Grades.

These are my results for the semesters work. Fairly happy considering I didn't give a crap about them or care for the work I had to do.

Course results:

Field Experience (EDU 250) - A

Social Studies & Art (EDU 308) - A

Multi-Cultural Education (EDU 417) - A-

Arts Integration in the Classroom (FA 300) - B+

Oh and this is more than likely the final post in this blog... Unless I fully succumb to sadness for not being in America and decide to write another blog about opposite homesickness.

Can I come back America?

...Please? 

Fin.

Well that's a wrap. My time here is done.

The last two days have been my least favourite days here in America but they have also been my favourite. All of my assignments and finals were out of the way and I was free to relax. The only problem was that all of my friends were now beginning to leave campus for the winter break.

It's such a sad feeling to say goodbye to friends who you have become really close to, developed new relationships with and then grown in life together. I don't want to say these goodbyes. It is too hard. I don't remember being as emotionally exhausted as this and I definitely do not remember crying this much ever in my life before.

It's the strangest feeling, for so long I fought being here. I wanted to be back in New Zealand. Wanted to be back doing life there. But now having grown here in America, with amazing new friendships, this feels like my life now. No. This is my life now. And in leaving I feel like I'm having to rip myself away from this place and these people and this hurts. 

To all my new friends, new family, I love you all more than you could ever know. I want to thank you all so much for allowing me into your lives for this time and being quick to accept me into this place. For putting up with my dry, sometimes pointed, humour, I thank you. Once I accepted my new environment, being 9000 miles from my homeland didn't seem all that much and you are all to thank for that. I love you all so much.

Honestly I wouldn't be flying back to New Zealand today if I had any choice.

Please know that I will be coming back as soon as I possibly can, and even though I know I am on the other side of the world keep in contact with me please and DO VISIT! I would be more than happy to take you for an adventure around my country.

Packed, but not ready. I don't think I ever will be.

Contact details:

Skype: tibutler

email: 1thomasbutler@gmail.com

Cell: +64 21 230 7495

Thanksgiving.

Well I get to experience my first ever Thanksgiving.

On Tuesday I flew into Columbus, OH. to meet up with Ron and Lynnette's and family for a week of thanks. 

Wednesday we had a few people and their kids come over for a vegan style (kinda, there was still turkey) dinner. We played games and there were plenty of laughs to be had. 

Today (Thursday) we are going out to Ron and Lynnette's  friends place for Thanksgiving dinner and for some football. 

Friday we are going back to Columbus Zoo at night time because they have lights all set up. I have been told this will be similar to Pukekura Park back home, albeit less spectacular.

Saturday I get to go tailgating at the Ohio State University versus University of Michigan game. Apparently this is a huge game and an intense rivalry so this should be fun (I will have to be on my best behaviour though, cant incite a riot now!). The weather forecast for that day is going to be cold too! A high of 35 and a low of 23 degrees Fahrenheit (freezing is 32). Glad I packed my thermals! 

And finally on Sunday it's church and I'm playing in the church band at night! It's been a while since I've jammed with a full band but it'll be nice for sure! 

Oh and then after church I fly back to Philadelphia and maybe rush in some last minute homework... by the sounds of what is planned I am unsure with how much homework is going to be done.

Thankful.

Video.

Title says it all really.

I did this video to capture the walk from my dorm to the dining commons, or my classes. This is only one small corner of campus.

Was a bit of fun to do.

Sandy.

Well Hurricane Sandy came and went without anything more than power outages and trees falling around where I was, it didn't even blow the pile of leaves off the front lawn where I was staying near Pottstown, PA. However Sandy did a lot of damage to the coastal areas, especially New Jersey, NYC, Cuba, and all the islands around there. Please pray for the people who are affected still. They need it.

The other day I met a student here at Eastern who's family had been displaced by the Hurricane, they were currently staying at a refuge as their house is not safe to live in and awaiting inspection. Hopefully they will get a green sticker saying that the house is safe to inhabit again. I pray for this. Another unfortunate thing is that the inspectors cannot come around until the houses have electricity but the power company wont put the electricity back on until the houses are safe and secure for fear of causing fires. Reminds me of what is going on in Christchurch at the moment because of the earthquakes.

Speaking of the earthquakes in Christchurch, it's really surreal to know that a place where you once were is now destroyed or severely damaged. This happened in Christchurch where I was in the Cathedral there and then the next day Christchurch had their fist 7.1 magnitude earthquake. After more earthquakes following that the Cathedral was destroyed and no one will enter that building again as it once was.

In some of the places I went in NYC were completely swamped by water. Ground Zero had sea water rushing down into it...

Sea water floods the Ground Zero construction site, Oct. 29, 2012, in New York. Sandy continued on its path Monday, as the storm forced the shutdown of mass transit, schools and financial markets, sending coastal residents fleeing, and threatening a dangerous mix of high winds and soaking rain. (Photo: John Minchillo / AP)

The subways became flooded..

This is a few miles north of where I used the subway, even further away from where the storm surge hit.
(Photo: Metropolitan Transportation Authority)  

Up near the Bronx. (Photo: Metropolitan Transportation Authority)  

Tunnels too...

Photo: Metropolitan Transportation Authority / Patrick Cashin

More pics here.

Such a surreal feeling to have been there and then to see these places like this only a week after.

I really pray for those that were affected that Jesus draws near to them and comforts them and gives them the strength and supernatural peace to carry on and get life back to normal.

Sandy approaches.

"Some have compared the tempest to the so-called Perfect Storm that struck off the coast of New England in 1991, but that one hit a less populated area.

"The Perfect Storm only did US$200 million of damage and I'm thinking a billion" this time, Masters said. "Yeah, it will be worse." - Reuters. 

When a storm has it's own website then things ought to get interesting. Will try keep updates coming, but it's forecasted to pass right over top of where I am and power outages are expected. Pennsylvania has declared a state of emergency in preparation for this event and my university has sent out multiple emails giving us information about what to do. One of the emails did say to go home if that's where you feel most comfortable... but somehow I don't feel like that is a viable option for me just at this moment.  For now I'm just going to hang out in my room and do some school work for the weekend, expecting it to hit some time Sunday. I have a couple of options of places to go in case we get told to evacuate, but for now I plan to sit steady and tough it out. Whatever "it" is.

New York, New York (part 2).

New York continued...

Broadway. 

Well we eventually came to Broadway and had a wonder around on our way up to Times Square. It was getting close to dinner time so we zig-zagged backwards and forwards searching for a local place to eat (btw if you are ever in NY do not go to food places you know, go to the local food places! Live a little!).

Times Square.

After eating, we walked up to Times Square. This place is amazing! So many people, so much going on. It was night time, but felt like day with all the lights. We snuck into the Toys R Us store and I just about died... A 3-4 level toy store with half a floor dedicated to Lego! I literally could have spent the entire day there!

Lego Liberty.

Back out to Times Square and we quickly noticed a bunch of people looking up at a giant television. Oh hey, we were on it! Was some interesting "tweet who you want to get dunked" game and then motion sensed the crowd pushing the beach ball toward the target. This was a lot of fun! And yes, she got dunked.

On the jumbotron.

After that, it was getting close to our departure time so we stopped by at Starbucks to grab a coffee and then continued  few more blocks to our departure location. When we arrived back in Philadelphia, we caught the train back out to Eastern and we arrived home around 2am. Needless to say I slept like a baby that night.

Going home.

New York part 1.

So on Thursday my room mate suggested that we should go into NYC for a day over free fall days and this blog is about our adventure.

Our day started around 8am when we woke up and went for breakfast. At 9:20 we went to the train station where we rode the train into 30th Street Station in Philadelphia to catch our 11:30am bus to NYC.

Heading into NYC.

We arrived in NYC and the first place we went to was Madison Square Garden, if it was open I would have gone inside but it was undergoing renovations so I couldn't. However it was absolutely amazing to be right beside the Mecca for basketball.

Audge then convinced us get lunch at Grays Papaya, the closest one was 1.3 miles (2km) away. This was the start of our walking for the day. With Ryan and my stomachs grumbling at every smell and food place we passed, we were hoping that this place was worth the walk and the hunger. When we arrived it was a smallish hole in the wall style food place, it didn't look promising at all. I will be going back there next time I am in NYC. It was great!

About half way complete.

After lunch we took a 1.7 mile (2.7km) walk down to Ground Zero. There really isn't too much to see around there now. The old site has been fully fenced in for construction of the memorial and two massive new buildings are going up either side of it (I think one was halfway complete at 140 floors).

We walked around there for a bit following the crowd and trying to see if we could get in, you need to book a time now and there were none left for the day we had in New York.

Ground Zero.

From there we went to Brooklyn bridge (another 1.3 mile walk) and walked across about 1/3 of the way before deciding to turn back and catch a train back up to E34th (about 5 miles) street on our way back up to The Empire State Building and on our way to Time Square. When we first jumped on at Brooklyn Bridge station, I think that was the first station as we were the only ones in our carriage. I was thinking this isn't as bad as people make out, the train was reasonably clean and spacious... The next stop about 30 people walked on and by the next about another 80 people crammed into the train. This thing got full fast but was a blast to travel this way. 

Empire State Building.

We walked (0.2 miles) to the Empire State Building with the idea of climbing up to the top, but at $39 a piece our pocketbooks were saying no (I'll just have to get mum and dad to come next time!). 

Searching for a place to eat dinner we stumbled across a group of Asians (I assume they were Koreans because we were in Korea Town at the time) singing worship songs. This was awesome, and they weren't half bad either.

...to be continued....

Homesickness.

This has to be one of the worst feelings ever. I miss home, I miss my band, I miss my girlfriend and friends and family, I miss urban vineyard, and I miss music. I do feel helpless about this whole thing.

I am homesick.

I wish there was an easy answer or something I could "do" to fix this, but I think it's something I have to push on and push through. Today I am taking off, away from class to try and recoup. I haven't been sleeping the greatest either so I am pretty sore and tired on top of everything else. 

I messaged my Arts Integration professor this morning just to let him know what's up and that I wouldn't be coming in today. He replied:

Artists always understand.

I would like to escape to a field away from everything with a guitar and some friends and sing to Jesus. That would be nice.

Party in the USA, maybe not.

First week at EU is done and dusted, well kind of. I have a bunch of reading to do and assignments to get started on. There sure isn't a honeymoon period here. Right from the first class I could tell I was going to have to work a lot harder than I had before this semester. 

Going to the ball game.

On Monday I have Multicultural Education in the morning and Social Studies & Art in the evening. Tuesday is Arts Integration, Wednesday Multicultural Ed, Thursday Arts Integration and Friday is Multicultural Ed. again. 

Around that I'm going to have to fine 90 hours of placement time in a school classroom. This is going to be really tough as I have classes every day of the week and I am unable to skip classes to get more hours in a school. This will be tricky.

Trying to juggle multiple classes and assignments at once when I had been used to doing block courses will definitely be a challenge for me. Time management will become more key here than back home as I will have multiple assignments due near the same time as each other.

One of my classes also seems to be ridiculously hard, it is Multi-Cultural Education and it is a level 400 paper, which from my digging would be in between a level 7 and masters paper back home. I definitely do not doubt my ability to do this, but I don't think I'll have as much time to explore as I was hoping.

As part of orientation / induction week we were put into random groups and given a song we had to create a dance to. Our group got given Party in the USA by Miley Cyrus and this is what we came up with...

I have been making a bunch of new friends which has made my transition here a much easier one, especially being around 14,000km (8,000 miles) away from everything that I know. They have offered to take me places (I went to a Phillies game on Thursday), help with any questions I have about assignments etc. it has been a Godsend.

Citizens Bank Park, where the Philadelphia Phillies play.

Asking for prayer, it would be fantastic if you all could pray for my studies this semester as I really feel I am going to need Jesus' guidance to avoid being dumped on and caught in the undertow of academia and also for my friendships as they are developing.

Thank you for reading.

Eastern.

I arrived at Eastern a couple of days ago, it is now Monday and I am exhausted. A weekend full of induction and welcoming activities, late nights, sports, etc etc etc. The students here are LOUD, overly excited and I have no idea what to think of it haha.

My first day here left me wanting to go and hide in a nice and calm quiet place away from the hoorah and fanaticism of the freshmen (first years) arriving at uni with their parents. Oh and do those freshmen bring a crap load of gear for their halls.. I saw a few mini-vans packed to explode. I wonder how much they will actually use.

I've had a full schedule from when I arrived and it doesn't look to slow down for at least next Monday. Anyway I need to run again, I have a meeting with the faculty and transfer students.

I made it.

Last day in Ohio.

Wow, where do I start. Probably one of the best places to come and experience America from day one. The Lawson's have been flippin wonderful and their kids are adorable, when they're not feeding from each other ;)

The kids + monkey.

So many amazing things happened this week!

Firstly, I arrived seemlingly without a hitch. Then I was greeted with a true American burger at Red Robin. On Monday I walked Bailey to her first day of school for the year and hung out with Lynnette, Kaia, and Zion at the park for the day in the sweltering heat. Tuesday was Zion's day! Wednesday went for a massive walk around Columbus city (I also was blessed with an iPhone). Thursday I slept and then had an American BBQ and had an amazing time talking with the Lawsons' friends (they are so blessed to have such amazing friends around them). And today I went to the Zoo.

Batman?

Columbus Zoo covers over 234 hectares of land and is home to almost 9000 animals. Needles to say with 3 kids in tow, Lynnette and I didn't get to see much but it was still an adventure. I would have gladly spent the whole 30 degree Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) day in the water park next door (maybe when I come back!).

The zoo.

I need to pack and sleep.

For now it is Ka Kite Ano (see you again) Ohio, and Lawson family.

Party Time.

Today I was blessed with the opportunity to hang out with the whole Lawson whanau. It was Zion's (their youngest) 1st birthday party. We spent the day going around to shops buying food and party stuff and at the Lawson's church (which is amazing) baking the cake. Well I didn't bake the cake haha, I shot some hoops and played with the kids while Ron and Lynette made the cake.

Heading towards the party.

After all was done and ready we drove out to the preserve where we were going to have the party and set up. One thing I noticed, which was real odd for me, is that all the farm houses didn't have fences out the front and all of them had massive lawns which they mowed themselves with ride-ons. They were corn farms for the majority but not having any animals out the front section was a bit strange.

Setting up for the party.

Once we arrived we set up at the location. What we noticed when we got there was the big sign saying "RESERVATIONS"... We didn't have any, but we used it anyway, shhhh!

Ohio is pretty.

 While there we played some football, horse shoe, and cornhole which Ron and I won every game together (mostly Ron's doing haha).

After playing a few games we had presents and cake. Zion loved his cake.

Zion eating some cake.

 After a bit more talking and playing, it was time to go home. Ron invited some of the boys around and we hung out and had some yuengling beer. This was cool to talk with the guys and about things in America and back home in New Zealand, the differences and the similarities.

At the end of the night one of the guys asked for prayer, he had a sore foot from lifting a heavy safe a few days ago and was progressively becoming more and more painful for him. He was healed instantly. This was a massive highlight of my day, seeing the love of Christ at work through us and then seeing his glory in the miracle. Love as Jesus loved.

Til next time!

Sleep.

Well I am finally at my first stop in Delaware, Ohio with my friends Ron and Lynnette. Ron picked me up from the airport just after 9pm and we went and got some Red Robin burgers (I wish I had a picture of this place, or the food), that went down a treat! I shall try and get a picture of this house tomorrow, built in the 1800s.

Random fun fact, the 19th President of the United States Rutherford B. Hayes was born here in Delaware, Ohio in 1877.

Over 10,000miles travelled today.

When I think about the journey, it was so strange that I got to see two sun rises and two sunsets all within the same day. Such a long day. It is now 4.24pm on the Monday in NZ and it's only just gone 12:24am on Monday here. That makes almost 36 hours on the go, such a long time to be up but my brains all weirded out because of the date line and the sun rise / sun set.

Oh also wrong side of the road thing... So weird, and so bad for a tired soul when you're not used to seeing cars coming towards you on the left. I did jump a couple of times.

Anyway it is now sleep time as I will try to be up early to walk with the family to school.

Pray I get a wicked sleep!

Night :)

ps. Thanks for all your prayers so far, I arrived in one piece, with no major hitch ups at any airports and all my luggage is with me.

Dallas TX.

Well I've arrived!!

Texas 10km below.

It's kinda pretty from the sky, and such a relief to be here.. That last flight sucked hard. I have decided that I do not like long haul flights, there is no room to stretch out and if you're window seat like I was... Well just try waking two people up in the middle of the night and asking them to move out of the way twice. It's slightly awkward haha.

Approx 17 hours and 15,000 km.

Also I stink, having been in the same clothes for about 28 hours now.. Kinda feeling like death warmed up. Luckily I packed a change of socks, jocks, and a tshirt so I was able to change out of that when I landed but yeeesh, I need a shower!

Probably looking at 1/50th of Dallas Airport

This place is also huge! Looking at the map I had I thought ok I could probably walk around this... Nope haha, had to take this sky rail thing between terminals and that wasn't going slow.

Oh and I was a bit peckish so grabbed my first American meal.... 

Zinger burger combo. Kinda reminds me of McDonalds crispy chicken from NZ.

Just waiting for my final flight today from here to Columbus, OH where I'll get to see Ron, Lynnette and their little whanau. I cannot wait!

Sydney.

Walking out to the gate at Auckland airport at 7.30 this morning.

So I'm kinda super tired. I've been up since 4am (NZT), on the 19th of August, and currently I am in Sydney  International Airport waiting my plane to Dallas / Fort Worth. Today is already starting to feel like a bit of a drag.

Saying bye to mum and my girlfriend this morning was somewhat difficult and then seeing my last glimpse of home soil  for the next 4 months and 5 days just made it all hit home. Luckily I am travelling by myself so I get to have this time to reflect and think about the important things, and hopefully sleep at some point in my next flight.

A final call just went over the intercom and it finished "...if you intend on flying today..." in a real harsh and almost angry sounding Australian accent. Kinda makes me miss the hospitality of home already haha and I've only been gone for 4 or so hours.

Looks like I forgot to turn my laptop off last time I used it, booted up quick and had next to no battery... Whoops I guess an electronic device was on when we took off and landed.... Shhhh!!!

I think I'm going to go down to my gate and wait there now, hopefully they have a powerpoint for me haha.

It's pretty warm here.

... ANNND I'm back. Found a nice little posse with the power outlet to get this charged up.

Ooooh looks like my plane for the trip to Dallas just arrived. Haven't been on one of these in years, if ever.

Was kinda hoping for the new Boeing Dreamliner or Airbus A380, but this will still get me there.

Not too sure what to do for the rest of my time here, I'm boarding in just over an hour and twenty minutes. Might go for another walk since my next flight is about 15 and a half hours. Probably a bit of a walk and get my papers ready for Dallas. That will be some fun going through that airport and customs and such and such...

Hopefully I have internet there and can get another blog up.

Au revoir.

Introduction.

Today is Thursday the 16th of August 2012. Three days before I leave to be an exchange student at Eastern University in Philadelphia PA. Everything is sorted and all I have left to do is catch up with a few friends before leaving.

I am currently doing a Bachelor of Primary Teaching and Worldview Studies degree at Laidlaw College and am half way through my second year. Within the initial few weeks of my first year we were made aware of this opportunity to go on an exchange to Eastern and something jumped within me. Immediately, I knew I had to do it. A phone call home and I had the parents on board.

The process of applying, filling in forms, waiting to hear back, filling in new forms, consulate visits, medical examinations, injections, confusion at Laidlaw and at Eastern, miscommunication, definitely became tiring and at some points I asked myself if it was all worth it. I stuck out the tedious process and am now anticipating getting on that aeroplane and beginning my almost day long journey from Auckland to Sydney to Dallas to Columbus for a few days, to Chicago to Philadelphia.

A part of me is sad to go, leaving my friends and family, my church, my girlfriend, and band. Mostly I am excited (not all screamy-headless-chicken-excited), rather full of anticipation that this is going to be a new thing, with new experiences, new friends, a new church, a new way of life and understanding for the next 3-4 months.

I will attempt to keep this blog regular with updates and pictures, but who knows, I may be having too much fun to do that.

To all my friends and family, I would really appreciate prayer for this upcoming journey. Prayer that my flights would go without a hitch, customs would be smooth experience, that I am able to settle in at Eastern, make new friends and find a church quickly.