The Jury has reached a decision. New Zealand is crack up.

 I know that this is supposed to be a summer update, but my summer only started a few weeks ago because, you know, everything is backwards in the upside-down lands, so I'm going to unapologetically only talk about New Zealand.  

After milking every single second out of the ski season before I left (I had to choose between cheering on the ladies at the Williams Carnival or showering before my flight. I chose cheering obviously #cheercaptain), I hoisted off on to Dunedin, New Zealand for the spring semester, along with our very own Kennedy Lange. The motto for the semester consisted of 3 words. Surf, Surf, and Surf. 

"Jakin," you might ask. "Could you surf when you landed in New Zealand on that fine summers morn?" 

"Of course not silly" I would reply. "I couldn't surf a lick. Does it look like I can surf in Williamstown?"

"Well then you must have gotten a long, easy cruiser board and started with a lesson right?"

"Um no. Boring. I bought a shortboard because it looked way cooler when I carried it on the beach."

"Well then but didn't you look stupid in the water when you couldn't even get out past the breaking waves?"

"But doesn't it look so cool when I carry it?"

Here is the aforementioned short, snazzy, and way-to-good-for-Jakin board. I named her Jolene. 

From the moment I landed in that mythical country of hobbits and kiwi birds, myself, the famous ski team groupie Peter Miles, and our Middlebury friend Abe (Babe) Hoffman surfed every possible waking moment. We got thrashed by waves, smashed on rocks, attacked by seals (yes seals not sharks are the bane of the ocean. All my homies hate the seals), and generally exhausted ourselves trying to 'get pitted.' And after months and months of watching literal 10-year-olds catch thirty waves in the time it took us to catch one, we maybe, just maybe got a tiny bit good at it. And we even convinced Kennedy to join us once or twice. 

On rare occasions we dragged ourselves away from the waves to the mountains, and they were kind cool too. And like yeah we did classes but whatever. 

There are simply too many photos, and nary a single one does this incredible country justice, but thus follows my best attempt at a representative photo dump, in no particular order.

Liverpool hut

Routeburn Track

Southern Lights!

The boys 

Surf Surf Surf

Running running running

Pose in the air like you just don't care

Hiking hiking hiking

Narnia trees

Cathedral caves

Just a nice lake

Peter and Abe stole all my clothing except my suit, blindfolded me, and took me ice skating.

Big mountains

Grilling in the surf poncho

yup

surf ponchos are the only acceptable waterfall attire

Found a hunter. He gave us coffee and a boat ride.

glacier glacier glacier

whole lotta stars

the car was worth its weight in gold

The Williams squad. Kennedy found some sick shades.

A giant marble

Just another day in Dunedin

when bungee jumping...

Funniest man alive Andy F admiring the view

Why ride in the car?

Tunnel Beach

Pete doing some solid JMC advertising. 

 yeehaw!

Ok I'll stop now. But yeah. NZ is cool. 

I really thought I'd escaped the Williams Nordic-Geosciences nexus by selecting the stats major, but this summer I find myself in the Constantine lab wading around in rivers with the legend himself Jordan Fields, so there really is no escape. 

Can't wait to see you all in the fall!