The bittersweet moment has come. Yesterday, I said “see you later” to 20 new members of my whanau (“family”) and goodbye to the place I’ve come to call home. We spent our final night at the Old Convent celebrating a season of life shared together. We had fish and chips on the beach and shared …
Author Archives: Bryce Talsma
Llama lots of fun at the Old Convent!
A highlight of life at the Old Convent has been the recent addition of our friends Carlos and Rocky. Carlos and Rocky are two retired trekking llamas that have come to live out retirement in the lush green pastures of the Old Convent back paddock. They have made their secret pathways to run on anytime …
Being Invested
If I could give any one piece of advice to a future study abroad student it would be this: be invested. You can’t do anything better for yourself while studying abroad than to become invested in the community. It makes goodbyes harder but the memories all the sweeter. Throughout the semester, I have found myself …
5 Reasons to Study Abroad
All semester I’ve been thinking to myself, “Why doesn’t everyone study abroad?! It’s probably the greatest thing ever!” So, I thought I’d make a list of 5 reasons why I think you should study abroad, or at the very least, travel. 1. Culture Culture is probably one of my favorite parts about traveling! I love …
A Peek into the Marine-rich Life of Kaikoura
I have thoroughly enjoyed and learned so much from all of my classes thus far. From Sustainable Community Development to Environmental Literature to God and Nature, I have gained so much insight on what it means to be a good steward of Creation Care. Being a biology major and animal-lover, though, Marine Ecology was right …
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Term Break Part 2
During the second half of term break, we were set to tramp one of New Zealand’s 9 Great Walks, but due to considerable avalanche risk in the middle of the track, we were only able to hike a portion of the track. It was pretty cloudy most of the track, but I think that added …
Term Break Part 1
This past week students had the opportunity to travel for a week and explore more of the South Pacific. Some students went to the North Island and others, like myself, remained on the South Island. We saw and experienced so many incredible things in our week of travel, so I’m going to break my trip …
Doing Life Together
I’ve loved sharing with you all the adventures I’ve been having away from The Old Convent, but really, my favorite part about life in New Zealand is often the things that happen in my day-to-day life here. What separates CCSP from other study abroad programs is the concept of ‘doing life together’ that it embodies. …
A Glimpse into Kiwi Living – Homestay Weekend
The best part about living in a small town is the community. Everybody knows everybody and, undoubtedly, everybody knows about the American students living in The Old Convent. Kaikoura only has a population about the size of Hope’s, so throughout the last 6 weeks, we’ve had the opportunity to meet members of the community through …
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Windy Welly
Kia Ora! (Maori for many things, including “hello”) Last week, CCSP ventured to the north island across the (extremely rough) waters to study sustainable community development from the perspective of several different people in society. Wellington (aka “Windy Welly”) is the capital city of New Zealand with a population about that of Grand Rapids, so …
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