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.

The longest trip of my life

Well, I'm finally here. To tell you the truth, these past few days have been a bit of a blur for me. I stayed with my parents in a hotel near Philadelphia on Saturday night, and bright and early on Sunday morning, we made our way to the airport. Surprisingly, I wasn't very nervous- and I should have been considering this would be my first airplane voyage ever. Somehow, after saying goodbye to my parents and making my way through security, I mananged to find my terminal. Then began the waiting game which I would become all too familiar with by the end of my journey. My first flight was a short one - a "puddle jumper" in my father's words: Philley to Dulles Int. Airport in D.C, 35 minutes in length. The plane was cramped, but comfortable enough for me- which means that it must have been particular uncomfortable for all the other adults on my plane.

After landing in D.C., I bought myself lunch and some water, which I would later spill accidentally. Luckily airport carpets are very absorbent. Soon after finishing my meal, I boarded my plane to LAX.

After arriving in LAX at 2:20 pm local time (which was really 5:20 pm to me), I needed to find my terminal. This is easier said than done when you are a jet lagged, inexperienced flier in less than perfect physical condition. After asking many different employees where to go, I found the correct shuttle outside of the airport which transferred me from terminal 7 to 2. terminal At this point, I had to go through security again because I had exited the airport. After I cleared, the difficult part was basically over. Now I just had to wait 7 hours for my final flight from LA to Auckland (It took me approximately 1 hour to find my terminal). After a few hours of sitting by myself, I met up with some AustraLearn students, which made time go by much faster. At some point I bought myself some dinner. Half of the AustraLearn students caught a flight at 9:30, and the rest of us took off an hour later. Unfortunately, my seat was in a particularly awkward position for this 13 hour flight- right next to the flight attendants' quarters. Luckily, with a melatonin, I was able to sleep for at least 7 hours. The flight was packed. Next to me were a brother and sister who were returning home to Brisbane, Australia. This flight, which was an Air New Zealand flight as opposed to a United flight, offered complimentary pillows, blankets, headphones and a selection of movies, games and TV shows. They even served us a "balanced breakfast"- the kind you would see on the front of a cereal box. During my flight to LA we had to pay to get audio to the one film they played. Air New Zealand: 1, United: 0.
Touching down in New Zealand was very surreal. Maybe it's because I'm not used to flying or because I slept most of the way (or a little of both), but I don't feel like I'm actually here yet. It will definitely take some time for it to sink in.