Woh- rediscovered blog!

Hi,

Does anyone actually look at this blog anymore? It's been about 4 year since the last post!

Mel

Memoirs of A Geis..I mean Barjie

"Dear Friends,

A month has gone since I left New Zealand and I am well overdue in sending back the news that I have arrived safely in Cambridge and have settled in nicely. I’m sorry about the lateness of this email but it’s been a period of readjustment and I’m only now taking a pause to look back on it.

After I initially arrived I had a fantastic 10 days in London , where I took over a couch in my sister’s Wimbledon flat. Spent a lot of time sight seeing and did a fair bit of shopping. I started putting down my impressions and experiences on paper, I will send them to you once they’re in coherent form. Suffice to say that there’s a lot to see there and I look forward to returning there for Christmas.

The trip to Cambridge was a minor nightmare. One of the tube lines was down so I ended up lugging all my belongings up and down long flights of stairs and escalators that weren’t functioning and through the extensive underground passageways of the tube stations in central London . My muscles were aching for days afterwards. It was a relief to arrive to a warm welcome here in Clare Hall. The atmosphere here is friendly and relaxed and it has been easy to make friends and get to know people. Being a graduate college, things are more laid back here than in other colleges. Everyone is on a first name basis, students are able to mix with research fellows, and there are no silly rules like “only senior fellows are permitted to walk on the lawn”. The majority of students are from overseas, with a wide range of countries represented (there are two other kiwis as well). It’s a diverse mix of people with different backgrounds, experiences and areas of study, so it’s always interesting to meet new people here. Everyone here is frighteningly smart and discussions often become quite intellectual, it sometimes gets a bit intimidating. But there’s always the lighter side as well (eg late night games of monopoly). There are quite a few good facilities here: a bar, reading room, swimming pool (small but heated), gym, tennis court, and pianos. There are also many activities within college – music concerts, art exhibitions, dance parties, rowing (I gave it just a moments deliberation before good sense came to me), weekly film nights and many “freshers’ week” (ie O week) activities to make us feel at home.

Weather has been quite mild though gloomy most of the time. Most of Cambridge is very pretty and the town is gorgeous when the sun shines on the river, the leafy trees and the verdant manicured lawns. However the site where I work is a dull compound in the dense centre of town. Indeed on a grey day the stone buildings can feel a bit overbearing. There are cyclists everywhere as it’s the most convenient way to get around. While I’ve been coping on foot for the moment, I’m hoping to “acquire” my sister’s unused bike at some point to facilitate transportation. This will mean getting on a bike for the first time since I was about 11 so it remains to be seen how successful this plan will be.

The food at the college dining room is of pretty good quality and with the student subsidy it’s very reasonably priced, so I try to take advantage of that as much as possible. On Wednesdays they serve a formal dinner, which means we all dress up and are waited on at table – last time we were served guinea fowl, whatever that is! Apparently my college is ranked top for its formals. And despite being called “formal”, we are much less formal than many of the older colleges where people wear gowns, Masters sit at High Table, and prayers are said in Latin before the meal.

The other researchers in my department are all friendly and helpful and have made me feel very welcome. As you may know, my project is on the production of biodiesel and specifically I will be looking at how the mixing of the reactants affects the downstream separation of biodiesel from the glycerol byproduct. At least that’s the current plan. I’m quite happy with the way it’s taking shape, it’s very chemical engineeringy involving fluid flow, reactions, separation of immiscible fluids and droplet coalescence. Right now there’s a lot of reading to be done and sometimes it feels like treading water. There’s also been endless safety lectures – I even had to sit a test on safety – and induction stuff. I’m attending lectures on rheology and metrology, i.e. measuring/analytical equipment, more for interest’s sake than anything else. As a graduate I’m entitled to go to any undergrad course in the university, and I find lectures more bearable when I know there’s no exam or coursework to be done. There’s another student starting a Phd on growing algae to extract oil from. Although these days feel a bit like feeling your way through the dark, it’s nice to have someone else there to share the experience with. We kind of have two supervisors who have been providing us with a lot of direction and guidance. Next week they’re going to show us how to use the biodiesel reactor and analytical equipment – a nice change from having to work out stuff for myself!

There are countless clubs/concerts/lectures/discussions etc to join/see/do in Cambridge . If I didn’t have a degree to do I’m sure I could occupy myself quite easily with other activities. I finally joined a choir at Trinity College after some looking around – there are heaps of choirs here. Well I mainly chose there because some friends from my college were also going there. I’ve only been to one rehearsal so I can’t really comment on it except to say that it seems to require a high level of sight reading which is a bit worrying, especially when you’re trying to read German text and music at the same time. We’re practicing Brahm’s German Requiem and have less than eight weeks to get it together – frankly I’m sceptical about how good it’s going to be in the time. Though I was told by a singer at my college that English choirs often work on the basis of sight reading. If I don’t enjoy the choir this term, there are more relaxed choirs that I can join later.

It’s funny how a change in location can change some of the habits that one has done for one’s whole life. For example, I now shower in the mornings rather than the evenings, something my mother tried to persuade me to do for years in vain. I no longer drink milk for breakfast but instead have yoghurt and muesli (I’ve hardly ever eaten muesli before). But I guess some things never change – I still have my daily toasted vogels (the supermarket only stock the soy and linseed variety but it’s still the best bread by far).

Well I think I’ve rambled on long enough to give an impression of life here. Hope you are all well and I would love to hear news from home.

Till next time

Arjan

Important Stuff!

Well let me first mention how AWESOME New Plymouth is!!! Roz and I made the trip to visit Mel and Smi over the weekend, it was so much fun! We went shopping and to the beach (but definately not in the water, it's the middle of winter!), had lots of good meals and went to a great Margarita party! Overall a fantastic weekend!

Secondly; Kevin I'm very impressed with you DIY skills! And your description of them :-)

In other news.............Arjans leaving party is coming up :-( most likely the 1st September I'm told, so keep that date free!!

Arjan and Kenny are currently in Melbourne visiting the growing chemmat contingent there (well not sure if you can two a contingent, but it's getting there!). I shall be visiting them shortly too, on the 13th August to be exact!

Ok, hope you're all well, and enjoying whatever it is your doing

Claire :-)

The Water Engineer

Works in a treatment plant
Smells all, sees all imaginable
Not meaning to be blunt
But this path was unforeseeable

A water engineer deals with a life source
A liquid so precious, its scarcity brings inevitable death
With enlightenment there was now no remorse
Even if at times,the stench caused one to have to hold his breath

One day, his toilet sprung not one, but two leaks
Degree he had, but toilets he’d ne’er try to fix
DIY, DIY! He wanted to say,
Pay a plumber? No way, no way!

To Bunnings he went, the mantra “Lowest Prices are Just The Beginning”
“When I flush the valve doesn’t close properly”
Oh, so are you trying to say its overflowing?
Yes, what is the problem with that thingy?
It’s a cistern you dummy

Now what else is the matter?
After flushing, it just keeps on running,
The poo’s all gone, but the water keeps on coming
Ah, you need a new washer

The parts bought, the engineer exited
Bunnings guy knew what he was doing,
Every part was right, every part fitted,
Pride, the water engineer was feeling

Bunnings guy saved the day!
Pay a plumber? No way, no way!

Announcements 2

Claire commented in my blog :)
Arjan's curly hair is such a turn on ><

Announcements

Latest Update

Arjan goes to Melbourne on 4th July
-Ask him about Cowboy Bebop

Charles' Flatwarming on 4th August
-Ask him how much land his 'flat' has

Grad U Ation!

Kenny the centipede

Grrrrrrr!

Life in the NAKI!

Living in NP means you can relive the Chemmat Field Trip...

Graduation

Ok, I think we've established that since the engineering breakfast is already at 8am, there's just no way we're going to be able to do the champagne in the park thing!
At this stage there are some people interested in dinner the night before and some the night of...........so right now I'm not sure what to do?! Perhaps a dinner the night before and then have more of a drinks thing the evening of? Then people can just come to whatever they want to. Any suggestions for restaurants??

Re: Graduation

I believe we would be well off to engage in a number of activities, such as the class champagne breakfast and then also a dinner, however we should do the dinner on one of the days following, the saturday or preferably the friday, hopefully then all who have made the trip back to auckland can attend,without preventing people from spending time with their families on graduation day itself.
Just a thought but let me know about other suggestions

NOTICE

FROM: CLAIRE

Hi!!
So graduation is coming up soon and some of us were thinking about organising some gatherings to mark the occasion. Ideas thus far include: dinner the evening before graduation, champagne in Albert park on the morning of graduation (before the official breakfast thing) and dinner &/or drinks on the evening of graduation. So I was just wanting to know what option (or options) people would be interested in, as I know people want to spend time with their familiies, but probably also want to be able to catch up with the chemmat class. Other suggestions would also be welcomed, so let me know what you think.
Ok, well hope you're all having a fantastic time at work or uni, or doing whatever.
Look forward to seeing you all at graduation!
Claire :-)

Oh, yeah, who has skype?? If you do you should search for me! I will be your skype friend :-) And I need more coz at the moment most of my skype friends are my family members!

K, I'm so not impressed! Why does technology hate me?! Maybe it just takes a while for the blog to think about life before it updates itself??
Anyway, want to hear from the rest of you!!

Hello?!

How come nobody has posted anything for so long?!!

K, so for some reason I feel inspired to post some photos.......................................

Right, so going all the way back to Maz's lunch in January

Maz's flat warming

Now down here at Mt Maunganui.............................

hey smitha what is your shell email? i tried @shell.com and @shell.co.nz - neither worked. if u dont wanna it post on a public blog (i wouldnt) email me from your work address at my address given on that list we put together end of last year

Last day of my holiday ahh!!

Well I am savouring every minute of today (using the early hours of the morning to update blogs), before I start work tomorrow! eeek! All your work woes sound very interesting after my 3 month holiday of non-C&M-thinking. Moved down to NP a few weeks ago, but haven't actually spent a lot of time there yet, went to Wellington 7's, and ran into Joe, dressed as a "Chinese Baby" (unfortunately don't have a pic so you'll have to just imagine...). Caught up with Roz and Dave too. Smi and I are on the big house hunt, which is going ok... and once we get a place you will all have to come down for our flat-warming! ...well haven't talked to Smi about that yet...

Howdy Doody

How's everyone? Sorry for the looong as silence. My blogging fervour seems to have died :(
I'm just so tired out nowadays....gone were the days where I'd rather post rubbish online and upload nonsensical photos whilst procastinating my Part. Tech assignment or PD essay or Biotech report..etc. etc....

Still I'm glad you guys are keeping this blog alive!

Working is ....erm...well...I'd rather give examples of what's happened to me while I worked here....
i. Got myself stuck in an old oxidation pond up to my knees
ii. Had diluted poo water splashed into my eye & face (for the eye, you only get a blurry vision which lasts approx. 3 hours, the face splash results in pimples.)
iii. Almost lost a piece of handheld equipment that costs $7000

Yea...that's about it. Nothing too exciting happens in a treatment plant. No collapsing columns, no explosions, no oversized flesh eating bacteria...ho hum

Melbourne

Hi Guys
Well I've finally worked out how to post stuff on here. And engineers are supposed to be good with technology... that's scary.
Anyway, as most of you know I've been working for Beca in Melbourne for the summer. The office is really nice, the people are really nice, the city is really nice.... but I've been given a total of about 1 weeks worth of work to do while I'm here... so I'm bored out of my skull and cant wait to get home! And by the way if anyone knows of anyone looking for a flatmate in Auckland I'm looking for somewhere to stay!
I have managed to get out and see a bit of the country though which was nice - even went and spent Christmas and New Years in Queensland, I highly recommend the Great Barrier Reef, Cairns, Fraser Island and the Whitsundays. And Noosa if you don't mind things being a bit commercialised. My wildlife spotting skills have improved recently, having seen wild kangaroos, koalas, echineas (ok not sure of the name but the things with the long snouts and the spikes like a porcupine) , and a personal favourite - the Huntsman spider! No snakes unfortunately though, but there is still time... And I went to a croc farm where they had over 3000 crocs, awesome. I had my photo taken holding one but it didn't turn out (sniff).
Not a lot else to report, hopefully I'll see most of you when I get back in 2 weeks!
Hope your various jobs are more exciting than mine,
Stacey
PS What they say about the shopping in Melbourne is totally true - the mall closest to where I live has not one, but two KFC's (a dream come true), just to give you an indication of the size. I have way too much stuff to get back to NZ now...

teknolagy

hi all,
i've finally noved out of my temporary accomodation with the crazy 50+ yr old german dude and into a more normal flat witha 23yr old dairy farmer and his farm dog 'jet'. For the first time in 2 months i have a phone AND a microwave (hence this blog) -wow, dinner no longer takes 2 hours to heat in the oven (i'm not kidding, go try it if u dont beleive me)

anyway, works good, into my 2nd month there so poeple are giving me actual serious work, not just inductions etc - i have soooo much stuff thats my problem when it doesnt work! - i see now why they pay well.... Already i have 4 distillation towers, 16 furnaces, 10 catalytic reactors, infinite pumps and heat exchangers and a few large compressors in my 'command' (what i'm actaully allowed to do is at the discretion of the ops guys). Alas, no steam turbines in my units, even tho there's 4 waste heat boilers. And soon i get the whole effluent water treatment unit too...oh crap, my brain hurts! Its like a design assignment from hell coz all my projects actually have to work! The refinery is so f*%&kn massive, i can actually get lost amonst 26" pipes labelled 'hydrogen ex K7501" and stuff like that. Kinda scary when u know that there's 160 bar inside that line, and hydrogen aint friendly!

Anyway, soon, or already, most of us will be in this situation so these gripes will seem pretty lame.

Catch u all at graduation - looking foward to hearing some of your stories!. And claire, does the name Fadi Akkawi ring a bell? hehe......

Charles

Skype!

So I just managed to download Skype and even make it work and everything! So if I can do it, anyone can!
I have also been introduced to the realm of MySpace this week. I must warn you though, if you do happen to stumble across my MySpace profile you should be aware that it is only very loosely based on reality and that I did NOT write it myself! I will change it at some point, but right now I can't be bothered. So if any of you do have MySpace you should be my friend, coz right now I only have 3 of them! :-(

General happenings

Hope everyone's making the most of the summer weather on the odd occasion that the sun decides to come out....Just wanted to say thanks to Maz for having the latest chemmat luncheon at her house last saturday, and to Claire for organising. We had about a dozen people come over to catch up. Best effort was made by Charles who biked 20km to buy ingredients for food and then came down all the way from whangas to join us!

Also, on Thursday Maz, Kenny, Evangeline and I went rock climbing at Extreme Edge in Mt Wellington. Kenny was undaunted by the toughest overhangs and Maz took to the walls like a fish to water, being a natural born climber (remember the Mangawhai playground?). Evangeline proved that being, err, vertically challenged is no obstacle to scaling the heights.

Anyway we're hoping to have a regular chemmat event for those of us in Aucky at least once a month, not necessarily rock climbing (tho it might come up again)...other ideas include sampling international cuisine, mini golf etc. So if anyone feels like organising an outing, please feel free. Otherwise, look out for news of the next event, I hope to see less pikers next time!

I'm tired!

Hello again, yes that’s right, you get to hear from me again! Oh g-d you think, what could she possibly have to say now that’s vaguely interesting………well, I’ll try to keep it brief this time, I promise :-)

So last time I left you in Oxford………………I think I spend Christmas with the most spoilt children in the world! They got so many toys it was just ridiculous! I spent the majority of Christmas day assembling various lego castles and pirate ships, knex swinging boats and sewing stuffed animals. Think I had more fun with their presents than they did! After a few days I did tire of the kids though and thus spent a few days just wandering around Oxford. It’s a really cute town, would be fun to go to uni there I think, all the buildings are really old (the first college was established in 1170 (I think)) and beautiful. Went and had a look around Christchurch College (don’t try to walk on the grass, you get told off!) which was quite cool. They also have a Bridge of Sighs (a la Venice) in Oxford which I found kinda weird.

Left England on the 28th for Dubai. Stayed with my Fonterra friend in Dubai again and went to the Mall of the Emirates, saw the ski field thing, which was quite cool (no pun intended!). My flight back to NZ was quite eventful! Somebody actually died on our plane! Sat next to a NZer who has been working in Saudi for the past few years for one of their big oil companies, so that was really interesting. When I arrived back in NZ on New Years Eve I hadn’t slept for more than 48 hours, so by midnight I was fast asleep! I didn’t realise that human people were capable of being awake for 52 hours!! Now, just enough time to wash stuff and repack………………..

Left Auckland on the 2nd January for Queenstown with my family in tow……… Highlights of Queenstown included a trip to Gibbston Valley winery, the Minus Five bar (there’s one in Auckland too, it’s kinda something you’d only bother doing once though), paragliding off Coronet Peak, and jet boating up the dart river (again) (Note: I don’t recommend the “Funyaks”, they were NOT FUN! spent most of the time yelling at my brother coz of his crappy navigational skills!) Also, I managed to catch up with Jason down there which was good, heard all about his trip to Italy. Despite frequent arguments with my brothers (much to our parents despair) our trip progressed up the West Coast, with stops at Franz Joseph and Hokitika. Saw the glaciers at Franz and Fox, and many relatives in Hokitika. Visited the Monteiths Brewery in Greymouth before catching the Trans Alpine Train across to Christchurch. Went to Akaroa today, visited French Farm Winery and went on a harbour cruise to see Hectors Dolphins, Penguins, Fur Seals and a whole lot of different birds (they’re really all the same to me) before returning home.

Now…….I’m tired, tired of travelling! Never thought I would utter those words, but there you have it. More than anything I want to just stay in the same place for more than a few days! Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve had the most fantastic summer, and I don’t want to whinge or anything, but right now I’d just like to sleep for a week! But no such luck, on Tuesday I’m taking my cousins up to the Bay of Island for a few days, then I suppose I should really try to find somewhere to live down in Mount Maunganui. No rest for the wicked huh?!

Anyways, hope you’re all well! Looking forward to catching up with everyone at Maz’s next Saturday!

Back from Lanka

Hi all,

Got back from Sri Lanka a few weeks ago and have only now got round to doing a post about my travels. When we arrived home Auckland was putting on a glorious summer of overcast drizzle and I was yearning for a few more days at the beach hotel to soak in the warm tropical waters and lie on the golden beaches under coconut palms. While we spent much of the time in SL catching up with family and friends, we also did a lot of travelling round the island. For my sister and I it was great to see the country (we hadn't been there for 13 years) and get in touch with our "roots".

Our first trip out of Colombo (capital of SL) was to the central area where we visited various historical sites, each with the remains of palaces, temples, shrines and statues. Here are a few highlights:

This is Sigirya, a 200m high rock on top of which a 5th century king built his palace. We climbed the 1200 steps to the top. Among the remains that can be seen on the way are bathing pools, fountains, gardens, rock frescos of topless women, giant lion paws carved out of the rock (the lion's head, made of brick, was destroyed) and the foundations of the palace on the very top.










This dagoba (or stupa) was built in the 2nd century BC and is 120m high, making it the third highest building in the world when it was completed (after two of the pyramids). It is made of bricks and is solid throughout except for a small room where Buddhist relics are thought to exist. It was restored in modern times. A lot of people go there to pray. (That's me in the foreground).













Also went on a jeep safari to see wild elephants. Only 3000 left in SL (100 years ago there were 40,000) though numbers are rising.

The land is lush and fertile, largely covered in paddy fields, tropical forest and coconut plantations (we didn't visit the tea plantations in the hills this time). The rural folk seem to do ok, many having small concrete houses and working on plots of paddy.





Later we travelled south to the beach to relax (hotel pictured). Scattered along the coastline are the gutted remains of houses destroyed by the tsunami. The effects of aid are also evident such as a road built by the US, brightly coloured fishing boats donated by charity and corporate sponsored housing projects such as the "KPMG Village".

To make some general observations:
The towns are busy and chaotic, traffic is crazy, people are warm and kind. There are military checkpoints throughout Colombo, all with soldiers carrying AKs. The country is very beautiful but is spoilt by piles of rubbish all over the place. We managed to avoid the bombs going off (just).

Been great to read what people have been up to so keep posting!

Arj

Happy New Year!!

Hi everyone! Merry Christmas!! And Happy New Year!!! Back from a WILD New Year's at the Mount... and the underager's weren't that bad. Cover bands playing power ballads... MEAN! Also had a night out in Tauranga, which was just as good, and I got breath tested 3 times in one night!! Hope you are all enjoying yourselves, and I am keen to catch up soon!! How's the reunion planning going?

Claire, let loose on the world.................

I'm writing this from Oxford, where I arrived this afternoon, to spend Christmas with my Uncle and his family. My cousins here are 5, 8 and 10, so since my arrival I've played pirates, trains and dragons, to name but a few. It's amazing how much energy little kids have!! It's almost 10pm here and the kids are finally going to sleep, so I now have a chance to breathe!

So, I thought I should catch everyone up on my travels thus far............................

Left NZ on the 4th December bound for Singapore. Spent three days there, during which I visited Sentosa Island (to which, despite Krishal's advice, I forgot to take my togs), this new shopping mall (Vivo something??), Chinatown, Orchard Rd (to shop of course) and also went for a cruise on the harbour and on the Night Safari (which was awesome!!). I had never been to Singapore before, and was really impressed with the place! It's so clean!! Every taxi driver I had asked me if I was married (?!) and one gave me this big speil (read: schpeil, as I feel that yiddish is much more appropriate in this context!) about the meaning of life, which I found quite amusing. Unfortunately I wasn't able to catch up with Lawrence in Singapore as he was in Malaysia when I was there.

The next leg of the trip took me to Dubai, where I stayed with a friend from Fonterra who now lives there. Dubai is a pretty amazing place, just the sheer amount of money that all the construction that is going on must cost is astounding! And there is construction absolutely everywhere! Hodgies apartment is close to where they're building the tallest building in the world, meant to be like 700m tall when it's finished! My first day in Dubai was spent going for a drive around the city and out to the desert. Went to a shopping mall which has seven different areas all designed like different regions of the world, and then to the Burj al Arab (the sail shaped hotel, which is apparently 7 stars?!)) for high tea (you have to either be staying at the hotel or have a reservation at one of the restaurants to get onto the premises). Had a look around at some of the hotels in the area, which just exude wealth, they're amazing! Spent the next day going for a drive out into the desert (saw some really big sand dunes, and some camels!) and visited the Hatta historical village and pools (to get to which we had to go off-road in the 4WD). It's quite funny, coz in Dubai people go camping and for picnics out in the middle of the desert, they take their 4WD's and quad bikes and spend hours driving around the sand dunes (Charles, you'd love it!).

The following day saw me winging my way to Paris, to a chilly 6 degrees, somewhat colder than the 26 degrees in Singapore and 19ish in Dubai! Paris in the winter is just amazing! (Well, I guess Paris at any time of year is great) I spent much of my time there just walking around the city soaking up the atmosphere and admiring the sites. Went to the Louvre (saw my favourites; the Napoleonic apartments, the Egyptian antiqities, the large format French paintings (just love the raft of Medusa and the coronation of Napoleon!) and the Veronese opposite the Mona Lisa whose name I never remember) and Musee d'Orsay, Notre Dame and this really beautiful little church called Saint Chappelle. Consumed many a bagette and chocolat chaud (hot chocolate, but not like the one's you get in NZ, think chocolate boutique, only better!) before departing for England. Flew from Paris to Exeter, on one of the worst flights in my life (though that flight down to the Fonterra assessment centre in Palmy was pretty close)(I hate prop planes, plus I had a really bad cold, my ears have never been so sore as on that flight!). Anyhow, got to my Aunty's, kinda in one piece, in Devon where I stayed for a few days.

Now, anybody who knows me well knows that I don't exactly travel light! My hairdryer accompanies me on my travels, no matter how far or wide, and I'm not exactly the worlds most sensible packer, though I do always have an outfit for any occasion conceivable! Hence, my suitcase weighs 29kg, and my carry on bag somewhere around 8kg! (And that was before I went shopping!) Thus my vision of using trains for transport between destinations was abandoned, and I have opted for coaches and/or taxis to get me from A to B as this minimises the carrying (well wheeling really, but you try wheeling more than 35kg of stuff around!) of my ridiculously heavy suitcase!

Visited another Aunty and some cousins in Bournemouth before going to London. Have just spent 5 days in London with yet another Aunty (the evil one! the only saving grace is that her husband is really nice and is a fantastic cook!). In spite of evil Aunty, I had a great week in London, visiting the British Library, British Museum, National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, Tate Britain, Sommerset House, Tate Modern, St. Pauls Cathedral (where I climbed the 528 stairs to the very top!!!), V&A (Victoria and Albert) Museum, Science museum, Harrods and various other shops (gave my credit card a good work out!).

So that brings me to now....................am going to be here in Oxford until I leave England on the 28th. I'm quite excited to be spending Christmas with young children as I think it'll make it more fun. Will be stopping in Dubai again for a few nights on my way back to NZ (will probably go to the Mall of the Emirates (the one with the ski field in the mall) whilst I'm there, as I didn't get there last time) and I arrive home on New Years Eve!

Well, that's it for me now, hope you all have a fantastic Christmas, wherever you are.

Lots of love from cold foggy England,
Claire xxx

Life of a summer studentshipper

Great to hear what everyone's up to. As for me, after returning from the south island I spent several days writhing around trying to deny the reality of being home again, and the rest of the time has been agonising over further postgrad apps, they are never ending...

I also popped into uni to check on my fellow studentshippers. The daily routine in the new comp lab (in the big room now) seems to go like this: Sandy and Tian turn up at 7am to get a free park, commence the first round of Counterstrike for the day. Hopa comes in to get frustrated with HYSYS (still not converging eh? well he should have known what he was getting into!). Ryan gets involved in trademe auctions. Joss shows up at 2pm in time for the second CS round. Joe might pop in if he feels like it. Though I'm in no position to criticise, I've done the least of all. Still need to get about 10 signitures on safety forms from people who aren't around (Wei Gao where art thou?). Well there's plenty more summer in which to start work...

Speaking of which, it's finally starting to feel like summer! Though I won't be here to enjoy it for long as I'm off to Sri Lanka in a week, where the 40 deg "cool" season will make our summer feel like a cryogenic distillation column. Hope to hear from you all!

arj

Group 7!!

Hoorah!! I am finally a contributor to this blog!!! For those of you who don't know, I am currently and unemployed bum and don't do anything all day, or a lady of leisure you may say. Anyway, I keep checking this blog and no one has been posting stuff!! So for my entertainment, I think you should all post stuff now!!!

Here are some photo's for your entertainment...