HELLO SUMMER! 

I’ve just finished my last exam of the year and my first semester at Auckland Uni. I can’t believe I’ve already passed this milestone - It really does feel like I arrived yesterday. However, I now have the chance to stand still and put into perspective everything I’ve achieved over the past few months AND start planning my next adventures. I’m now left with the daunting task of filling three and a half months with something exciting and memorable. It’s harder than it sounds - especially when finding a job is part of it. 

The most exciting part of my summer, as it stands, is the month of campervanning(?) around New Zealand with my parents. It will be so nice to see them again - this is the longest period of time I’ve been away from home (and I hope they’ve managed without me). Most importantly they should come bearing a big block of Cathedral City. The cheese here is well bellow par, unless you go to a specialist cheese shop. WHAT’S WRONG WITH A GOOD STRONG CHEDDAR!?!?!?

For now though, I will be finding somewhere selling Pimms, dusting off my hawaiian shirt and enjoying the sunshine a good Brit abroad!

As you walk around our wonderful landscape take the time to walk mindfully, aware of being fully alive in the present moment. Travel slowly through the landscape that is familiar, taking the opportunity to look through different eyes - eyes made aware of God's glory in creation - to the extraordinary range of people and place though which we pass, often blindly, each day. As you go, pray for significant place and the people who visit them: the school, the pub, the shops, the post office.  At the town/hall, pray for those involved in local government. At the car park, pray for driver.  Sit in the park, resting in God and thanking Him for the gift of relaxation and leisure. Spend time simply being in God's presence. Think of the journeys that jesus made in his lifetime, from that first journey to the stable in Bethlehem, through the teaching and healing in the villages around Jerusalem to that last bitter walk to the cross and afterwards along the road to Emmaus.

‘Suggestions for Pilgrims,’ St. Peter’s Church, Queenstown, New Zealand.

We arrived in Queenstown towards the end of our trip around south island. We were very tired and took our time to walk around, taking in the quaintness of this little holiday town. We walked past St. Peter’s Church and on the door was pinned the poster below. I have transcribed the message above and I encourage you to apply some part of it to your day, no matter how small.

Because, we were nearing the end of our travels, the message seemed particularly pertinent - taking stock, at all points of a journey, is very important. Going to other places brings up new challenges and old one too, which in this new context allow you to re-evaluate past and future decisions and opinions. This sideways view of your place in the environment around you is something that can be developed over time and brought back home. It is this new perspective you gain that your family and friends see as growth - with better understanding comes a maturity that is very difficult to achieve when faced with the routine. 

Project Hyena Diorama: 1/10th scale model! 

I AM SO EXCITED TO SHARE THIS – our exhibitions department has been hard at work putting together this scale model of the soon-to-be-a-reality striped hyena diorama, thanks to the generous and enthusiastic donations of you wonderful people. Two folks you know from the campaign video, Susan and Aaron, as well as Katherine Ulschmid and intern Alex Berez, contributed to the model and will be working together with others in the department to design and build the final diorama. This prototype depicts the hyenas a little more spread out than how they are currently configured in their square case, with a dusk scene painted in the background. There has also been discussion of including native insects, birds or other animals, and (of course) plants, but we’ll have to see. :)  

Since this is a 1/10th scale model, it is 19.2 inches (48.7cm) across – the actual diorama will be 16 feet/192 inches (4.8m) across the front. Seeing the model in this way is really thrilling – in person it’s absolutely vibrant and gorgeous. Look at those lil’ hand-sculpted and painted hyenas! I can’t wait to watch it all come together.  

First photo for reference is c/o the Field Museum – check out their album on Facebook for more photos of the building process as they’re added!

DIRHAM, DOLLARS AND DOLLARS

So, today I took out some foreign money - personally, the most exciting part of travelling. Having booked my flights for Auckland it was the next thing on my to-do list. Due to the duration of a direct flight to New Zealand being roughly ONE ENTIRE DAY, I’ve invested a little bit more money into breaking up my journey along the way: my aim is lessen he inevitably crippling jet lag and maximize the adventure. Rather than an intense day of flying, I shall be enjoying a week of travel stopping at Dubai and Singapore along the way. I’ll be hitting the ground running with only a week to settle in before I need to be at Uni. I’m not sure quite how prepared I feel yet with the whole looking after myself thing, but once my exams are out of the way I’ll have all of July to whip myself into shape!

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?!

I have just uploaded the fourth minute of my one second a day for a year project. As milestones go this is not the biggest, that will be the next minute. If my calculations are correct, the five minute video should end with me leaving for New Zealand. Now, that will be a milestone and a half!

Moving to Auckland for a year is going to be a very big step. Unlike most of my peers I still live at home with my parents. I never moved out to go to university, because it was in the same city and I couldn’t afford to spend the many thousands it costs to live away from home. So, to save that money I stayed home. While I’m sure I am more than capable to support myself, it is going to be hard to leave the place I’ve lived my entire life, albeit just for a year. I look forward to the challenges I’ll face through moving to the other side of the world and having to do my own laundry etc. and I know there will be highs and lows, but, for now, it all seems like one magical daydream that just isn't real. When I watch the video above I can understand why it doesn't seem real. I’ve had a lot to distract me for one thing, but the process that got me on this track wasn't so straight forward either. 

I’m the sort of person that when I set my heart to something generally makes it happen - though I have learned that things aren’t not always going to happen in the way that I want or plan. So, it’s important to have a little faith when you wish for something. Just before starting my GCSEs (2009/10) I made plans with my best friends to go travelling around the world, as far and wide as possible! At the time we were more concerned about the what and where than the how - naturally our plans never came to fruition, but the curiosity and passion that drove us never stopped. When applying for universities I looked for courses that offered time abroad, because when you’re learning about other cultures you can never full understand without some level of emersion. UEA offered my dream course with the option of a year abroad. That was it. My heart was set, so my GCSEs, Alevels and everything outside of that was now a stepping stone to my goal of the dream course and an entire year in North America, Australia or New Zealand! Brilliant, I knew what I was doing.

Everything was carefully done in the interests of my BA course, however I fell short at the last hurdle and didn’t achieve the AAB that I needed at Alevel. My BBB was enough to do the dream course, but not with the year abroad. My dreams of travelling would have to be put on hold for now. In my second year I was told that to be eligible to have a year abroad it was you’re first year grades that mattered, regardless of you're Alevels. Luckily for me, my Uni grades were far better than my Alevels and I could transfer course to the year abroad! Of course I did it straight away, but was still tentative. There was no guarantee I would be able to go the university I wanted for the sort of courses I was able to choose. After applying to be assigned a University through the Study Abroad office, I then had to apply direct to that University. Somehow, I managed to get in to the University I wanted - the University of Auckland, New Zealand!

This post has been a very long winded way of saying, that although I have wanted to be doing something like this for years, it has only been real for a matter of weeks. In the last few weeks I have been offered a place, booked accommodation and flights, I’ve even starting thinking about packing! I it is not the route I had planned to take originally, but, in a way, it is going to be more of an adventure, because it is not just a holiday. I will be living in another country for a year on my own - all safety nets removed. Of course, there will be holidays too, but walking into the unknown and making a life there is much more exciting. Don’t you think?

It's all just cleverly arranged dirt on a piece of cloth, really

Margit Thøfner, 17 April 2015.

A very succinct description by my fabulous lecturer of the Dutch Golden Age painting in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIA: ENDURING CIVILISATION

Before British colonisation in 1788, every part of Australia was populated by different Indigenous groups, each with their own territory, language, laws and customs. It is estimated that in the late 18th century there were about 350 languages spoken on mainland Australia.

The Dreaming is an English term describing the complex religious philosophy governing Aboriginal life. Ancestral beings travelled across a flat and lifeless landscape, creating all living things and the geographical features that we see today. By retelling and painting stories of spirit ancestors’ journeys, senior men and women pass on the law and knowledge of country to younger people. Designs on rock, bark, canvas and the body depict the many guises of spirit ancestors in both human and animal form.

The arid lands of the Spinifex people are dotted with clay pans and salt lakes. The traditional owners of this country see it as a sacred geography rich in meaning and crossed by Dreamings, or songlines, of creation ancestors.

‘When I finish, my paintings will keep going. They will keep telling all the people, my family, and whitefellas the story of Kamanti where I was born.’

Lennard Walker, Spinifex people, 2012

This painting is called Pukara. It is a men’s Tjukurpa (Dreaming) in Spinifex country in the Great Victoria Desert. The painting depicts the story of Wati Kutjura (Two Men) – father and son in the form of water serpents. They are travelling on the son’s journey of initiation. The son, going a little mad, decides to take off for a place called Mulaya to start a fight. His father chases after him. Their actions and encounters along the way create the geographic features and meanings of the land. One of the artists, Roy Underwood, describes this as ‘a big story’, meaning that it holds high ritual significance. Only senior men with detailed ceremonial knowledge understand the full meaning of the story. The artists, all senior men, collaborate here to paint storylines that cross a large area of country for which they hold shared authority.

Kungkaragkalpa is a major Dreaming story that crosses a vast area of Australia. Painted by senior women from Spinifex country in the Great Victoria Desert, much of the story is about sacred women’s business. The women wish that the details remain private. The painting depicts holes made by women digging for an edible carpet python. The python is in fact Wati Nyirru, a lustful old man chasing the sisters. The Australian authorities removed Spinifex people from their land in the late 1950s and early 1960s, as the British and Australian governments needed large empty spaces to test atomic weapons. Between 1998 and 2000, both men and women painted major canvases to demonstrate their knowledge of traditional law and land in their bid to have their native title recognised. They are now able to live on their land again and continue to paint and pass on their important stories of country.

You can see these significant paintings in the BP exhibition Indigenous Australia: enduring civilisation (23 April – 2 August 2015).

Find out more in the book accompanying the exhibition written by Gaye Sculthorpe and Lissant Bolton, British Museum, John Carty, Howard Morphy and Maria Nugent, Australian National University, Ian Coates, National Museum of Australia, and Aboriginal artist Jonathan Jones.

Spinifex salt pans. North-west Tjuntjuntjara, Great Victoria Desert, Western Australia. Photograph: Louise Allerton.

Roy Underwood, Lennard Walker, Simon Hogan and Ian Rictor, Pukara (detail). Acrylic on canvas, 2013. © the artists, courtesy Spinifex Arts Project.

Kunmanara Hogan, Tjaruwa Woods, Yarangka Thomas, Estelle Hogan, Ngalpingka Simms and Myrtle Pennington, Kungkarangkalpa (detail). Acrylic on canvas, 2013. © the artists, courtesy Spinifex Arts Project. Acquired by the British Museum with the support of BP.

Kungkarangkalpa (Seven Sisters) in production. Photograph: Amanda Dent.

MY FAKE GRADUATION

Have you ever tried herding cats? Well, to be honest, neither have I,* but I’m pretty sure it is very similar to trying to organise HOA (’History of Art’ - the unofficial name for my year at uni), which is something I’ve done on a number of occasions. Despite the many logistical difficulties involved with organising everyone the pay off is ALWAYS big. One of the highlights for me was the legendary christmas meal at the Reindeer Pub in Norwich, where there was lots food, friends, laughter and a few drunk lecturers... But, the occasion I’m writing about was, for me at least, a much more sober affair. 

Although, I’m excited and grateful to be running off to New Zealand for a year, I’m nonetheless very sad that I won’t be graduating with my fabulous year. We’re in one of the smallest schools at UEA and that means everyone is a friendly face in our home, the SCVA. It has been said that our year, of 31, is particularly friendly. We’re by far one of the most active in the school and that is down the the fact we all gelled very quickly. Of course, it would be naive of me to say there aren’t differences within the group, but I would be surprised to find any year group where there aren’t some. HOA, as a group, are a wide range of beautiful, supportive and interesting people who I will sorely miss AND not only will be absent for our final year together, but I will be absent from the graduation!! 

Deeply saddened by the fact I won’t have a graduation photo with HOA, I saw that I would have to do something myself. So, I put the word out and after our last lecture as whole year I took a photo to commemorate my ‘graduation’ from HOA and so I have a photo of everyone to pin up on my wall in Auckland. The pic below is that photo and I ain’t ‘alf chuffed with it <3

* I’m sorry for assuming you haven’t herded cats before. If you have I commend you for trying. (I say trying because I know it would never work!)

TWO MORE MINUTES AND I’LL BE IN NEW ZEALAND!

So, once again I find myself one minute closer to running off to New Zealand (which isn’t as weird as it sounds). I’ve just added the next minute to my One Second a Day Video (see OSAD post). 

I have forgotten the odd day, but I’m staggered by how ‘on it’ I’ve been with this project. As an exercise, I would highly recommend it to anyone and everyone! In the past, I’ve tried to keep diaries etc. and have not been very successful. There is something about the process of filming and, perhaps more crucially, editing all the clips together that is really evocative and engaging. And, although, like another record it is selective and the fact that I can’t control what happens means that it triggers off memories that I hadn’t considered at the time of filming/editing. Also, being able to share it with people (something you don't do with a diary) means that you have the accumulated memories of others to help with remembering all those little details. 

If you feel strongly about something write it down immediately! But, don't publish it immediately.

One of my lecturers, 2013.

I wrote this down at the back of my notebook, but didn’t cite the lecturer who said it. I have a feeling it was Prof. Bronwen Wilson during an essay writing tutorial, though could’t say for sure. 

It is one of the best pieces of advise I’ve been given and it is something everybody should do. By allowing yourself time to review, rethink and refine an idea it will be so much stronger when you voice it. This is skill is particularly useful when writing essays (or blog posts) - though I can’t say I always stick to it, often the more passionate I am the more like a stream of consciousness my writing becomes! It might mean there are some minor mistakes, but it’s good it be passionate about something.

PANIC AT THE PASSPORT OFFICE

How often do you check the expiry date of your passport? For me, it seems to be only when I have to... Otherwise my focus is on the horrendous photo! A photo taken when I had a cold, the day before my hair cut, just as I was blinking - basically taken at the worse possible moment (I’m sure you can relate...). In short, I didn’t check the date when booking flights and next week I need to be Cyprus, Amsterdam two weeks after and somewhere yet to be determined this weekend (see Jailbreak post) with a passport that expired last month. Oh dear.

Luckily for me, Her Majesty’s Passport Office offers a service for such an event. You can renew your passport on within a day, rather than the usual 3 weeks (or longer) saving me from this situation. All you have to do is book an appointment and come with all the relevant documents filled out, photos and valid ID to one of the Passport Customer Service Centres. If they have space, of course... 

Somehow I managed to get an appointment two days after I realised my passport was out of date and, despite it being a traumatically horrendous nightmare of a situation, everything went very smoothly! Took the train to Peterborough (My nearest passport office) where I had to hand over the relevant forms and identification. It was checked and processed in four hours. I must admit I was expecting interviews, beaurocracy and hard old slog getting it done. It was, in fact, a smooth efficient process and the people at the office were all very nice, which helped.

I may be (a lot) poorer as a result of this debacle, but it will let me go on all my travels this easter and I did have a lovely day out on Peterborough (posts on the Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery to come). I’ll leave you with my photo of the day. Bye!

#DebyDay15

This weekend was one of the highlights of the UEA calendar: Derby Day. This is an annual event where all the sports teams from UEA and the University of Essex go head-to-head to win the Derby Day trophy. The university with the most overall wins wins the competition. Simple. 

The venue alternates between the two universities and this year was hosted by UEA. There were around 50 matches taking place during the day, this coupled with UEA hosting made for an intensely euphoric atmosphere - campus was buzzing! As usual UEA pulled out all the stops by having in the square a bungee run, rodeo rugby ball, and the biggest, loudest speakers they could provide. The day culminated in a glorious Derby Day LCR (the Lower Common Room - a club on campus, something every student and visitor needs to experience).

I may not be a football hooligan or a rugby buff, but I’ll support my team! I arrived halfway through so spent most of the day in the Sportspark where there’s a viewing balcony running along all the courts/pitches. I bits of cheer dance/stunt, fencing, volleyball, netball, basketball, indoor football, ballroom dancing, pool. Although, I must admit that the most impressive by far was the cheer stunt - they did lifts, flips and synchronised dance that I dint know were humanly possible!! 

You won’t be surprised to hear (from me) that UEA is by far the overall, without a doubt, 100% the better of the two competing universities (and the UK/world (sorry, but it is true)) and this fact was confirmed this weekend. It is usual for the host uni to perform better and win Derby Day, because they have the full support of their university behind them. So, when you look back at the past wins they generally alternate along with the hosts, this year was different however. Yes we won UEA 42.5 - 19.5 ESX (not unexpected), but we also won last year when playing away. This means for the past three years UEA have been victorious and celebrations were particularly special! 

That’s enough sports talk for now, it is time to get back to me! Above is the official Derby Day promo video made by the UEA media - Livewire 1350 (student radio), Concrete (student newspaper) and UEA:TV (student TV station/YouTube). The reason I’m sharing it, in truth, is because I’m in it - at 00:25 to be precise. So although I didn't play I still did my bit.... or something like that.

For more check out the official hashtag #DerbyDay15 which has loads of photos, videos, thoughts of the day for you to peruse.

Ps. At the start of the year it looked like Quidditch would be taking part for the first time as Essex had set up a team. They decided to pull out because the team was so new. I would have played if my sport had been competing - I’m totally inactive. Hopefully Essex Quidditch will take off in time for next year.

Give me a museum and I'll fill it.

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)

SIGING AWAY MY LIFE

You may be reading my last every post! I’m only joking (you can't get rid of me that easily). Today, I signed a piece of paper saying that if something happens to me between 12pm 20th March and 12pm 22nd March Livewire (UEA’s student radio) will take no responsibility. This sounds strange, but it is for a very good reason, as I will explain.

For a few years now UEA has been doing something call Jailbreak - A charity event that is now very popular with universities around the world, whereby groups competing must get as far away from their campus within a set time without spending any money on travel. I am in a team with two friends from Quiddtich (Ross and Priya) and together we are The Awkward Thumbs. 

Our main aim is to raise as much money as possible for the chosen charity, which this year is Save the Children, and you can donate to our JustGiving page here. Our biggest challenge is the getting away bit: to do this we must rely on the help and generosity of others, through hitchhiking, having flights/train/bus tickets donated by people or companies and generally blagging our way from A to B. 

We have 48 hours from start to end, but we only have 36 hours because for the first 12 I’m going to be at my department’s charity ball. It is still a way off yet, so we’ve got plenty of time to plan our strategy. Until then we’ve made a twitter account @3awkwardthumbs for people to follow our progress, the JustGiving page for donations and a promo video to build up the hype. Please do all three to help us on our way! I will let you know how it all goes...

WALKING WITH BECCA

(AND TESS)

I know I've been harping on about the benefits of walking, but I genuinely believe there is something inside us that really responds to pedestrianism - It is in our genes after all what with the whole upright walking thing we've got going on... 

Recently, I went on a walk with Becca and her adorable 'cockapoo' Tess. We walked around Venta Icenorum, an old Roman town south of Norwich. It is a walk that holds particularly fond memories for us and forms the basis of our friendship through family walks during the equinox, although I won't go into detail here. In terms of walking this walk had the added dimension of a dog, which like a child, alters the focus of the walk. It is no longer just a straightforward walk, but a mission to fulfil the needs of someone other than yourself. 

I believe its very important, every now and then, to do something for someone other than yourself. By doing this, as with a dog walk, you can be taken to places you wouldn't normally go and it gives you the opportunity to see the world through another's eyes. The ability to put yourself in someone else shoes is an invaluable skill when working with people! A small amount of understand allows you to overlook your own prejudices and opinions to wholeheartedly support other people. It is this ability to understand one another that makes mine and Becca's friendship so strong, and our walks so cathartic.  

On top of the above, it was a great opportunity to whip out the ol' GoPro. We are blessed enough to live in some of the most photogenic countryside in Britain and we know it! We're forever saying how beautiful it is, in all seasons, weather conditions etc. It really is stunning and it never gets old! Its constantly changing with the seasons and as I've grown my appreciation and understanding of the landscape has grown too. However, this walk was not about the landscape, but the people (and dogs) in it. I took lots of photos and videos during the walk, but this one really stood out. After, a few tries we managed to get Tess to run over the camera and got this fantastic shot, which I've slowed down for you, because she is fast! Enjoy...

Whenever we meet we say, 'Oh, we don't see each other often enough,' and 'Its silly we live so close, but see each other so little...'. But, in all honesty I think its true testimony to our friendship that we can have such extended periods apart, but so easily pick up from where we left off. You can only do that with a true friend. 

FLICKR #2

Following on from my previous post - here are some of my favourite photos from my Flickr profile. It love capturing landscapes and architecture and anyone familiar with Norwich or UEA will know they have both in abundance! Norwich is a Medieval city so has developed rich layers of architecture from all periods since. UEA too has a great range of architectural styles, most notably the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts (First two pics up there ^). This spring/summer I'm going to try and capture how the campus and wider Norfolk countryside come to life. I've already got autumn/winter photos of the UEA grounds by the lake and will con tune adding to those (third layer up there ^). I'm most excited about visiting some bluebell woods around Norfolk, because they are so emblematic of a British woodland in the spring and they are just gorgeous!

That's enough rambling for now I think. If you want to check out my Flickr account CLICK HERE and if you have any photo op suggestion or want to inflate my head let me know HERE!