No, I'm not starting up a help column - much better, I have a brand new nephew!! Lias Mattiu Roberts Morris was born at 8.45am by c-section at Wellington Hospital after a very long labour which was not too fun for my poor sister and left the rest of us biting our nails all night. Needless to say, I am a little tired as I didn't get much sleep, but that's nothing on Carla and Ceri.
Obviously, being stuck at the bottom of the world means I haven't had the chance to meetmy nephew yet, and won't for another two weeks:( But I'm told he's quite big (9 pounds, 6 ounces) and very beautiful (although the reporters of this are a little biased) and has expressions just like my sister.
In other random info, he's a Taurus (don't really know what that entails, I'm not very into starsigns) and the name Lias is of English/Welsh origins and means 'rock' (he's named after his great-grandfather).
Love,
A very ecstatic Char
Wednesday, 2 May 2007
Friday, 23 March 2007
She's Back....
...and of course I'm better than ever!
Well, where to start? I honestly don't know. I suppose the obligatory apologies are probably as good a place as any. Sorry, sorry, sorry for not updating my blog. I haven't forgotten you guys! I'm going to use the age old 'I've-been-really-busy' excuse, but it honestly is justified. Going to Otago Univeristy is definately not for the faint hearted - it's completely crazy, tumoltuous, scintillating, discombobulating, and probably every other cool adjective you could think of. So you can imagine that all these emotions could distract me a little from my blog.
I think I'll keep this short and sweet, or otherwise it will get too difficult to recount all the exciting (and sometimes not so exciting) times here and I'll spontaneously combust into a cloud of frustration.
Dunedin is a very cool city (although of course not as cool as Wellington) and Otago is a really cool univeristy (sorry, much cooler than Vic). Student city is no hyperbole in Dunedin's case. Everywhere you go students are the talk of the town - everyone's advertising to us, giving us discounts, offering us support, and (if you're a local) complaing about us.
It's not all fun and games though. I've just spent my semester break in the fabulous Wellington (more apologies for not seeing everyone) which means I'm now a little homesick, considerably poorer after large shopping sprees, very cold and very stressed out by all the work I am going to have to do this semester.
In other, less negative news, I have fallen completely in love with Regina Spector (you might have heard her song Fidelity on the Xtra-Yahoo ad). How can you not love someone with lyrics like 'it's just a little worse/than when we drove our hearse/into the screaming crowd'.
Well, I had better go and spend a romantic evening with Plato,
Love Char
Disclaimer: Because of said business, I will probably not update my blog very often, but I haven't given up on the blogging community unlike SOME people
Well, where to start? I honestly don't know. I suppose the obligatory apologies are probably as good a place as any. Sorry, sorry, sorry for not updating my blog. I haven't forgotten you guys! I'm going to use the age old 'I've-been-really-busy' excuse, but it honestly is justified. Going to Otago Univeristy is definately not for the faint hearted - it's completely crazy, tumoltuous, scintillating, discombobulating, and probably every other cool adjective you could think of. So you can imagine that all these emotions could distract me a little from my blog.
I think I'll keep this short and sweet, or otherwise it will get too difficult to recount all the exciting (and sometimes not so exciting) times here and I'll spontaneously combust into a cloud of frustration.
Dunedin is a very cool city (although of course not as cool as Wellington) and Otago is a really cool univeristy (sorry, much cooler than Vic). Student city is no hyperbole in Dunedin's case. Everywhere you go students are the talk of the town - everyone's advertising to us, giving us discounts, offering us support, and (if you're a local) complaing about us.
It's not all fun and games though. I've just spent my semester break in the fabulous Wellington (more apologies for not seeing everyone) which means I'm now a little homesick, considerably poorer after large shopping sprees, very cold and very stressed out by all the work I am going to have to do this semester.
In other, less negative news, I have fallen completely in love with Regina Spector (you might have heard her song Fidelity on the Xtra-Yahoo ad). How can you not love someone with lyrics like 'it's just a little worse/than when we drove our hearse/into the screaming crowd'.
Well, I had better go and spend a romantic evening with Plato,
Love Char
Disclaimer: Because of said business, I will probably not update my blog very often, but I haven't given up on the blogging community unlike SOME people
Wednesday, 3 January 2007
What Everyone's Been Waiting For...
Hello everyone in that distant Pacific island, here are some photos to provide some visual proof of what an interesting place Dubai is:
Some shots of the desert (I can assure you there is no lack of it in Dubai):
Some beautiful Islamic architecture:
A souk (market place), its was taken on the Muslim holiday of Eid so it was very crowded:
An abra, a small traditional boat (although now outfitted with a motor) that we crossed the Creek on:
Well, I hope your computers can handle these photos but I assure you the are only the tip of the iceberg. My mum just bought a new, very fancy camera and is celebrating this by obssessively clicking away on it - resulting in nearly 250 photos!
Looking forward to seeing everyone when I get home and Happy New Year!
Love Char
Wednesday, 20 December 2006
Dubai, Dubai, It's A Hell Of A Town
Bonjour! Bonjour! Bonjour!
...or should I say...
Ahlan! Ahlan! Ahlan!
(oh how bilingual I am)
Well there are so many things to tell you all and I wish could share them all with you in intricate detail, but that would take me a very, very long time, so I'll just do my best to give you the general idea. I have to say that after flying over 10 000 miles for over 18 hours at an altitude of 12 000m I was more than a little exasperated when I slid into a taxi only to hear Jojo's 'A Little Too Late' blaring over the radio. It gave me a vague but surprisingly earnest desire to strangle someone (although, it must be said I usually get this sensation when coming into any form of contact with Jojo).
In fact it is impossible to deny the fact that Dubai is not so much influenced as defined, at least superficially, by the Western world. The day after I got here for example, I was seriously wondering whether I had left home at all. I drank a phoenix juice whilst flicking through an NZ Women's Weekly in a distinctly urban cafe, was served a cheeseburger at McDonald's by a pimply teenager and shivered walking along a street under a grey sky with wind buffeting around me. Although I have to admit that the latter and former (certainly not the pimply teenager) are exceptions - we found a New Zealand, no I am not kidding, New Zealand-run cafe, probably the only one in the Gulf, and most likely the Middle East, just a round the corner. Oh, and Dubai only gets five days of rain a year. In our first four days we got three of them.
The very small amount of American tendencies I possess are also being well cared for. There are Starbucks nearly as often as there are mosques (they are only a maximum of 1km apart), the shopping malls here are ubiquitous and huge with every brand imaginable (a nice change from NZ). Also, Jumeira Beach where I'm staying has a distinctly LA-y, Santa-Monica-y feel which is also reminiscent of the Gold Coast with its golden beaches, abundant low buildings and the skyscrapers in the background.
However, further from the surface some pretty big differences soon become clear. The UAE is an Islamic country and, in all practical senses, an autocracy (albeit a very benevolent one - no tax, free education, water and electricity and free housing if you need it). Homosexuality, being pregnant and unmarried (at the same time), and abortion are all illegal. The press and internet are censored and there have been cases when someone has been disliked by the Sheikh (king) and has been thrown in jail for very little reason. However, it is far from being all bad, in fact probably been the most important part of this trip has been being able to learn about Islamic culture (no, the vast majority are not terrorists, sexist, racist, or anything else remotely dangerous or offensive). I have read all sorts of book and brochures on Islam, been surrounded by them including many women in the abaya and burqa and I was even lucky enough to visit a mosque (non-Muslims are usually not allowed) at the Jumeira Beach open mosque where we had a tour and got to ask many questions. There all the women had to cover up and wear an abaya and I can personally attest to the fact that it was neither demeaning or subjugating and I was still just as talkative as ever!
Some of the other, less culturally elighening experiences I have had include:
-quadbiking in the desert
-visiting giant malls like the massive Mall of the Emirates and the Italian themed Mercato were much bank account draining has occured
-swimming at the beautiful beaches (everyone else says it's too cold but, in the middle of winter, the water is much warmer than a beach in the middle of a Wellington summer!)
- a tour to the historic town of Al Ain which took us up an amazingly beautiful mountain
-eating the fabulous local and lebanese food with lots of fresh juice and vegetables
-getting to hold falcons at a five star hotel in the middle of the desert
-going on a desert tour which involved driving over sand dunes at scarily high speeds, a camel ride, dinner in the desert, smoking (as in taking one puff and choking on) a sheesha and being flirted with by creepy Californian dentists (with much younger girlfriends in tow)
Well, as you can see I've been having a very busy time so I will no go and be more busy because it's only four days until I leave for Bangkok! I will update with photos soon. I hope you've all had a great Christmas and will have a great New Year's,
Love Charli
PS. if anyone knows an effective way of getting sand out of your shoes, do share, because mine are continually full of it.
...or should I say...
Ahlan! Ahlan! Ahlan!
(oh how bilingual I am)
Well there are so many things to tell you all and I wish could share them all with you in intricate detail, but that would take me a very, very long time, so I'll just do my best to give you the general idea. I have to say that after flying over 10 000 miles for over 18 hours at an altitude of 12 000m I was more than a little exasperated when I slid into a taxi only to hear Jojo's 'A Little Too Late' blaring over the radio. It gave me a vague but surprisingly earnest desire to strangle someone (although, it must be said I usually get this sensation when coming into any form of contact with Jojo).
In fact it is impossible to deny the fact that Dubai is not so much influenced as defined, at least superficially, by the Western world. The day after I got here for example, I was seriously wondering whether I had left home at all. I drank a phoenix juice whilst flicking through an NZ Women's Weekly in a distinctly urban cafe, was served a cheeseburger at McDonald's by a pimply teenager and shivered walking along a street under a grey sky with wind buffeting around me. Although I have to admit that the latter and former (certainly not the pimply teenager) are exceptions - we found a New Zealand, no I am not kidding, New Zealand-run cafe, probably the only one in the Gulf, and most likely the Middle East, just a round the corner. Oh, and Dubai only gets five days of rain a year. In our first four days we got three of them.
The very small amount of American tendencies I possess are also being well cared for. There are Starbucks nearly as often as there are mosques (they are only a maximum of 1km apart), the shopping malls here are ubiquitous and huge with every brand imaginable (a nice change from NZ). Also, Jumeira Beach where I'm staying has a distinctly LA-y, Santa-Monica-y feel which is also reminiscent of the Gold Coast with its golden beaches, abundant low buildings and the skyscrapers in the background.
However, further from the surface some pretty big differences soon become clear. The UAE is an Islamic country and, in all practical senses, an autocracy (albeit a very benevolent one - no tax, free education, water and electricity and free housing if you need it). Homosexuality, being pregnant and unmarried (at the same time), and abortion are all illegal. The press and internet are censored and there have been cases when someone has been disliked by the Sheikh (king) and has been thrown in jail for very little reason. However, it is far from being all bad, in fact probably been the most important part of this trip has been being able to learn about Islamic culture (no, the vast majority are not terrorists, sexist, racist, or anything else remotely dangerous or offensive). I have read all sorts of book and brochures on Islam, been surrounded by them including many women in the abaya and burqa and I was even lucky enough to visit a mosque (non-Muslims are usually not allowed) at the Jumeira Beach open mosque where we had a tour and got to ask many questions. There all the women had to cover up and wear an abaya and I can personally attest to the fact that it was neither demeaning or subjugating and I was still just as talkative as ever!
Some of the other, less culturally elighening experiences I have had include:
-quadbiking in the desert
-visiting giant malls like the massive Mall of the Emirates and the Italian themed Mercato were much bank account draining has occured
-swimming at the beautiful beaches (everyone else says it's too cold but, in the middle of winter, the water is much warmer than a beach in the middle of a Wellington summer!)
- a tour to the historic town of Al Ain which took us up an amazingly beautiful mountain
-eating the fabulous local and lebanese food with lots of fresh juice and vegetables
-getting to hold falcons at a five star hotel in the middle of the desert
-going on a desert tour which involved driving over sand dunes at scarily high speeds, a camel ride, dinner in the desert, smoking (as in taking one puff and choking on) a sheesha and being flirted with by creepy Californian dentists (with much younger girlfriends in tow)
Well, as you can see I've been having a very busy time so I will no go and be more busy because it's only four days until I leave for Bangkok! I will update with photos soon. I hope you've all had a great Christmas and will have a great New Year's,
Love Charli
PS. if anyone knows an effective way of getting sand out of your shoes, do share, because mine are continually full of it.
Saturday, 25 November 2006
Hooray For Exams (Or Not)
Hello, hello, hello
Well I'm back everybody and better than ever! Well, to be honest, not really because six exams (that's eighteen hours worth as well as eighteen papers, not to mention a hell of alot of study!) have sadly robbed me of both energy and writing ability. So seeing as exams have been the bane of our lives for the last few weeks I figured that I would share with you an excerpt of some very funny 'exam tips' I found while attempting to find study help on goodtree (they didn't give me a great deal of assistance but they did make me laugh which is just as good when you're stressed):
1) Talk the entire way through the exam. Read questions aloud, debate your answers with yourself out loud. If asked to stop, yell out, "I'm SOOO sure you can hear me thinking." Then start talking about what a jerk the instructor is.
2) Bring some large, cumbersome, ugly idol. Put it right next to you. Pray to it often. Consider a small sacrifice.
4) Bring cheerleaders.
5) On the answer sheet (book, whatever) find a new, interesting way to refuse to answer every question. For example: I refuse to answer this question on the grounds that it conflicts with my religious beliefs. Be creative.
6) Do the exam with crayons, paint, or fluorescent markers.
7) Do the entire exam in another language. If you don't know one, make one up! For math/science exams, try using Roman numerals.
8) Try to get people in the room to do a mexican wave.
9) Complete the exam with everything you write being backwards at a 90 degree angle.
10) As soon as the instructor hands you the exam, eat it.
Good luck for anyone who has any exams left ($20 bucks and bragging rights to anyone who does any of these).
Au Revoir
Charlotte
Well I'm back everybody and better than ever! Well, to be honest, not really because six exams (that's eighteen hours worth as well as eighteen papers, not to mention a hell of alot of study!) have sadly robbed me of both energy and writing ability. So seeing as exams have been the bane of our lives for the last few weeks I figured that I would share with you an excerpt of some very funny 'exam tips' I found while attempting to find study help on goodtree (they didn't give me a great deal of assistance but they did make me laugh which is just as good when you're stressed):
1) Talk the entire way through the exam. Read questions aloud, debate your answers with yourself out loud. If asked to stop, yell out, "I'm SOOO sure you can hear me thinking." Then start talking about what a jerk the instructor is.
2) Bring some large, cumbersome, ugly idol. Put it right next to you. Pray to it often. Consider a small sacrifice.
4) Bring cheerleaders.
5) On the answer sheet (book, whatever) find a new, interesting way to refuse to answer every question. For example: I refuse to answer this question on the grounds that it conflicts with my religious beliefs. Be creative.
6) Do the exam with crayons, paint, or fluorescent markers.
7) Do the entire exam in another language. If you don't know one, make one up! For math/science exams, try using Roman numerals.
8) Try to get people in the room to do a mexican wave.
9) Complete the exam with everything you write being backwards at a 90 degree angle.
10) As soon as the instructor hands you the exam, eat it.
Good luck for anyone who has any exams left ($20 bucks and bragging rights to anyone who does any of these).
Au Revoir
Charlotte
Sunday, 5 November 2006
A Brilliant Idea For Saving The World
Okay, sadly this idea is not actually mine, but instead is created by people who actually understand international economics and politics (just wait, in four years I'll have a combined honours in philosophy and political studies, and then I too will save the world).
It is completely genious, although to tell you the truth I'm still not entirely sure how it works. What I've figured so far is this:
1) It's called GoodTree.
2) You can find it at here.
3) It's basically a search engine that is a combination of google, yahoo, msn and a few others.
4) Every time you do a search you earn one American cent which goes to charaties focussing on issues on your choice.
It's really easy (and is seriously quite addictive, the novelty of seeing my funds slowly mount up has led me to do many random searches) so why don't you all get involved and then we can have a cometition to see how much money we can each raise before New Year!
This picture was of course found using...come one everybody...GoodTree!
It is completely genious, although to tell you the truth I'm still not entirely sure how it works. What I've figured so far is this:
1) It's called GoodTree.
2) You can find it at here.
3) It's basically a search engine that is a combination of google, yahoo, msn and a few others.
4) Every time you do a search you earn one American cent which goes to charaties focussing on issues on your choice.
It's really easy (and is seriously quite addictive, the novelty of seeing my funds slowly mount up has led me to do many random searches) so why don't you all get involved and then we can have a cometition to see how much money we can each raise before New Year!
This picture was of course found using...come one everybody...GoodTree!
Tuesday, 24 October 2006
Why Did God Invent Little Brothers?
Hello readers, who if you are still reading this blog, are more dedicated than I can express. I know, I know the 'UPDATE!'s have been mounting but I actually have arelatively good excuse (well not for last week, but that doesn't count). You see for the past week my stupid computer as for no apparent reason whatsoever, decided not to connect to the network, and therefore to the internet (I am only typing now because I have managed to steal my step-dad's assistants computer).
And before that I was in the fabulous Middle Of Nowhere (otherwise known as Waikawa) spending an exciting weekend doing absolutely nothing (aren't you jealous?), but I'm not complaining, well not about the trip anyway, I am in fact instead complaining about little brothers.
When I heard I was being given a free return ticket to Middle Of Nowhere with complimentary 3 night accomadation (spending money not included) I was rather excited, not so much because I got to go away but because it meant I got to get out of going away to Waikanae and therefore be stuck in a small out amount of space with my infuriating little brother for the entire weekend. Instead I was stuck in a small amount of space with someone else's infuritating little brother for the entire weekend.
Although I am a huge showoff, I prefer to show off in person where I can actually control what people see so I get rather agitated when I find myself written about in a way that I have no control over (it's a good thing I decided not to be an actor, either I'd be poor and destitute or on the off chance I became successful I would have a heart attack every time I saw myself in a tabloid) so for the privacy of said little brother (who really doesn't deserve it) I will not use his real name. Hmmm, I think we shall refer to the boy in question as Adolf, no maybe a little too harsh, Humphery will do.
So I turned up on Friday in my new chucks and skinny jeans, with my bags packed, completely unsuspecting as Humphery answered the door that I was, in fact being greeted by the devil child. I started to have a few suspicions in the car when, supposedly lacking space, I and Humphery's older sister who will be named Antigone just because I like the name, were showered with abuse such as 'fat' and 'bitch'. However, being the optimistic and naive thing that I am, I blithely put this aside and tried to remain hopeful that this misguided child was really a stunning little angel underneath.
Alas, night came and I was proved to be the one who was misguided. For Humphery, it seems, values sleep alot less than I do and proceeded to demontsrate this to me in the form of pokes, throwing pillows at me then stealing them, talking to me, and googling at me as if I were an animal in the zoo.
Luckily for me I had watched a philosophy video the night before about Seneca's theory for dealing with anger and extreme irritation so I was able to stay relatively sane, if a little sleep deprived. This technique also enabled me to calmly endure I number of other incidents that, for the sake of brevity, I have omitted.
And so the weekend rolled by with me getting very little of the sleep needed or (and this sadly I cannot blame on Humhpery) very little of the work I needed to do, done. But as I end this post I must share with you the conclusion I came to on the last night as I heard Humphery desperately trying to restrain from poking me and attempting in vain to lie still so as not to disturb me, I realised that perhaps the poor child is not so bad after all (wow, Seneca's theory really works) and that with time he may grow into a reasonably well functioning member of society (which is, of course, the highest aspiration we can hope for for little brothers). So i will leave you with this final message - don't hate or persecute little Humphery, he needs love and compassion to nurture him into the lovely person found deep, deep inside, just never, ever sleep in the same room as him.
You Have Been Warned.
And before that I was in the fabulous Middle Of Nowhere (otherwise known as Waikawa) spending an exciting weekend doing absolutely nothing (aren't you jealous?), but I'm not complaining, well not about the trip anyway, I am in fact instead complaining about little brothers.
When I heard I was being given a free return ticket to Middle Of Nowhere with complimentary 3 night accomadation (spending money not included) I was rather excited, not so much because I got to go away but because it meant I got to get out of going away to Waikanae and therefore be stuck in a small out amount of space with my infuriating little brother for the entire weekend. Instead I was stuck in a small amount of space with someone else's infuritating little brother for the entire weekend.
Although I am a huge showoff, I prefer to show off in person where I can actually control what people see so I get rather agitated when I find myself written about in a way that I have no control over (it's a good thing I decided not to be an actor, either I'd be poor and destitute or on the off chance I became successful I would have a heart attack every time I saw myself in a tabloid) so for the privacy of said little brother (who really doesn't deserve it) I will not use his real name. Hmmm, I think we shall refer to the boy in question as Adolf, no maybe a little too harsh, Humphery will do.
So I turned up on Friday in my new chucks and skinny jeans, with my bags packed, completely unsuspecting as Humphery answered the door that I was, in fact being greeted by the devil child. I started to have a few suspicions in the car when, supposedly lacking space, I and Humphery's older sister who will be named Antigone just because I like the name, were showered with abuse such as 'fat' and 'bitch'. However, being the optimistic and naive thing that I am, I blithely put this aside and tried to remain hopeful that this misguided child was really a stunning little angel underneath.
Alas, night came and I was proved to be the one who was misguided. For Humphery, it seems, values sleep alot less than I do and proceeded to demontsrate this to me in the form of pokes, throwing pillows at me then stealing them, talking to me, and googling at me as if I were an animal in the zoo.
Luckily for me I had watched a philosophy video the night before about Seneca's theory for dealing with anger and extreme irritation so I was able to stay relatively sane, if a little sleep deprived. This technique also enabled me to calmly endure I number of other incidents that, for the sake of brevity, I have omitted.
And so the weekend rolled by with me getting very little of the sleep needed or (and this sadly I cannot blame on Humhpery) very little of the work I needed to do, done. But as I end this post I must share with you the conclusion I came to on the last night as I heard Humphery desperately trying to restrain from poking me and attempting in vain to lie still so as not to disturb me, I realised that perhaps the poor child is not so bad after all (wow, Seneca's theory really works) and that with time he may grow into a reasonably well functioning member of society (which is, of course, the highest aspiration we can hope for for little brothers). So i will leave you with this final message - don't hate or persecute little Humphery, he needs love and compassion to nurture him into the lovely person found deep, deep inside, just never, ever sleep in the same room as him.
You Have Been Warned.
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