Wellington!!

Woohoo! Finally made it to Wellington! Sorry I haven't updated since I arrived on Wednesday, but school and exploring my new home for the next five months has kept me occupied. Let's start from the beginning.

The 4:45am alarm on Wednesday morning was unpleasant, to say the least. After the hour plane ride from Rotorua to Wellington (we didn't even have to go through any security, the plane and airport were so small!), I settled in for a long wait at the airport after collecting my luggage. We all had to be taken to our housing, so we went in small groups...one by one, my friends disappeared. Uh oh. Suddenly I was left with the majority of kids that I had really quite disliked over the week. Fantastic. After a bus ride filled with stories about drunkenness, blacking out, and puking (once again, everyone is getting a great impression of the American student), we were dropped off at a dorm building near our houses and flats. I am living in a house with ten other girls, none of whom were with me in Australearn. So far, six of us are here...five Americans and one Vietnamese. The other girls will be arriving next week, and from their names appear to be from Asia. Should be interesting! Then there's the whole room situation...I'm sure many of you saw my status about my tiny room and thought I was just being whiny. Well, I was being whiny :P But we had paid for me to have a single room, and I'm not in a single. It deceivingly might appear a single, because I do have my own room...but I have to walk through another girl's room to get to mine. And my room is smaller than our bathroom. I have a desk, twin bed, and shelf. It is...cozy, for sure. It's also all windows, which is nice because I can look at the trees in our front yard, but also makes it a few degrees warmer than the rest of the house, and I would think it will also be colder as the weather turns. Anyway, it has been affirmed that I am in a shared room and paying for a single...so I'm asked if I want to move or just get some money back. I have no interest in dragging my stuff around Kelburn because it is so dang hilly here I can't even describe it. So I said I would like a single in my house if one opens up, aka. if one of my housemates is a no-show. Because they h.ave yet to put a lock on one of the singles downstairs, and let me tell you, I think it's at least the size of our living room. Talking with another Australearn pal who lives next door, we have come to the conclusion that all rooms are not created equal, at least not on Salamanca Road. Oh well. I have a room, so that's the most important part.

Anyway, I've had orientation (boring, stuff we did last week and before I left) and enrollment (sitting in a bunch of lines). I'm signed up for four classes...I have two classes a day except for Tuesday, when I randomly have none. For all of you who know me well, you are aware that this is about a quarter of the amount of stuff I'm usually doing during the school year. So I'm a little worried about that, but I'm sure Wellington will entertain me. So far, I am loving the city. Which is a big deal for me! Cities and I are not usually BFF, but so far Wellington is making a good impression. It's absolutely gorgeous right on the harbor, and anywhere I walk up at school (which is above the city), I have amazing views down at the buildings, the beach, and the water. It's also easy to get to, all downhill. It's not so easy to get back, all uphill. Another important note: all groceries are down the hill. As my friend Laura pointed out, we are guaranteed to lose weight while we're here for the following host of reasons:
a) There's freaking hills everywhere!! And we have to climb them!!
b) Groceries are down the hill, so we won't want to buy much to carry back up
c) We won't eat that much, to avoid going back down to buy more groceries.

...Australearn should include that as a perk to studying here, along with the great university and the fun city part. Luckily, the more and more I climb back up gasping for air, the less time I need to recover and actually breathe without looking like a fish out of water. Super attractive, let me tell you.

My friends and I have been steadily checking out the city, trying new places to eat and walking around aimlessly. Tomorrow I am verrry excited because it's Farmer's Market day!! Lots of cheap and good fruits and vegetables. And they're light, so carrying them back up the hill won't be too bad! So far my favorite things about Wellington are the gelato place on Courtenay Place (mindblowingly amazing. so so so so so good.) and the Botanic Gardens, which are basically in my front yard! Beautiful views, foliage, and Rose Garden. My plan is to have picked a favorite rose before I leave. But it will be difficult...check out the pictures on Facebook when you have the time. I also went to see the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra tonight with my friend Nicole. It was just the wind section, so it was a chance to hear a lot of new chamber music. They have six more concerts in Wellington before I leave, so I definitely plan on seeing as many as possible!

In other exciting news, we still don't have school for another week. Next week is "O-Week," for all new students. However, we have been told by multiple Kiwis that it is a bit of a waste of time, and it would be better to spend the time traveling. My friends Laura and Nicole and I are planning on taking a trip for a few days somewhere. We started out ambitiously with Fiji, then looked at flight prices and quickly decided to stay in-country. Then we were thinking Milford Sound, but we heard it's better when the rainy season starts and the waterfalls get more powerful. So now we have two options: National Park, where the Tongariro Alpine Crossing is located, or Peihia, where there are some great beaches and tours and dolphins at the Bay of Islands. And we have to decide tomorrow, since we plan to leave the day after :P Talk about spontaneity!

Anyway, it is getting late here and I'll be up early tomorrow to head down to the market. See you next time!