It's 9 am here in Hastings.  I just finished my breakfast of tea and fruit (an apple and an orange from Tracey's mom's) and am listening to Wait Wait Don't Tell Me!  I've been doing all of my usual internet things (reddit, democracynow, daily show, NPR, etc.) to feel more at home because even though it's beautiful here and Tracey and Colin are fantastic hosts I am still a little homesick.  Also I am unfortunately allergic to their dog plus there's a ton of pollen in the air from all the Spring flowers so I've been very allergic and wheezy since I got here.  My lung capacity is really low so I easily get out of breath even though I've been taking plenty of allergy medicine/other anti-histamine type things.  I think I will probably adjust over time and it's not like allergies will keep me from being able to teach, I just want to be able to jog or exercise without feeling like I'm having an asthma attack after half a block.  If anyone has any recommendation for medicine or things I could do to reduce allergies please let me know... I already have eye drops (I have to use them several times a day because my eyes get really red, something that very rarely happens at home) and the two medicines I mentioned earlier but if anyone has anything that's worked for them it'd be great to not be sneezing, sniffling, wheezing, etc. constantly.  Okay sorry so much of the post has been complaining about allergies but it kind of sucks.
Despite less than perfect health I've seen a lot of really cool things in the past few days.  Yesterday Tracey and Colin took me to the bay and we walked along and caught little crabs and star fish.  We also went to a black pebble beach and walked around Napier.  I brought home some sand dollars and rocks to paint which is something Tracey does pretty often (she's very arty).  Tracey and I also played Wii games yesterday including ones where we rowed against each other and had to knock each other off of things with bats!  We went to Colin's grandma's house yesterday which was very nice.  She has huge, beautifully kept gardens and a pool table and on top of this looks like the queen of England.  She (like all New Zealanders I've met so far) was curious and friendly and anxious to have us back.  Also she was wearing an awesome purplish iridescent shirt and I wish I owned it.  Oh yeah also the older lady next door to Tracey and Colin is named Dot.  She drives a little sky blue car with the license plate DOTZZ and EVERYTHING in her house  matches.  It's all pink and flowers and lace and plates with flower on them and she's great.
Today I'm going to try to do some Wii Yoga or some sort of fitness thing after I finish this and then Colin is going to take Tracey and I to the school to pick up some things.  I'm looking forward to seeing what it's like there, school starts next Tuesday because it's holidays here before Term 4.  Tracey says Term 4 is the most fun because it's the last and the shortest and we get to do swimming and other fun things that don't happen the rest of the year.  I'm a little nervous about working with 6 year-olds again just because I know how much harder it is for me to get their attention compared to older students... but I'm sure necessity will help me pick up quickly on things that work so that by the time I'm head teaching it won't be a disaster.
I guess on that note I'll finish this since I want to go see what it's like outside.  It looks very sunny and breezy.