observations

i figured it was time for some fun "facts" about NZ...  i'll keep adding them as i remember, but here's a few:

yes, a lot of the guys here have rat tails and mullets.  the rat tails aren't terrible because they're usually accompanied by a faux- or mohawk so it doesn't look too bad.  but man have i seen some SICK mullets!

a majority of their tv shows are from the states, but they're a year behind in airing, so i can't watch shows online because of a licensing issue... so i'll have to wait until i get home to watch the office... bummer

there's a huge cadbury (like the chocolate) factory in dunedin on the south island.  almost all their candy is cadbury.

new zealand likes to name things by characteristics of the items or what it looks like.  there's tons of these, but my favorites and the only ones i can think of now are sticky plasters (bandaids) and throaties (halls/cough drops).  these aren't too crazy, but there a candy called crunchies and pinkys, as well as a cheetoh-like product called twisties.  i'll add more when i come by them

a little taste of other kiwi lingo:  togs=bathing suit;  jandals=flip flops;  lollies=candy; chippies, crispies, crisps=chips

history, foga, and clubs

Yesterday was an interesting day.  I was so lost in the sports history class:  not only do i know very little about the sports we were talking about, but i know very little NZ and british history (at least not well enough to keep up).   it was alright because it was just lecture for the first half, but then we read a short article and proceeded to discuss it.  it was about the history of south african racism and rugby.  the teacher asked me something about rugby history and i had no idea what he was talking about.  oh well, i guess i'm getting what i wanted- to learn about their sports which i know nothing about.

later on i ended up going to the "foga" party, and it was actually pretty fun albeit a little gross.  there was a live band and a foam machine.  we pretty much just picked the foam up off the floor and rubbed/threw it on each other.  i hope someone puts some pictures on facebook so i can transfer them over here.  my toga looked awesome too. haha

today was clubs day on campus, ergo all the clubs had a table set up in the center of campus where we could sign up.  lyndsay (one of my flatmates) and i went a little crazy and signed up for several clubs.  if i'm remembering them all, i signed up for the alpine club (outdoorsy stuff), the surfing club (they'll teach us and let us borrow boards and wet suits!), the summit club (more outdoorsy stuff), the fire club, ultimate frisbee (i'll probably never do this one, but i was standing by the table and the guy told me to just sign up), and, if i'm not forgetting something, volleyball.  i asked if they needed a setter and they said they did, so i'm going to try to go that route.  plus, they only practice once a week for two hours, so i'm down with that.  there's only two tournaments while i'm here though, so i might lose interest.  we'll see how much of this stuff i can handle, and i think it's going to be an adventure...

school started today...

classes (they call them papers) commenced today, and i had sports history at 9am, world politics at 1pm, and modern philosophy at 3pm.  we mostly just got syllabi today, but the classes are normally two hours of lecture each class period, twice a week.  it seems like a long time, but i think the profs encourage discussion so maybe it won't be too unbearable.  plus they seem to be pretty cool classes.    there's only one exam, a final, for each paper that is 50-60% of the grade, which is a little daunting, but they've already given us previous exam questions so that's good.  other than the final, i'll have one to two essays (20-25%) and possibly a presentation or participation grade.  it kind of makes me nervous to not have anything due until april though... i don't have my other paper (politics of culture) until friday.  yeah it's only once a week for two hours as far as i know.

it's way different from what i'm used to, so if you're interested, the breakdown of my schedule is as follows:  monday 9-11, 1-3, 3-5; tuesday 3-5; wednesday 3-5; thursday none; friday 9-11, 1-3.  not too bad- at least i get most of my classes done towards the beginning of the week.

it's "super O week" here, which apparently is a pretty big deal.  i guess the first week of the semester is like a big celebration.  tomorrow there's a "foga" party (foam-toga; i'm not sure if that really appeals to me), there's also several bands playing on campus throughout the week and some new zealand comedians that are coming.  i'm sure there's free food somewhere in there too.

we're also trying to get a weekend trip set up to go to the bay of plenty and cape reinga (to go dune surfing!).  hopefully we can get that going before everything gets too crazy with school.  oh yeah, and unfortunately, i don't think i'll get to see an all blacks rugby game - the only game reasonably close is in wellington and it's june 20 - the day we're flying out :(. oh well, we'll just have to go see the super 14 or whatever they are.

Belated video 1

I've finally figured this posting videos thing out thanks to kyle's technical help, so that's why this is a little late.  i'll try to put some others up eventually.  

this is what zorbing is.  this isn't a video of me, but i wanted y'all to see it in action.  and this is actually a person who was suspended in the ball, so just imagine people sliding inside.

volleyball and second degree burns

so i've already told a few people, but i'm being actively recruited by the volleyball team here, haha.  on one of the first days of orientation, this lady came up to me and asked me if i played volleyball.  i guess i just look like a volleyball player.  so she told me that they needed a middle (gag) and when they were practicing.  the next day i was at the mall (or "the plaza") and this lady came up to me and did the same thing.  I'm not sure what i'm going to do yet, but i think i'm going to at least check it out and see how serious it is and what position i'd have to play.  

On a related note, there was a campus wide volleyball tourney where all the halls played each other.  we had a pretty solid team and we won, undefeated, and we got a t-shirt.  it was funny though because a lot of the kiwis didn't wear shoes to play.  in fact, they don't wear shoes to a lot of places, like walking around downtown.

we also went to foxton beach, which is only about a 30 min drive from town and it was pretty cool.  i did, however, get completely fried.  i mean bad.  like second degree burns.  apparently the ozone here is bad so you have to make sure to pile on the sunscreen.  i didn't know this until after the fact, so being a texan, i was thinking i could handle a few hours in the sun without sunscreen. oops, boy was i wrong.   that was one of the most painful nights ever.  now i know, and knowing is half the battle.   Ray took a picture of my pathetic state, and although it's sideways, i think it shows my burns all too well.  that was my posture of choice for the majority of the night - it was the least painful.

kairanga courts

here's my court and what's around it.... like a jail eh?

In Palmy

Saturday afternoon we took a bus ride to our final destination, Palmerston North.  By this time, our once large group dwindled to about 13 of us going to Massey.  Although I was quite exhausted, the 5 hour bus ride flew by, watching the scenery as we drove through the countryside and listening to some classic rock (the eagles seemed perfect for the occasion, as did tom petty and "saturday in the park").  We passed by one of those lakes i've only seen on tv or movies - you know, the ones with the white sandy beaches and water you can actually see through.  The overall beauty of the country seemed quite surreal, and i hear the south island is even more beautiful, so i can't wait for that!  

It was a little weird getting off our bus and all heading in different directions to our respective dorms and flats, but at the same time it was nice to have some alone time to pack and get settled in.  I'm not on a meal plan, so me and a few others in the same boat headed off to the "pak n save" (i'm guessing a rip off of sak n save? hah).  that was an overwhelming experience.  it is extremely huge, and the only thing i could recognize were some of the fruits and vegetables.  It seemed to be poorly organized, but maybe it's just because i didn't know any of the labels.  they didn't have turkey sandwich meat, which i suppose makes sense, but it still surprised me a little.  they're all about chicken flavored chips (or crisps or crispies or chippies - i've heard all three).  I have yet to try those, though i am curious.  They didn't have grape jam either much to my chagrin.  I managed to get a few things to last me through the week so i left relatively satisfied, albeit concerned about making the trip to this store once a week or so.  Apparently NZ is ahead in the "green" trend, because they charge you for plastic bags, and it seems as though locals rarely use them.  It only took us one trip to figure out to bring our own bag or backpack for our shopping excursions.   did i mention that it's a 45 min walk to town?  a little farther than i originally thought, but it's a nice walk.  fortunately there's also a free bus to take.  

I'm going to eventually take some pictures of my dorm for y'all, because it is very reminiscent of a jail.  I'm not too picky, but the resemblance is amusing.  there's four of us to a "pod" and while we have our own rooms, we share a toilet, kitchen and shower.  the good thing is, we have a cleaner come once a week and all the toilet paper we can use!  However, I almost had a meltdown when i saw clotheslines in our courtyard and found only one washer.  The next day i found our washing room complete with several washers and dryers, so i was quite relieved, but just thinking about being forced to hang dry my clothes every week was nauseating.  Yeah, maybe i'm a little spoiled.  Oh, on that note, i haven't seen any dryer sheets anywhere... odd

Despite it's outward appearance, i quite like our "court."  it's a lot of americans, but everyone i've met has been pretty cool, and one of the first nights we were here we went out and played soccer on one of the fields right behind our court.  literally right behind it.  i'm terrible at soccer, but it's been so long since i've just gone out and randomly done something like that.  At least for now, it seems like people are much more willing to do things spontaneously rather than planning forever.  maybe it's because no one has a car... time shall tell i suppose.

I went to a couple of orientation things, but honestly it was mostly stuff i've been hearing since my freshman year, so I've been choosing my sessions wisely :).  There was a big presentation the other night with a guy who talked to about the dangers of alcohol and the "roller coaster ride of" something.  hadn't heard that before... ironically, as with every place you'll visit in NZ, they were serving alcohol at the place.  everything in moderation i suppose

I was very proud of my packing job, but i didn't do such a great job.  it gets a lot colder here than i thought, and it's still summer.  i was prepared for texas weather.  and a pair of my "good" shorts mysteriously got a hole in the back... should've brought that needle and thread like mom suggested!  

On another note, I have a really good internal clock.  I've set my alarms about five separate times since i've been here, and every time i've woken up 5-30 mins before it's supposed to go off.  cool.  They also have excellent tap water here.

i don't know what i'm doing

top:  place we went caving

next:  ray and i in traditional maori garb

third:  zorbing

fourth:  hot pool in Rotorua

last:  me in front of the governor's house (or something) in rotorua

Finally

Ok, that didn't work.  I was trying to copy from word... let's try again...

I don’t really know how to start this except by saying that this is going to be an enormously long post.  I haven’t had adequate time on the computer until now (I finally got a converter), so yeah…

I guess I’ll start with the flight and arrival.  There were a few minor bumps in this event, leading me to feel slightly overwhelmed.  However, the part I was most concerned about, the actual 13 hour flight, was not all that bad.  Much to my chagrin, there was as much space as a regular flight in the U.S., which I was deeply concerned about since my legs are slightly longer than the average person.  I might have suffered from deep vein thrombosis like my mom had warned me of, as I only got up twice and occasionally had searing pain in my bum.  I didn’t have a good excuse for not getting up as I was in the aisle seat, but I was cold and cuddled up in my blanket instead.  We arrived in Auckland and met up with the Australearn crew at 5:30am their time and it was overcast, but eventually the clouds cleared and we could see the beauty of the country.

 

We went directly from Auckland to Rotorua, which is famous for it’s thermal pools (i.e. it smells like sulphur).  That smell didn’t really bother me too much, and it didn’t bother me at all after a few hours.  We stayed at a hostel in Rotorua, and I was surprised – although I don’t know why – that there was no air conditioning in the rooms, just windows.  It was pretty hot and sticky when we got there, so I was thinking that that wasn’t going to fly with me, but it cooled off a lot at night and I actually woke up cold.  I realize now that air conditioning is a rarity, but I suppose it’s not Texas.

 

The next day was quite exciting.  In the morning, we had breakfast at the hostel, where I tried some Marmite (the NZ equivalent of Vegemite).  It is pretty sick, I’m not going to lie, but it wasn’t completely unbearable.  Then we went to the “World Famous Live Sheep Show.”  I wasn’t extremely thrilled about this, but I did think it’d be cool to see a sheep being shorn.  It was pretty awesome see all the different kinds of sheep that were herded on stage and the stuff that the sheepdogs could do.  I won’t try to explain it in too much detail, because I took some videos so y’all can see for yourselves.

 

In the afternoon, we went Zorbing.  It’s hard to explain, and again I took videos of random people doing it just so you could get the gist of what the hell is going on.  But basically, three of us got into a giant plastic ball (like a hamster) that had a little water in it and then we rolled down a hill.  It’s kind of like extreme slip and slide.  It was pretty awesome – you’d have to try it to truly understand; unfortunately, Rotorua is the only place in the world to have it.

 

When we got done with that, we went back to the hostel and learned how to do the “Haka.”  The Haka is the war dance that the All Blacks (NZ’s rugby team) before their games.  It’s pretty hilarious and awesome.  I wasn’t able to get a video of us doing this, but I did get some pictures of us in some of the traditional garb that we had to wear.  I’m sure you can youtube the Haka and watch it if you are interested.  Of course they’ll look a lot cooler than we did!

 

After the Haka, we went to a show where we saw a show that taught us a little history about the Maori people (pronounced more or less like “mowry” with a short “o” like “ow” not “mow”- good explanation, Shelly!).  It was pretty cool, even though they told us not to laugh or smile which made it hard not to, naturally. I really liked one of the songs they sang.  After the show, we had a “hangi” dinner.  Hangi is a style of cooking they do where they cook the food underneath the fire, so it has a really smoky flavor to it.  It wasn’t bad, but I honestly wasn’t thoroughly impressed.  I’ve decided that I want to try all kinds of things while I’m here, so I tried mussels.  Talk about disgusting!  Probably one of the grossest things I’ve ever eaten.  There is hardly any flavor to them, and the texture is terrible - even thinking about the endless chewing I had to do before being about to swallow it makes me want to vomit.  Even so, however, I’m glad I tried them so that I never have to eat them again.  We took a bus to this place, and the driver was pretty awesome.  When he picked us up, he greeted us in like 54 languages and then sang songs from several random countries.  He was pretty funny, and on the way back he drove us around a roundabout about (that’s fun to say) 7 times. 

 

The next day was pretty exciting too.  We drove a few hours to a place called Waitomo where we went caving.  I’m fairly claustrophobic, but it wasn’t too bad.  It was a wet cave, so they gave us wetsuits, boots, and a helmet with a little light on it.  It took about four hours to go through it, but it was so fun.  We floated in the water, climbed around on sharp rocks, squeezed through seemingly impossible passageways, and saw some glowworms on the ceiling.  The night too, was quite fun.  We hung out at the bar at the hostel for a while, and then went to see some comedians at a local bar.  It was hilarious and interesting to see what their sense of humor is here.  Oh yeah, and later that night Ray got mugged.  Don’t worry, she didn’t get hurt – they even gave her a hug after they got some money.  It’s funny only because she wasn’t hurt.

On Saturday, we left for Palmerston North.  It was a fairly long bus ride, at around 5 hours, but it was nice to finally get to the school and unpack my suitcases at my new home.  This day wasn’t all too thrilling, but it was definitely nice to just relax and not be on a schedule for once.  I don’t think I was all that affected by jet lag, but I was certainly pretty tired after four very busy days and ended falling asleep around 10. 

By the way, last time I said "sweet as"... that's the kiwi version of awesome.  and I'll post pictures/videos soon!

Finally, Internet!

I wouldn't consider myself a spoiled person, but I've been lost not being able to use the internet.  Anyways, sorry about the wait!

Hey everyone! If you've been wondering where I was, I'm at a hostel in Rotorua doing the Australearn orientation thing! There isn't a wireless internet connection here, so I can't post any videos yet. On Sunday (Saturday for you guys) I'll be in Palmerston North, so hopefully I can get some cool stuff put up then.

Anyways, it's beautiful here and the people are super friendly.I'd write some more, but we're going "caving" today and we're leaving in like two minutes. Sweet as.

Cheers!

Leavin On a Jet Plane

So I leave tomorrow, and I can't wait for the day-long (literally) journey.  First we stop in Phoenix, and then to LA where we'll meet our new study abroad friends, when we will then proceed on our 13 hours flight to Auckland.  

Well, much to my delight, packing has been quite easy.  I guess knowing that I can basically only take the essentials made it easier to weed out the junk.  On a lighter note, the cats enjoy sitting on top of my suitcases.

Surprisingly enough, I'm not nervous or apprehensive at all about leaving, I'm just really excited.  Good.

I look forward to making another entry when I get there!