alsace with the homies. Leaving for Leeds tomorrow, and when I get back it's only 5 more days before I'm heading to Canada! I'm starting to organise my stuff here and there, deciding which parts of my life will be left behind in boxes again. I'm almost an expert now. Otherwise there's not much new I guess. At the moment I'm more than usually addicted to the songs on TVNoir, I'm enjoying that I have the time to actually read some books, recently got into "My name is Earl", and I'm in desperate need of a hair cut. Exciting times in life ;)
My creative output has been pretty low lately. I made a few paintings and drawings, but I'm not quite convinced of their publishing quality, and there's no good scanner at home anyways. When I'm in Vancouver my energy will definitely go towards making my new home cosy, but maybe once I'm all settled and fall kicks in there will be another artistic pulse. In the meantime, here my last piece of work from Welly, "A sensation of summer", created for the one and only Kommissar Karsten Killerplauze.

The big tidy up

I loath tidying up. Yet there are some moments when I just have to do it. These past few days I've had such a moment. As I mentioned in an earlier post this year, cleaning and tidying up always gives me the impression of a tidy life. Not necessarily true, but definitely good for the mood :)
Since I'm still homeless, tidying up isn't the way it usually is: Normally I would have to work my way through piles of clothes on the floor, important and unimportant documents scattered between acrylic paint and pencils, photographs, plants, candy, tea and beer leftovers. Ok, admittedly, you can actually find most of these things in my temporary home. But what I've been tidying up is different: A wardrobe full of surprises!
When I left Germany in early 2009, I was feeling lazy and I was also convinced I was gonna be back for good after two years (silly me...). I threw out some things, but most stuff just got dumped at my parents' place, and has lived there in a big wardrobe ever since. Now that I'm here for a bit, the time has finally come to throw out a whole bunch of things.
There are clothes, of course. Despite my mum's protest I got rid of almost half of the clothes I had left in Germany. Even if certain things will come into fashion again at some point, I doubt that getting rid of belly tops from the late 90s is gonna be on my "things I regret in life" list!
But the wardrobe had more than clothes: my old album with little poems and wishes from my primary school friends, some issues of the magazine of the German Rock'n'Roll and Boogie Woogie Federation with pictures from all the different championships, our highschool yearbook from my final year and - best of all - a short diary that Jo and I wrote 8 years ago during a 3-week vacation in Argelès-sur-Mer. I had to laugh so much that I actually cried reading it. For those of you who speak German: check out the page!

one week in

Munich Philharmonic Orchestra and Lang Lang, Open Air at Odeonsplatz

As so often, time flies! It's one week now since I got back to Germany, only two weeks left till we depart to Stockholm. My days are busy but awesome: catching up with long-missed friends, going for runs and swims at the lake, enjoying the good Bavarian beer, going to the movies and concerts, bars and restaurants. Went to Tollwood 3 times!! I kinda forgot how awesome summer in Munich can be. Riding home at 2 am on the back of Melli's bike in a skirt and jandals without being cold, swimming in the lake, or hanging out in the Biergarten - simple things but truly amazing :)
On the downside, I'm chronically neglecting my work. Revisions on the paper are due soon, so I should get going on that, but for various reasons I keep pushing it off. The time in Oz seems like a distant memory, despite the fact that I was in Melbourne only two weeks ago. I still haven't realised that I won't see Wellington for a while.
Good news from who's gonna be probably the most awesome new mum in the world made it to Germany though, so a trip back to NZ at some point next year is a definite must! It's nice to have all these little reunions lined up for the coming years, even if the dates aren't exactly fixed yet: Munich, Leeds, Wellington, San Francisco, Seattle, Vancouver, to name a few. Makes me realise that the world is actually a tiny village, and that distances are shorter than they seem, even more so with Skype and email. On the other hand, reading about ice cream online doesn't even closely compare to actually having a nice 2 Liter box of Tip Top Hokey Pokey and eating it. Words of wisdom... ;)

Germany and ice cream - or The Beginning of Limbo

So I'm home. What exactly that means, I'm not sure yet.
Saying goodbye to NZ was tough, but a good amount of gin and tonic during my various flights made it a little less horrible. Arrived in Munich and went for a beer straight away. Good times! Now I'm hanging out at my parents' place, trying to focus on all the work that I'm supposed to do. Sitting in the backyard in the sun when it's 30ºC really isn't too bad, but also not exactly an environment that's gonna help me concentrate. Instead of working on my paper I spend most of my time picking all sorts of berries from the trees, reading glossy little magazines, playing with the cat and eating ice cream and cookies. Went for a run yesterday and today, and I am learning: As opposed to yesterday, I actually managed to run on the right side today and greet people with "Guten Morgen" instead of "good morning". Success! And glad to see the small things in life can still make me happy :) Yet, I have the feeling I'm neither here nor there. I think maybe I got lost somewhere between NZ and here. Can't wait to actually have a real home again, 6 weeks from now.

Uploaded a bunch of pics from Oz on Picasa, and going through all of them was actually a really nice little closing ceremony. What a great time! Now I'm organising (or rather stuffing) my time here. I'm really looking forward to catching up with everyone, but it's gonna be pretty busy. Our little Sweden retreat in 3 weeks from now is gonna be exactly what I need! I just can't believe all the stuff that has happened/will be happening this year. It's been super intense in every respect so far, I can't recall a single week without - as Aiko likes to call it - "excitement", or maybe a trip, or a decision, or a piece of news. Let's see what the next few weeks bring, but I don't expect things to calm down any time soon. Even though my new home, Vancouver, has been decided on, there's still heaps of things I need to figure out. My oil money, for one (thanks, Exxon!): Last time I got oil money was with Jason and Nate in Santa Fe, and we did the only reasonable thing - spend it on ice cream. Well, back then it was a slightly smaller amount, something like $5.20 if I remember it right. But then again, it got us a whole quart of awesome cookies&cream, so I'm just trying to imagine the 200-ish quarts of cookies&cream that I could get now!! I'm not quite sure whether Exxon would approve of this type of expense... Either way, there's still a lot gonna happen this year, and I hope everyone is as excited as I am - despite me being in limbo at the moment! Right now I'm off, time for ice cream :)

Oz #2 - East Coast and IUGG

Continuing my little summary:
part V: Cairns - Sydney
The Cape Tribulation trip was another highlight. Had a fun tour guide who just wouldn't stop telling his stories, saw crocs and spiders and cassowaries.
Took the Greyhound down from Cairns to Airlie Beach, just to hop on the ferry and spend a day on Hamilton Island, hanging out with Fernando and pretending to be a staff member - good times. Another day in Airlie Beach followed, Ocean Rafting in the Whitsundays, stunning views on Whitehaven Beach and Hill Inlet.
Next stop was Hervey Bay. Spent a day hanging out and relaxing before going on a day tour to Fraser Island, a huge sanddune. Met more really interesting people, saw the humpbacks on their way from Antarctica to warmer waters, watched the dolphins play and dingos roam, and of course hung out at Lake McKenzie with my new love, the coastal carpet python Jimmy and his dad Rich ;)
Decided to skip busy Byron Bay and spent three days in Yamba instead. Great fun, people and jungle juice and some serious doing literally nothing - awesome! Coming to Sydney afterwards quite a shock: a ton of people, huuuge hostel, very anonymous, and horrible attitudes compared to the warm and friendly people in the smaller and more remote Aussie towns. Did the usual touristy stuff: Opera House, Harbour Bridge, Darling Harbour, etc. Particularly enjoyed the National Maritime Museum and the exhibition about Scott's Antarctica expedition. Also had a great afternoon reading and indulging in chocolate at Max Brenner's.
Four weeks after I arrived in Oz, time to catch my flight down to Melbourne for IUGG. As it turned out later, I was lucky to get on one of the very last Tiger Airways flights before the Airline was grounded. Also glad we made it safe and sound all the way. Melbourne presented itself sunny and quite warm, and it was nice to catch up with Jess and Sapi again on Wednesday. We started our volunteering duty for the conference on Thursday. A week packed with "involuntary volunteering", talks and posters, a ton of science and making contacts as well as catching up with old and new colleagues and friends followed.
Now I'm back in Wellington, it's raining as hell (of course), and I have to pack and try to process everything I've experienced on the other side of the Tasman. I had an amazing time in Oz, met a bunch of really cool people, thoroughly enjoyed fantastic landscapes and wildlife, and finished my stay with a really successful conference. I learned that Aussies love their boardwalks and their barbecues, and found them similar to the Kiwis - a bunch of very laid back, funny, friendly, helpful, warm and welcoming fellas. It was almost too easy to travel alone, there was always a friendly Aussie offering me rides, helping me out, or simply hanging out for a little chat. Down under, I will come back!
Theme song for the trip was with no doubt (although I'm usually not that much into country): "Raining on the rock" by John Williamson. Pics as always on http://picasaweb.google.com/kathiunglert

Oz update

Just a little update on things so far, pics and more will follow in July.
Part I: Melbourne to Adelaide
arrived in Melbourne with 10 hours delay
Great Ocean Road with Koalas, funny little parrot birds, 12 Apostles, cliffs, cliffs and more cliffs
Otway (rainforest and dinosaurs...)
Grampians with Kangaroos, Emus, more Koalas and awesome rocks
Part II: Adelaide
hanging out, Botanics (of course), and chocolate factory tour with Jason who doesn't like chocolate. some serious tram riding in the rain (yay for free trams)
Part III: Adelaide to Alice Springs
heaps of good stuff, some highlights: Quorn playground, Wilpena Pound, Uluru and Kata Tjuta in the RAIN (!!!), Kings Canyon, redbacks in our tent, Frisbee, more Frisbee
Part IV: Finke Desert Race
booze, bikes and Kangaroo Rock
Part V: starting in Cairns
chilling, snorkelling, diving, fish, turtles, corals, soooooo much sun, Cape Tribulation tomorrow and then down to Airlie Beach. Sadly no more Frisbee. stay tuned, more to come...

Farewell

This will be my last post on kiwi-kathi from New Zealand. The next update might come from Australia, or maybe from back in Germany, before I will then open my new chapter, starting in August in Vancouver. I've thought about it for quite a while, and if someone had asked me a few weeks ago what I might write, the following probably would have been my reply:

Dear Wellington,

please sit down, we need to talk.
I've had a great time with you in the past 2.5 years, with all the ups and downs. However, it is now time for me to move on. But please keep in mind, it's not you - it's me! Also, there's someone else in my life: Vancouver. We only met briefly a few months ago, and please believe me when I tell you that nothing happened back then. Yet I think Vancouver and I might have a thing, so I really need to give it a try. I appreciate what the two of us had, and I hope that we can still be friends. Maybe we'll meet again at some point in the future!
All the best, yours,

Kathi

But the way things always are, in your head and far away from actual actions everything is different, easier. Now, that it's finally the time, I'm not even close to being ready to move on. The past weeks have been super intense in every aspect. Hanging out with all the people here that I love and enjoying my favourite spots in Wellington was simply amazing. Now my life is packed into boxes again. The really important part, however, is a huge collection of awesome memories, fantastic friends, life changing experiences and the certainty that I wouldn't hesitate a single second if I had to make this decision to come here again.
With all this in my mind, here are my actual final words for Wellington:

Dear Wellington,

I committed to you without ever having met you. Yet, that first glance I got at you - from the plane descending down on a warm summer morning in February 2009 - meant love at first sight. I believe we got to know each other quite well over the years, and I'm incredibly sad that I have to leave you now. The other night I was headed home and walked down the hills, getting a good look at you in the moonlight:

small, but with a big heart;
strong and independent;
fascinating and incredibly beautiful;

creative and unique;
finally, most important of all, home.

I will dearly miss you and everything that makes you the coolest little capital in the world. I simply have to come back at some point. Until then, stay the way you are, so long and thanks for everything.
Yours,

Kathi

- sacre coeur -

The final countdown

Here we go, it's my last week in Wellington. This time next week I will be sitting in Melbourne, getting ready for my big Aussie adventure.
How do I feel about this? Well, I'm in a weird head space, that's for sure. I managed to keep myself busy the entire weekend, so for most of it I was feeling fine. After dinner and movie with Aiko on Friday; packing, painting, dinner and movie with Martin on Saturday, Yum Cha with Aiko, Rich and the SAGE crew on Sunday, Martin, Markus and I finally managed to do our long planned sauna trip. Although it definitely wasn't European standard and we had to get used to the slightly more prude Kiwi approach to sauna, it came as close to a Finnish Sauna experience as you can get in Kiwiland. Walking out of it and heading up the hill to Andrew's for dinner I should have been relaxed and at peace - but instead I started to have this weird, diffuse bad feeling. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. Usually when that happens I try to find out where it comes from, and within minutes I can go back to being happy. But not this time. What finally made me feel way better was finding a huge spider while walking to Andrew's. Seriously, a huge spider made me feel better? As I got confirmed by Andrew soon, definitely not a sign of sanity... But then again, life would be pretty boring if everyone was sane, so who cares.
The next few days will be pretty intense. Heaps of catching up, lunch, coffee, dinner dates lined up. Also my last chance to satisfy my addiction - I will have to be without my beloved gym exercise until I start at a new gym in September! Sad times indeed.
On the other hand I'm getting more excited about Oz, now that the trip is slowly turning from an abstract idea into a real plan. I hope to get some good fun, sun and warmth, awesome scenery and cool cities, time for myself to think back about my life in Kiwiland and my upcoming, new chapter in Canada.
That's me for now, will have another update before I leave.

Appeal

Seriously, guys. Stop being cowards! This sounds harsh, but it's actually true. Many people these days are simply gutless, and I am sick of it. You might be wondering, what is this all about? Let me tell you. We're not talking about jumping off cliffs or out of airplanes (although I can highly recommend particularly the latter). No, we're talking about everyday things, things that you and I have to do; things that have to be said, dealt with, problems that have to be solved. I find it surprising and sad, how many people simply avoid these tasks. I'm not a saint myself, that's for sure, but I want to believe that at least I am trying. Avoiding doesn't make things better - never! On different occasions in the recent past I've had to realise how hard - basically impossible - it is for most people to simply face what has to be done (Yet: I do want to mention that I've witnessed the opposite end of the spectrum too - just not that often...). Instead everyone just runs away. So please, listen to me, think about it and maybe reconsider your actions - or the lack of action! It may be inconvenient, it may hurt someone in that very moment, it may be painful for yourself, but on the long run it's for the better. I believe that so much could be improved if communication between people was improved. Not just communication in general, but between the very people affected. It's nice telling your friends about what's going on, but even the best friend might get sick of constant whining without actual action. More important, the people concerned by whatever it is need to know if things are supposed to change. If a problem needs solving: do it, things don't usually fix themselves! If some serious conversation has to be done: don't postpone it, do it now! If you feel in a certain way, good or bad: tell whoever it is! Procrastination at work/uni might be successful - procrastination in life won't be.
Apologies for the rant, but I urgently needed to spit this one out.
Accompanied by: Thirteen Senses - Call someone -

Party and more

My last day in NZ is approaching fast, so this weekend it was time for my combined birthday/farewell party. The theme "red socks/stockings" was a huge success, and (hopefully) everyone had a great time celebrating. (Even though Karsten, Aiko and I showed up slightly late - for our own party, yep, doesn't get any better...)
Sunday was mainly for recovery purposes, including ice cream, some great movies and going out for pizza. Now I'm putting all my efforts into making the most of those last days here, now in two weeks I will be hanging out in Melbourne, getting ready for my 1-month Aussie adventure. I still have 17 days from mid June to early July unplanned in Oz - any suggestions for things to do, see, enjoy are much appreciated!
Below something I put together really quickly last week in one of the very few quiet moments I have these days.

- Heatstroke -