Book love.......

How To Build A Girl. 

Derailed.....

I start my "Book Challenge" with the best of intentions. Read a book a week for twelve weeks and clean up my bookshelf. But, things happen. As I wrote a few posts ago I had a slight set back when I couldn't resist a local book fair. Now I must admit that I'm abandoning the venture entirely. The main reason is that while I'm traveling back to the US in November to attend a research conference I won't be traveling to see any of our families this time around. So the books will remain here and I will read them. Sometime. Sometime before we move away from NZ which is likely to happen toward the end of 2015. This is just as well because I keep finding books I want to read and everyone I know is generous and willing to let me borrow said titles. :)

Book love....

The Maze Runner. After seeing the movie last week I had to read this one; juvie fiction is just plain fun!

End of an era.....

Last week marked an epic occasion: my tenure as a Postgrad Students' Association Executive Board member came to an end. I served with "the Exec" for the last year and a half and the experience has been, in a word, invaluable. Before starting at Victoria I had never been involved with any student representation groups so this experience was all new. I don't know how to accurately convey how much I've gained from my time with the PGSA. The work was challenging and extremely time consuming; I spent several hours each week preparing for meetings, reading papers, drafting documents, and formulating points I would raise with various boards and committees around campus. The time consuming part I did entirely to myself. That is, instead of just sitting with the Exec and working on planning and implementing events for postgrads I first took on the role of the postgraduate student representative to the Animal Ethics Committee. Working with this group I've developed a keen interest in animal ethics and animal welfare. And as I student rep I led a working group that has developed a training program for students who work in the animal labs at Victoria. Although I'm stepping away from PGSA I cannot leave Ethics because we are about to launch the program and I want to be a part of that.

In addition to Animal Ethics I signed on to represent the postgraduate perspective to Academic Board and Academic Committee. These two groups work closely together and represent some of the highest level decision making in the University. Starting out I was totally intimidated because these groups are comprised of the "higher ups" in the University; despite my anxiety I planned carefully and brought postgraduate issues to the forefront of the discussion in many meetings. Towards the end of my tenure with both groups I felt like I was just "getting the hang of it". I guess that means I was ready to move on to the next thing taking with me everything I learned along the way. I never imagined or believed that I could be that person, a student no less, advocating for others. Like I said, this was incredibly rewarding.

Last week I attended the PGSA's Annual General Meeting and received a plaque for my service. All in all a bizarre and anticlimactic ending to such long standing participation with the group. Like so many things it's like, "ok, done!". What?

Today an email I received put a huge smile on my face. I opened my inbox to see that the papers (usually at least 100, if not more) for Academic Board were being circulated. My first thought was, "YES! I don't have to read these!" and my second was "oh, whoops, I'm still on the mailing list".

The end of an era. Indeed!

Feline update....

You may have noticed that I haven't been posting much for the last few weeks. Part of that has to do with the fact that I have been traveling to the zoo three times each week to observe "my kittens". It's hard to believe but I've reached the halfway point of this project. I have completed all the sessions for the "baseline" portion of this experiment; that is, before the cats are moved to their permanent enclosures. The move happened at the end of last week and the "Grassland Cats" exhibit featuring the servals and caracals opened to the public yesterday.

We were there bright and early to see the cats; I was worried that they would be totally stressed from the move and/or be hiding away from view. Fortunately, both pairs were out and about exploring their new homes. :) Pictures below are the two caracals then the two servals - thanks to Tim for taking such excellent snaps.

Part of the exhibit highlights the fact that both species of felines are incredibly jumpers; in the wild they creep through tall grasses when hunting prey. Their meals usually comprise small rodents and birds. They simply jump, sometimes straight up, several meters and snatch birds out of the air. To simulate this the zoo installed a "tall grass thicket" in which you stand inside, listen for your prey and then pounce! Below you can see me peaking out. :)

This next week I'll begin my "post move" observations and they will run for four weeks to match the number of baseline observations I conducted. In addition, I've been invited to attend a meeting with the Zoo's Animal Welfare Committee and they've asked me to give a brief presentation/update regarding my project. I'm excited to share what I'm doing with the group and feel very "official" being an agenda item. :)

Book love...

Inside of a Dog. Brilliant!

All Blacks...

We recently attended a rugby game where our All Blacks took on the South African Springboks. Watching the national team live has been a dream since we started following rugby when we moved to NZ two and a half years ago. But every time the All Blacks have visited Wellington we were out of the country or couldn't afford tickets. Needless to say we were thrilled when the plans to see this game with a couple friends came together. It was finally going to happen!!

The game was surreal in that we've closely followed the All Blacks always making arrangements to watch the "re-aired" games on TV or finding a sports bar playing the game on their big screens. We've come to know and recognize the players which is fun when a player is racing towards the try line and you can fly out of your seat, yelling, "GO Julian!!!!". :)

For reasons I don't yet understand New Zealand produces some of the best rugby players in the world and so we've become accustomed to them winning. In almost three years we've seen them lose once and draw twice. Yeah, they have a bit of a corner on the market. So this game we attended was unsettling. The scores were low, the play was gritty and I was biting my nails, perched on the edge of my seat until the final horn sounded. In the end the All Blacks came out on top but just barely!

Before the game we walked over to Civic Square to check out the "Fan Zone". They had a area sectioned off where kids could play rugby as well as a photo booth, face painting and an opportunity to win a rugby ball. I went up and asked if they were just giving them away to kids but they said, "No, if you tackle the training dummy you get a ball". I then had to make a decision. Was I going to potentially embarrass myself in front of a bunch of people just to get a rugby ball? Now I don't remember my logic here but somehow I came to the conclusion that I should do it. I know, this from an admitted non-athlete like me! What?! So I faced the training dummy, held up my a volunteer, and said, "Ok, I, um, I've never tackled anything before in my life!". He reassured me that was ok and said, "Just keep low". Throwing caution to the wind I launched myself forward and within a few strides was at the point of no return. I wrapped my arms around the dummy and went for the tackle dragging it to the ground as my entire body was flying through the air. Exhilarated and a little embarrassed I hauled myself up off the ground and began brushing the grass off my clothes and face. I know I had a silly smile on my face, I mean, who wouldn't after doing something so ridiculous?! I was congratulated for my efforts and presented with my very own rugby ball! :)

After that we spent some time playing catch in the grass, I got my face painted and we took a turn in the photo booth. It was a fun lead up to the game. From there we walked with a mass of fans down to the stadium where we saw the house packed to the rafters. It wasn't long until we saw "our boys" running out onto the field. Oh yeah!!!!