Friendz, Isel Park, Nelson Airport, Race Unity Day, French, ...

Hi there! How are you doing?

I'm pretty good over here and there are already so many things to write about again!!!

Let's start with friendz ^^ Well, my best friend over here is Manatsu from Japan. He's living with his family in Monaco (which is a peninsula here, not that Monaco Europeans may think about now!). His family invited me to go camping with them at Kaiteriteri Beach which actually is the best and most beautiful beach over here. =) I am really happy about this and when I asked them if I needed to bring a sleeping bad or a tent they told me: "Nooo! We're staying in a house, 100m from the water with a stunning view! We can go there sometimes since the owner wants to see it being used. We know them very well and they are the richest people in this region actually." Man, that'll be great "camping"!!! ^^ lol.

I'll send some pictures after I having come back but my holidays are quite busy. As I say: "I want to make the most out of my time here as it is "just" half a year!" =)

Therefore, this is my schedule from 5th April to 1st May:

05/04/07 - 09/04/07: "Camping" at Kaiteriteri Beach

11/04/07 - 13/04/07: Visit my penfriend in Dannevirke, North Island

16/04/07 - 01/05/07: Trip around New Zealand, from Auckland straight down 2 Queenstown

AND, English teachers: do not be confused! In New Zealand - Aotearoa, the dates are actually written like this. The way how it is written is American, the order in which they put day, month and year is European! ^^

Well, yep, then I was in Isel Park in Stoke which is a really really wicked park! I've actually never seen anything like it! People back in Rietberg: Nelson would get the "Landesgartenschau" without changing anything!!!

The stream flowing through Isel Park

A marvelous bridge over the stream

This tree appears to be a redwood but it is just a usual pine - I think ^^

There also is a footpath around the Nelson Airport which I walked down with Manatsu and of course I took heaps of pictures!

The footpath around the airport

That's me in front of the sea right behind the airport

Then, there was a really cool event called "Race Unity Day" which was really multicultural! People from all parts of the world performed on stage such as Tahitians, people from the Easter Islands and Maori! I guess I'll have to send some pictures at some stage! After that, I visited a friend (Matt) at his house in Stoke. They have just moved here from Adelaide, Australia and I absolutely like that family! So easy-going... Matt's father speaks French fluently and really good German, his grandma also speaks a little German!

They told me my English was way better than some New Zealanders' English (!!!), that I am very informed for my age and that my views on things like George Bush are amazing. Well, people in Australia and in New Zealand don't like him that much, some may like him though.

Those compliments made me feel really proud and after all, Matt's grandma invited us to come over to Christchurch and visit her sometime! That day was soooo cool. I really couldn't stop smiling... ^^

Well, at school, I now have French permanently which I am really glad about. Today, I did a presentation on my exchange with Riberac in Southern France. They really liked it and I was told that I rock when I got some cookies out of my bag! ^^ I really enjoyed that.

Tomorrow, we're gonna do some French music (Kate Ryan - Desenchantee, Aux Champs-Elysees, ...). I love that!!! =P


Okay, well, I think I gotta go now then!

Have fun,

Chris...tian =) (man, that's a good rhyme)

PS: Best regards to our English teachers at the GNR in Rietberg! I hope you enjoy reading this and that you ain't that confuzed about the informal language I use... ^^ lol. Kidding... But no worries, mate! She'll be right! =P Cheers... See you later.





---> That was New Zealand English of course! That's no informal language!!! =) cu

New Zealand Plants

Hello again!

For my grandpa, I took some photos of New Zealand plants and flowers.

Here they are:

Strange fruit!

I have to admit I don't know any of these plants' names! Sorry... But I thought the pictures are nice...

I hope you like them!

Chris...tian =)

Tahuna Beach, Nelson, Monaco

Hey everybody!

What have you been up to during the last week?

Weeeelll, I have been at Tahuna Beach and walked all the way to Nelson and here are finally some pictures. I hope you like them!

This is the way down to the beach - lovely isn't it? I think this is gonna be my desktop background when I am back in Germany ^^

This is me after having gone for a swim at the beach. =)

This is the coastal route from Tahuna to Nelson ...

...awesome landscape, don't you think? ;-)

Then, I visited Manatsu and his hostfamily in Monaco - here are some more pictures:

This is Manatsu in front of his hostfamily's house in Monaco =)

This is at the beach in Monaco at low tide - also the place where we looked for half-crabs in Marine Science! ^^

Okay, well, I am currently in that Internetcafe here in Nelson again and I have just bought some tramping shoes for my trip from April 16th to May 1st! =P

I'll send some more pictures later, have fun though!

Chris...tian =)

Sad news =( Well, not just sad... ^^

Hey guys!

How are you?

Well, over here it's not too bad but I have got a huge sunburn on my back and even a sort of bubbles on my shoulders. I think I will have to go to the doctor's with that because it hurts so much! =(

But otherwise, everything is sorta fine and the weather is still nice. However, I cannot really enjoy this ...

So, I booked my trip during term holidays now and I will be away from April 17th to May 1st! This trip is certainly gonna be awesome and I am really looking forward to it.
I will take the plane to Auckland on April 16th then and on my way back, I'll catch my flight down in Queenstown via Christchurch to Nelson (if you like to look it up on a map, you're more than invited!).
The flights cost between 140 and 165 New Zealand Dollars which is about half in Euros. That's quite good though.

I also booked my flights for Australia and we'll be going from Nelson via Christchurch and Sydney to Brisbane, Queensland. =) I hope that this will be fine as well but I am quite sure about this. The flights cost $516 (= ca. 255 Euro) - ALTOGETHER!!! That's so great...
My final journey back to Germany will then be:

Nelson-Christchurch-Sydney-Brisbane-Singapore-Frankfurt-Paderborn !!! =) Well, a long break in Brisbane included... ^^

We just came back from a trip with New Zealand Studies and we learnt some more facts about Nelson History which was quite interesting tough. We were told about Nelson Jail where some men were hung and that some people say they've seen shadows rushing through the buildings around midnight. ^^ And one girl died in Nelson Girls' College quite some time ago and a builder saw her ghost, dressed up in the early school uniform. He told her that she couldn't disturb him and right in front of his eyes, she is said to have vanished. =P
I don't know whether we should believe it or not but it's a quite nice story, don't you think?

So, I have got Lunchbreak now and I will go and have some food as I am quite hungry right now. Then, I will have another two lessons - English and Health Promotion.
I"ll just see how it goes - in Health I got an "Achieved with Excellence" which I really didn't expect because it is the subject I would consider most difficult for Exchange Students or in general for people who don't speak English as their mother tongue. So, I am quite glad about that! =)

Ok then, gotta go!

I'll catch up with you guys later on!

Have a great time and be happy about not having this awful sunburn!

Chris...tian =)

The last days

Hello, everybody!

How are you? What have you been up to recently?

Well, about my latest "adventures":

- I took some really nice pictures of Nelson, such as Anzac Park and the City:

- For the last weekend, we went to Blenheim (Nationals in Speed Skating):

Well, yeah, the landscape was amazing and I discovered a nice little park right across the street from the motel we stayed at!

So, well, I guess that's all for the moment! These are really many pictures and I think loading my homepage is taking more and more time!

Sorry so short but I have to go now!

My bus leaves in a couple of minutes and that's the last one today! ^^ I am in Nelson City right now - yep!

Ah well, I will do a nice trip during term holidays - that's almost certain now! Mrs Glue told me that it will not be a problem if I miss school for a few days (because I have had so many changes of timetable - that's a sort of privilege now! ^^) and I will book my flights for Australia soon as well. Sharon just has to tell me when they're going and then, I can tell Singapore Airlines to change my flight Auckland-Singapore to Brisbane-Singapore (which they will do because my travel agency already contacted them) and I have to book another flight Christchurch-Brisbane and maybe Nelson-Christchurch (if I cannot change it), too!

That's the news for now!

See you later,

Christian =)

Information about the surroundings I live in =P

Hellooooooooooo, everyone!

It currently is 3.15 pm over here and I am sitting in an Internet Cafe again (it is called Aurora)

I thought that you might perhaps be interested in some pictures like from the house and the room I live in et cetera. - Therefore, I have got a selection of some pictures about Stoke and Tahunahui - I will take some pictures in Nelson later on [I wanted to do this today but I forgot my camera in my hostmother's car and she's in Richmond so right on the other side!].

Enjoy this... =P

This is "our" house! It seems quite small but it actually is not small at all. The door on the bottom is the nice little flat where a Japanese Girl called Akimi currently lives. The door to our part of the house is behind the tree on the right - you can see it if you know what it looks like. =P

My room is that one with the big windows (1st floor on the right), below, it's the room where Poom lives and beside my window, it's Mason's room.

Okay, this is the view out of my room (-->)!

Quite nice, isn't it?

These two guys are our dogs. Chad is the brown one on the right and Joey is the white one on the left. They're both quite nice but naughty: they dig lots of holes in the backyard so you have to be really careful where you are going - especially in the dark! Their hobbies are: going to the beach, chasing the cats if they can, chewing clips (which are normally meant to be used for clothes on the cloth-line) and of course scoffing their meal down (nzl. English for eating very fast).

Voila, our two cats Pierce (the grey one next to the window) and S.... can't remember her name.

They like beds and therefore, when I come home from school, I can be sure and certain that I will find them in MY bed upstairs... =P

Well, other than that, they're really nice even if they make a lot of noise:

When someone has closed the front door and they want to come in, they make that meeaow-sound until someone opens. =)

It's the same in front of my room when I have closed my door to go to bed finally, they want to come in but I won't let them. =P

Finally, last but not least, this is Tahunahui Beach where we went with the dogs. In this picture, you can see Chad playing with a German Shepherd Dog (in the centre). Tahuna Beach is really sooo awesome and I love it! This is the best beach I've actually ever seen!

I absolutely have to go there on my own or with some friends and then we should try the normal beach, not the dog beach!

Okay, let's see... I have got plenty of other lovely pictures but that would really be too much for now. You have got heaps of fotos now and I think I'll send some other, different ones soon.

So long,

I hope you're alright!

Catch u later,

Chris =)

The latest news

Hi again!

How's it going? Well, over here everything's totally fine and I have got my final timetable now!

Today, we had Chemistry 2A for the first time and it was soooo boring, really! All that stuff was what we had already done ages ago!!! Ionic bonds or something - connecting sodium and chloride to get ordinary salt! Omg, but well, I'll just ask the teacher for some 3A stuff so maybe this will be a good possibility for me.
Anyway, although it is in English, it's really easy and I understand everything. 3A would be a bigger challenge but I reckon I'd also have to work harder so I'll better stay in my current class.

In English, we have to write a column so a sort of article published in our school newspaper. However, this is not an ordinary newspaper article, it rather is a literary text. I think I could write mine about religion an young people or something - my opinion anyway - but we were told we did not have to do it as we're exchange students and we have to do enough learning English better! I think, I'll have a try anyway.
Then, I am probably going to French 1A (Year 10 or something) just to demonstrate a conversation in French and I think this is gonna be fun.

This is Nayland College by the way; on the right you can see Block 1 (Rooms 10-19 + Lab 1A and Lab 1B), on the left, it's the Student Office. The palm tree is in front of our library which should be on the right side, too but you cannot see it in this picture!
In the background, you can see some hills and in the centre a bus departing.
I live just around the corner, so the street I live in is exactly opposite the school entrance (in the background next to the bus).

I have also taken some pictures of the school myself, so here is a selection of them:

Our school library - the palm tree is the same as on the other picture (see above!) =)

This is one of Nayland's classroom Blocks... I think it is Block one... =P

Well, yep, I suppose that's all for the moment and I hope you're still reading what I write - and do comment on it, please!!!

So, I hope you're all fine!

Catch you later,
Chris...tian

PS: I promise that there are still more pictures to come!

PPS: I will not publish my hostfamily's address here because everybody can see this and I cannot grasp the consequences. If you want it though, contact me via my normal e-Mail-address [christian.koop@web.de] and I will give it to you! All 4 now then, cu later, Byeeee!