Leaving Christchurch

This blog marks my last few days in Christchurch, which is incredibly sad. I can’t believe how fast my time here has flown by and how much fun I’ve had. Living in a new country, coming here knowing no one, seeing so many spectacular parts of New Zealand, and making amazing friendships I know will last far beyond my stay here have all made this easily the most amazing experience of my life. I’m so thankful that my study abroad experience exceeded my high expectations and I can’t imagine what my life would be like if I’d chosen to go somewhere else or especially if I hadn’t forced myself to get out of my comfort zone and follow a dream at all. I hope that I can hold these feelings with me as I go on in life and continue being willing to do things that might be hard because new experiences and connections are so rewarding in the long run. For anyone who’s been part of my life in Christchurch who might be reading this, I hope you know you’re amazing and thank you so much for coming into my life. I will always carry these last 4 months with me.

I spent my last weekend here out on the nearby Banks Peninsula camping with Bernard. It’s a beautiful area but every time I’ve been out that way it’s been rainy so I was hoping this last hurrah would treat us kindly. Of course that was too much to ask and it was so stormy as we drove over we could hardly see 10 feet in front of us. Luckily when we got to the campground things started clearing up, and by the next morning it was pretty nice and we were able to wander around and check out the beautiful area. This combined with plenty of hot chips and movies made for a great last weekend.

Rainy bay

Sunny bay!

Gorgeous Banks Peninsula

I’ve spent my time since finals frantically hanging out with everyone, trying to squeeze in as much time together as we can before many people head home. It’s been sad to say goodbye to so many of the other exchange students but my consolation prize is I’m not even close to going home yet! My mom arrives in New Zealand today and we’re taking off for a few weeks of travel together and then I’ll meet up with some other friends to round out my month-long tour of the sights I’ve missed. As Semisonic said, every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end, so though I’m sad to wish Christchurch goodbye I’m also very excited for this last leg of my stay here. I might not be blogging as much because I’ll be traveling but I will have internet with my couchsurfing hosts and such so I’ll do my best to keep whoever might actually be reading this posted! Bon voyage!