Hello and welcome to another installment of my blog!
It is hard to believe but as of today I have officially been in New Zealand for one whole month! On the one hand, when I think about all of the things that I have done in the past month it feels like such a long time, but on the other hand I feel like I have just gotten here!
This past week has been pretty low-key. I handed in my first University of Auckland essay! I compared two social service organizations that are helping disadvantaged communities in Northland for my geography class. Apparently I am going to meet one of the people in charge of one of the organizaitons during my geography field trip which leaves tomorrow! I am really excited for the geography field trip. We leave tomorrow morning and are gone until Friday. We will be traveling around Northland and putting everything we have learned over the past month into practice. We will get to see places we have discussed and have lectures from people we have heard about. It should be a really fun and educational week.
Here are a few note-worthy events from the week:
1. After a summer spent traveling throughout clinics in the US I made it to my first NZ clinic (for one of my friends). It seemed a lot nicer than US clinics and almost everything is covered under their universal health care system!
2. I finally saw all of the Lord of the Rings movies. It was really cool to see Mt. Doom on the big screen after doing it myself.
3. My friend and I went on an adventure to walk the Auckland Harbour Bridge. After walking a few km from downtown, we reached the bridge but couldn't figure out how to actually walk across it - there were no sidewalks! So we ended up going to a park nearby and just looking at the bridge. It was right on the water and a beautiful day so it was really nice! We then had dinner (a really good salad) at the Viaduct, which is on the harbour and really nice.
4. A few of us went to see the movie Invictus (just came out in NZ) and it got me really excited to see rugby games here! Also a sidenote about movie theaters here: they have assigned seats - my ticket had a row and seat number on it.
5. On Saturday 5 of us woke up really early to catch a 6:30 bus to the Polynesian market about 30 minutes away. It is supposedly the biggest Polynesian market in the world, but lets just say there must not be very many large Pollynesian markets. They had a lot of t-shirt, appliance and produce stands. I think I'll go back to buy produce in the future, but since we were all leaving for the geography field trip, we couldn't really stock up. It was a really cool experience going there though. Then after the market we went to the Auckland Botanic Gardens which were absolutely beautiful! They had a sculpture competition going on so there were sculptures throughout the gardens made by NZ artists which were really cool to look at. There were some forest walking trails which were a little hard to find but fun to walk on. And of course there were beautiful flowers! We had a tough time with the bus system but I think I have a better idea of where things are around Auckland and how to get places which is always good.
6. Today I went to the Auckland Museum which was really nice. It is located in Auckland Domain which is a huge park with duck ponds, nature walks and gardens. I didn't have much time to look around, but it's located pretty cloes so I am excited to go back! The museum had 3 floors. The first floor had a lot of Maori exhibits which corrolated with what I learned in my NZ culture class. The second floor had a lot of New Zealand history. The third floor had international events and New Zealand's part in it (such as WWI and WWII) - there was even an exhibit on the Holocaust which I found really intersting. There was also a special exhibit on roses which was really awesome. Every sunday during the summer, the Domain has a free jazz concert. It was raining out so I didn't stay for long, but it was really cool to hear live jazz in the park - I definitely want to go hang out there next week!
That's pretty much all the update I have for now. However, I've been meaning to write some interesting things I have learned since coming to New Zealand and figured this would be a good place for it. So here you go:
1. New Zealand has 20 million sheep and 4 million people. Talk about a ratio! Apparently there used to be way more sheep.
2. Tourism is New Zealand's biggest earning industry
3. One third of New Zealand's population lives in Auckland
4. England's Queen is still the head of state in New Zealand - although she does not have any political authority.
5. A kiwi can refer to a fruit, national bird or a person (New Zealanders are called kiwis)
6. The cross-walks are one of my favorite parts of New Zealand. When they turn green an animal kiwi sound goes off. Then in busier sections of the city, you can cross the street diagonally which is awesome and makes so much sense.
That's all I can come up with for now - but I'll be sure to sprinkle little facts throughout my posts as I have been doing so far!
Also, I put a new album up with all Auckland pictures. They include pictures of the places I have been in the past few days, and also just some streets that are around me. I also finally took some pictures of the apartment (which was a little messy). Here they are: http://picasaweb.google.com/LSOL817/Auckland?feat=directlink
Hope all is well with you and that you have a great week!
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
Mission Accomplished: Mt Doooom!
Hello all!
Well it's been another great week in New Zealand. Last week was pretty uneventful - just the usual classes. I handed in my first essay in New Zealand for my NZ culture class about the class differences that existed during the period when just the Maori were in NZ. In my NZ culture class we learned about politics (which I have an exam on tomorrow) which was actually way more interesting than I thought it would be. It made me think back to my AP US History class learning about how their political system works and how it differs from the US one. We also talked about how NZ is anti-nuclear which led to some trouble with their relations with countries (like the US because they wouldn't let US ships come here if they had nuclear weapons on board). We also learned how NZ stopped being so reliant on England (which really started because England switched to the EU and started using that currency and traded with the other EU countries rather than NZ). It was really fascinating to hear about how NZ really became independent and developed their own national identity. Now I just have to write an in-class essay exam on it tomorrow!!
Anyways the real excitement of the week was this past weekend when about 18 of us set out to climb Mt Doom! For those of you who have not seen the Lord of the Rings trilogy (myself included) Mt Doom is where the ring gets thrown at the end of the movies and it is honestly the most intense hike (or tramp) I have ever done in my entire life! But I'll start at the beginning...
Friday January 22nd
The first van (11 of us) set out in the morning. We rented a 12 passenger van and after the initial shock of discovering that the van was actually stick rather than automatic, we set out of Auckland to the Central North Island region (overall it was 4.5-5 hours away from Auckland). We stopped after about a half hour at Pak 'n Save which is a huge discount supermarket to get some food for the weekend. We then had about a 3.5 hour drive ahead of us to Taupo. Taupo has a huge beautiful lake in the middle of it and it is just absolutely gorgeous! We stopped off there and went cliff jumping. If you know me at all, you probably know that I do not like heights and jumping off things in general, so to say that I was scared out of my mind at the top would be a bit of an understatement. The jump was about 20 ft high but the water was really clear so it looked like you were jumping into coral that was at the bottom (but the coral was really much lower). Anyways I finally talked myself into doing it and it was really amazing!! The fall wasn't that bad and the only real problem was getting a ton of water up my nose. But the water was really nice and it was awesome. Don't worry there are a couple pictures that someone else took to document my jump so hopefully I can show them to you all soon! After a couple jumps we all piled back into the van and it started raining. From there it was 1.5 hours to Tongariro. Once getting there we set up our tents quickly so they wouldn't get too wet on the inside. We then went to make dinner and discovered that not only was it still wet, but there was also no fire allowed in the campsite so that shot down our idea for a campfire meal. We made PBJ and had some other odds 'n ends. We then hung out, played cards and waited for the second van to come (which had left after 3 so some people who had class on Friday could come). After everyone arrived (around 11:30ish) we went into our tents and to sleep (which wasn't an easy feat since there were 4 of us sharing a 3 person tent).
Saturday January 23
Saturday we woke up nice and early for our big tramping extravaganza! We piled in our vans and set out for the start of the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. The entire crossing is 19 km (about 12 miles), takes about 8 hours and is considered to be one of the best day-long hikes in all of New Zealand. The weather was kind of cold and rainy so I was outfitted with my rain gear and lots of layers. We started off by a stream which turned into marsh lands and we had some rocks to climb over. The scenery was just beautiful though with a lot of mountains surrounding us. About 2.5/3 hours in, we stopped for a bite to eat and for the start of the real intensity: Mt Doom, who's official name is Mt Ngauruhoe. Mt Ngauruhoe is the youngest volcano on the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, is really steep and does not have an actual trail so we were pretty much blazing our own path. I really don't even know how to describe the hike up the volcano other than saying it was so intense and I really was not sure I was going to make it up and down alive. The terrain changed a lot and I learned that solid rocks were my very close friends. There was a lot of time when I was really rock climbing going from one rock to another. I had to just take it one step at a time for fear of getting too overwhelmed and afraid that I would fall. My group took breaks on the rocks as we were going up which was helpful and also nice because the view was simply spectacular. One of my friends I was hiking with is an earth science minor so (while we had our breath) she was telling me about the different terrain and rocks which was cool. We also ended up hiking through a cloud (which has always been one of my goals!) and through some intense wind. After over 3 hours we finally made it to the top crater, which was unfortunately covered in a cloud so I couldn't really see the crater. But some people who made it up before me saw the crater and it really is gorgeous. After the intense climb up I really wasn't sure how I would be able to make it down, but it was actually pretty easy. While heavily relying on the rocks to get up, coming down it was all about going through the volcanic ash and black sand - it was a little like skiing and just leaning back on my heels and essentially jumping down the mountain. It only took 30 min to get down but at the bottom my shoes were completely filled with rocks! At the bottom of Mt Ngauruhoe we had another 5 hours to get to the end of the Tongariro Alpine Crossing which we had to do before nightfall (which luckily is really late here, but still we had to get moving). The thing that struck me on the rest of the hike was how much the terrain changed in a relatively short period of time. Throughout the course of the hike I tramped through: more mountains, emerald lakes (aka sulfer lakes), a desert, saw the south crater which was filled with water and was gorgeous, on a windy path through grass lands, through a hot springs resort area and then through a beautiful rain forest. During the end part we overlooked Lake Tongaririo which is absolutely beautiful! It was a really nice way to end the hike. I tried to take pictures of all of it so that you all can see it! Through the whole thing, my new hiking boots and I became quite close but my legs and feet are still not ready to forgive me from the sheer intensity of the entire 12 hour hike! It was a truly incredibly experience and I am so happy I did it (and survived it!). When we got back we headed back to the camp site and then some of us went into Taupo for dinner (because without the campfire there was not enough food for all of us) and then to sleep.
Sunday January 24th
On Sunday we left Tongariro and went back to Taupo. After stopping for a delicious brunch (delicious pancakes and this baked banana that was a bit like plantains) we went to the Huka Falls hot springs! However before getting there, we had to go through a park which was hosting the Taupo Jousting competition. While they were not jousting when we were walking through, there were a ton of people and midevil activities going on. We then went down to the water which was actually a big river that had really hot water running through it. We all sat/lay down on the edge of it and it was really nice because the water current rushing through would go from hot to cold pretty regularly which felt really nice on my sore muscles. After relaxing for a while, we piled back in the van and came back to Auckland. After reaching Auckland we had a BBQ for dinner which was delicious and I tried my first kumara which is NZ's sweet potato and it was delicious!
Overall it was a really fantastic weekend!! All of the pictures are posted online, here is the link: http://picasaweb.google.com/LSOL817/NZTongariro?feat=directlink
I hope you enjoy all of them! This week will again be pretty low-key and filled with work. Hope all is well with all of you! I would love to hear from all of you when you get a chance!
LOVE from the latest person to dominate MT DOOM!!
Well it's been another great week in New Zealand. Last week was pretty uneventful - just the usual classes. I handed in my first essay in New Zealand for my NZ culture class about the class differences that existed during the period when just the Maori were in NZ. In my NZ culture class we learned about politics (which I have an exam on tomorrow) which was actually way more interesting than I thought it would be. It made me think back to my AP US History class learning about how their political system works and how it differs from the US one. We also talked about how NZ is anti-nuclear which led to some trouble with their relations with countries (like the US because they wouldn't let US ships come here if they had nuclear weapons on board). We also learned how NZ stopped being so reliant on England (which really started because England switched to the EU and started using that currency and traded with the other EU countries rather than NZ). It was really fascinating to hear about how NZ really became independent and developed their own national identity. Now I just have to write an in-class essay exam on it tomorrow!!
Anyways the real excitement of the week was this past weekend when about 18 of us set out to climb Mt Doom! For those of you who have not seen the Lord of the Rings trilogy (myself included) Mt Doom is where the ring gets thrown at the end of the movies and it is honestly the most intense hike (or tramp) I have ever done in my entire life! But I'll start at the beginning...
Friday January 22nd
The first van (11 of us) set out in the morning. We rented a 12 passenger van and after the initial shock of discovering that the van was actually stick rather than automatic, we set out of Auckland to the Central North Island region (overall it was 4.5-5 hours away from Auckland). We stopped after about a half hour at Pak 'n Save which is a huge discount supermarket to get some food for the weekend. We then had about a 3.5 hour drive ahead of us to Taupo. Taupo has a huge beautiful lake in the middle of it and it is just absolutely gorgeous! We stopped off there and went cliff jumping. If you know me at all, you probably know that I do not like heights and jumping off things in general, so to say that I was scared out of my mind at the top would be a bit of an understatement. The jump was about 20 ft high but the water was really clear so it looked like you were jumping into coral that was at the bottom (but the coral was really much lower). Anyways I finally talked myself into doing it and it was really amazing!! The fall wasn't that bad and the only real problem was getting a ton of water up my nose. But the water was really nice and it was awesome. Don't worry there are a couple pictures that someone else took to document my jump so hopefully I can show them to you all soon! After a couple jumps we all piled back into the van and it started raining. From there it was 1.5 hours to Tongariro. Once getting there we set up our tents quickly so they wouldn't get too wet on the inside. We then went to make dinner and discovered that not only was it still wet, but there was also no fire allowed in the campsite so that shot down our idea for a campfire meal. We made PBJ and had some other odds 'n ends. We then hung out, played cards and waited for the second van to come (which had left after 3 so some people who had class on Friday could come). After everyone arrived (around 11:30ish) we went into our tents and to sleep (which wasn't an easy feat since there were 4 of us sharing a 3 person tent).
Saturday January 23
Saturday we woke up nice and early for our big tramping extravaganza! We piled in our vans and set out for the start of the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. The entire crossing is 19 km (about 12 miles), takes about 8 hours and is considered to be one of the best day-long hikes in all of New Zealand. The weather was kind of cold and rainy so I was outfitted with my rain gear and lots of layers. We started off by a stream which turned into marsh lands and we had some rocks to climb over. The scenery was just beautiful though with a lot of mountains surrounding us. About 2.5/3 hours in, we stopped for a bite to eat and for the start of the real intensity: Mt Doom, who's official name is Mt Ngauruhoe. Mt Ngauruhoe is the youngest volcano on the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, is really steep and does not have an actual trail so we were pretty much blazing our own path. I really don't even know how to describe the hike up the volcano other than saying it was so intense and I really was not sure I was going to make it up and down alive. The terrain changed a lot and I learned that solid rocks were my very close friends. There was a lot of time when I was really rock climbing going from one rock to another. I had to just take it one step at a time for fear of getting too overwhelmed and afraid that I would fall. My group took breaks on the rocks as we were going up which was helpful and also nice because the view was simply spectacular. One of my friends I was hiking with is an earth science minor so (while we had our breath) she was telling me about the different terrain and rocks which was cool. We also ended up hiking through a cloud (which has always been one of my goals!) and through some intense wind. After over 3 hours we finally made it to the top crater, which was unfortunately covered in a cloud so I couldn't really see the crater. But some people who made it up before me saw the crater and it really is gorgeous. After the intense climb up I really wasn't sure how I would be able to make it down, but it was actually pretty easy. While heavily relying on the rocks to get up, coming down it was all about going through the volcanic ash and black sand - it was a little like skiing and just leaning back on my heels and essentially jumping down the mountain. It only took 30 min to get down but at the bottom my shoes were completely filled with rocks! At the bottom of Mt Ngauruhoe we had another 5 hours to get to the end of the Tongariro Alpine Crossing which we had to do before nightfall (which luckily is really late here, but still we had to get moving). The thing that struck me on the rest of the hike was how much the terrain changed in a relatively short period of time. Throughout the course of the hike I tramped through: more mountains, emerald lakes (aka sulfer lakes), a desert, saw the south crater which was filled with water and was gorgeous, on a windy path through grass lands, through a hot springs resort area and then through a beautiful rain forest. During the end part we overlooked Lake Tongaririo which is absolutely beautiful! It was a really nice way to end the hike. I tried to take pictures of all of it so that you all can see it! Through the whole thing, my new hiking boots and I became quite close but my legs and feet are still not ready to forgive me from the sheer intensity of the entire 12 hour hike! It was a truly incredibly experience and I am so happy I did it (and survived it!). When we got back we headed back to the camp site and then some of us went into Taupo for dinner (because without the campfire there was not enough food for all of us) and then to sleep.
Sunday January 24th
On Sunday we left Tongariro and went back to Taupo. After stopping for a delicious brunch (delicious pancakes and this baked banana that was a bit like plantains) we went to the Huka Falls hot springs! However before getting there, we had to go through a park which was hosting the Taupo Jousting competition. While they were not jousting when we were walking through, there were a ton of people and midevil activities going on. We then went down to the water which was actually a big river that had really hot water running through it. We all sat/lay down on the edge of it and it was really nice because the water current rushing through would go from hot to cold pretty regularly which felt really nice on my sore muscles. After relaxing for a while, we piled back in the van and came back to Auckland. After reaching Auckland we had a BBQ for dinner which was delicious and I tried my first kumara which is NZ's sweet potato and it was delicious!
Overall it was a really fantastic weekend!! All of the pictures are posted online, here is the link: http://picasaweb.google.com/LSOL817/NZTongariro?feat=directlink
I hope you enjoy all of them! This week will again be pretty low-key and filled with work. Hope all is well with all of you! I would love to hear from all of you when you get a chance!
LOVE from the latest person to dominate MT DOOM!!
Monday, January 18, 2010
Northland BU Field Trip
Hello everyone!
Since the last time I have written, I have gone on the BU field trip to Northland. I'll tell you all about that later but just wanted to share a couple things I have picked up in Auckland. The first is that they say "cheers" and "choice" all the time. "Cheers" is used more as a sign-off but also means "good" and "sure." "Choice" does not seem to be the same "choice" as we use in the US, but rather also means "good" and "sure." Another interesting thing is that NZ currency does not have pennies or nickels. Therefore, if what you are buying is $1.01-1.05 you pay $1.00, but if the cost is $1.06-1.09 you pay $1.10. I thought that was interesting. Also there are no poisonous animals in NZ, therefore all the other animals and insects grow a lot larger. Alright now onto the update:
Thursday, January 14th
On Thursday we had an interesting New Zealand Culture class. It was taught by a guest lecturer, Kahu. Kahu has been our Maori go-to person since we arrived and he has come on our field trips too. Our class was taught in the Maori meeting house called a Marae. We went to the University of Auckland one, and Kahu (with the help of some of his friends) told us about the different parts of the marae and the history behind it. The marae is thought of as a body and living being, with ancestors throughout it. When the ancestors have their tongues out, it means they are speaking to the person inside. While in the marae, we learned how to count in Maori and how to introduce ourselves. The president of the Maori students association was there and he encouraged all of us to attend the events that the club hosts during the semester. It was a very interesting experience and I hope to go back!
Friday, January 15th
On Friday we began our BU sponsored fieldtrip to Northland. Northland is the region right above Auckland and stretches to the top of the North Island (for those of you who do not know, New Zealand has a North and South Island, Auckland is in the upper part of the North Island). Anyway we began our adventure at 9 am and drove up the West Coast. We then arrived in Dargaville for lunch. Dargaville is a really small town and just had a couple convenience stores and cafes. However, it was the first time that I tried a Magnum Ice Cream Bar and it was incredibly delicious!! Magnum ice cream bars are store bought packaged ice cream bars but they are so good! There have been posters and signs for them all around the Auckland buses and I am so happy that I had one! I tried the almond kind, which was so good, but there are a lot more out there too! Anyway, after eating the magnum bar we got back on the bus and learned some Maori words and came up with Maori names for each other. My Maori name means “Sunny Peak” because my roommate wanted to call me “tall” but there was no word for “tall” so she decided “peak” was the closest. We then arrived at the Waipoua Kauri Forest. New Zealand is famous for their Kauri trees. The Maori and Pakeha (Europeans who moved to NZ) used to use Kauri wood for everything, but they ended up chopping too many down so now the Kauri trees are more respected and not used as much. and this particular forest has “Tane Mahuta” which is a very BIG Kauri tree. After looking at the tree and walking around the forest, we got back on the bus and headed for another town on the West Coast: Opononi. Opononi used to be famous for Opo the dolphin, but Opo has been long-gone and now Opononi is famous for sand dune boarding! We got off right on the water and took a boat over to the big sand dunes. Once arriving at the sand dunes, everyone was given a boogie board, we then hiked up the hill (which was really steep!) and went sand dune boarding! How it works is you run with your board then lie down on it and go down the hill into the water. It is SO much fun! We were there for over an hour so we had plenty of time to try sand dune boarding lots of times. Then when we were waiting for the second boat to come back, some of us went swimming in the water and explored around the sand dunes. We then went back on the bus and crossed to the East Coast to the Bay of Islands. The Bay of Islands is one of the biggest tourist attractions of Northland. It is well known for its beautiful beaches and it has a more tropical climate. We stayed in Paihia at the Saltwater Lodge. My room was for 5 people with a bunk bed and three single beds – it was a bit tight but fun. After getting settled in, we had a BBQ at the lodge, which was very delicious.
Saturday, January 16th
On Saturday we walked into the more downtown section of Paihia (which was a couple blocks away) and boarded the ferry for Russell. Russell is the town across the water from Paihia and was once called “the hellhole of the South Pacific.” This was because back in the late 1700s/early1800s, Australia was used as a penal colony and some of the inmates would jump ship and swim to New Zealand instead and settle in Russell. Anyway, now Russell is a very nice town. When we arrived in Russell we took a tour of the Pompallier House. Back in the 1800s when missionaries were settling New Zealand, they set up Pompallier as a printing and leather factory to create prayer booklets in the Maori language. The Maori had very high literacy rates. Pompallier opened in 1842. The missionaries would make the prayer booklets at Pompallier and distribute them throughout New Zealand. We had a tour of the factory and saw how they created the leather to bind the books in the tannery and how they printed and bound the books together. It was very interesting because we were also able to see how New Zealanders lived during that time, because they try to keep the Pompallier House looking as similar to what it was like in the 1800s as possible. After that we had lunch in Russell and then all departed for our various excursions. I decided to go on a boat ride and swim with dolphins with a couple other people from the program. When we got on the boat the people warned us that we may not see dolphins and even if we see them we may not be able to swim with them, but within 20 minutes of setting out we found Bottlenose dolphins! They were right beside our boat and were pretty much putting on a show for us – flipping and swimming around! After putting on fins and snorkel gear we were able to get into the water and swim with the dolphins, in their natural habitat. This was completely different than other dolphin encounters I have done in Florida. Here we were getting into the water and had to swim after the dolphins. I was lucky and when I was in the water the dolphins were pretty close and I was able to see dolphins swimming right next to me, watch them under water and be right next to them when they were flipping around – it was so fun! After that, we got back on the boat and still had another 2 hours so we cruised around the Bay of Islands – it was so beautiful! I sat up in the front of the boat and just took it all in. After a while, we were let off at an island and got to walk around the beach for a little bit before heading back to Paihia. After I got back to Paihia I read on the beach for a little which was nice. Another group of people from the trip had gone fishing and brought back a lot of fish for us! We went to a restaurant that prepared the fish and we got to eat it. After I had some delicious gelato.
Sunday, January 17
On Sunday we had to pack up and leave Paihia. We first went to the Waitangi Treaty House. The Waitangi Treaty was signed in 1840 between England and New Zealand at Sir Busby’s house. Busby was the honorary British resident of New Zealand. The Treaty has three articles. The first article is controversial because in the English version is says that all New Zealanders cede their sovereignty to the Queen of England, but the Maori thought that only referred to the British living in New Zealand and not to them. In the second article, it says that if New Zealand citizens would like to sell their land, it must first be offered to the Queen. In the third article, the Queen grants all New Zealand citizens the same rights as British citizens. We toured around the grounds, saw where the treaty was signed and walked through the museum. It was really neat to be there since we had learned about the Waitangi Treaty in our NZ Culture class last week. We walked around the grounds, saw the canoes (called waka) that the Maori used, saw the Maori meeting house (Marae) and went inside Busby’s house, which as been turned into a museum. After the Waitangi Treaty House we went to Haruru Falls. Haruru Falls is a small beautiful waterfall, we were able to look around for a bit. We then stopped in a town which has a public restroom designed by an artist. The bathroom has no straight lines which is cool, and the town also has a bakery which famous donuts which were delicious. Then we drove to Whangarei for lunch. We then got back on the bus and drove to Wenderholm Regional Park, which is a gorgeous beach. At the beach we learned how to play rugby! Rugby is a really strange game but it was a lot of fun to try to figure out how to play. You can only pass to the side or back and you have to be in a straight line. It was a fun introduction and the scenic background was incredible. We then headed back to Auckland (aka real life), ate dinner and started doing work.
This week seems like it will be filled with work. I have a couple essays to work on and am going to figure out how to navigate through the library to read up on colonial New Zealand to write an essay on it.
I took pictures of almost everything that I just talked about, so you can look at them here: http://picasaweb.google.com/LSOL817/NorthlandBUFieldTrip?feat=directlink
I hope you are all have a good start to the week. For those of you at Brandeis: have a great start to spring semester! Everyone who just left for abroad: have so much fun! I miss you all and would love updates from all of you!!
Lots of love from Auckland!!
Since the last time I have written, I have gone on the BU field trip to Northland. I'll tell you all about that later but just wanted to share a couple things I have picked up in Auckland. The first is that they say "cheers" and "choice" all the time. "Cheers" is used more as a sign-off but also means "good" and "sure." "Choice" does not seem to be the same "choice" as we use in the US, but rather also means "good" and "sure." Another interesting thing is that NZ currency does not have pennies or nickels. Therefore, if what you are buying is $1.01-1.05 you pay $1.00, but if the cost is $1.06-1.09 you pay $1.10. I thought that was interesting. Also there are no poisonous animals in NZ, therefore all the other animals and insects grow a lot larger. Alright now onto the update:
Thursday, January 14th
On Thursday we had an interesting New Zealand Culture class. It was taught by a guest lecturer, Kahu. Kahu has been our Maori go-to person since we arrived and he has come on our field trips too. Our class was taught in the Maori meeting house called a Marae. We went to the University of Auckland one, and Kahu (with the help of some of his friends) told us about the different parts of the marae and the history behind it. The marae is thought of as a body and living being, with ancestors throughout it. When the ancestors have their tongues out, it means they are speaking to the person inside. While in the marae, we learned how to count in Maori and how to introduce ourselves. The president of the Maori students association was there and he encouraged all of us to attend the events that the club hosts during the semester. It was a very interesting experience and I hope to go back!
Friday, January 15th
On Friday we began our BU sponsored fieldtrip to Northland. Northland is the region right above Auckland and stretches to the top of the North Island (for those of you who do not know, New Zealand has a North and South Island, Auckland is in the upper part of the North Island). Anyway we began our adventure at 9 am and drove up the West Coast. We then arrived in Dargaville for lunch. Dargaville is a really small town and just had a couple convenience stores and cafes. However, it was the first time that I tried a Magnum Ice Cream Bar and it was incredibly delicious!! Magnum ice cream bars are store bought packaged ice cream bars but they are so good! There have been posters and signs for them all around the Auckland buses and I am so happy that I had one! I tried the almond kind, which was so good, but there are a lot more out there too! Anyway, after eating the magnum bar we got back on the bus and learned some Maori words and came up with Maori names for each other. My Maori name means “Sunny Peak” because my roommate wanted to call me “tall” but there was no word for “tall” so she decided “peak” was the closest. We then arrived at the Waipoua Kauri Forest. New Zealand is famous for their Kauri trees. The Maori and Pakeha (Europeans who moved to NZ) used to use Kauri wood for everything, but they ended up chopping too many down so now the Kauri trees are more respected and not used as much. and this particular forest has “Tane Mahuta” which is a very BIG Kauri tree. After looking at the tree and walking around the forest, we got back on the bus and headed for another town on the West Coast: Opononi. Opononi used to be famous for Opo the dolphin, but Opo has been long-gone and now Opononi is famous for sand dune boarding! We got off right on the water and took a boat over to the big sand dunes. Once arriving at the sand dunes, everyone was given a boogie board, we then hiked up the hill (which was really steep!) and went sand dune boarding! How it works is you run with your board then lie down on it and go down the hill into the water. It is SO much fun! We were there for over an hour so we had plenty of time to try sand dune boarding lots of times. Then when we were waiting for the second boat to come back, some of us went swimming in the water and explored around the sand dunes. We then went back on the bus and crossed to the East Coast to the Bay of Islands. The Bay of Islands is one of the biggest tourist attractions of Northland. It is well known for its beautiful beaches and it has a more tropical climate. We stayed in Paihia at the Saltwater Lodge. My room was for 5 people with a bunk bed and three single beds – it was a bit tight but fun. After getting settled in, we had a BBQ at the lodge, which was very delicious.
Saturday, January 16th
On Saturday we walked into the more downtown section of Paihia (which was a couple blocks away) and boarded the ferry for Russell. Russell is the town across the water from Paihia and was once called “the hellhole of the South Pacific.” This was because back in the late 1700s/early1800s, Australia was used as a penal colony and some of the inmates would jump ship and swim to New Zealand instead and settle in Russell. Anyway, now Russell is a very nice town. When we arrived in Russell we took a tour of the Pompallier House. Back in the 1800s when missionaries were settling New Zealand, they set up Pompallier as a printing and leather factory to create prayer booklets in the Maori language. The Maori had very high literacy rates. Pompallier opened in 1842. The missionaries would make the prayer booklets at Pompallier and distribute them throughout New Zealand. We had a tour of the factory and saw how they created the leather to bind the books in the tannery and how they printed and bound the books together. It was very interesting because we were also able to see how New Zealanders lived during that time, because they try to keep the Pompallier House looking as similar to what it was like in the 1800s as possible. After that we had lunch in Russell and then all departed for our various excursions. I decided to go on a boat ride and swim with dolphins with a couple other people from the program. When we got on the boat the people warned us that we may not see dolphins and even if we see them we may not be able to swim with them, but within 20 minutes of setting out we found Bottlenose dolphins! They were right beside our boat and were pretty much putting on a show for us – flipping and swimming around! After putting on fins and snorkel gear we were able to get into the water and swim with the dolphins, in their natural habitat. This was completely different than other dolphin encounters I have done in Florida. Here we were getting into the water and had to swim after the dolphins. I was lucky and when I was in the water the dolphins were pretty close and I was able to see dolphins swimming right next to me, watch them under water and be right next to them when they were flipping around – it was so fun! After that, we got back on the boat and still had another 2 hours so we cruised around the Bay of Islands – it was so beautiful! I sat up in the front of the boat and just took it all in. After a while, we were let off at an island and got to walk around the beach for a little bit before heading back to Paihia. After I got back to Paihia I read on the beach for a little which was nice. Another group of people from the trip had gone fishing and brought back a lot of fish for us! We went to a restaurant that prepared the fish and we got to eat it. After I had some delicious gelato.
Sunday, January 17
On Sunday we had to pack up and leave Paihia. We first went to the Waitangi Treaty House. The Waitangi Treaty was signed in 1840 between England and New Zealand at Sir Busby’s house. Busby was the honorary British resident of New Zealand. The Treaty has three articles. The first article is controversial because in the English version is says that all New Zealanders cede their sovereignty to the Queen of England, but the Maori thought that only referred to the British living in New Zealand and not to them. In the second article, it says that if New Zealand citizens would like to sell their land, it must first be offered to the Queen. In the third article, the Queen grants all New Zealand citizens the same rights as British citizens. We toured around the grounds, saw where the treaty was signed and walked through the museum. It was really neat to be there since we had learned about the Waitangi Treaty in our NZ Culture class last week. We walked around the grounds, saw the canoes (called waka) that the Maori used, saw the Maori meeting house (Marae) and went inside Busby’s house, which as been turned into a museum. After the Waitangi Treaty House we went to Haruru Falls. Haruru Falls is a small beautiful waterfall, we were able to look around for a bit. We then stopped in a town which has a public restroom designed by an artist. The bathroom has no straight lines which is cool, and the town also has a bakery which famous donuts which were delicious. Then we drove to Whangarei for lunch. We then got back on the bus and drove to Wenderholm Regional Park, which is a gorgeous beach. At the beach we learned how to play rugby! Rugby is a really strange game but it was a lot of fun to try to figure out how to play. You can only pass to the side or back and you have to be in a straight line. It was a fun introduction and the scenic background was incredible. We then headed back to Auckland (aka real life), ate dinner and started doing work.
This week seems like it will be filled with work. I have a couple essays to work on and am going to figure out how to navigate through the library to read up on colonial New Zealand to write an essay on it.
I took pictures of almost everything that I just talked about, so you can look at them here: http://picasaweb.google.com/LSOL817/NorthlandBUFieldTrip?feat=directlink
I hope you are all have a good start to the week. For those of you at Brandeis: have a great start to spring semester! Everyone who just left for abroad: have so much fun! I miss you all and would love updates from all of you!!
Lots of love from Auckland!!
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Pictures
Alright I finally figured how to upload my pictures!
Here is the link: http://picasaweb.google.com/LSOL817/NewZealand1?feat=directlink
I tried to put captions to explain what things were but let me know if you have questions! I also think that you can post comments on there.
Let me know if it doesn't work and I hope you enjoy!
Here is the link: http://picasaweb.google.com/LSOL817/NewZealand1?feat=directlink
I tried to put captions to explain what things were but let me know if you have questions! I also think that you can post comments on there.
Let me know if it doesn't work and I hope you enjoy!
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Tramping around Auckland!
Hello everyone,
I hope you are all doing well. I decided that it's been a few days so I should update you all on what is going on down under in New Zealand! I have officially been in Auckland for 1 week and 2 days but it feels like so much longer! I am slowly getting used to daily life here and what it is like to actually be living in Auckland. Just some basic stuff: it has been in the mid 70s on most days and normally is sunny (although it does randomly rain sometimes throughout the day) and I'm still wearing lots of sunscreen. Cars are still driving on the left side of the road, but I am getting a little more used to watching out for cars (although it still freaks me out). Oh and I meant to write this last time, but apparently I had gotten the time difference wrong and it is actually that I am 6 hours behind you but a day ahead (if that makes sense) or 18 hours ahead of you. So anyways here we go:
Friday January 8th (or as the Kiwis would say: 8 January)
On Fridays most people in the program do not have classes so we decided to go on another adventure. Auckland is surrounded by a ton of tiny islands – some more habitable than others. In fact, most of the islands are volcanoes (are you catching on to a theme here?) and within Auckland there are somewhere between 46-52 volcanoes (depending on who you ask). They are all dormant but none of them are considered to be extinct. Anyways, we woke up early and went to an island called Waiheke. It was about a 35 minute ferry ride away. Waiheke is a truly beautiful island. There are a ton of hiking (or as New Zealanders call it: tramping) trails along it so we picked up a map and after consulting with some locals, set off on our tramping adventure. We went on a coastal hike which took us all around the outside of the island. Once again, I did not know which way to look: on one side was beautiful water with an incredible view of the many islands surrounding Waiheke, and on the other side were beautiful mountains, hills and vineyards. The tramp was very intense – it was a lot of hiking up and down steep areas and the path was SO narrow that when you left it, the tall grass just went back to where it was. While it was hard, the spectacular views from the top completely made it worth it. Up there, it really felt like I was on top of the world with no one else around – it was very peaceful and just stunning (I know, I’m repeating myself with all of the “beautiful” synonyms but I just don’t know how else to describe it!). The hike ended up taking 6 hours!!! After the coastal hike we were trying to get around to the other side of the island which has one of the most gorgeous beaches in New Zealand. Along the way we ended up climbing and scaling over some rocks, wandered onto a private beach where a helicopter was taking off, walked by a nude beach and a couple sheep! Also, on the side of one of the roads we saw a table filled with different types of jam and a container asking people to put money for the jam inside – it blew my mind how trusting the New Zealand society was that these people were not afraid that others were steal from them. Someone on the trip bought kiwi jam and it was really delicious. We finally made it to the Onetangi beach around 5:30 and the sun was still brightly shining. The beach was really beautiful and the water was so refreshing after the long hike. We hung out there for a bit then caught a bus and the ferry to get back to Auckland. Lets just say that I was completely exhausted after the day long hike but it was so worth it! If you are really interested in the hike (and seeing some of the views) that I did here is a link to a map of Waiheke: http://www.ki-wi.co.nz/map.htm If you look all the way to the middle left where the yellow line ends that is where the ferry dropped us off. We tramped North so up and around the coast along the water to get to Oneroa, then we hiked along the roads through some vineyards to get to Palm Beach (which is where we saw the naked beach and scaled some rocks) then we hiked a combination of along the coast, trails and roads to reach Onetangi Beach. As you see there are so many beautiful coves and it was quite the tramp!
Saturday January 9th
On Saturday the BU program planned a bus tour around Auckland for us but it was run through GOOT. GOOT stands for Get Out Of Town and is a travel company in NZ that makes it so you get great discounts without having to book through travel agents. Online they have a bunch of different places, routes and things to do all over NZ and they gave us a booklet with tons of discount vouchers and the "GOOT game" which basically has a bunch of different activities to do and they have prizes for winners. The person running the GOOT tour is actually one of my geography professors who just did my lecture this morning. Anyway so we were supposed to meet at 9 to get on the bus and my program director is really intense about time so after waiting 10 minutes we ended up leaving a couple people behind because they were late - lets just say I'm so happy I was on time! We first went to Missionary Bay which is one of the local beaches in Auckland about a 10/15 minute bus ride away. It's possible to bike or run to the beach and gives you a nice view of Auckland and surrounding volcanoes/islands. We then went up Mt Eden which is the largest volcano in Auckland. On top of Mt Eden you can see ALL of Auckland and it's just awesome up there! At the bottom of the crater on top of Mt Eden someone had written "I <3 U" in stones which was pretty funny. After admiring the view, we were off again. This time we went to Waitakere Ranges Regional Park. Auckland has 26 Regional Parks around it which has tramping trails and places you can picnic. We went on a 30ish minute hike around and got to see a Kauri tree (one of the big trees that NZ is famous for) and walk around the forest. It was cool to be in the forest because that it was all of NZ used to look like before humans started changing it. There were some rivers flowing through it and even a little water fall! It was such a nice area and really close to where I'm living! After the regional park we went to the black sand dunes. The black sand was INCREDIBLY hot (I kept my sneakers on) but it was beautiful. We walked through the sand and made it to a lake which overlooked a hill with some horses and cows. We stopped there to eat lunch and some of us went swimming. The water was incredibly refreshing and the sand was really cool! It was very thick and you could put it on yourself (which I totally did!). Then we went back to the sand to a HUGE sand dune and we could go sand dune jumping. The sand dune overlooked a river and it was pretty high up, but you just jump a bit before falling into the sand. I watched some people do it and was really scared but I ended up trying it. What you have to do is start far away and spring to what looks like the edge of the dune, jump out and then fall back. Logically I knew that there was sand across the dune but when you're running at the edge it really does seem like it just drops off! I did not jump that far but some people jumped down 9 and 10 meters! We then all ran down the sand dune into the river (which was really really shallow) and walked back to the bus. We then drove a couple of minutes to get to the black sand beach where we had 15 minutes to run out, look at the beach and run back on the bus. The beach was really beautiful with huge mountains surrounding it but once again the sand was insanely hot! We then went back on the bus and drove out to Cooper Creek winery. We had a wine tasting there (where I actually found a couple types of wine that I really like). The vineyard was really nice and it was a really nice end to the day. One of the things which was great about the day was that I was able to see so much of what was around Auckland and that there are so many very different things to do within 30 minutes from downtown!
Sunday January 10th
Since it is still so bright in NZ all the time, a couple of us decided to get up around 9 and go try to find this French Market. We walked around Parnell Rise which is a street that is really close to the UniLodge which has a bunch of cafes. While we weren't able to actually find the French Market (apparently it's only open on Saturday) it was still fun to explore a different part of Auckland and a way for me to figure out where everything is in relation to each other. On our way back we walked by a big sports arena that said "Heineken Open" so figuring it was something related to tennis, I decided to go inside to look around for a match schedule. The man who worked there that I ran into informed me they were still figuring out the schedule (the tournament was due to start the next day) but that a lot of the big tennis players were practicing on the courts now and we were welcome to walk around and watch for free. We saw the big arena with 2 players practicing and some practice courts with other players. We were able to get really close which was cool and it was a great way to eat lunch. Unfortunately I do not know which players I saw but if you are interested feel free to look at: http://www.heinekenopen.co.nz/1/home/ The arena is really close to the UniLodge and I think it's a really good place to know about. After that I spent most of the rest of the day doing errands. I got hiking (or tramping) boots and the guy who was helping me was so fascinated by my American accent which I thought was funny because I find New Zealand accents to be much cooler. Another thing I have noticed about New Zealanders who I have come into contact with is that they are very knowledgeable about the US and are constantly asking about our different presidents and foreign affairs - I kind of wish I had brought my AP US History textbook to NZ instead of reading about NZ before I came! Anyways one of my roommates really like cooking all the time so she made us a really delicious salmon and the rest of us helped with the rice and broccoli. Then I had my first experience with New Zealand laundry. Their washing machines are SO much smaller than the ones I've experienced in the US - they are very shallow! The dryers are a pretty good size though and I guess as long as the job gets done it doesn't matter too much. My roommates and I also watched the movie "snatch" in the UniLodge theater which was fun.
Monday January 11th
I had class again starting on Monday and am trying to realize that I am actually a student here with work to do and that this is not just a vacation. Luckily my geography class is only Tuesday and Wednesday so I had the morning to buy a sleeping bag (way more expensive here) and get my 18+ ID card (so I don't have to keep carrying my passport around!). Then we had class, my roommate made homemade mac & cheese (yumm!) and I went off to the library to try to do some reading. However, the library closes at 10 pm here so I didn't get a lot of work done at all.
Today hasn't been that exciting either. I had class this morning and now I am updating the blog before my next class. I am going to try to figure out how to upload pictures so hopefully I will update this blog really soon with my pictures link!
I would love to hear from you all and hope you are enjoying the blog! Let me know if you have questions or anything!
Miss and love you all a lot!
I hope you are all doing well. I decided that it's been a few days so I should update you all on what is going on down under in New Zealand! I have officially been in Auckland for 1 week and 2 days but it feels like so much longer! I am slowly getting used to daily life here and what it is like to actually be living in Auckland. Just some basic stuff: it has been in the mid 70s on most days and normally is sunny (although it does randomly rain sometimes throughout the day) and I'm still wearing lots of sunscreen. Cars are still driving on the left side of the road, but I am getting a little more used to watching out for cars (although it still freaks me out). Oh and I meant to write this last time, but apparently I had gotten the time difference wrong and it is actually that I am 6 hours behind you but a day ahead (if that makes sense) or 18 hours ahead of you. So anyways here we go:
Friday January 8th (or as the Kiwis would say: 8 January)
On Fridays most people in the program do not have classes so we decided to go on another adventure. Auckland is surrounded by a ton of tiny islands – some more habitable than others. In fact, most of the islands are volcanoes (are you catching on to a theme here?) and within Auckland there are somewhere between 46-52 volcanoes (depending on who you ask). They are all dormant but none of them are considered to be extinct. Anyways, we woke up early and went to an island called Waiheke. It was about a 35 minute ferry ride away. Waiheke is a truly beautiful island. There are a ton of hiking (or as New Zealanders call it: tramping) trails along it so we picked up a map and after consulting with some locals, set off on our tramping adventure. We went on a coastal hike which took us all around the outside of the island. Once again, I did not know which way to look: on one side was beautiful water with an incredible view of the many islands surrounding Waiheke, and on the other side were beautiful mountains, hills and vineyards. The tramp was very intense – it was a lot of hiking up and down steep areas and the path was SO narrow that when you left it, the tall grass just went back to where it was. While it was hard, the spectacular views from the top completely made it worth it. Up there, it really felt like I was on top of the world with no one else around – it was very peaceful and just stunning (I know, I’m repeating myself with all of the “beautiful” synonyms but I just don’t know how else to describe it!). The hike ended up taking 6 hours!!! After the coastal hike we were trying to get around to the other side of the island which has one of the most gorgeous beaches in New Zealand. Along the way we ended up climbing and scaling over some rocks, wandered onto a private beach where a helicopter was taking off, walked by a nude beach and a couple sheep! Also, on the side of one of the roads we saw a table filled with different types of jam and a container asking people to put money for the jam inside – it blew my mind how trusting the New Zealand society was that these people were not afraid that others were steal from them. Someone on the trip bought kiwi jam and it was really delicious. We finally made it to the Onetangi beach around 5:30 and the sun was still brightly shining. The beach was really beautiful and the water was so refreshing after the long hike. We hung out there for a bit then caught a bus and the ferry to get back to Auckland. Lets just say that I was completely exhausted after the day long hike but it was so worth it! If you are really interested in the hike (and seeing some of the views) that I did here is a link to a map of Waiheke: http://www.ki-wi.co.nz/map.htm If you look all the way to the middle left where the yellow line ends that is where the ferry dropped us off. We tramped North so up and around the coast along the water to get to Oneroa, then we hiked along the roads through some vineyards to get to Palm Beach (which is where we saw the naked beach and scaled some rocks) then we hiked a combination of along the coast, trails and roads to reach Onetangi Beach. As you see there are so many beautiful coves and it was quite the tramp!
Saturday January 9th
On Saturday the BU program planned a bus tour around Auckland for us but it was run through GOOT. GOOT stands for Get Out Of Town and is a travel company in NZ that makes it so you get great discounts without having to book through travel agents. Online they have a bunch of different places, routes and things to do all over NZ and they gave us a booklet with tons of discount vouchers and the "GOOT game" which basically has a bunch of different activities to do and they have prizes for winners. The person running the GOOT tour is actually one of my geography professors who just did my lecture this morning. Anyway so we were supposed to meet at 9 to get on the bus and my program director is really intense about time so after waiting 10 minutes we ended up leaving a couple people behind because they were late - lets just say I'm so happy I was on time! We first went to Missionary Bay which is one of the local beaches in Auckland about a 10/15 minute bus ride away. It's possible to bike or run to the beach and gives you a nice view of Auckland and surrounding volcanoes/islands. We then went up Mt Eden which is the largest volcano in Auckland. On top of Mt Eden you can see ALL of Auckland and it's just awesome up there! At the bottom of the crater on top of Mt Eden someone had written "I <3 U" in stones which was pretty funny. After admiring the view, we were off again. This time we went to Waitakere Ranges Regional Park. Auckland has 26 Regional Parks around it which has tramping trails and places you can picnic. We went on a 30ish minute hike around and got to see a Kauri tree (one of the big trees that NZ is famous for) and walk around the forest. It was cool to be in the forest because that it was all of NZ used to look like before humans started changing it. There were some rivers flowing through it and even a little water fall! It was such a nice area and really close to where I'm living! After the regional park we went to the black sand dunes. The black sand was INCREDIBLY hot (I kept my sneakers on) but it was beautiful. We walked through the sand and made it to a lake which overlooked a hill with some horses and cows. We stopped there to eat lunch and some of us went swimming. The water was incredibly refreshing and the sand was really cool! It was very thick and you could put it on yourself (which I totally did!). Then we went back to the sand to a HUGE sand dune and we could go sand dune jumping. The sand dune overlooked a river and it was pretty high up, but you just jump a bit before falling into the sand. I watched some people do it and was really scared but I ended up trying it. What you have to do is start far away and spring to what looks like the edge of the dune, jump out and then fall back. Logically I knew that there was sand across the dune but when you're running at the edge it really does seem like it just drops off! I did not jump that far but some people jumped down 9 and 10 meters! We then all ran down the sand dune into the river (which was really really shallow) and walked back to the bus. We then drove a couple of minutes to get to the black sand beach where we had 15 minutes to run out, look at the beach and run back on the bus. The beach was really beautiful with huge mountains surrounding it but once again the sand was insanely hot! We then went back on the bus and drove out to Cooper Creek winery. We had a wine tasting there (where I actually found a couple types of wine that I really like). The vineyard was really nice and it was a really nice end to the day. One of the things which was great about the day was that I was able to see so much of what was around Auckland and that there are so many very different things to do within 30 minutes from downtown!
Sunday January 10th
Since it is still so bright in NZ all the time, a couple of us decided to get up around 9 and go try to find this French Market. We walked around Parnell Rise which is a street that is really close to the UniLodge which has a bunch of cafes. While we weren't able to actually find the French Market (apparently it's only open on Saturday) it was still fun to explore a different part of Auckland and a way for me to figure out where everything is in relation to each other. On our way back we walked by a big sports arena that said "Heineken Open" so figuring it was something related to tennis, I decided to go inside to look around for a match schedule. The man who worked there that I ran into informed me they were still figuring out the schedule (the tournament was due to start the next day) but that a lot of the big tennis players were practicing on the courts now and we were welcome to walk around and watch for free. We saw the big arena with 2 players practicing and some practice courts with other players. We were able to get really close which was cool and it was a great way to eat lunch. Unfortunately I do not know which players I saw but if you are interested feel free to look at: http://www.heinekenopen.co.nz/1/home/ The arena is really close to the UniLodge and I think it's a really good place to know about. After that I spent most of the rest of the day doing errands. I got hiking (or tramping) boots and the guy who was helping me was so fascinated by my American accent which I thought was funny because I find New Zealand accents to be much cooler. Another thing I have noticed about New Zealanders who I have come into contact with is that they are very knowledgeable about the US and are constantly asking about our different presidents and foreign affairs - I kind of wish I had brought my AP US History textbook to NZ instead of reading about NZ before I came! Anyways one of my roommates really like cooking all the time so she made us a really delicious salmon and the rest of us helped with the rice and broccoli. Then I had my first experience with New Zealand laundry. Their washing machines are SO much smaller than the ones I've experienced in the US - they are very shallow! The dryers are a pretty good size though and I guess as long as the job gets done it doesn't matter too much. My roommates and I also watched the movie "snatch" in the UniLodge theater which was fun.
Monday January 11th
I had class again starting on Monday and am trying to realize that I am actually a student here with work to do and that this is not just a vacation. Luckily my geography class is only Tuesday and Wednesday so I had the morning to buy a sleeping bag (way more expensive here) and get my 18+ ID card (so I don't have to keep carrying my passport around!). Then we had class, my roommate made homemade mac & cheese (yumm!) and I went off to the library to try to do some reading. However, the library closes at 10 pm here so I didn't get a lot of work done at all.
Today hasn't been that exciting either. I had class this morning and now I am updating the blog before my next class. I am going to try to figure out how to upload pictures so hopefully I will update this blog really soon with my pictures link!
I would love to hear from you all and hope you are enjoying the blog! Let me know if you have questions or anything!
Miss and love you all a lot!
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Kia Ora from Auckland!
Hi everyone!
Kia Ora from Auckland! Kia Ora is the Maori welcoming greeting which literally means "be well/healthy" but more informally means "hi!" The Maori are the native New Zealanders and are very much apart of the New Zealand society. In fact, New Zealand's two official languages are Maori and sign language, but everyone speaks English. All government buildings and signs around the city are in both English and Maori. Just a little interesting tidbit to start with. So I have made it to New Zealand and am currently sitting outside of the University of Auckland using their free wireless internet. Now I'll attempt to tell you about everything I've done and seen so far.
The flight from LA to Auckland was much better than I expected. There flight was not full so I had an entire 3 seats to myself and was able to lay across them to sleep (very similar to wheels) so I slept for the majority of the flight. We got into Auckland at around 10 am on Sunday January 3rd. While we were descending it was absolutely gorgeous! The water around Auckland is just beautiful especially with the mountains/volcanos surrounding it. Once we landed we had to go through customs and everything. New Zealand is VERY strict about what they let you bring into the country - especially things like fruits and vegetables so there were signs everywhere! After getting our luggage the group piled up into a van and went to the UniLodge - our home for the next 6 months. The UniLodge is pretty nice and very centrally located which is great. It's less than 10 minutes for me to walk to my class at the University of Auckland which is great, around 5 to get to a supermarket and about 10 to get to Queen Street which seems to be a big center of the city. The UniLodge is split up into different apartments with 2-4 people in each one. My apartment has 4 of us - 2 from BU and 1 from Alabama. The apartment is nice enough it has 2 bathrooms, a common area, kitchen, stoves (no oven though), fridge (which is quite small), freezer and 4 singles. My room is pretty small and oddly shaped but it's alright. The UniLodge also has a big common kitchen, common space, a movie theater area, game room, outdoor patio and a small (literally a 1 lane) pool. The common kitchen and outside area of the UniLodge have been really nice and a great place to hang out and cook/eat dinner with people from the group.
Now I will try to tell you about all the different things I have done since I've been in Auckland. I know it's pretty long, but as always if you have any questions/comments/want more info just let me know and I'll be happy to supply it! I decided it would be easiest for you guys (and me) if I break it down by day. So here we go:
Day One:
After throwing our things down the whole group (37 of us) met downstairs and walked to the Sky Tower for lunch. The Sky tower is downtown and seems like a smaller version of the Seattle Space Needle. There was a lunch buffet inside and we were all starving by this point so ate up (courtesy of the BU program). Then as we walked outside we saw someone free fall off the Sky Tower - I swear I probably screamed louder than the person doing the jump did. I knew that New Zealanders were into adrenaline activities but it was crazy to see it so close! Upon closer inspection he had a chord attached to him (but not bungee) and there was a map/tramboline area that he fell on. After lunch we went to "The Warehouse" which is a much smaller version of target to get necessities like bedding. We then made the walk back to the UniLodge and had a bit of downtime before our UniLodge orientation. Then my suitemates and I went to an internet cafe and dinner. In New Zealand January 2nd is a national holiday (after New Years) but because January 2nd was a Saturday, the national holiday was pushed back to Monday January 4th. Because of this, not much was open on Sunday or Monday. We finally found an asian place for dinner but it was not that great so we all made a mental note not to go back there. We then made our first trip to the supermarket (Count Down) and got essentials like cereal. They have different cereal brands here and I decided on Honey Crispex - they're pretty good. We then went back and hung out with people from the group for a couple hours before going to sleep. It stays SO light in New Zealand though that it didn't really get late until close to 9 pm and then it got light again before 6 am - guess I'm going to have to get used to lots of sunlight while I sleep!
Day Two:
Monday January 4th was our "orientation" day. I had a University of Auckland orientation early in the morning. However, because of the public holiday we had to have our orientation in the bar/museum Forde's next to the UniLodge. I am pretty positive that is the only time I'm going to have an orientation in a bar. We then had our BU orientation, broke for lunch for the one place that was open - a food court that was slow and very overwhelmed by the entire program going in to eat at the same time! Then we met back at Forde's to do the internship part of the orientation. Then anyone who wanted to was given a tour of University of Auckland and Auckland University of Technology (about half the group is at each school, but the campuses are really close together). It was so nice seeing the campus and I am starting to figure out where everything is! We then had the rest of the afternoon free. One of my apartment mate's and I went to the supermarket again and stocked up on food. Lets just say the peanut butter here is NOT like it is at home and I miss Skippy's. But I guess I'll get used to it (just like soynut butter) throughout the semester. They also don't have jelly or grape jelly/jam so I had to settle for strawberry jam. The supermarket is pretty nice actually and has most things which is very convenient! The problem is fitting everything into the fridge. Then the group met downstairs at 5:30 to go to our "pub night." The director took us to a pub which is in a beautiful section of Auckland - right on the water! He gave us each a voucher for a free drink and gave us LOTS of delicious appetizers. Afterwards a bunch of us walked around the water area and checked out different places.
Day Three:
Tuesday January 5th was our first day of classes at the University of Auckland. We got up early and the program director walked us over to the campus center to get our ID passwords so we could check where/when our classes meet. I also got a notebook from the bookstore and discovered that New Zealand uses much bigger paper than the US and hence uses different types of folders. Anyways, I found out that I got into Geography 207 which meets Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 9-11 am. The class also includes a 1 week field trip during the 1st week of February to Northland (which not going to lie, is the reason I decided to sign up for the class). There is a pretty big group of BU people in the class but the rest of the students are New Zealanders. I think it'll be such a great way to get to know Kiwis (what New Zealanders call themselves) on the field trip. We got to class and it actually seems like it is going to be a really good class. On the first day we talked about how people see landscapes differently based on their past experiences, which I find to be interesting. The class actually has 3 lecturers who rotate around. I've only had the first one so far, but he seems good. The coursework doesn't seem too difficult either - we just have an essay (less than 5 pages) and a final exam, in addition to different activities we will be completing during the field trip. We also have reading assigned but the professor hasn't really told us how to access them. He mentioned something called "cecil" which seems like Brandeis' "latte" but I'm not really sure how it works so I'll have to go to the internet help desk to figure it out. Anyways after that I had a few hours free before my next class so I went back to the Warehouse to get plastic drawers and other things (which was NOT at all pleasant to carry back). Then from 4-6 I had my New Zealand Culture class that everyone in the BU program needs to take. The classroom is at the Auckland University of Technology (less than a 20 minute walk away). The class seems really interesting and also has 3 different lecturers and field trips included. The coursework is one essay and two exams (based on the breakup by the professors). We learned different Maori works and then we all listed off the facts we know so far about New Zealand - which the professor greatly expanded upon. It was so fascinating to see what we had already learned about New Zealand in just a couple of days! In a later post I'll write to you about everything I've noticed about New Zealand culture so stay tuned! After class a bunch of us went to a street restaurant called "The Lady Burger." It's basically this huge van on the side of one of the streets that serves huge burgers. I got the "veggie deluxe" which has a veggie burger, fried egg, pineapple, lettuce, tomato and onion. It was absolutely delicious and very messy to eat! After that we came back and hung around the UniLodge.
Day Four:
Wednesday January 6th I had my geography class again. It's so funny because I've never had a 9 am class at Brandeis but here I am with one in Auckland but so far it has not been a big deal at all. The sun is SO bright in Auckland that I've been automatically waking up early anyways (it also stays light out late - usually until after 9!). Anyways so after not having a problem getting up, I looked out my window and saw a HUGE traffic jam outside. My class is less than 10 minutes away and I was just thinking how nice it is that I don't have to deal with the traffic because I can just walk to class - WRONG! Apparently they are filming the new "Yogi Bear" movie right next to where I am living so the entire street was blocked off to pedestrians and cars. The traffic jam I saw was actually part of the set from the movie. They had cars on the American side of the road (which was funny to see in NZ) and a lot of the cars had fake Montana license plates (which looked nothing like Montana license plates) it was hilarious. Anyways it was a bit difficult to get to class though. Luckily I was with other people going to the same class and the Yogi Bear people helped us get around (we basically had to do a loop around the park to get to our class). So after finally making it there, the second geog class was good. We talked about one of my favorite topics - SCHOOLS!! Honestly, I almost started laughing when I realized we were talking about something that I spent at least half of my classes at Brandeis talking about in a geography class. It was really interesting because we were examining how the government has been making some schools in Northland close down due to lack of resources and they think a merge would be better, but then that impacts the town's sense of community. Let's just say I was paying very close attention the whole class! Then during my break I FINALLY got a phone that works - YAY and figured out how to use that and skype :) Then we had the New Zealand Culture class again (did I mention that it is Monday - Thursday 4-6 and sometimes 4-7) - it was a 4-7 day and it was kind of hard to sit through a 3 hour class at that time. We talked about Maori myths which are really fascinating and the first people and settlers of New Zealand. After class we were all starving! A group of us went to the supermarket and got stuff to make kebobs. It took a while to get everything assembled but it was so worth it and delicious!
Day Five:
Thursday January 7th (today) a bunch of us did not have class until 4 (because Auckland University of Technology does not start until next week and everyone in geog class only has class on tues and weds) so we decided to have an adventure! We met at 8:45 am in the lobby and took the ferry to Devonport. The ferry cost $10 roundtrip (which is really around $7 US) and was around 10 minutes away. Devonport is such a cute quaint town! The houses are adorable and it is right on the harbor connecting it to Auckland. Devonport is considered a suburb of Auckland. We first went and climbed Mt Victoria which is a dormant volcano. The view from the top was absolutely breathtaking and I took lots of pictures (which I will hopefully figure out how to upload for you all soon!). Mt Victoria is really not that big and more like a tall hill kind of. We hung out up there for a while and then went back down. As we were figuring out what we were going to do next, a New Zealander walked by and made a suggestion which we readily followed. We went to North Head national park which was around a 10 minute walk from Mt Victoria. We went around the outside of it, through a tunnel and then walked along this path right by the water - it was GORGEOUS! On my left were magnificent rock formations from North Head and on my right was the water with rocks and an incredible view - lets just say that I did not know which way to look because it was all unbelievable! We then came to a small beach clearing and some people ;went swimming. I just walked in and climbed on some rocks with another girl and we found really cool fossils! After spending some time there we walked around the rest of the park and decided we were all hungry so went in search of lunch. I found a good fish 'n chips place and we ate them in the park. We then took the ferry back and had an hour before our New Zealand Culture class. I was exhausted from being in the sun all day (don't worry I put LOTS of sunscreen on and reapplied many times to protect me from the lack of ozone over NZ and tried to stay in the shade as much as possible and drank water). The class was interesting again today though. We talked about the tattoos that some Maori put on their face and their bodies and watched a movie about how New Zealand came to be (apparently it used to be part of a massive continent with Australia, Antarctica, South Africa and more then drifted away, and then the plates shifted and the whole country reorganized itself - because of where New Zealand sits there are lots of earthquakes daily but we can't feel them in Auckland - more in the South). Then I came back and made some dinner (salad and pasta) and now I'm writing this blog to you!
It's getting dark now so I'm going to head back to the UniLodge (a mere 2 minutes away). I hope you all enjoyed my update! Let me know if you have any feedback or want to hear more about anything I wrote about! I would love to hear what is going on with all of you so please update me on your lives when you get a chance!!
Lots of love from New Zealand!
Kia Ora from Auckland! Kia Ora is the Maori welcoming greeting which literally means "be well/healthy" but more informally means "hi!" The Maori are the native New Zealanders and are very much apart of the New Zealand society. In fact, New Zealand's two official languages are Maori and sign language, but everyone speaks English. All government buildings and signs around the city are in both English and Maori. Just a little interesting tidbit to start with. So I have made it to New Zealand and am currently sitting outside of the University of Auckland using their free wireless internet. Now I'll attempt to tell you about everything I've done and seen so far.
The flight from LA to Auckland was much better than I expected. There flight was not full so I had an entire 3 seats to myself and was able to lay across them to sleep (very similar to wheels) so I slept for the majority of the flight. We got into Auckland at around 10 am on Sunday January 3rd. While we were descending it was absolutely gorgeous! The water around Auckland is just beautiful especially with the mountains/volcanos surrounding it. Once we landed we had to go through customs and everything. New Zealand is VERY strict about what they let you bring into the country - especially things like fruits and vegetables so there were signs everywhere! After getting our luggage the group piled up into a van and went to the UniLodge - our home for the next 6 months. The UniLodge is pretty nice and very centrally located which is great. It's less than 10 minutes for me to walk to my class at the University of Auckland which is great, around 5 to get to a supermarket and about 10 to get to Queen Street which seems to be a big center of the city. The UniLodge is split up into different apartments with 2-4 people in each one. My apartment has 4 of us - 2 from BU and 1 from Alabama. The apartment is nice enough it has 2 bathrooms, a common area, kitchen, stoves (no oven though), fridge (which is quite small), freezer and 4 singles. My room is pretty small and oddly shaped but it's alright. The UniLodge also has a big common kitchen, common space, a movie theater area, game room, outdoor patio and a small (literally a 1 lane) pool. The common kitchen and outside area of the UniLodge have been really nice and a great place to hang out and cook/eat dinner with people from the group.
Now I will try to tell you about all the different things I have done since I've been in Auckland. I know it's pretty long, but as always if you have any questions/comments/want more info just let me know and I'll be happy to supply it! I decided it would be easiest for you guys (and me) if I break it down by day. So here we go:
Day One:
After throwing our things down the whole group (37 of us) met downstairs and walked to the Sky Tower for lunch. The Sky tower is downtown and seems like a smaller version of the Seattle Space Needle. There was a lunch buffet inside and we were all starving by this point so ate up (courtesy of the BU program). Then as we walked outside we saw someone free fall off the Sky Tower - I swear I probably screamed louder than the person doing the jump did. I knew that New Zealanders were into adrenaline activities but it was crazy to see it so close! Upon closer inspection he had a chord attached to him (but not bungee) and there was a map/tramboline area that he fell on. After lunch we went to "The Warehouse" which is a much smaller version of target to get necessities like bedding. We then made the walk back to the UniLodge and had a bit of downtime before our UniLodge orientation. Then my suitemates and I went to an internet cafe and dinner. In New Zealand January 2nd is a national holiday (after New Years) but because January 2nd was a Saturday, the national holiday was pushed back to Monday January 4th. Because of this, not much was open on Sunday or Monday. We finally found an asian place for dinner but it was not that great so we all made a mental note not to go back there. We then made our first trip to the supermarket (Count Down) and got essentials like cereal. They have different cereal brands here and I decided on Honey Crispex - they're pretty good. We then went back and hung out with people from the group for a couple hours before going to sleep. It stays SO light in New Zealand though that it didn't really get late until close to 9 pm and then it got light again before 6 am - guess I'm going to have to get used to lots of sunlight while I sleep!
Day Two:
Monday January 4th was our "orientation" day. I had a University of Auckland orientation early in the morning. However, because of the public holiday we had to have our orientation in the bar/museum Forde's next to the UniLodge. I am pretty positive that is the only time I'm going to have an orientation in a bar. We then had our BU orientation, broke for lunch for the one place that was open - a food court that was slow and very overwhelmed by the entire program going in to eat at the same time! Then we met back at Forde's to do the internship part of the orientation. Then anyone who wanted to was given a tour of University of Auckland and Auckland University of Technology (about half the group is at each school, but the campuses are really close together). It was so nice seeing the campus and I am starting to figure out where everything is! We then had the rest of the afternoon free. One of my apartment mate's and I went to the supermarket again and stocked up on food. Lets just say the peanut butter here is NOT like it is at home and I miss Skippy's. But I guess I'll get used to it (just like soynut butter) throughout the semester. They also don't have jelly or grape jelly/jam so I had to settle for strawberry jam. The supermarket is pretty nice actually and has most things which is very convenient! The problem is fitting everything into the fridge. Then the group met downstairs at 5:30 to go to our "pub night." The director took us to a pub which is in a beautiful section of Auckland - right on the water! He gave us each a voucher for a free drink and gave us LOTS of delicious appetizers. Afterwards a bunch of us walked around the water area and checked out different places.
Day Three:
Tuesday January 5th was our first day of classes at the University of Auckland. We got up early and the program director walked us over to the campus center to get our ID passwords so we could check where/when our classes meet. I also got a notebook from the bookstore and discovered that New Zealand uses much bigger paper than the US and hence uses different types of folders. Anyways, I found out that I got into Geography 207 which meets Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 9-11 am. The class also includes a 1 week field trip during the 1st week of February to Northland (which not going to lie, is the reason I decided to sign up for the class). There is a pretty big group of BU people in the class but the rest of the students are New Zealanders. I think it'll be such a great way to get to know Kiwis (what New Zealanders call themselves) on the field trip. We got to class and it actually seems like it is going to be a really good class. On the first day we talked about how people see landscapes differently based on their past experiences, which I find to be interesting. The class actually has 3 lecturers who rotate around. I've only had the first one so far, but he seems good. The coursework doesn't seem too difficult either - we just have an essay (less than 5 pages) and a final exam, in addition to different activities we will be completing during the field trip. We also have reading assigned but the professor hasn't really told us how to access them. He mentioned something called "cecil" which seems like Brandeis' "latte" but I'm not really sure how it works so I'll have to go to the internet help desk to figure it out. Anyways after that I had a few hours free before my next class so I went back to the Warehouse to get plastic drawers and other things (which was NOT at all pleasant to carry back). Then from 4-6 I had my New Zealand Culture class that everyone in the BU program needs to take. The classroom is at the Auckland University of Technology (less than a 20 minute walk away). The class seems really interesting and also has 3 different lecturers and field trips included. The coursework is one essay and two exams (based on the breakup by the professors). We learned different Maori works and then we all listed off the facts we know so far about New Zealand - which the professor greatly expanded upon. It was so fascinating to see what we had already learned about New Zealand in just a couple of days! In a later post I'll write to you about everything I've noticed about New Zealand culture so stay tuned! After class a bunch of us went to a street restaurant called "The Lady Burger." It's basically this huge van on the side of one of the streets that serves huge burgers. I got the "veggie deluxe" which has a veggie burger, fried egg, pineapple, lettuce, tomato and onion. It was absolutely delicious and very messy to eat! After that we came back and hung around the UniLodge.
Day Four:
Wednesday January 6th I had my geography class again. It's so funny because I've never had a 9 am class at Brandeis but here I am with one in Auckland but so far it has not been a big deal at all. The sun is SO bright in Auckland that I've been automatically waking up early anyways (it also stays light out late - usually until after 9!). Anyways so after not having a problem getting up, I looked out my window and saw a HUGE traffic jam outside. My class is less than 10 minutes away and I was just thinking how nice it is that I don't have to deal with the traffic because I can just walk to class - WRONG! Apparently they are filming the new "Yogi Bear" movie right next to where I am living so the entire street was blocked off to pedestrians and cars. The traffic jam I saw was actually part of the set from the movie. They had cars on the American side of the road (which was funny to see in NZ) and a lot of the cars had fake Montana license plates (which looked nothing like Montana license plates) it was hilarious. Anyways it was a bit difficult to get to class though. Luckily I was with other people going to the same class and the Yogi Bear people helped us get around (we basically had to do a loop around the park to get to our class). So after finally making it there, the second geog class was good. We talked about one of my favorite topics - SCHOOLS!! Honestly, I almost started laughing when I realized we were talking about something that I spent at least half of my classes at Brandeis talking about in a geography class. It was really interesting because we were examining how the government has been making some schools in Northland close down due to lack of resources and they think a merge would be better, but then that impacts the town's sense of community. Let's just say I was paying very close attention the whole class! Then during my break I FINALLY got a phone that works - YAY and figured out how to use that and skype :) Then we had the New Zealand Culture class again (did I mention that it is Monday - Thursday 4-6 and sometimes 4-7) - it was a 4-7 day and it was kind of hard to sit through a 3 hour class at that time. We talked about Maori myths which are really fascinating and the first people and settlers of New Zealand. After class we were all starving! A group of us went to the supermarket and got stuff to make kebobs. It took a while to get everything assembled but it was so worth it and delicious!
Day Five:
Thursday January 7th (today) a bunch of us did not have class until 4 (because Auckland University of Technology does not start until next week and everyone in geog class only has class on tues and weds) so we decided to have an adventure! We met at 8:45 am in the lobby and took the ferry to Devonport. The ferry cost $10 roundtrip (which is really around $7 US) and was around 10 minutes away. Devonport is such a cute quaint town! The houses are adorable and it is right on the harbor connecting it to Auckland. Devonport is considered a suburb of Auckland. We first went and climbed Mt Victoria which is a dormant volcano. The view from the top was absolutely breathtaking and I took lots of pictures (which I will hopefully figure out how to upload for you all soon!). Mt Victoria is really not that big and more like a tall hill kind of. We hung out up there for a while and then went back down. As we were figuring out what we were going to do next, a New Zealander walked by and made a suggestion which we readily followed. We went to North Head national park which was around a 10 minute walk from Mt Victoria. We went around the outside of it, through a tunnel and then walked along this path right by the water - it was GORGEOUS! On my left were magnificent rock formations from North Head and on my right was the water with rocks and an incredible view - lets just say that I did not know which way to look because it was all unbelievable! We then came to a small beach clearing and some people ;went swimming. I just walked in and climbed on some rocks with another girl and we found really cool fossils! After spending some time there we walked around the rest of the park and decided we were all hungry so went in search of lunch. I found a good fish 'n chips place and we ate them in the park. We then took the ferry back and had an hour before our New Zealand Culture class. I was exhausted from being in the sun all day (don't worry I put LOTS of sunscreen on and reapplied many times to protect me from the lack of ozone over NZ and tried to stay in the shade as much as possible and drank water). The class was interesting again today though. We talked about the tattoos that some Maori put on their face and their bodies and watched a movie about how New Zealand came to be (apparently it used to be part of a massive continent with Australia, Antarctica, South Africa and more then drifted away, and then the plates shifted and the whole country reorganized itself - because of where New Zealand sits there are lots of earthquakes daily but we can't feel them in Auckland - more in the South). Then I came back and made some dinner (salad and pasta) and now I'm writing this blog to you!
It's getting dark now so I'm going to head back to the UniLodge (a mere 2 minutes away). I hope you all enjoyed my update! Let me know if you have any feedback or want to hear more about anything I wrote about! I would love to hear what is going on with all of you so please update me on your lives when you get a chance!!
Lots of love from New Zealand!
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Introduction
Hi!
So if you are reading this blog then you probably know that I am studying abroad in New Zealand, but just to clear everything up, officially: I am participating in the Boston University Study Abroad Internship Program in Auckland, New Zealand for the next 6 months! I am going to be taking 2 classes during the summer term, and 1 class and doing an internship during the fall term (oh right, the seasons are reversed so it will be summer when I get there!!). I am taking a New Zealand culture class with the BU program, but otherwise my classes will be taught at the University of Auckland. Auckland is a big city in the North Island of New Zealand.
I am currently in the LAX airport waiting for my flight to Auckland. It has been a quite a busy new year's day filled with lots of traveling! I flew from Hartford to Chicago and am now in LA. My flight to Auckland is supposed to be about 12.5 hours, but I'll let you know when I actually get there. When I arrive in New Zealand, it will be morning on January 3rd while it is still in the afternoon on the 2nd for most of you at home. The time change seems pretty drastic, but I guess I'll get used to it! As far as I understand it, New Zealand is 16 hours ahead of the East Coast of the USA, or 8 hours behind on a day ahead (if that makes sense). Hopefully after 6 months there, I'll be an expert!
As most of you know, this is my first blog so please bear with me as I try to figure it out. I am not sure exactly how the internet connection works down under, but I've been told there is definitely internet at the University of Auckland so hopefully I will figure out how it all works soon! I will hopefully be updating this blog pretty frequently so that you guys can hear about everything I am doing in New Zealand! If you have any requests of what you would like to hear about, questions, more information or feedback let me know!! Apparently you can "comment" on these posts (which I'm also not really sure how it works but I don't think it is that hard) or else you can always e-mail me at: LSOL817@gmail.com
I think that's all for now. I'll write more when I'm actually in New Zealand!!
So if you are reading this blog then you probably know that I am studying abroad in New Zealand, but just to clear everything up, officially: I am participating in the Boston University Study Abroad Internship Program in Auckland, New Zealand for the next 6 months! I am going to be taking 2 classes during the summer term, and 1 class and doing an internship during the fall term (oh right, the seasons are reversed so it will be summer when I get there!!). I am taking a New Zealand culture class with the BU program, but otherwise my classes will be taught at the University of Auckland. Auckland is a big city in the North Island of New Zealand.
I am currently in the LAX airport waiting for my flight to Auckland. It has been a quite a busy new year's day filled with lots of traveling! I flew from Hartford to Chicago and am now in LA. My flight to Auckland is supposed to be about 12.5 hours, but I'll let you know when I actually get there. When I arrive in New Zealand, it will be morning on January 3rd while it is still in the afternoon on the 2nd for most of you at home. The time change seems pretty drastic, but I guess I'll get used to it! As far as I understand it, New Zealand is 16 hours ahead of the East Coast of the USA, or 8 hours behind on a day ahead (if that makes sense). Hopefully after 6 months there, I'll be an expert!
As most of you know, this is my first blog so please bear with me as I try to figure it out. I am not sure exactly how the internet connection works down under, but I've been told there is definitely internet at the University of Auckland so hopefully I will figure out how it all works soon! I will hopefully be updating this blog pretty frequently so that you guys can hear about everything I am doing in New Zealand! If you have any requests of what you would like to hear about, questions, more information or feedback let me know!! Apparently you can "comment" on these posts (which I'm also not really sure how it works but I don't think it is that hard) or else you can always e-mail me at: LSOL817@gmail.com
I think that's all for now. I'll write more when I'm actually in New Zealand!!
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