"I come from a land down under..."

Although the flight from Christchurch to Sydney on August 29th took 4 hours, we arrived by 8 am due to the 2-hour time difference between Australia and New Zealand. There was significant airplane traffic at the Sydney Airport when we landed, so we waited a long time to deplane. I had slept for at least half of the flight and hadn't fully woken up yet when we landed. After proceeding through immigration and picking up our bags, we got in line to go through customs. Both Suzanne and I had our bags searched. The customs officer swore that I had a box of cereal in my suitcase (I didn't), and Suzanne was scolded for carrying spreadable cheese and a box of granola bars that we had purchased in Dunedin. Neither item was confiscated, but the cheese was labeled as a biohazard. After making it through customs, we paid for a taxi from the airport to our hostel, Sydney Harbour YHA. It is the only hostel located in The Rocks, the main tourist section of Sydney. It was incredibly upscale for a hostel, and was built around an archaeological dig site. You can read about the history of the site and view part of its previous structure in its foyer. Suzanne and I stayed in a 6-person female dorm, but most days we only had 2-3 roommates. The room was very clean, and it had its own shower. During our first evening in Australia, we visited the Sydney Observatory. Afterward, we relaxed on Observatory Hill, which offered great views of the city. This soon became my favorite spot in Sydney.The next next, we went on a boutique wine tour in the Hunter Valley. Although I'm not a big fan of wine, the day was very fun. There were only five other women in our tour group, and our guide Rowan was very friendly and knowledgeable. Lunch was included in the tour, and after we ate we had some time to check out a bunch of fun shops, including a British "lolly" shop, a chocolate shop, and a shop that sold only cheese and various types of olive oil. I didn't end up buying any wine, but I did pick up a postcard and a Christmas gift for Ali. By the end of the day we had visited four boutiques and were quite ready to return to Sydney.On Tuesday, Suzanne and I went on a second day tour. Stops included the Featherdale Wildlife park outside of Sydney, the Blue Mountains, the small township of Leura, and the site of the 2000 Olympic Games. At the Featherdale Wildlife park, we hung out with a bunch of kangaroos (and emus!) and took pictures with a koala. It was very fun, and I wish we could have stayed longer. Soon after leaving the park, we stopped briefly for a boomerang throwing lesson (I failed miserably). In the Blue Mountains we enjoyed a 2-course country club lunch, rode the Katoomba Scenic Railway (which is said to be the steepest cable-driven funicular railway in the world), took a short walk through the rain forest, and admired the Three Sisters rock formation in the Jamison Valley. We also had the opportunity to feed wild king parrots. At the end of the day, we took a ferry from Homebush Bay back to the city. Although it wasn't one of Sydney's famous river cruises, it was still an enjoyable trip, and I got some great pictures of Sydney Harbour at sunset. That night, we decided to be adventurous and ordered crocodile and kangaroo meat at dinner. The crocodile was surprisingly delicious (its taste was very similar to chicken chicken), but I wasn't a fan of the kangaroo (which reminded me of steak).

We didn't have tours schedule for our final 2 days in Sydney, so we just played it by ear. On Wednesday, we went to the Sydney Sky Tower where we participated in a "Skywalk." We got to wear funny-looking suits and walk around the top of the tower. Later, we took a jet boat ride in Sydney Harbour. That night, Suzanne climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Thursday (our last day in Sydney) was full of wildlife. We visited Oceanworld in Manly Harbour and Sydney Wildlife World and the Sydney Aquarium in Darling Harbour. Our main motivation behind visiting these places was to use up vouchers that we had purchased as part of a package deal at the beginning of the week, but I'm glad we did. At the aquarium we took a $5 boat ride that allowed us to see the shark tank from above the surface of the water instead of through the glass of the exhibit, which was quite cool.
It was a good day and the perfect end to our adventure in Sydney.

Hello, South Island!

Kia ora again, everyone! Well, it's been over three weeks since the end of my spring break adventure, and I still feel that I had one of the best experiences of my life. It was incredible, and I'm so very grateful that everything worked out- Coordinating bus rides, flights, hostel reservations, airport transfers, and activities for our trip was certainly not the easiest task, but somehow Suzanne and I managed to do so. Now let's get to it...

I woke up early on the morning of Tuesday the 24th to catch a bus to the airport in Auckland. I had stayed up very late the night before, so needless to say I was exhausted. Once I got to the airport, I checked my bag and grabbed some lunch before passing through security. Although New Zealand is only the size of the US state of Colorado, my flight to Dunedin had a stopover in Christchurch. In the process of boarding my first flight, I was swiftly moved to the back of the plane. Apparently, the passenger that was assigned to the seat beside me was carrying an "endangered bird species" with him. The situation was a little strange, but my new seat was located in an empty row and had a better view than my original seat did. I arrived in Dunedin around 7:30 pm, and after a 20 minute shuttle ride, I reached Suzanne's flat.

The next few days were very chilly. The South Island is cold- not East Coast winter cold, but cold compared to the North Island- and Suzanne's flat had very little heat. Therefore, I spent two days parked in front of her space heater. Apart from the less than ideal temperature, I enjoyed my time there immensely. Suzanne's three roommates were incredibly friendly, and due to their rotating dinner schedule I got to enjoy a home-cooked meal each night I was there (stir-fry the first night, lasagna the second). It made me wish that I had decided to flat at Waikato. Living in a catered dorm has been nice, but it has also been more of the same after living in a dorm at Juniata for two years. While in Dunedin, I went to one of Suzanne's drama classes at the University of Otago. She and her classmates have to put on a children's production that addresses a controversial topic. The plot of their play involves a father leaving his wife and kids for a man. It kind of reminded me of the Susan/Carol storyline on Friends, except much less comedic.

On Thursday the 26th, we took a bus from Dunedin to Queenstown. The trip lasted around 5 hours. The route was very scenic, and I acted like a complete tourist the entire time.

In Queentown we stayed at a hostel called "Pinewood Lodge" and slept in a room with 4 other girls from China. When we moved our stuff into the room at 6 pm, the light was off and they were all sleeping. That night Suzanne and I walked into town and ate dinner at Winnie's pizza bar. I didn't want to risk upsetting my lactose-intolerant stomach, so I ordered a cranberry and brie chicken burger with a side order of "chips" (a.k.a. French fries) instead of pizza. It was practically the size of my head, but I ate the entire thing, and it was delicious. Afterward, we went to see a movie (Inception) and then headed back to Pinewood Lodge to get some sleep before our early start the next morning.

The Mitre Peak tour bus to Milford Sound picked us up a little after 6:30 am. Although it took four hours to get there, the "getting there" was quite enjoyable due to the many scenic stops we made along the way, including the town of Te Anau, Mirror Lake and The Chasm, where we had the opportunity to take a small bush walk. Milford Sound itself was gorgeous and the mountains in the surrounding Fiordland looked like something out of Lord of the Rings. Fun fact: Milford Sound is not actually a "sound" (a narrow inlet carved by the ocean) but a "fiord" (a narrow inlet carved by glacial activity). Although it was a long day- it was nearly 8:00 when we returned to Queenstown- it was definitely worth the time and money spent!
We caught a bus to Christchurch early the next morning, and the trip took 8 hours. Time didn't move quite as fast as it did during our first bus ride to Queenstown, but the scenery was just as beautiful. One of our rest stops was next to the beautiful Lake Tekapo, which offered some great photo opportunities. We had planned to stay at a hostel in Christchurch, but when we made it to the city we decided (I decided) that it would be a better idea to save money and stay at the Christchurch International Airport for the night instead. It wasn't one of my most brilliant moments, but everything worked out. We arrived at 7:00 pm and spent the night on the airport floor. Suzanne had her laptop and I had my iPod for entertainment, and we ate cold cans of Campbell's Soup for dinner.

We caught our JetStar plane to Sydney a little past 6:00 am the next morning. Both of us tried to sleep on the plane with varying degrees of success. We arrived in Australia safely though, and that's really all matters.

"Spring" break is here!

Yep, you've read correctly. It's the end of August and my two week spring break started today. I went to a rugby game in Auckland at the beginning of the month, which was a lot of fun, but quite rainy. Since coming to New Zealand, I've been to Auckland three times, and it has rained at some point during each visit. One of my goals before going home is to see the city on a sunny day. Warmer weather is on its way (or so I've been told), so it's definitely a possibly.

I'm half way through the semester (When did that happen?)! I'm flying to the South Island tomorrow and to Australia on the 29th with Suzanne, a friend from Juniata who is also studying abroad in New Zealand (at the University of Otago in Dunedin). In total, I'll be gone for 12 day. See you then!

A little negativity

So instead of devoting another post to how beautiful and welcoming New Zealand is, I thought I would shake things up a bit. Enough positivity! It's time to focus on the negative.

The top 7 things I miss most about Juniata College/the United States (in no particular order):

7. Access to CNN
Since heading to college, I've watched most of my favorite TV shows online. But there's just something comforting about being able to turn on CNN at any time during the day to receive breaking news. Plus, I miss Anderson Cooper.

6. Stephen Colbert
I'm taunted daily with e-mails about new episodes of the Colbert Report, but I'm unable to view them on Colbertnation.com because I'm not in the United States. Hulu doesn't work here either.

5. Campus food
I'm not sure if it's because New Zealand's limited number of universities don't have to compete amongst each other for students, but I don't care for Waikato's dining hall food. I've always been critical of "Juniata cuisine," but I vow to never complain about it again. Some foods I'm particularly craving right now: American bacon, Chicken stir-fry with hunan sauce, and French toast.

4. Living with roommates
Christa and Laura, I miss you both!

3. Single faucet sinks
On New Zealand sinks there are separate faucets for hot and cold water (and by hot I mean scalding and by cold I mean freezing). When washing my face, I have to put my hand under the cold water for a few seconds and then quickly switch to the hot. My hand acts as an icecube to cool the hot water to a comfortable temperature. It's quite complicated, and it took a while to master the technique.

2. Paying a flat rate for internet usage
At Waikato, and throughout most of New Zealand, you pay for the internet by megabyte usage. It costs around 4 dollars to watch an episode of a TV show online.

1. Double spacing
Here, 1.5 is the standard for writing essays.

There you have it. Don't worry- my "glass is half full" self will return soon enough :)

Any excuse to eat Italian food is fine with me

As of this week, I've been in New Zealand for one month. When I consider the fact that I am now 1/4 of the way through my papers, I can't believe it! Speaking of which- I added Political Life in the Ancient World and dropped Politics and the Media and Differential Equations from my schedule. I plan to take the latter class during my senior year at Juniata.

Two weeks ago I returned Auckland on a day tour arranged by Waikato. Although we had minimal free time to explore the city, I was able to fit in a little souvenir shopping. Our last stop on the tour was the beautiful Mt. Eden. As you can probably tell by these pictures, it started pouring soon after we left!Tonight I went out with a group of girls for Italian food in Hamilton to celebrate my friend Vicki's 20th birthday. We all had a great time, and it was welcome break from our dining hall's "Fatty Friday" meal (a.k.a. fish and chips).
Here's to great food and good friends!

Week one at Waikato

After spending the night in Auckland, my AustraLearn group boarded a bus to Rotorua where we continued our immersion into New Zealand culture. It was an amazing time, and I'm definitely going to talk about it more, but for now I'll fill you in on how I'm doing at the moment.

Nearly a week has past since I moved into my dorm here at the University of Waikato in Hamilton, and I think it's finally starting to feel like home. My dorm, Student Village, is broken up into 10 blocks. I live in Block 7 (the smallest one) with 5 other students. My room puts Juniata singles to shame- I can't believe how spacious it is! At first I thought I would not like living alone, but it's actually quite nice not having to worry about whether my computer light will disrupt my roommates' sleeping schedules. Don't get me wrong- I really miss having my Juniata roommates Christa and Laura around. These past few weeks have truly been freshman year all over again in terms of not knowing anyone and making new friends. So far, my overall impression is that Kiwis (New Zealanders) are the some of the nicest people on Earth. I went to the bathroom the other day, and on my way back to my room a girl in my block gave me an agenda book and wall calendar. A few days before that, a Waikato employee showed up at my door with a laundry basket. This same women gave me and three other girls a ride home from the Warehouse (NZ's version of Wal-Mart) on our first day here. We had never met her before, but she knew that we were living in the Waikato dorms somehow.The campus itself, like the rest of the country, is beautiful. It is much bigger than Juniata's, but I can still walk from one end of campus to the other in under 20 minutes. My "papers," or course,s include Environmental and Nature Resource Economics, Monetary and Macroeconomics, Politics and the Media, and Differential Equations. Two of my professors are Kiwi, while the other two are British and Irish.
So far, the only "culture shock" I've experienced involves dining hall food. Although I've enjoyed some meals, most of them have me craving Sodexho. Every couple of days I go to Momento, an on-campus cafe, for lunch. It's expensive, but worth it. Somehow a delicious meal (a bacon, egg and cheese bap, a spicy chicken burrito, etc.) has the power to make things seem a whole lot better.

It still seems crazy to me that I'm here. So much has changed in the past few years. At my high school graduation, I would never have dreamed that two years later, I'd be getting ready to fly to New Zealand on my own. Those close to me know that I have frequently questioned my decision to attend Juniata College, particularly after changing my major during my freshman year, but maybe it is where I was supposed to end up? I doubt I would be in New Zealand now if I had chosen differently.

Can't I just sleep?

After making my way through customs in Auckland (I "declared" a pack of Orbit gum and the fact that I'd been around horses in the past six months), I met up with the rest of my AustraLearn group and our two coordinators Ella, a 22-year-old graduate student, and Cappy, a 39-year-old father of 7. Each of us received a phone card to call home. At this point, I was extremely tired, both emotionally and physically from dragging my two suitcase through the airport (Thank you Cappy for taking them to the bus for me!) and traveling for over 24 hours, so it wasn't surprising that I had trouble keeping myself together when I heard my parents' voices for the first time since leaving the United States.

Soon after I hung up the phone, we boarded a bus that took us to several sites around Auckland, including Mt. Eden, a dormant volcano overlooking the city. It goes without saying that I probably would have enjoyed them more after a change of clothes and a good night's sleep- not to mention a shower. Unfortunately, this was not on the morning's agenda. Next, we dropped our bags off at a hotel and walked a significant distance (uphill) to the place we would be eating lunch. Before we ate, we sat through a 20-minute PowerPoint presentation on New Zealand history and culture. Here are two entertaining videos we watched during the presentation:




Later that afternoon, I finally moved into my hotel room, which I would be sharing with 3 other girls. Thinking I would be able to take as long as I wanted in the bathroom once everyone else was done, I offered to take the last shower. It turns out in New Zealand, Best Western hotels only give you 15 minutes of hot water per day. My shower was ice cold and therefore quite short.

That night, our group ate dinner in the city. Although I was even more exhausted by this point, it was difficult not to be fascinated by how clean the streets of Auckland were compared to American cities like New York. I can't remember seeing one piece of paper, plastic bottle or cigarette butt on the ground as I was walking. I since have learned that "going green" is a big part of New Zealand culture. In fact, 80% of the country's energy comes from renewable resources. Although it would be nice if this attitude caught on in the United States, I hope we draw the line at rationing hot water in our hotels. The food at dinner was very good- and apart from the fact than my chicken sandwich and French fries were labeled as a chicken burger and chips- very American. After walking back to our hotel room, my roommates were all in bed by 9:00 pm- and me by 9:30, because, even in New Zealand, I have to be the night owl. It was one of the most welcomed sleeps of my life.