The adventure continues - 07/29/2013

So I am now into my second week of classes here at the University of Auckland. I start my internship at the Centre for Brain Research next Monday, so look out for a post after my first day. This week I am still getting myself settled into a new routine of combining classes, sightseeing and travel. This upcoming weekend I will be making a trip Northland with my study abroad program and last weekend we did a day trip through different areas around Auckland. 

On Saturday morning we hopped onto a bus that took us out to the Mission Bay area on the east coast of Auckland where you can see the local beaches, flat water, and Volcanos off in the distance, like Rangitoto. From there we went to Mount Eden, the tallest volcano in Auckland, and took in the incredible panoramic view of the entire city. 

The next stop was a little further out west to the Cascade Kauri regional park. This park gives you an idea of what New Zealand looked like before people arrived… there were lots of trees! The kauri trees are massive and can live to be 25,000 years old (no that is not a typo). After being completely struck by the beauty of the Kauri trees and silver ferns we headed further west to Lake Wainamu. To get to the lake you have to walk a good distance through volcanic ash dunes. It was some of the softest sand I have felt. A few brave others and I decided to throw on our swimming costumes in the middle of winter and test out the water.  It lasted about 30 seconds; This was the coldest water I have ever felt! My body experienced a little bit of shock therapy, and I was breathing heavy for thirty minutes. 

After getting back into some warm clothes it was time to go jumping off the sand dunes. The first time was frightening until you realized that the sand was so loose and soft that landing did not hurt! I am always a little more worried about throwing my body off things in New Zealand, after all, they were the ones who invented jumping off a bridge with just a bungee cord tied to your ankles. Not my idea of safe or fun! 

To get back to the bus we waded through an almost-dry river bed with amazing green scenery all around.  Wading through ice-cold water, backpack on, boots tied to the pack, with wet hair and a wadded up wet bathing suit in my pack, I felt like the intrepid traveler. 

The last stop was all the way west to Bethells beach where the size of the waves and number of breaks made me stop in my tracks. The contrast between the west and east coast was just astonishing. While there we explored a cave where a local acapella group was singing in the caves, complete with a guitar! Only in New Zealand. It was an amazing day and a perfect start to my time here in New Zealand. My legs are still sore though!  

A Whirlwind of Activity - 07/23/2013

I have been in Auckland now for 5 days and I think I have walked anywhere from 20 to 25 miles, and my blisters have blisters. Walking to some of my classes can take me 20 minutes, which is something that I am not used to.  In the US I go to a university where it takes me 10 minutes tops to walk form one end of campus to the other. I love the change though, and my feet will toughen up... I hope!
I arrived a day earlier than most of the people on my study abroad program so the first day I wandered the city trying to get my bearings. It didn't work... I still don't really know where I am going and I walk around with a map since my phone in New Zealand looks like my very first phone - no google maps for me! Its a stupid phone and very very far from a smart phone. That night I had dinner down on the harbor with some other people who also arrived early. It was not a bad place to be!

The second day I moved in to where I will be staying for the semester. There was a short orientation in the morning and a group lunch, then it was time to go buy all the things we could not stuff into our suitcases, and some storage units for the rooms. Everything in Auckland is pretty much on one main road, Queen street. You either walk up it or down it, as in uphill or downhill. I prefer down. A group of us had bought extra Ikea type storage and had to put it on a cart and push it up Queen street to where we live. It was quite a sight, and we had to bring the cart back down Queen street to get our ID's back from the store. If our accents did not already give us away as Americans, these shenanigans sure did.

My third day was a little less walking but I had to put together the storage units and that was a job in and of itself. I now know for sure that I will never be a carpenter! That night we had a group dinner in a restaurant that had lamps and chairs hanging upside down from the ceiling. All the restaurants in Auckland have very unique and cool atmospheres.

Monday was the first day of classes and in the afternoon a bunch of us went to the school club fair where I signed up for the canoeing club, tramping (hiking) club, and photography club. I felt like a freshman again because everything was so new and exciting. Here is the release form I signed for the canoe club (its really rafting).  Read it all the way through, it will make you day.  Just another day in New Zealand...

When it came time to go to my first class I had to give myself an hour because I had no idea where I was going and I got lost and had to ask for directions twice, which for me is not too bad. I think the most interesting thing I learned was that classes are actually called papers here. That one took me a minute to figure out and I was a little confused at first. I still wonder what they call papers for their classes... There a few sayings that have caught me off guard. I think the best one was when some said to me "sweet as", which means cool. However, my response was "sweet as what?" They just stared...

Today I had two more classes and had to figure out buying books, which is infinity more complicated here because they are not all in one place. But I have officially figured out how to get to all my classes and I am starting to get back into the groove of school again, just on the other side of the world. More to come after the weekend!

Waiting is the worst part - 07/17/2013

So I am sitting on my couch this morning anticipating my departure to Auckland, New Zealand for my semester abroad, and I received an email form a good friend asking me all these questions about Auckland as if I was already there. I hadn't even left my house! That was when I decided I should probably keep a blog of my adventures abroad. Which is saying something because anyone who knows me knows that writing is not my thing.  It will be a good way to keep people up to speed, and I plan on going full throttle.

I did not show my excitement very much when I left home this afternoon because I am going to miss my family and friends. I was also just slightly nervous flying into San Francisco after the recent crash, but who can blame me? Besides, traveling by airplane has not gone so smoothly for me lately. But here I am sitting in the San Francisco airport waiting to board my massive double decker plane to Auckland and there are things I already want to share with my friends and family. Well just one thing, but it is definitely worth sharing. The guy sitting behind me at the gate is from New Zealand, and while he was talking on the phone I think I nearly died and went to heaven when I heard his accent. That is all I have to share for now and the next time you here from me I will be in Auckland!