Cable Cars, Museums and Earthquakes!

This past week has been a great balance between studying my training materials and getting to know my city. I've been going through the Transferable Concepts; booklets written by Bill Bright that illustrate different aspects of Christian living in preparation for the school year.

I've also gotten to visit some of Wellington's great sights. My friend Amy from Christchurch (orginally from South Africa) came up to visit our national museum, Te Papa. So I met her there and had a blast, learning about New Zealand, and seeing the Pompeii exhibit.


I also got to take the cable car up to the top of the botanical gardens for a spectacular view of the city, the harbour, and the tropical plant life. It has been really fun to become familiar with the city, learn about the culture, and meet people. I did miss watching the superbowl in the States...we found a pub that was airing it at noon on Monday, so we watched it there, without the commercials! Definitely worth missing for the excitement of being in New Zealand!!!

On another note, I got woken up in the middle of the night by an earthquake--5.0 on the Richter Scale. It was my first one ever (not including the aftershocks in Indiana a few years ago). At first I thought it was the wind rattling the house, but later discovered that the wind, however powerful it may be here, does not make banging noises like the ones I heard, nor does it make the floor shake! The weirdest part is that after visiting Te Papa on Wednesday and seeing the earthquake exhibit I've been talking about earthquakes non-stop, and I have had this weird feeling that one was going to happen soon! Bizarre-o!

Well friends, I hope you all enjoy Valentine's Day. They don't celebrate it here to the extent that it is recognized in the US, but I did enjoy a delicious pink frosted cookie! Blessings!