Highlights from the Past 5 Months. Taken from my Facebook.

As I sit here going on my 13th hour in the Air New Zealand Koru Club Lounge, I figured I'd write up a little something to reflect on my exchange here.

Going on exchange is always advertised as a life-changing experience, but I think maybe it's not something always so concretely profound and noticeable. I have a feeling I'll notice the biggest changes once I get home. That said, these past 5 months have been pretty surreal. There is a moment when you realize that you are living in another country, a completely different place (I don't really count Canada as that different from the states). Life is different yes, but I never had a revolutionary, awe-inspiring epiphany that my life had been made so much more profound or incredible. Whatever. Go on your own exchange - if you haven't left the country yet, you're really missing out and are in for a treat.

Highlights:
-The New Zealand film festival in July. I got to meet and chat with Taika Waititi (not to mention see his films) and saw a number of other excellent films, including Paprika which I doubt I would have encountered otherwise and which I now consider one of my favourite films.

-The classes. I took only 3 classes. One was so so and the other two were amazing, which perhaps not-so-coincidentally mirrors the grades I got in them. History of Photography taught by an American prof in New Zealand focusing on Russian photography in the 21st century was... interesting. At least it fulfilled my Art History credit requirements. Indigenous Cinema made me very cynical toward the representation of races and indgeniety in all media, and certainly left me with things to think about as I construct my own work. Digital Media completely changed the ways I view modern myth (that is, I used to buy it, now I don't) and feels very valuable at least, and has turned me into a cynical anarcho-Marxist pining for the destruction of all nation-states at most. I doubt I'll ever take classes this interesting at UBC, but I'm welcome to surprises.

-Living in Toroa. This is a double edged sword for me. On one hand, I met a bunch of very cool people from all over the world and felt more aware and comfortable because of it, not to mention became great friends with several of them. On the other hand, I don't feel like I met many kiwis, and feel as though my experience was somewhat tarnished by this. It was more of an 'international' experience than a distinctly 'New Zealand' experience, which is cool, but I could get an 'international' experience in Vancouver or any other big city for that matter. So, honestly, not so sure I'd recommend this to students incoming to Otago. That said, Toroa is what made my experience, so who knows what I was or wasn't missing.

-Going to Abel Tasman and around with Henrik, Jessica, and Nicole over mid-semester break. We were very much a rag-tag thrown together group who didn't know each other too well but changed that very quickly in an awesome trip that I'd say succeeded remarkably. I took many many photos and was introduced to real 'tramping' for the first time. Easily one of the best experiences of the exchange.

-I also want to point out that Tone and I came in on the same flights from Auckland to Christchurch and then to Dunedin. I was in a new country on my own for the first time with only one working eye, and it was helpful to have someone going the same place as me, if for no other reason than to convince each other we were going the right places. Like when they didn't have keys for us at security and the taxi driver was a bit clueless about where to drop us off... It's really too bad you had to leave early Tone, but I trust you enjoyed your time in NZ none-the-less.

-September. Nothing but writing. I wrote three major essays due within one week. I wrote about things I genuinely cared about too, and got to play an excellent videogame while I was at it. Sweet.

-Tramping around the Huxley River valley with Andrew and Nicole and the German girls. This was a good one. A quick and somewhat-intoxicated decision led me to jump into something I may not have done had I given it more consideration, but I'm so glad I did. Again, more awesome photos, not to mention 'character-building' via cold rivers and such. In the last 15 minute painful stretch back to the car park however, I at last took time to forget about making photos and actually look at the real landscapes around me. Those mountains are really incredible, and they're really out there, and I was really out there, and I think that's pretty cool. I feel I'll definitely appreciate what BC and CO have on offer more now.

-Photos with Andrew and Henrik. I was so glad to meet photographers who spoke my language and shared my passion. Andrew and I discovered we were eerily similar in many regards and I hope that in the end, the beers and money all evened out buddy. I'll see all you Washington and Oregon folk again before long I'm sure.

-Makiko. I can brag I have a genuine Japanese friend now, but I won't because I know she thinks that kind of thing is weird and creepy. Makiko was the ever-faithful flatmate and I'll really miss our late night conversations over tea and walking back from various clubs in Dunedin complaining about other people. Haha. I'll see you one day whether it's me in Japan or you in Canada, or who knows where else.

-Traveling around the country with my parents. This one just ended, and I'm so glad it happened, because I feel like I really got to know so much more of the country. The North Island is quite different, but equally awesome. Our path spanned what I'm proud to say is an excellently planned and very diverse panorama, from rainy familiar Dunedin to relaxing Wanaka and Queenstown to the long, gorgeous West Coast drive to the ferry to Wellington, which was historic and a bit overwhelming, onto incredibly distinct and photogenic Napier to typically touristy Rotorua and finally to calming Devonport and huge, alive Auckland.

-Of course, the whole thing can't go without mention of my unbelievably patient girlfriend waiting back home in Vancouver. Words can't express how thankful and lucky I feel that I've found this girl, and this trip has only solidified that feeling and my love for her.

And now I'm coming home at last. It doesn't feel real. Things rarely do for me. I tend to have moments of clarity like the one I had in that river valley looking up at the mountains. I don't imagine my next will come until I'm on my plane watching the lights of this island fade away. I'm very much looking forward to getting back and beginning what feels like "the rest of my life" if you will. How's that for profound?

If you actually read all this, you must care about me, so, uh, thanks for that.