Back Again

Every student who studies abroad leaves home with expectations.  We each expect different things depending upon our destinations: an academic experience, cultural immersion, great hiking, but most of us have the cliched expectation of coming back a different person, having learned something about ourselves that could not be discovered sitting at home.

When I left Minnesota I had all of these expectations and many more, but I didn't really have a good idea of how to go about realizing them all, especially that last, weighty one.  How exactly does one "find oneself?"  Especially, if one does not know who to look for?  Fortunately, I began by tackling an easier expectation, great hiking.  Soon, I was so caught up in school, trips and adventures that I had forgotten about forcing my expectations.  In short I was doing exactly what I promised: living in the moment.

Over the course of my time in New Zealand I did a pretty good job of keeping that promise.  How could I not when I had the help of friends who were so good at making sure I lived in the moment that when I first arrived home I had no perspective on what I had learned.  Certainly many of my expectations had been met and exceeded; my classes at Otago taught me much, I learned about Kiwi and Maori culture and I experienced no end of good hiking.  But what of that last most important expectation...of finding out something more about myself?  Not so easy to say.

After much thought (my 1.5 hour commute provides ample time) I was still at a loss.  I am, and have always been Allison Jacobel, born 3/14/1989.

On Sunday I was standing in the American Museum of Natural History, when suddenly, as I looked past a gigantic Bighorn Sheep it hit me:  Since I was little I have been surrounded by people who have helped me define who I am.  Twenty-one years of identity could not be significantly altered by five and a half months in a foreign country.  Instead, what the mountain vista behind that sheep made me realize was that my time in New Zealand had helped me define the conditions under which I could be myself and be happy...

A place of extraordinary natural beauty, a community of friends and a relaxed atmosphere in which to enjoy it all.  In hindsight it is little wonder that the first thing I did upon arriving in my dorm in New York City was to put up dozens of postcards and photos of beautiful places sent to me by friends and family or that the first book I bought was Edward Abbey's Desert Solitaire.

As I thought about how to end this blog I considered recapping the highlights of my time in New Zealand, but I think those of you still reading this blog have heard enough of me rhapsodizing.  Instead, I will thank you for following my travels, and simply say that I am grateful to have been there and back again.

Love,
Allison

Adventures in Mt. Cook

As I first began to write this entry -  my second to last blog post - I was sitting comfortably 35,000 feet somewhere over the Southwestern United States (in flight wi-fi!).  But as usual I am both waaay behind on my blogging schedule and yet already getting ahead of myself in my story, so please allow me to backtrack.  Two weekends before I left New Zealand Jeff, Pete and myself (the cool Mac contingent) headed off on a fantastic trip to visit Mt. Cook.  We embarked on Thursday afternoon in a deceptively innocuous rental car and easily drove the 4 hours north.  Before we even reached the national park we had stunning views of the mountains and stopped to take a few pictures as the sun set.

Our first morning we awoke to cloudy skies and the threat of rain but decided to attempt the Mueller Hut route anyways (2km up over 1km distance).  This turned out to be a really good decision because while we didn't get the stunning vistas we would have seen if it had been sunny and cloudless, we did get to experience hiking in a snowstorm and we also got to hear (but not see) avalanches all around us!  This was a really eerie experience, particularly since we visited a monument to all of the climbers who had died attempting to climb area peaks.

On our way back down the clouds began to lift and we caught glimpses of the glaciers that surrounded us.  We also saw a kea (who we decided was a spy for the killer goats in the area).  Keas are the only known species of alpine parrots and despite their rare status are fairly despised creatures because of their taste for rubber.  In many alpine parking lots, signs warn visitors that keas may eat the rubber off of windshield wipers, or from around the rims of car windows.  Keas have also been known to carry off hiking boots (yummy) and even (shiny) wedding rings!

On the second day we awoke to sunny skies and a beautiful view out of our hostel.  We decided to use this day to visit Mt. Cook itself, by way of the Hooker Valley Track.  After a few minutes spent taking amusing photos in front of the sign for Hooker Valley we reached the trail head and began snapping pictures left and right.

After a leisurely lunch at the head of the Hooker Valley we returned to our rental car and drove around into the next valley for a hike around the Tasman Glacier.  This valley had less impressive vistas but more impressive geomorphological features including incredible amounts of till and some really well developed moraines.  But even more interesting were the icebergs floating near the terminus of the glacier.  Not only were they beautiful but they also provided excellent targets for our rock skipping efforts (a recurring trip activity).


Unfortunately, the next day it was time for us to head back to Dunedin, but as we departed we looked back and caught beautiful (albeit cloudy) views of Lake Tekapo and Mt. Cook.

On our way back to Dunedin we stopped (again) at the Moeraki Boulders and took some more funny pictures...

My final adventure before settling down to study for my exams was to take one last trip out to see the penguins (or penguinies as Jeff and Pete call them) on the peninsula.  Unlike the dawn trip Louis and I took, this time we went at dusk and saw about 30 penguins as they swam up to the shore and headed into their nests.  Unfortunately, because it was getting dark and flashes are not allowed, we couldn't take pictures, but it was a pretty cool experience.

I mentioned earlier that we had a "deceptively innocuous rental car".  I say that because on the way back we got into a small accident involving a large piece of firewood (in the middle of the very narrow curving road) and our front left tire rim.  The collision resulted in a flat tire (which AA took care of most efficiently) and a few nervous days for me while I waited to see how much a replacement rim would cost me but in the end everything turned out just fine.


Early Thursday morning I boarded a plane back to the US (via Auckland, LA and Phoenix) and arrived late Thursday night.  This was an interesting trick (more than 24 hours worth of flying in less than 24 hours) and reminded me of the rhyme..."There once was a woman named Bright, whose speed was far faster than light, she departed on day in a relativistic way and returned on the previous night!"  Unfortunatley, all the time zone shifts didn't feel quite that easy and I am just now beginning to feel like I know what time to go to bed and wake up. 

The transition was further complicated by my departure early Sunday morning (3am) for NYC and my internship at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory.  I won't bore you with the details of that now, let is simply suffice to say that I'm really enjoying my work and my exploration of the city has only just begun.

My schedule here is very busy but I promise I will find time for one last post reflecting on my fantastic adventures in New Zealand.  Until then...

Love,
Allison