it was prob my 3rd or 4th week living in New Zealand.. my family had gone back to Malaysia after helping me settle in with my landlady - which reminds me i should go and visit her during these hols, but she is out all the time which is not a bad thing at all - i dint know any Cutting Edgers at all.. in fact i was still a foreigner in a foreign country inside.. now of coz i feel like a Kiwi.. officially a Kiwi.. but then i was still v naive.. i mean i had never really left Malaysia to live elsewhere.. i kinda felt like a stay-at-home-boy.. Kuala Lumpur was really all i knew.. i mean i liked living elsewhere but i dint quite fathom what the experience would be like.. and how much i had to adapt.. looking in retrospect, i guess i prob was more green than i would have liked.. in fact i shrug a bit when i look back at what i did in the past.. some of it a bit naive, prob not the way i thought it should be.. but then again, shouldn't be harsh on myself coz i was green then and yeah it was only natural..
anyway, i was still missing my friends whom i'd known for over 10 years back in Malaysia, but i told myself that i was gonna make new friends and i definitely wanted to make lots of friends with the locals and from other countries.. other non-Asian countries.. well i mean u get Asian almost everyday where i started from.. and ya got used to this stereotype and way of thinking.. so i wanted to break out of that.. i remember when i went back to Malaysia i missed seeing whites.. that's how Kiwi i've become..
the only trouble with Foundation Year was that there were no Kiwis but for a few.. they were mostly mainland Chinese, Bahrainis and Malaysian/Singaporeans.. and this American gal.. i think i started having a crush when i first saw her.. it was prob a computer lab demonstration and i saw these two gals - the same gals in the pic.. and there was this gal, tall with gorgeous long brown, orangey hair up to her shoulders..she was standing not leaning on the railing and her hair was flicking all over herself.. i was like gitters she's pretty.. was i brave enough to talk to her?
trying to brainstorm how i did it.. it was def in the same day, coz Foundation Year orientation was like uni.. all on Friday.. yeah now i remember we sat in the food court in the Union - where i don't hang out anymore coz i dun want to look like i have too much money or am from a hall, plus i don't know anyone there - no we actually met b4 that for English and we said hi and all that and she told me her name was Elan and she was from San Luis Obopso in Cali.. and i told her abt myself while she smelled, tangled and played with one of her long hairs in front.. she was always playing with her long hair... then we went to the foodcourt where we sat in this big group, consisting all of Foundation Year students..
she was such an interesting person.. she had this nose ring - not like the indigenous ppls - and she was one of those gals who liked dressing themselves up with bracelets, rings, etc.. she was actually mixed Asian, Mexican and French.. then she told me she had a boyfriend.. that kinda set me back a little bit..:) i later knew he was this huge guy who was doing Music.. and they lived together in this small house in Ocean Grove, where the Americans seem to live when they come to Otago.. she was also vegetarian.. then i complimented her abt her really nice hair.. she said thank you and we started talking abt her hair colour being brown, orange and streaked with blond, as she showed a couple of strands of her hair to show the colours..
ah yes after that we had this Foundation Year BBQ at Chingford Park.. and i dint even realise that the Baldwin Street i had read abt in the Guinness Book of Records was actually before the park! still yet to complete a full bike ride up that street and a full downhill down with minimal brakes.. wanted to do that today but i did cycle from Karitane to Matt's place so my legs were kinda sore... 39 kms.. but lovely ride.. more later.. anyway the BBQ was where i got this pic.. and i remember that was my first foray into cricket.. and i dint even know what it was.. tried to get Elan to get involved in a sport but she just sat there.. but it was such a memorable time that i dint want it to end.. i just loved being with Elan..
Monday was the worst day.. coz i only finished at 6 and i only saw Elan once.. Tuesday was a bit better.. Wednesday was my favourite day coz i got to see Elan and sat with her for both Chem and Computer Studies.. i remember she was really bad at Chem but p good at Bio.. then she bought me a muffin which i dint quite expect.. we chatted a bit and i asked her as she kept playing with her long hair, her longest hair, and she said up to her bum.. not it was actually her waist.. i was so disappointed coz she had the right sort of hair for long hair.. her shortest was up to her shoulders.. so she's had long hair most of her life.. she also showed me a card of her, except her hair was up.. she still had her pretty face with the freckles and eyes.. anyway Thursday was kinda like Tuesday.. Friday..hmmm... i guess that first week i was really crazy abt her.. after that week, it kinda wore off and i started hanging out with other people.. but Elan did grow her hair to her waist at one point in the semester.. but when it did, her hair was always up.. i loved it when it was down and she was playing with it..
then in the second semester she cut all her gorgeous long hair off and dyed it all purple.. it was unbelievably short.. apparently i overheard she cut it off because she was getting split ends having not cut her hair for over a year coz she had been travelling with her boyfriend.. so she had to chop of all her hair and then she dyed it purple.. and for the entire term she had this weird hairdo where her hair was all up there.. she looked like a boy to be honest.. maybe she had to trim it everyday coz of the split ends.. but it was like she sat down in front of a mirror with her hair down to her waist while as her boyfriend placed the blades of the rusty scissors through a huge chunk of her long hair and closed.. they dint have much money at all.. they hadn't gone back to the States in two years..
i.. dint really care by then coz she wasn't really the focus in my life.. by then i was getting really close to the Cutting Edgers, i.e. Jess, Dave Pomeroy, Sam, etc... maybe i regret not having commented but then again if it dint happen then there is a reason.. i still saw her occassionally the following year but haven't seen her this yr.. maybe they got married and went back to the States.. quite likely.. they kissed each other in uni.. and with his Music career...
if u haven't figured out by now, Elan is the gal in the middle..
anyway, went to Waikouati with Matt, Shannon, Brendon - Matt's childhood friend - and Josh - yes a life group night away - and stayed at the place where the Chile team went.. or should i say the house in the middle of the hills of East Otago.. man we were so blessed to have been able to stay in a family house like that.. or rather take over the house.. it was a great trip.. went to Bobby's Head and realised Brendon was scared of sea lions.. realised also that sheep run away when men pea in the bushes in front of them..
ANYWAY, we just played games all night.. we spent 3 hours playing Risk.. it was awesome.. for me and Shannon at least.. but it was so funny.. there was so much politicking and backstabbing that somehow Matt who was in such a dominant position managed to get wiped out leaving me and Shannon to contest for world domination.. that's where i remembered i had never won a Risk game EVER in my life.. not even in high school.. and that's where i realised why.. i'm tactically inept when it comes to games.. not when it comes to cricket or motorsports.. it was prob the pressure of 10 years of failure at Risk.. in the end, it ended in a draw once we realised we were just doing the same thing.. but i would take that considering my past..
did other man stuff, push-ups, Wheetbix competition, etc.. went to bed early -12.30! - coz i was feeling tired having driven from Dunners to Waikouati.. woke up at 3 to find this sneaky Shannon in my room upstairs.. i later found out i could have woken up with a pencil moustache! well the boys woke up at 11 while i woke up at 10 to 10.. haha.. left around 12 and then at the turnoff from SH1 to Karitane, split and let Matt drive the boys home, while i did the scenic route on my bike..
feel really proud of myself coz i finally did that route without much difficulty.. apart from a lot of climbing before Seacliff and over Mount Cargill... but it's a route i'd definitely do again esp between Karitane and Evansdale.. u just get to see beach Otago and yeah it's a place where i wouldn't mind putting up my home and enjoying retirement without blowing my pension.. i would have done that if i chose Marlborough Sounds.. or maybe not.. i'm still believing for a house in the Sounds or Port Underwood coz i love the Nelson Bays-Marlborough-Kaikoura region.. but a house in Karitane, or Seacliff or Warrington would be nice as well.. just not near a big city for the shopping.. and that doesn't yet include Dunedin..
anyway did the 39 km from Karitane to the North East Valley in under 3 hours.. with stops to take in scenery and rest legs.. which is quite good.. even better than the Peninsula although that's prob 50 km plus.. now the next aim is to climb Baldwin Street on my bike without walking and going down with minimal brakes.. just keep the cars away ! :) also got lunch date with Sam prob tomorrow.. and also decided to become a violinist for special occassions.. will put flyers up all over town soon.. if ya know anyone who is getting married, pls put me on their list TQ..
green? not right now..
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