New Zealand - Cardrona

Cardrona Ski Park near Wanaka New Zealand

my apologizes to the lady with the broken ski boot.

New Zealand - Nelson

The world's greatest great uncle. Uncle Dan in New Zealand.

this guy is definitely one of the coolest guys i know.

The sheep photo!

New Zealand DOES have sheep.

it was one of my goals to get a photo with a sheep.

Fiji - Coconut Bay

Fantastic!

it was a pretty slippery hike to get this photo, and in flip-flops it wasn't easy.

Fiji - Coconut Bay

A real nice guy I met in Fiji.

Little-man rocked. he actually had some pretty good dance moves.

Fiji - Safe Landing

The Fiji group.

this was my first real fiji home. it was hard for the other islands to compete (although coconut, octopus and wanataki made a good effort)

New Zealand - Oamaru

I saw this on an afternoon walk.

there isn't too much in oamaru except for the wickedly cool tiny blue penguins.

New Zealand - Queenstown

The ice bar in queenstown, nz. the glasses were ice and the nose was a bit cold.

New Zealand - Wanaka

I think Wanaka was one of my favorite cities in New Zealand.

this was where we stopped for some lunch on our nature hike. (sorry about the orientation...i don't know how to change that on my end).

New Zealand - Punakaiki

the Pancake Rocks. they sell pancakes there (seriously).

New Zealand - Abel Tasman

One day of kayaking and it felt like my arms were going to fall off

we didn't know if we were paddling right or not because we didn't get wet at all, and everyone else was soaked.

New Zealand - Franz Joseph Glacier

crazy experience.

this is like nothing i have ever done.

New Zealand - Franz Joseph Glacier

Hours of walking through paths like this.

Great on the way up, but really exhausting on the way down.

New Zealand - Franz Joseph Glacier

I think i actually wore too many layers.

it got a bit warm hiking around up there.

New Zealand - Wellington

Chad, graduate of Pepperdine, world traveler, wonderful son, and very nice person (Mom wrote this).

i was actually pretty dang sick when i took this picture. it was the first day i had any real energy and ended up on some mountain thing...i slept the rest of the day.

New Zealand - Cape Reinga

Adrianna - visiting New Zealand from her teaching job in New York City.

Fiji - ?

Fiji is beautiful.

i'm not sure if i took this photo or not. if i did then its at Fannies, if i didn't then i don't know where it is. (this picture could be pauline's)

We've worked hard all day. Swam, ate, played, rested, sailed, and many other things. All done perfectly though. 

Fiji - Wanataki Cruise

Jumping off a rather tall boat in the ocean.

we stopped jumping when someone saw something in the water.

After I left Pepperdine I got this really hard job. I make sure this hammock works properly. 

I met this really nice guy. 

I caught a big one. 

Hitchhiking? 

See, now this is a fijian tradition. You wear a flower in your ear to show your eligibility status. right ear if you are taken, left if you are single. everybody does it...even grown men that could beat you up...so don't make fun.

Blue ceramic beetle

Hello,

Well, i've got to be thankful for the pick of countries i chose for this trip 5 months ago. Had i known how many travellers go through thailand (because it is a cool place to go), i would have joined them. However, it costs money to change locations on my around the world ticket, which means i'm sticking to my original plan. I'm hoping none of the people i've met along the way were there.

Christmas is over and i have to say i'm feeling good about that. In my mind i imagined a christmas with cool travellers that also happened to be alone. I didn't get that, but i think everything worked out how it was supposed to. its always good to have a learn-the-true-meaning-of-christmas christmas.

I shared my room with three egyptian engineers who were taking a short holiday after being sent to denmark. They liked sleeping in late, so while they slept i wrapped their presents. i got them each a button that i found at the leather market: a sun, a watermelon, and a ninja. i made a card that said buon natale and had a drawing of a christmas tree and snowman. i think they liked it because when i came back to the room, the card was on my bed with a little blue ceramic scarreb (beetle?). i got confused on the day they would be leaving (the calendar in the room was from 2003), so i didn't know they wouldn't be back. i was alone the rest of the day, and since all of florence was closed i just went to my favorite spots in the city and sat and read or wrote.

The best part of the day was the hour when i called my family and friends. it felt really good. next christmas i'm going to be home. its where i belong.

I'm definitely looking forward to january. tomorrow i leave for sardinia (sardegna). its an overnight ferryboat ride so it should be cool and i've got a bed so at least i can sleep. in the past two weeks i've learned/recalled more italian than the last 3 years put together. i only have an hour or two of english thoughts, talking, or emailing a day. other than that, its only italian. i'm not sure if i'm ready for an all italian speaking family, but hopefully i'll learn quick.

Tomorrow i'm sending my money in for the italian wwoofing card (world wide organization of organic farms) so soon i'll know where i'll be spending most of january. then its iceland!! with my brother. it should be fun...cold and dark, but a lot of fun.

have a good day
your friend

chad

Individual sheets of wrapping paper

Hello,

I hope everyone is having a good christmas (or holiday season, if you don't celebrate christmas).

I feel really good being in florence for christmas. i think it was the right choice. i enjoyed rome, but it felt more like i was just a visitor. i don't think i know any other city more than i know florence (i studied in florence for a semester three years ago). I thought i would swing by and visit the school's villa, not really expecting anyone to be there. The director wasn't there but her assistant Lara was. she is wickedly good at foosball (i have never had to write that word out before). it was great and strange to see my italian home again.

Everything in florence is exactly the same: i had a fruit bowl in cafe liberta, and the same people work there; the leather market is selling the same exact things; there is even a begger that i recognize (he is very short and doesn't have a neck). The only bad news, and no one understands how much it wrecked me: Marizio, the chef at my school left a month ago. I've been looking forward to his red sauce since i knew i was going on this trip...seriously. i was hoping to watch him make it and keep the receipe with me forever, but oh,well. there isn't much i can do about it now.

All of the people in my hostel left to go to rome for christmas, and tonight i should meet all of the people that left rome to come to florence for their christmas. the hostel i'm at feels like a home (because i think it is one) and the people that work there are great. also, its in a part of town that i haven't explored before, so its fun to walk around and see new things.

My days have been pretty busy, but i haven't really done anything--just some walking, studying italian at parks, and trying to find places (restaurants, gelaterie-ice cream places, and stores) that are a) cheap and b) can't speak english. thankfully the two seem to be related. its frustrating to be speaking to someone in italian and have them talk back to you in english, and having us both not give in to speaking our own language. it is definitely more fun trying to speak in italian, at least for me.

Tomorrow i'm going to find cheap gifts for people in my hostel; by cheap i mean nearly free. i found a place that sells individual sheets of wrapping paper, so thats all taken care of. i'm thinking whatever happens this christmas, its going to be memorable.

Happy Christmas!
Buon Natale e felice anno nuovo!!

your friend
chad

Ciao bella!

Ciao!,

Sorry for any repetition in the last two posts. China is a very interesting place and i'd have to say that information is a little restricted. Along with information on Tienemin Square (spelling?), my web log is restricted. i could post to it, but could not read it, which meant i had no idea what i told you already. That and the second i posted anything, the blogger website would also be blocked; those communists are strange.

I've left asia and am now in europe, the biggest part of the year--about six months. I'm in rome for a few days and i'll be in florence for christmas. Then its off to visit Dani, a cool guy i met in new zealand, and his family in Sardinia for new years. i'm trying to refresh my italian as best as possible since his family doesn't speak any english. it should be a lot of fun. I'm planning on doing a lot of farming in italy after new years, so i may not have the most exciting posts for january. i really want to get away from english and give italian a chance.

My jet lag is working to my advantage right now because nearly every cool site is empty at 7 in the morning. the only bad part is that the spanish steps had about 10 people around. i guess its supposed to be the spot to people watch, but it doesn't take too much time to watch 10 people. Today i went to a lot of the free places, like the squares and piazzas and the pantheon. i'm thinking on monday i'll go to all the pay places like the colloseum and then hit up the vatican on tuesday. i still don't count that place as its own country.

have a good day
Buon Natale!! (happy christmas)

your friend
chad

50 kids

Hello,

ah, this place is crazy. i really can't believe i'm in jing zhou, china. visiting marcus here has made it so much more of a unique experience. he's been here teaching english for the last year and a half so he knows a lot of people. on sunday i went to an orphanage with martin (marcus's brother) and their friend marcus. the guy we visited really cares about kids, and now has 50 or so (yes, 50 adopted kids). i couldn't believe it but it is absolutely true. while we were there he invited us to what we thought was a party for one of his kids getting accepted to the chinese army (the red army). this is a big honor and families usually have a big feast. but what it turned out to be was one of his sons (he calls all of the orphans son or daughter, and they call him uncle) going to the army--meaning, in his full gear, getting on the bus to go for two years of service. it was a heavy emotional experience for the kid and the family. it was very strange being there.

a few of the 50 kids waving goodbye to us. they were screaming "goodbye teacher!!" over and over again. they were talking to the others, not me.


for a lot of the time i hang out with marcus and his friends he has made in china. they are such cool people and i have felt so comfortable here in their company. we watch movies, play games, and laugh a lot. every weekday i go to class with marcus. i give them a little speech about myself and then they ask me questions. chinese students are the hardest working people i have ever met. i can't even imagine what it would be like to study as much as they do.

christmas is not as visible here as it was in japan and hong kong. but since it is cold out, i've got the christmas spirit inside me. That and while i'm typing this i'm listening to yahoo's launch music program with ella fitzgerald singing The Christmas Song. that's all you really need to put a big smile on your face.

happy christmas
have a good day

your friend
chad

40 Foreigners

Hello,

Mainland china is definitely an interesting place. Marcus, my friend from university, and all of his friends here are really taking care of me in Jing Zhou. Today i went to his class (he teaches english here at the university) and talked with all of his students. They asked some pretty funny questions.


this is a field in china. every day starting at 6am and going on all day, chinese university students walk the field alone reading english. it kind of has a creepy feeling to it.

I think the strangest thing here is that people really stare--really really stare; for anyone that wants to feel what it is like to be a famous person, come to china. Marcus said there are about 1.2-1.5 million people here...and about 40 non-chinese. A lot of people have never seen a foreigner (in person) in their entire life. imagine going 50 years and never seeing anyone different than you, and then i come riding by on a bicycle. that has to be weird.


the scariest thing here, by far, is trying to cross the street. there are crosswalks but they are more for decoration than function. you just start walking across and the cars will find a way around you (also, there are no driving lanes either).

the food is interesting but very good. tonight marcus and i are going to one of his friends house where her mom will be cooking. so it will be super authentic chinese food, and word on the street is that it is going to be on the spicy side.

this has got to be the cheapest place i have been on the trip so far. internet here is about 12 cents an hour.

I'll be here with marcus for about a week and then christmas in italy!

Happy Christmas!!
have a good day

your friend
chad