quick east coast tour

i went to new york and new jersey this weekend to check out the woodrow wilson school.  (it's called woody woo, apparantly.)  

 

in addition to visiting the school, i got to hang out with naureen and vivian from high school, and garett from college.  that was pretty nice :)

 

i have a lot of angst about school.  but my thoughts are kind of jumbled up right now.  so, i'll just let them sit a little bit for now.

life developments

my sister visited this sunny weekend!  we:

• ate lots of delicious things, including:  bi-rite ice cream (twice), tartine pastries, brunch at brenda's, brunch at mbc, delfina pizzaria, in and out
• made a seafood gumbo :)
• wandered around the cartoon art museum, ferry building, sutro baths, and ocean beach
• pedaled across the golden gate bridge and took the ferry back from sausalito

i've also finished hearing back from all the policy programs i applied to.  (i was accepted to all of them.  i was offered full tuition and living stipend at two programs, and reduced tuition and generous fellowship at another.)  it really comes down to princeton (full tuition/stipend) and berkeley (no fellowship).  i agonize about it every day.  i don't know what i'll do. 

new zealand

matt and i recently had fun in new zealand!

• wellington. checked out views from mt. victoria; wandered around an old cemetery and botanic garden; cable car; te papa; caught a showing of sutra; ate at some nice establishments, floriditas and fidel's.
  
• three days of mountain-biking along the queen charlotte track in the marlborogh sounds. it was nice to have our belongings transferred by boat and to stay at resorts along the way. it turns out that the qct is mostly for intermediate/advanced mountain bikers, but we made it :)
• beautiful drives through the marlborough and central otago wine regions.
  
• a really nice stay at an isolated log cabin on a farm at the end of an unpaved road. a double rainbow to welcome us!
• fox glacier. helicopter ride to glacier and a guided hike. we could see all the way to the ocean! also, a long beach hike and walk around lake matheson.
• four days of walking the kepler track in the fiordlands. lush beech forests, alpine ridges, and an easy walk along the river to the lake. staying in huts really helped us reduce pack weight.
  
• queenstown. paraglided; luged; ate at tasty establishments, the cow, fergburger, and awesome fish and chips at fishbone grill; drank some tasty beers like dux de lux.