just wanted to do a quick post of some updates:
-new zealand won the rugby world cup, we watched the game with several of tracey and colin's friends and got fish and chips (i got a corn dog which is just a 'battered hotdog' here.  they even battered and fried the stick it was on.  it reminded me of that simpsons episode where they deep fry the entire plate and the guy breaks off a piece of the fried wine bottle and eats it.  ANYWAYS...).
-we went swimming in hot pools by the sea a couple of days ago which was great... especially considering the chilly/rainy weather the water felt so good.
-i had to go to the doctor today because of a near asthma attack on a walk this morning.  as i mentioned in a previous post i have had awful allergies since i got here and it's been building up in my lungs so each day i have had a harder time breathing.  i am not going to go into great detail but i felt like i was going to faint and was really afraid there was something horribly wrong with me because of how light-headed i felt.  tracey and colin were so kind, they heard how much i was wheezing and struggling to breath (i was near tears because of frustration and fear) and they insisted on taking turns carrying me to the car so i wouldn't pass out.  the doctor gave me some pills and an inhaler which already have helped immensely.  so hopefully that's the end of my breathing problems...  apparently a lot of people have allergy problems in this area, especially at this time of year.  Tracey said her grandpa had to move to Australia because of how bad his allergies would get (he had the same symptoms as me with the wheezing chest problems).  so that's my update.  i want to go outside now because it's beautiful today