Where In the World Is Sam Abrams?

My Visited Countries

The visas have been approved and the tickets are here; my trip is official! After my study abroad program wraps up in 11 days, I am going on a whirlwind trip throughout Asia and the South Pacific. My trip takes me from Auckland to Sydney, then off to Kuala Lumpur, Hanoi, and Beijing. I cap my trip off by going to Tokyo and then I am stopping in Boston for a quick visit to see my friends. That lands me back home in West Palm Beach around the 10th of December. My friend Julia and I are going to Sydney together for 5 days and then I am on my own for the rest of the trip. At present, I feel a combination of excitement and nervousness. Yet I know it will be an amazing learning and growing experience. I am incredibly grateful that I have the opportunity to do this and I will be sure to blog along the way to keep you all posted on my Asian adventures.

Zorb On Down!

In Rotorua, Julia and I went zorbing, a made in New Zealand extreme sport. Participants climb into giant plastic balls and tumble down a hill. Crazy I know, but I saw "Amazing Race" contestants do it last season and I promised myself I would do it when I got to New Zealand. It was fast and exciting but totally not worth the money. And you only get to do it once! Here is Julia looking disoriented and a little disheveled after she emerged from the ball.

Driving, Kiwi-Style

Here in New Zealand, Kiwis drive on the left side of the road so naturally it took a little getting used to when I drove the rental car this weekend. In Kiwiland, the highways are much less extensive than the ones you find in the States. As a matter of fact, most highways here are only two lanes! Above is a picture of me driving and one of our rental car; cute and compact.

Horse Trekking

Here are the ladies and I horse trekking through the beautiful green hilltops of Martinborough. We each had really cool horses; Christa had Woody and Jules had Puzzle. I, however, was stuck with a slow and stubborn horse named Spud. As fun as our ride was, Spud tended to lag behind most of the time. He was a young, bratty horse and did not like being told what to do. On several occasions, he tried running away from the rest of the group or became defiant by not moving at all. As stubborn as he was, Spud was a real trooper. We climbed some pretty mountainous terrain and even though he was breathing heavy and struggling to get up the mountain (due to his wide load), he made it anyway. The views from the top defined the very essence of New Zealand - beautiful, green, and uninhabitated (except by sheep of course). At several points on the trip, I kept imaginging how much my family and friends would have appreciated the views.

Puppy Love

On Saturday morning, Julia, Christa, and I drove to Martinborough, a city north of Wellington, to go horseback riding. While the horses were getting round up, one of the farm handlers invited us to play with his six week old puppies who were playing in the backyard; I fell in love as soon as I saw them. One puppy in particular (that I am pictured with) gave me all the hugs and nuzzles in the world. I had such a hard time putting him down. When I finally managed to let go, he ran after me and tugged on my pants begging me not to leave. I want a puppy SO badly (hint, hint Mom and Dad).

Did You Know...?

Did you know that New Zealand has a queen? It's the Queen of England! This small land down under is a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth as its head of state (that's because New Zealand was once a British colony. Not surprising - what country wasn't?) Many New Zealanders are appauled that a foreigner is their head of state and there are talks of the country becoming a republic in the next 10 years. Surprisingly, the Queen has many supporters in New Zealand; that's because much of the older Kiwi population immigrated to New Zealand from England, so they retain close ties to their mother country. You learn something new everyday, don't you?

Fieldtrip to Parliament

The day after we arrived in Wellington, we signed up for a tour of New Zealand's Parliament. We learned that earthquakes and fires have posed major threats to Parliament (and its adjacent library) for the past 100 years. First there was the great fire of 1907, followed by three successive fires in 1992 during the buildings' restoration project. In addition, Wellington sits along a major fault line and engineers in recent years have undertaken a massive refurbishment effort to ensure the safety of the buildings' structure. For instance, base isolators located in the basement are made of a rubber and steel composite; they sit between the foundation of the building and the building itself. This allows them to shift and separate during earthquakes, which helps maintain the Parliament building's structural integrity.

Lakeside Brunch

Once we recovered from our adrenaline rush, my friends and I ate brunch at a quaint lakeside café overlooking Lake Taupo. We refueled on food before our 6 hour drive to Wellington, the capital of New Zealand.

Touchdown!

My skydiving buddy, Philip, and I were the last ones to jump out of the plane. Surprisingly, when it was our turn to go, I wasn't scared at all! Actually, the rush of free falling was exiliharating and the views of Lake Taupo were incredible. My instructor and I even did a couple of spins in the air as we made our way down. Skydiving is by far THE coolest thing I have ever done and I would do it again in a heartbeat!

Wishin' and Hopin' and Thinkin' and Prayin'

Once we were all ready, we did a little prayin’, we made note of the weather, and gave each other a thumbs up before hopping aboard our tiny aircraft. The nice thing was that we didn’t have to pay until after we returned from the jump. Ya know, in case we died or something.

Skydiving

Logic would dictate that jumping out of an airplane defies the principle of self-preservation. Clearly I wasn’t being guided by logic when I agreed to go skydiving. Initially I was petrified but my fear quickly subsided once the tandem instructors gave my friends and I a sense of reassurance. They had done it hundreds of times and they wanted to live just as much as we did. Our morning started out with a limo ride to Skydive Taupo where we got suited up and prepped for our morning jump. Here is a picture of Jules and I rearin’ to go.