Week 44- Ulysse at 21!

Monday 14th May was a hectic day! Getting back so late from my kayaking trip to Piripaua the week before, I only had four hours sleep before I had to fly to coach hockey and get the boys ready for their big game on Wednesday. We had a great session and then I was darting back to college to go to NZ steel. I just had time to make oats and put them in a Tupperware, only for it to leak in my bag! NZ steel was actually really interesting. It was originally a compulsory part of one of my courses but then they couldn’t take everyone from the class so it became optional and I got to go! The plant itself is a massive 160Ha which is 1.6 million meters squared. They use more power than the entirety of the New Zealand capital city of Wellington and despite being a massive plant, 99% of their water is recycled. The tour took about four hours and I really enjoyed seeing their massive rollers for thinning the sheets of steel and also all their testing processes. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take any photos. I got home around 15:00 and went to buy party equipment for Ulysse’s 21st birthday party. We decorated the flat and made a cake (which was then hidden in my room) before having dinner with everyone and playing some very entertaining charades. As a special gift to Ulysse I gave him a pillow case of his favourite musical! It really was a fantastic party

Ulysse had a friend staying, which I had forgotten about so I was a little surprised to see her on the sofa on Tuesday morning. I went to my usual 8am and 9am lectures and wanted to study between 10 and 11 but I had forgotten my adapter. After lunch I went to the physio and got needled. I fear I am becoming addicted. I briefly went to the library but it was far too hot so went up to 70 before my lab. I was working from home in the evening and cross-checking answers with Lydia. This was interrupted by my couscous-soup dinner (which Ulysse’s French friend, Marion, was not impressed by). I did a small bit more work with Shane Grogan (from UCD) before bed. I was feeling ready for my test in the morning.

The test itself was at 09:00 and went rather well. We had the solutions right after the test too which was great for peace of mind. I had three more lectures before lunch with Harry, Marlene, Amy and Cooper. I did a quick load of laundry before coaching my St Peter’s team to a fantastic 3-1 win. I was delighted with the team and sets us up nicely to move up two divisions from the previous year if we win our next game. I also had the pleasure of chatting with mum before bed.

I did a debrief of the game in the morning at coaching before building on what we had done well. After class I got some bread, meat and cheese for Marlene as it was the 17th of May which is Norway’s national day. I even made and coloured in some Norwegian flags and ironed my shirt. The gesture was well received anyway. I had a tutorial in the evening before I cycled to Remuera to play cards with Ian and Cooper. By the time I had cycled home I had managed to clock up 25km for the day on my terrible bike!

I had a doctor’s appointment on the Friday morning and discovered that I had a resting heart rate of 49bpm. I chatted with my good friend Eoghan from back home and then did one assignment that was due that day at midnight and started a second. I also found time to google Harry and find some old photos of him! Harry and I decided to book a trip to Great Barrier Island with some other people from the tramping club for the up coming bank holiday and then we all went to an Indian place for dinner where we all shared the equivalent of a taster menu. It was a really lovely evening which was rounded off with another game of (my favourite) hearts.

First thing on Saturday morning I had to work on a control systems assignment for Wei (one of my lecturers) before Marlene, Ulysse, Bridget, Alice and I went to Harry’s for coffee and then onto Harry’s concert. For the duration of the semester Harry had been volunteering with an organisation called StarJam which was a music-based charity for children with a range of learning disabilities, autism and down syndrome. Each week they would meet up and just play music, practice songs and help these kids grow in confidence. They had their end of term concert in a local library and they were really talented, playing not only old classics but also some of their own originals! While waiting for the bus back I got stuck behind some locked gates, Ulysse got in a trolley and we also saw some questionable goalkeeping at a local kid’s soccer match. After a spot of lunch, I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to do assignments and lab reports. Sunday was predominately spent doing college related work though I did bump into Harry after he had just finished cycling up the 7 highest summits in Auckland.

You can watch Harry's performance from various poor mobile phone recordings here!