Yo

Hey there everybody! Lets see, I'm back in school again plugging away at projects and reports. I did get the chance to go Mt. biking last weekend in Roturua. The trails here are short, sweet and well banked. The volcanic soil of the North Island drains incredible well, so when you come into a wet turn, every time I was expecting to wash out like you would in Oregon. Suprisingly, the traction on the trails is very good. One of the best parts of the riding here is that you often end up going through several different types of forest, due to their being plantations everywhere. I rode everything from Redwood duff, Eucalyptus bark, pine and oak forest. The trails, while fun and swoopy, don't seem to have those intangibles that make a ride an epic one. You are never that far from civilization like you are in Oakridge Oregon, or Monarch Pass Colorado. Also, it was perfect single speed territory, with lots of short grunts and swooping downhills. I got a fair amount of teasing from other riders for having no gears, but if you ask me, they are pretty unnecessary. I told 'em they fell off back there somewhere. It was good to be giving and taking a little verbal abuse (always in jest) with other riders.
School is going well. The grading system here, as I have told some of you is a bit unusual, by US standards at least. A 50% or greater is a passing grade. Getting in the mid 60's percentile is pretty good and anything over 70% is exemplary. They just grade everything freakin' hard, much to my dismay at first before I understood what the grades actually translate into here. Classes are going well and are interesting to boot. Always a nice plus.

More kiwi terms:

Squash = Raquetball
If you think something is really good or cool = "woah, that was mint"
Zorbing= rolling down a hill inside a rubber ball
"Sweet as" = the best thing ever.
dodgy = disreputable, suspect
Uni = Campus

I went surfing last week for the first time in years over on the west coast. It was awesome to get back out in the water, even though all I did was wipe out and get thrown around. I found a wetsuit on the side of the road with a free sign next to it, so hopefully I'll get the chance to go again. Next up in the way of trips hopefully is hotwater beach and the Coremandel Penninsula. I've been meaning to get over there for a while. I'll be hanging out this weekend to just brush up on some papers I need to read, but hopefully the weather will be nice for a little climbing. Well, that's enough rambling for today, so cheers everyone.

~Jake