Return of the Teddy

We've been nagged and begged, implored and demanded, to update the poor folk living vicariously through our New Zealand experience. To that end, we're back with an update!

The most important, biggest, news is that we are delighted to announce the addition of a new member of our family. She was delivered by stork last month, the sister of Fandango, she is of course Scaramouche. She is the second Welsh sheep of our small clan. This was her first photo shoot, so she was rather shy.

Since our last post, we *finally* *finally* moved into our new flat! It's lovely and spacious, and we had a really nice flatmate who spent most of her time out of the flat. She has now moved out, and we're in an interim period awaiting another couple to move in in a few weeks time. We had our choice of people, but they were the most accommodating to our vegetarian needs. Although we only met one half of the couple, he was keen to cook with us occasionally and to also store any meat in a fridge in their own room. Everyone else who came to see the flat responded to the question of food with "Oh, that's a shame. I LOVE meat".

C: So, Gwenllian, what have you been up to since we last posted?
G: Well, I've been working hard at ballet and have been doing point again. I'm about to finish working at Inland Revenue and start a month's revision period before going to Australia to do the GAMSAT. That's a 6-hour exam which will test my knowledge of science, maths, and verbal reasoning that universities at home will use to ascertain whether or not to let me be a doctor.

C: That sounds like quite a slog!
G: Yeah, that's why I'm taking the month off. Luckily my contract is ending and I have another job to see me through.

C: Oh yeah?
G: Yeah :) I'm working for a psychology professor at the University of Auckland as a research assistant. We're replicating a study done in America to determine how the parents of eating disorder patients can benefit from online resources. I'm spending most of my time at the moment writing funding applications, and finding out statistics such as how many Maori people we think will be involved. I'm really enjoying it.

G: But you got to be involved too!
C: Oh yeah :) Last weekend I entertained the daughter of the professor whilst you and she were in the living room doing adult stuff. We just watched science cartoons and played Rummikub!

G: That sounds like what we did with your parents...
C: Somehow I always end up playing Rummikub :) Mum and Don came to visit and they took us to the Bay of Islands for a four-day weekend trip to a gorgeous guest house. We will likely write up that trip in a separate post, but suffice to say it was really lovely to see people from the hood.

G: How about university? 
C: !Brag Alert! I received my grades from last semester and got straight As all around! I've just started Semester Two and have already been working quite a bit. One of my courses this semester is writing a computer model with two other people. We have decided to model desertification in a semi-arid region in response to grazing pressures. It's been a really fun project so far, and it's been great to get back into coding. Speaking of coding, I've also had a job on the side with a web company thanks to a friend from silks. It's only PHP but it's been nice to be back in the company of computer geeks. Plus, Curry Wednesday last week was brilliant (free yummy curry on a Wednesday if in the office)!

Well, that's a brief summary of the last few months. We will write up more this weekend.