As Fi Bows to Peer Pressure

Here is a photo of my flat, it is the second to last  villa and you probably can’t pick out which is which but that’s still cool. You’ll get the general idea.

It’s been an awesome week!

I’ve moved into my new flat and got a new phone number. Discovered that I love having a tidy kitchen but I can not stand waking up and seeing myself in the mirror first thing. I’ve had lots of friends over, which has been sooo much fun. This weekend Ace’s mates came down from . . . well it’s a long sotry but they’re originally from Feilding but now come from all parts of the globe . . . anyway we’ve been hanging out and it’s been a total blast. Saturday and Sunday I was also working at Hi5 which was less exciting and more frustrating but the general craziness going on outside work has made up for it. We all got up really late this morning and had pancakes, bacon, fried bananas, and choc chips for lunch . . . tasted soooo good!! And now I’m having dinner with mum and dad for the evening . . . such a good food day. Plus we (Ace+friends came to my parents house) climbed the water tank and took lots of photos and thoroughly enjoyed myself.

On Wednesday I start my new job at Parliament. I’m excited caus I get to use my brain again, plus I get to wear my new “office” clothes, fun fun fun!!! I’m sooooo looking forward to being back in the Parliamentary environment for the next eight-nine months . . .

That reminds me that I have just discovered that I have officially been accepted unconditionally to study for a Masters in Poverty Reduction and Development Management at the University of Birmingham so I’m definitely leaving in eight-nine months, now it’s just a matter of waiting to see what the other two unis have to say :o) I’m thrilled!!!!

And Dave comes back from Summer wine tomorrow, YAY!!! I am looking forward to seeing him again :oP

On that soppy note I will leave my blog but basically I will only have internet access at work/before work/after work but while I’m still in the Parliamentary building. I’m trying to keep expenses down so I’m not going to use the internet at the flat. I can check emails on my phone, and even send quick replies but yeah . . . basically I just wanted to let you know.

Fun in the sun in Wellington :o)

This weekend I’m gradually moving into a new “flat” in Mt Vic, just off Kent/Cambridge Tce. It’s going to be insane, exciting and hopefully quite fun! If you try emailing me and I don’t reply very quickly it’s caus I’m sorting lots of stuff out, while flatemate number one (his name is Ace) starts work on Monday. We’re in a lovely little villa/townhouse thing that has three bedrooms and a wonderful kitchen. I love it!!!

I’ll put photos up soon soon . . . hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!

Happy Birthday Anabelle, Heather, Andrew, Chris, and Kate. I hope you all have a fantastic birthday, particularly those celebrating 21sts :oP

Have a very happy Hen’s Party Aimee!!!! I’m soo looking forward to the wedding!!

I’ll miss you Cynthia and Sylvia, and I hope your leaving parties (that really doesn’t sound right) go fantabulously!!!

It’s a very busy weekend . . . and I’m sorry that I can’t make it to all the parties and celebrations. I’ll be thinking of all of you. Have lots of fun!! Sooo very much excitement all over the place :oP

As many know, I’m aiming to work in development and there are lots of really bad poverty statistics. For once I want to show you the other side . . . how things have progressed. It’s not to trivialise all the work that needs to continue but to show that a lot is being achieved and should be celebrated: 

1. the number of genocides and politicides plummeted by 80% between 1988 and 2001
   
2. the number of armed conflicts around the world has declined by more than 40% since the early 1990s
   
3. international crises declined by more than 70% between 1981 and 2001
   
4. the dollar value of major international arms transfers fell by 33% between 1990 and 2003
   
5. the number of refugees dropped by some 45% between 1992 and 2003

Kudos to Barbara Haering of Swiss Parliament’s Defense Committee for compiling this positive data.

I’m doing a Johnny Clegg plug. Last year I was asked to work at John Fogerty and Johnny Clegg in the same week, at the event centre. One was one of the worst concerts I’ve ever worked at, although I’m sure the artist was everything the audience hoped he’d be. The second was quite literally THE BEST CONCERT I have EVER worked at/been to. I will leave it to you to work out which is which :oP

So anyway Johnny Clegg fully rocked and it wasn’t until the encore that I recognised one of his hit songs (Best of Johnny Clegg was released in 1994, so he’s a bit of an old man but still great). In fact I’m listening to that song (Dela) right now, it was in George of the Jungle and it’s sooo funky and cute and soooooooo good!!!

The concert had everyone there dancing and singing along, and that includes most of the ushers. The songs haunted me for months, until this week I decided to borrow the “Best of” album from the library (no money=no buying cds). The songs were just as fantastic as I remembered and I just can’t stop listening to the album. You can hear samples of the songs here. This “Best of” is slightly different to the one at the library but still totally fantastic.

One last thing . . . Johnny Clegg wrote songs about the apartheid period in South Africa, there’s fantastic Zulu influences in a lot of his music and really strong lyrics. He was also the first to have mixed-race groups performing together on the same stage in South Africa.

Totally the best . . . now all I have to do is try to work out how I’m going to be able to afford buying all his cds.

P.S It has been far too long since I last posted in this category.

P.P.S He’s also an insane dancer, even though he’s 52 he was incredible in concert. See the live in concert DVD if you get a chance. He’s totally crazy!!!

I have discovered a new form of mental torture for myself. Unfortunately, like many addictions, I just can’t stop doing it. Most of the time I love that information flows much more quickly because of the internet . . . in all but one case. But to explain is to tell a rather convoluted tale . . .

I have applied to study three slightly different but reasonably similar Masters in Development (Management/Studies/Poverty Reduction/Conflict and Reconstruction) at three UK universities: Birmingham, Manchester, and the London School of Economics.

Although all three are fantastic courses, I’ve decided that my preference list goes in this order: 1) LSE; 2) Manchester; 3) Birmingham.

Now in late November I enrolled online for all three, and sent my supporting documents off with the applications. Time to sit and wait.

The thing is, of course, that many hundreds apply but only a few are chosen. And I would like to be part of that few.

Birmingham has a very simply online tracking application system, it tells me my application date, and that I am “Awaiting Decision”. I actually know slightly more than this but that’s another story. Manchester are like Vic, I have to wait to get a bit of paper in the mail telling me . . . and it takes two weeks to get here . . . so those are both nice easy systems to deal with.

LSE is far more complicated. They have a complex tracking system that lets you know when you sent your application, when it was processed, when each supporting document arrived, and where your application is in the process. As soon as a decision is made, the result is put up on the tracking system and then some weeks later I’ll get a letter in the mail.

And that is my torture. Every night I log in to the LSE Applicants Progress system and watch carefully to see the page is loading in a different way in case something major has changed. It has not . . . and my application is therefore currently “under consideration by the department”. They reassure me that the typical processing time is 8 weeks, but then suggest that you check it every two days. It’s cruel mental torture, particularly since LSE is my first choice.

Did you really care about any of this? Of course not. But what use is a blog if I can’t rant about silly things. And if you’ve read this far then you are clearly a dedicated reader and should be rewarded so here is your reward.

(It’s quite the grumpiest little ****** I’ve ever seen, I put chocolate ****** into google and that’s what it came up with . . . it’s even got a yellow duck and it’s not happy . . . poor little ****** . . . LOL :oP)

It seems that there has been a recent scourge of thinking within circles of friends. I tend to find New Year a very thoughtful time of year anyway . . .

I’ve had a very exciting 2006 so far - I discovered a cute little town that’s in the middle of nowhere and is actually really fun (well ok, I didn’t actually discover it), I got hit on the head by a large metal door blown open by a 160km/hr wind, I’ve watched Madagascar and decided a pet Penguin is what I need, I ate too much at Denny’s (but it was pretty good), and finally I have decided that I am heading at an ever-increasing pace towards dementia and that therefore this is a good time to embrace it. That’s quite a lot accomplished in only five days. Who knows what today will bring?

I should recap on last year . . . but what’s the sense in telling you more than that I was far too busy and got very very tired.

2005 - the year I did too much.

2006 - the year I will do too much again. But at least I’m being paid this time around.

2am-itis is affecting my capacity for sensible thought so before I get to the point where I regret writing this, I’m going to go to bed and contemplate what the 6th day of January will bring. I hope it’s not another door blowing in at me because I’m still recovering from the first one.

I’m exhausted, totally and completely, so I’m going to go to bed in two ticks but I wanted to say Happy New Year to everyone first.

This year is really exciting for me and I’m looking forward to the challenges! I have had an awesome New Years weekend and I am now going to go and sleep for a very long time.

YAY for Johnny Clegg . . . and Crazy Frog!!!! YAY!!!!