I'm Here!

Finally, after all the hubbub and all, I've finally gotten here! 

So, let's start from the beginning: the plane. dun dun dun. Super long...actually, not as long as I think it will be on the way back. It was just about 12 hours airtime exactly, although it must have taken us a good 30-40 minutes to taxi to the runway at LAX. The plane was huge (duh), with three-four-three in each row. I was on the aisle of the middle row, so no window. Obviously there wasn't much to look at anyway, and it was dark, so I managed somehow. We all had little individual TV screens which had a ton of stuff to keep you entertained. Gone are the days of the one movie on the big screen, and in are the days where you have a choice of 15 movies and 15 TV series. Another shocking discovery was the amount of food and drink they had and the willingness they had to actually feed you. Coming from my last flight from Florida to BWI, they don't even offer the bag of peanuts/pretzels anymore. Then I'm on this flight and they're handing out wine and beer with dinner....whaat?? Anyway, the flight wasn't so bad. I slept off and on during the night, although the girl sitting next to me wanted to get up every 1.5-2 hours, which was slightly annoying when I was trying to sleep. However, it was probably good overall, as it forced me to stand up and move around every so often. 

We arrived at 7:30am NZ time, and were met at the airport by the Australearn people. Customs went smoothly, although I had to completely upend one of my bags to get my rainboots out so that the biosecurity people could inspect them. Then we went outside and sat by our bus for probably...two hours. It was kind of ridiculous. Finally we got going into Auckland and dropped our stuff at the hotel. We then headed out for a session (just basic info) and were presented with the cell phones. Turns out that the best rate you can get in NZ if you don't live there is 44 cents/minute and 9 cents/text. Ew. But, that also applies to international calls and texts, which is nice I guess. Also, incoming calls and texts are free, so y'all should call and text me instead :P My number is 0220813410. So go to town. Also, now all of us on the "culture and adventure orientation" have the exact same phone...could be problematic.

So yes, I am at orientation with Australearn. It's not just the 50 Americans going to Victoria, but also students from Uni of Otago in Dunedin (south island folk), and apparently some Auckland Uni people will be joining us tomorrow. We spent one night in Auckland and then took a bus yesterday down to Rotorua. The drive was gorgeous!! So much green and hills and mountains. Also, I feel tricked, because I definitely saw WAY more cows than sheep. In fact, one of my fellow students yelled "SHEEP!" the first time we saw cows. Then there was much laughter. I felt pretty bad for all the hungover kids who slept the whole time. Oh well.

Yesterday after arriving, we moved into Kiwipaka, the hostel where we will be staying until Wednesday. It's really nice, there are four of us sharing a two level "chalet" as it is called. The poor boys are five to a room, bunked, and have communal showers and bathrooms. Oh well, they will survive somehow. In Rotorua, there's a lot of natural gas and hot springs, so it smells like sulphur allll the time. But the hostel has a thermal pool, which is pretty cool. However, I woke up in the middle of the night to such a strong sulphur smell, it was kind of gross.

After we arrived and had another session about setting goals and all that fun stuff, we learned the haka, which is a traditional Maori pre-war chant. It was pretty intense. Apparently if you’ve ever watched the All Blacks (NZ Rugby) play, they perform the haka before a match. We were all dressed up in traditional clothes. For the girls, it wasn’t all that bad…the guys were wearing nothing but animal skins around their bottom, about the length of a speedo. We all agreed it was a little strange to be seeing so much of them after knowing them for all of a day and a half.

Today (Sunday) is a free day for us. A lot of people signed up for tours or rafting or extreme sports that a booking company offered through Australearn when we were back in the US, but I didn’t sign up for anything. They were all a little expensive and I wasn’t sure if they would be worth the money. Luckily, two of my three roommates also didn’t sign up for anything, so we will probably go out and explore a little later after just having some time to relax this morning. Tomorrow we’re going adventure caving (?) and Tuesday is a community day where we will be helping out in the community somehow and then later will attend a traditional Maori ‘hangi’ dinner. Wednesday we will be up and out at 5:15am to head to the airport to get down to Wellington. That day from what I can tell will mostly be settling in, and the next day begins international student orientation.

Although this cultural orientation is interesting and it is a good chance to meet the other people who will be at Victoria, I’m looking forward to moving into my own apartment/house, having my own room, and settling into a routine. Also, the internet is ridiculously spotty here, and it is impossible to video chat or even use AIM or facebook chat. I’m praying that it will be a little more reliable once we get to school.

So now you’re all updated! I’ll check back when possible to further explore my activities.