ok. its been awhile. but there were reasons for that. the biggest reason probably being that up until this moment i havent been doing much, unless you classfiy being unemployed as doing something... and hence i didnt really feel like sitting down and telling you all about how great it is to be sitting twiddling my thumbs and watching the bank balance continue to downwardly spiral. however. good news. this is no longer the case. hence i can write to you all and tell you about how great my life is. heh. indeed.

so firstly. im home in new zealand. and its different being home after being away for over a year. not necessarily bad different, but not necessarily good different either. for example, i no longer get to cook things like pasta with chickpeas and tomato with plenty of chilli powder. but, on the up side, i dont have to wash the dishes anymore. and other things like that. its nice catching up with family and friends here, but i miss my family (because thats what some of you guys became) and friends from over there. just part of the process.

right. so yes i have a job. as an archaeologist so hurrah, finally what i study has some use. though actually what i studied in beligum - all that mediterranean stuff, not quite so useful. nevertheless its a job, and its good. i have sore arm and back muscles to prove it! currently im working down in tauranga (about 3 hours south) where i am given accomodation, food, money for the car, and a job! the site is a maori settlement up on a hill that will soonish be turned into subdivisions and housing. so it firstly must be excavated. and today was spent doing the following:

firstly i dug a hole. then it got bigger. then it got bigger. then i had to sit down and keep going. then i had to lie down and keep going. then i had to climb into the hole and keep going. yes. its whats known as a rua - a subterranean storage pit, so it has a smaller opening and then bellows out into a bell shape underneath. anyway that was fun. the day continued in a similar fashion - finding features and digging them up, taking samples, photos, surveys and things... anything from postholes to terraces to pits... its fun and im glad to be back home and working with new zealands history again. perhaps no big marble statues are appearing like in turkey, but im enjoying it regardless.

and once thats done, i think other things should hopefully appear on the horizon. im hoping to get work in wellington for a month in january, excavating a group of historic houses in the downtown area before they are removed and replaced with a large road thing. the options look good and now i can smile and know that im getting good experience, having fun, and earning some money to go towards that trip back to the northern hemisphere next year!

this little piggy went to market.
this little piggy stayed home.
this little piggy had roast beef.
this little piggy had none.
and this little piggy went wee wee wee wee wee all the way home.

remember the rhyme? well, i am that last little piggy. and i am home.

soon i shall be departing this fair land of canada.
soon i shall head southward toward my homeland of new zealand.

another year has rolled by and ive been given the informal title of the 'double dozen'.

friday was the 8th in canada, but friday was the 9th in new zealand. hence i thought i deserved the luxury of celebrating my birthday early. and down in the ottawa markets is a tasty little dessert cafe which seemed fitting for the occasion... it was warm enough to sit outside on the patio without jackets, and the 11 of us enjoyed mammoth proportions of cake*. a cheers was made to the clinking glasses of milk, tea and water and we were all home and ready for bed by midnight. i know - it sounds like my partying days are doomed huh? i would disagree. but it is true that when a toast is made with water - one must stop and ponder the deeper meaning behind the act.

saturday may very well have been the 10th in new zealand but it was the 9th in ottawa and hence i was going to celebrate then also. it seemed the same as any other birthday. i woke. i said happy birthday to myself. i looked out the window. it was snowing. the same as every year... so everyone here will probably refute the snowing part but i tell you - it was snow. it lasted i suppose maybe 15 minutes. and then turned into rain. but during those 15 minutes there was some definite floating action and fluffiness going on outside of that window. i saw it with my own eyes. very pleased. because, of course, in case you didnt pick up on it, it has never snowed on my birthday before! quite the treat!

eric and i then took the bus from ottawa to north bay - right across the top of algonquin park, and right across some of the most beautiful colours i have ever seen in my life. the trees were glowing with reds and oranges and yellows and every blend in between. even the green trees looked different due to the sharp contrast of their neighbours. and every time the suns rays hit these leaves, there seemed to be some sort of magical burst of fresh colour. i cannot believe that something so beautiful and refreshing was doing this as a final memory before falling to the ground and dying.

in case youve forgotten my diary entry from this time last year - my birthday coincides with canadian thanksgiving and erics family, and extended family, had invited us up to his cottage for the final weekend in cottage country before the snow arrives and everything shuts down and sleeps. a bit like hibernation really. i dont think i have ever felt more welcome - and after eating far too much turkey (22.2 pounds) with 17 others - i was surprised by a big round of happy birthday and 24 chocolate cupcakes with orange candles! i was also blessed with being able to ring home and talk to mum, dad and stephen for about an hour i think, as the fire crackled in the background and darkness lay over the silent lake (i think the loons had moved south to avoid the winter).

it is not long before i follow those loons south - but my trip will be far greater i think - because new zealand is my next destination. i leave here on friday 29th and arrive back in auckland on the sunday morning, after i stop in los angeles and tahiti.


*this is cake of enormous dimensions in varieties too numerous to mention but so numerous that a footnote underlining the excessiveness is necessary.

about two hours northeastish of ottawa, inside the borders of french-speaking quebec, is montreal. so i thought id go for a visit. it actually reminded me a lot of european cities - with the foreign languages, the bulk of tourists, the cafe vibe and the expensive icecreams. its a very beautiful city. and i discovered that it was named after the (no longer active) volcanic hill in the north - mont royal - which, once climbed, has a huge park on the top. couldnt find the crater though.

global warming is most certainly upon us. ottawa - the second coldest capital in the world (after mongolia!) - still feels like summer! its amazing! apparantly it often is snowing by thanksgiving (second weekend of october), and if not snow, then definitely weather that is colder than what would be expected in auckland mid winter! yet this year it is still so warm. i love it! perhaps i will be able to have a perfect leap from summer here to summer back in new zealand...

the trees are starting to change colour. two friends of ours are coming up to visit this weekend from america (hurrah for jen and karin!!) - and i think we plan on heading across to the gatineaus to admire the colours. watching out of the bus window as i travelled to montreal - the trees are looking incredible! this was my favourite time of year in canada when i was last here so i am excited to see it once again!

hmmm - i admit ive been just a tad bit useless at keeping you all updated on my happenings now that ive reached a new continent. sorry about that. its tough though to see sense in sitting infront of a computer screen when there is so much canadiana to experience. hence i have devised the following list of bullet points.

- squirrels are the best. and live life to the max here in canada. they enjoy backflips off treetrunks and making crazy dives through the air. chipmunks join the fun at a faster speed - probably as they are smaller and more streamlined.
- plenty of loons calling to each other, the sound echoing off the forested shores as i sat in a canoe.
- four moose were sighted, three on one day, including two male moose less than ten metres from me - playing* in a swamp.
- i have seen three bears - the first was a bit scared - as were we - but the other two were happy to continue dining at the local rubbish dump and posing for photographs.
- three deer pranced about and showed off their little white tails.
- two racoons including a little baby. cute to the extreme.
- one otter / muskrat (identity uncertain due to incompetence of the observors)
- one beaver swimming through a lake.

*you know - just chilling, eating some swamp food, sinking into the mud, shaking their shoulders, that sort of thing.

- i also made a trip to toronto to relive the year of 1990 when my family lived there. saw my old house, walked down to the lake and then up to my primary school. amazing the amount i remember - but the twist being that i remember it from a nine year old perspective - so the front yard, the school playground, and the walk down to the lake is a lot smaller than i recall. suppose i was shorter with teeny eyes back then. or something.
- camped in algonquin park.
- canoed.
- lost one of my orange jandals to one of the many lakes of ontario.

ok.

london is the most busiest and fullest place i have ever been to. its like hometime pedestrian and road traffic all day long. crazy! but somehow i managed to survive on the footpaths, on the crossings, in the subway, the tram, the overland train and finally in the plane. i saw all those things you hear about in london. you know - trafalgar square and big ben and buckingham palace and squirrels and piccadily circus and the tower of london. i came to the realisation that london bridge is not the bridge all the photos and postcards are of - thats the tower bridge - so i walked right on past london bridge without stopping. i also spent many hours in the british museum inspecting all the things the english stole from the ancient mediterranean world. somehow i didnt spend much money but thats because im cool and went to a supermarket and ate sandwiches and weetbix everyday. the weather was good. i took photos. i like the tate modern art gallery. and i am a legend at using all types of transportation - especially walking with a pack that is over half my weight.

canada is fun! the plane ride was nothing compared to the journey to new zealand. i didnt even get jetlagged! so far i have seen a black baby bear. a mummy racoon and her baby. some loons. and a frog. sadly i missed the two snakes but i shall continue to explore. oddly enough i have not yet seen squirrels.

'there was only one catch and that was catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. orr was crazy and could be grounded. all he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didnt. if he flew them he was crazy and didnt have to; but if he didnt want to he was sane and had to.'

nothing like reading a good book when youve got nothing else to do! its turning out to be the funniest dark satire that i have ever read.

the sun actually did end up following me back from turkey so this last week i have been relaxing in the park, reading, catching up with the remnants of people that have yet to leave leuven, and doing one important thing a day. bank account is now closed and i no longer have health insurance. that sort of thing. im off to london on monday which im looking forward to.

the dazzling blue above and high temperatures of turkey continue - but i am no longer under such skies.  flying back 'home' to belgium brought with it a familiarity and sense of peace.  it also brought with it overcast skies.  in turkey it is a cloudy day if three clouds can be spotted on the horizon.  in belgium it is a sunny day if only three clouds can be seen above.  only 5 hours of flying and yet these two places are worlds apart in all respects.
 
my time is turkey was fantastic.  i met some wonderful people, i learnt about the art of drinking tea, i saw a snake, i saw my dad and i realised i am the worst person ever to teach card games.
 
so a brief summary of different aspects...
 
workwise - sagalassos is the biggest archaeological project right now being undertaken in the east.  it has such potential for reaching the standards of ephesos and pergamon because, unlike many other ancient cities, it was not looted of its material.  an earthquake led to the abandonment of the city and then, over hundreds of years, the city was completely covered by rubble tumbling down off the mountains in the north.  now - it is being excavated and entire buildings, in the years to come, will be given the chance to stand once more.
 
my job was not that of an archaeologist, despite what many believe (and despite that i now have a masters in archaeology!) but a geomorphologist.  our job is to look at the environment, which has a large part to play in dictating how people in the area live.  a lot of walking is involved.  a lot of coring into the ground is involved.  knowing about the movement of the earth is important at a site like this.  knowing about where people farmed is important.  and these were the things we were dealing with.
 
peoplewise - with over 80 people involved in the project - and with a great deal of them flemish - it was only to be expected that my flemish would improve more in three weeks than it did all year.  it's all about immersion my friends.  while i couldn't hold a conversation in the language, by the end i could certainly understand 60 or 70% of what was being said.  impressive in three weeks i must say.  my turkish also greatly improved from nothing to being able to say hellos at different times of the day, thankyous, and most importantly (when visiting tourist markets in big cities) saying no thankyou.  firmly.
 
i was lucky to have my dad come and visit me too!  he had been travelling about europe getting up to all kinds of mischief on scooters and behind no entrance doors - and then popped in via a bus that took him across more of turkey than i have ever seen - to see me!  so that was great fun and he got to have a look around the site and see the sorts of things that i do.
 
and now i am in leuven, dad is in new zealand, and the sun remains in turkey.  i'm here for two weeks, relaxing, closing bank accounts and making the most of this free and fast internet connection. 
 
i'm sure you'll see me around.  this site shall be running as long as i keep having adventures.  and i'm not planning on stopping anytime soon.

ok so week two of turkey wıll have to waıt. thıs ınternet cafe ıs slow and cant handle my news. my daddy gets here tomorrow evenıng and ı leave on saturday so ıts comıng to an end. quıck huh? ı thınk so!

turkey week one:

ı get up at 6 and get ready for a day of walkıng. we walk up hılls and down hılls. we are lıke goats. lıterally. each step comes wıth an element of rısk because the ground ıs covered ın a rubble-lıke substance that moves downslope constantly. ıt makes for some serıous decısıons ın how to tackle each step.

ıt gets ınto the hıgh 30s up there on the mountaıns and ı kınd of wısh ı was an archaeologıst on thıs trıp because then ı could at least sıt ın one place and look at pottery. but alas ı have joıned the geomorphology team - and our job ıs to walk for kılometres and dıscern what ıs goıng on ın the landscape surroundıng the sıte.

thıngs ı have seen ınclude an ıllegal opıum plantatıon, movement ın the undergrowth that ıs thought to represent a snake or snake-lıke creature, a herd of goats come crashıng down the hıllsıde bleatıng lıke, well lıke goats ı suppose, and the art to makıng real turkısh chı tea.

ı am ın love wıth the sound of runnıng water.

despıte drınkıng 3 lıtres of water a day my throat remaıns parched and ı have lost my voıce.

weekends are on frıday and saturday and rıght now ım ın antalya - glad to be part of the sagalassos team as we got a dıscount at a very flash hotel equıpped wıth aırcondıtıonıng and a swımmıng pool. ınstead of payıng 70 euros a nıght - ı only paıd 17. cool eh? pays to know people hıgh up on the lıst ı thınk! ıts 43 degrees here today and ı am covered ın salt after swımmıng ın the medıterranean.

am ın turkey. all ıs good. ı love thıs place already. thıngs that have happened so far: saw a bıg turtle and took a photo thınkıng ıt was uncommon. then walked around the corner and saw about 50 of them wanderıng about. was mındıng my own busıness when a lıttle yappıng puppy came up wantıng to play and bıt a hole ın my extremely cool brown baggy pants. not ımpressed though can see the funny sıde. landed at 4am and was up at 8am to start work today. walked up and down bıg hılls and shall be ın paın tomorrow after lıvıng a year ın leuven where no hıll exısts. enjoy usıng the turkısh 'ı' so get used to ıt! rıght. thats ıt for now. shall keep you posted.

rebekah merriman: BA (Auckland), BSC (Auckland), MA (Leuven)

not only did i pass, but i passed with 'great distinction' which was a huge surprise to me. this meant i got an overall average of over 80%, with my supervisor giving me an 18/20 for my thesis!!! am most pleased i must admit!!

the graduation ceremony is much shorter than that in auckland, as students just have their names called, and do not go up on stage, and hence do not dress up, or parade through the streets. but there was a good reception afterwards for everyone to chat and mingle. all in all - an exciting morning.

am all packed for heading to turkey tomorrow at lunchtime. uncertain what the internet situation will be but i'll try and post something once i'm there.

where am i? wouter's house, tilburg, holland.

what have i been doing?
1: last night i saw more people dressed in orange then i have ever seen in my life. i saw more orange balloons and streamers and hats and general orangeness than you could imagine. why? last night was the big soccer game, in the eurocup 2004 competition, between holland and sweden. and last night i watched the game from a jam-packed bar on the main street in downtown tilburg. the tension, the excitment, and the roar of delight that came with plentiful jumping up and down in the air when the penalty shoot-out ended with holland winning was crazy. and you thought that we get hyped up with the rugby. soccer over here is a huger deal than can be possibly explained. am so pleased to have had a true european soccer experience. and of course i was all dressed up in my day-to-day orange clothes and a holland jester type hat. now my thoughts stay with holland as they play this wednesday... HUP HOLLAND.

2: today i ate new zealand royal gala apples in zeeland. that's right folks, the daddy of new zealand. such a beautiful area, much of it on reclaimed land due to the impressive dykes built out into the north sea. so another ocean has been witnessed by oneself, more beaches to be added to the list. i saw the old traditional style windmills that make me think of that cute children's book about that cow... errr, clarence? who falls in a canal. and then the new super alien style windmills now generating power for the region.

hurrah for me. as of 4 hours ago i finished my masters. but no time to chat. i have some celebrating to get on with.

in this past week the temperature has risen 10 degrees from 25 to 35. this has caused statements such as: 'i had to put water on my face and my pillow last night' (sandro), 'i couldn't sleep because the pillow was sticking to my head' (naomi) and 'i wish we had a little paddling pool' (me).

so two exams down this week. and they were fine. i got to talk about a lot of water related things. like greek fountains and roman fountains and arches being flooded and becoming fountains. and that the maccabees invented the swimming pool along with ritual baths. things i had studied a lot because of the heat. because it's hot!! and a little paddling pool would be quite nice.

i don't study at home anymore. my room is a sauna. literally with temperatures in the 40s. i promise. no exaggeration there. why? because there are 50,000 (perhaps slight exaggeration) mosquitos waiting outside my window. so my window stays firmly shut. no mosquitos but high temperatures that do not permit studying.

look whose back. dee dee dee. bex is back. dee dee dee.

ha, right, so wasn't gone for long eh? that is because i have an awesome flatmate who leaves her door unlocked when she leaves, and puts notes under my door saying her computer is all mine for the weekend! woohoo for elien.

not much fun stuff to say though. sadly. here is my routine. i get up at 9am. i eat some brekky. muesli these days. good for the mind. then i pack my bag and head up the street to morna's to study. such an arrangment is very beneficial to us both. i get her up in the morning, she stops me from falling asleep over my notes in the day and we both end up getting a lot of study done. hurrah! though obviously quite a boring 'hurrah' huh? sorry about that.

so until next time i am procrastinating...

farewell little computer. you have served me well.

due to the aforementioned handsome lads heading to hamburg tomorrow, my computer is to be returned this afternoon. such an event will bring with it a variety of consequences:

a) i will have a whole lot of space on my desk.
b) i will have no exam procrastination options.
c) i will be given back my deposit!

of course i shall be visiting - but from the computer lab up the road.

so here i am. one thesis down, and five exams to go. quite the anti-climax really.

whereas the last exam period was full of coldness, rain and gloomy clouds, now it seems leuven has finally submitted to the sun. this makes it slightly more difficult when it comes to studying, but i surprisingly got quite a lot achieved at the park today, so perhaps i can escape my bedroom more often now. which would be wonderful.

my blog entries, my msn chatting and my general emailing will be coming to a bit of a halt soon. this computer is due back on friday at the rental shop. so once again the saga of carrying these boxes half way across town will be undertaken - hopefully by two handsome lads who wish to impress me with their strength.

of course this does not make me disappear from the rest of the world. no doubt i'll make trips up to the computer lab but obviously not with quite the same frequency as turning on the computer every morning when i wake up!

my future plans are set a bit more in stone now. or at least in receipts. so just as an update, here's the latest:

7th june: exam one
9th june: exam two
15th june: exam three
16th june: exam four
18th june: exam five
- from the 18th until the 2nd i will endeavour to completely relax. some of us may (if it's cheap) fly back to barcelona girona and camp on a beach for a few days. otherwise just will do nothing or take day trips out of leuven.
2nd july: graduate
3rd july: fly to turkey
- nearing the end of july my daddy is coming to visit me in turkey! hurrah!
29th july: return to belgium
- between then and the 13th august i shall make my way across to england
13th august: fly from london to toronto
- sometime mid-late october i fly back in to auckland. date still to be confirmed.

well well well. guess what? indeed. thesis is printed and ready for copying and binding. despite rising early and going to the copy shop - it seems they are all closed on saturdays. never mind. it's still all done and ready and copying can take place first thing on monday morning.

hurrah!

here is my thank you list: to dad for HUGE (note capital useage) support and help with everything. to mum for statistics help. to stephen for excel help. to rachel for statistics help. to regan for computer help. to frank for turkish spelling and computer help. to julian and naomi for moral support!!!

you guys are the best!

the sun is shining. a day of relaxation in the park is beckoning.