LiamLiam McCartney

All articles by Liam

 

USA! Yay?

Kia Ora, Its been 2 weeks since I’ve returned home to the States. And what a couple of weeks it has been. Adjusting back to American time and culture was both really difficult and really easy at the same time. So let’s discuss the pros and cons of being back in the U S of
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Back in the USA!

Last night I arrived back in New York after three weeks of traveling around Australia and Fiji. Being home is pretty weird. So far I’ve had a cup of coffee with cream (which was amazing let me tell you) and told my mom about 3 times she’s driving on the wrong side of the road.
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So long Aotearoa…

Last day in New Zealand. It’s currently 9PM here in Sydney and I haven’t slept in about 36 hours. But these have been some crazy awesome hours. After a 2AM drive to the airport with Maggie and Emily, I hung out with them before they had to go through security, on their way to Brunei
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The City of Sails

1 day left in New Zealand. Today was an eerie repeat déjà vu of my first day in the country. After an amazing New Zealand style breakfast of eggs, sausage and bacon, and four hours of conversation with Franesca’s mom, where we explained the importance of tipping American service staff, we drove to central city
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Goodbyes. For real.

3 days left in New Zealand. Last day in Wellington. I cannot even begin to describe how I feel right now. Its 4AM and I just said “Good Night” to Natalie for the last time. These past 4 1/2 months have absolutely flown by and I wish I could scrape a few extra moments in
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Spring Cleaning

5 days left in New Zealand. In order to get my housing deposit back, I need to have a clean house. My hands smell like cleaner. The soap has completely dried out my hands. I saw things I didn’t want to see. Positive – It was raining. Negative – I’m really leaving. – Liam
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Finished

7 days left in New Zealand. Today, I sat my last exam at Victoria University. I’ve successfully(?) finished my academic career here in New Zealand and it can’t feel weirder. First, I don’t ever think I’ll be finishing a fall semester in the first week of November while putting aloe on a sunburnt arm ever
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UV Rays

8 days left in New Zealand. Sunday’s forecast for Wellington: 60 degrees & sunny. Monday’s forecast for Wellington: 55 degrees & rainy. And of course, today had to be spent studying. However, I did attempt to get as much studying outside as possible. And for the first time ever (and probably the only time), I
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Thin ‘n’ Crispy

9 days left in New Zealand Today, I had an absolutely fantastic classic New York style pizza. One of the things that can instantly remind me of home is a thin, crispy piece of dough with tomatoes and cheese on top. The weather is still fantastic and of course, I’m still studying. – Liam
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A Thai Goodbye

10 days left in New Zealand. Today was probably the most beautiful day I’ve seen in Wellington. Of course it’s just my luck that as the weather turns absolutely gorgeous, my final exam is just around the corner and study had to commence. After a few short hours in the library, I caught another voice
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The Island and a small slice of Americana

11 days left in New Zealand. Unlike the last two days, today was packed with new adventures in Wellington. Lauren and I left Landcross street this morning and after a few stops at the grocery store and Le Moulin, a French bakery, we met Jacob at the ferry terminal. The three of us boarded the
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Gotta Love Food… (11/3/09)

12 days in New Zealand. Today, Elizabeth and I cracked open a container of Peanut Slab ice cream. A “Peanut Slab” is one of Elizabeth’s and my favorite New Zealand candy bar that can best be explained as a a Mr. Goodbar on steroids. The ice cream did not disappoint. After a long day of
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Music and Dance (11/3/09)

13 days left in New Zealand. Today, I had a very simple, new experience. However, I was able to see Elizabeth and Emily perform in a pretty sweet dance performance. There were a number of different styles of dance displayed, including break dancing, Malaysian dance, hip-hop and Capoeira, a Brazilian martial art/dance. This was the
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Time Flies (11/2/09)

14 days left in New Zealand. Each day from now till 16 November, I’m trying to do at least one new thing in New Zealand each day and post a new picture from somewhere in New Zealand that I haven’t put up before. Today’s new activities: * Coffee at Espressoholic. * Eating spaghetti on toast
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Food and Culture (10/30/09)

Wellington has the highest number of cafes & bars per capita anywhere in the world. And yet, I’ve been to the same 15 restaurants, bars and coffee shops since I’ve been here. So yesterday when Kevin walked into the lounge and said “let’s go out to dinner,” Elizabeth and I couldn’t think of a reason
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Hamster Balls and Parachutes (10/28/09)

Welcome back, Classes are over, essays handed in & only one more exam to go before I’m officially finished with uni in Wellington. To celebrate the end of classes, another road trip was in order. Myself and four other Americans took the long drive north, visiting Taupo, the Coromandel & and Bay of Islands. Unfortunately,
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40% New Zealand (10/18/09)

Classes: Finished. I know I’ve been saying this a lot, but I really can’t get over how weird it is to be done with class in the middle of October. And with Vic’s exam schedule, it’ll be two weeks before my first exam and another 10 days after that before I’m completely (academically) finished in
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Likes and Dislikes (10/11/09)

ts the last week of classes here and I have just over one month left in the country. First, what?! Before break, time was inching by. Every day seemed to be a new adventure; a new discovery in this country. Ever since I returned from the South Island, time has been flying. Mondays suddenly become
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Technology Woes (10/5/09)

After a week without a computer, I can honestly say that technology is so addicting. I’m used to rolling out of bed in the morning and immediately being checking my email and facebook; being able to work on a paper while sitting in my pajamas on the couch. Its been quite a challenge working through
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Kiwi Thoughts (9/27/09)

As September comes to a close, I’ve now been here for three months. And now, I only have two weeks left of class. Two weeks!! I cannot believe how fast time has gone here. My life in New Zealand has proved to me that time really does fly when you’re having fun. It’s also proved
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All good things come to an end (9/27/09)

Today is the rainiest it’s been in a while here in Wellington, so i’m curled up on the couch with a cup of Chai tea, watching The Sword in the Stone and determined to finish the story of my trip around the South Island. Sunday morning, Maggie and I were hoping to finally do that
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One, Two, Three, BUNGEE! (9/26/09)

Welcome back everyone! My goal for tonight is to finish my tale of the South Island. We’ll see how this goes… When I last wrote, we had just arrived in Queenstown. Queenstown is purely a tourist town. It offers nothing else to the country except millions of dollars in tourism. The town itself sits lakeside
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Where are we, Alaska? (9/20/09)

Hello again everyone! I left off with our arrival in Te Anau, which is important mostly because it is the gateway to Milford Sound. After a delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs (when I look back at our trip, I realize we only ate instant noodles, PB&J and eggs.), we checked the weather forecast for the
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A Finnish Invasion (9/16/09)

I interrupt my travels from the South Island to talk about my new found fascination with Jean Sibelius. I just returned home from hearing the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra play their first programme of four by Jean Sibelius. On the programme was Finlandia, Violin Concerto in D minor & Symphony No. 5 in E flat
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Follow Symbol! (9/14/09)

Welcome back everyone. I left off with our arrival in Dunedin, a Scottish town on the southeastern coast of the South Island. Lauren and I got up early on Monday, made scrambled eggs and drove to the city centre to do a tour of New Zealand’s Cadbury chocolate factory! This $17 tour brings you into
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And so it begins… (9/13/09)

Hey there everyone. Sorry its taken me so long to start talking about my trip, but here goes! So on the first Saturday of break, I got up early to finish packing, skyped home to get some addresses, and burned some CD’s. Then Lauren, Maggie and I hopped in a shuttle that took us to
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Reality Check (9/7/09)

Sorry I have been neglecting this blog so much. My trip around the South Island was incredible in so many different ways. I was so happy to see so much of this country, and yet, I feel as if I only saw a tiny bit. Now I’m back at school and struggling to get back
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Go the Naki! (8/17/09)

As of tomorrow, I am halfway done with classes at Vic. And band camp hasn’t even started at Delaware yet. Bizarre. I had another amazing, albeit rainy, weekend in the Taranaki region, on the west coast of the North Island. The main town is New Plymouth but the main attraction is DEFINITELY Mt. Taranaki, an
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Life as a Kiwi (8/12/09)

It’s been over a month since I departed from New York, but it feels like so much longer. After five weeks here, there are some things that I have become used to and some that I still find strange to adjust to. Something that I was a little concerned about prior to arriving was my
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Left Side of the Road (8/3/09)

Last week at about 4:00AM Thursday morning, I booked a car online for the weekend. My flat mate Elizabeth and our across-the-street neighbors Emily, Lauren and Aron decided it would be awesome to get out of the city for the weekend, but it wasn’t until late on Thursday that we decided on a destination –
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Rubbish (7/23/09)

After 5 days of near perfect weather, Mother Nature remembered its winter here and sent gale force winds and spitting rain. And so, on little sleep and no coffee (I’m still not sure how I’m able to survive that one…) I walked all the way to the Beehive for my first exploration into New Zealand’s
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Earthquakes, Swine Flu, and Harry Potter (7/15/09)

This week, an earthquake on the South Island that registered 7.8 on the richter scale and both of my american roommates came down with swine flu. I, however, successfully survived the first week of class. My classes are good so far and I think I’m going to enjoy them…with the exception of Pacific History. This
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REAL Kiwifruit (7/10/09)

I seriously cannot believe how slow time is going. It feels like so long ago that I was working crazy hours between Washingtonville and Torches and hoping that the sun would finally show its face! Only a week later, I’m still hoping the sun will come out. The weather here is very similar to what
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Auckland Wanderings (7/5/09)

Its been almost 4 days since I left New York and yet it feels so much longer. I had a great flight to LAX sitting next to a Lebanese Business man who turned out to be a great seat partner. Layover in LA was full of expensive food and some good phone converstations. Finally, I
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Here Goes Nothing (written 6/30/2009)

Wow. I can’t believe that after over a year of planning, I am FINALLY about to travel halfway around the world. I knew I wanted to study abroad before I took the SATs in high school. I became even more excited after I heard about Ellen’s adventures in South Africa. And now, I have less
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