Kia Ora!

To family and friends: Kia Ora! (a Maori greeting commonly used here in New Zealand) I am brand new at blogging, but I thought this would be a cool way to stay in touch and keep everyone in the loop. So I will give it a try and attempt to stay on top of of things.

So here it goes! After months and months of applying, waiting, responding, preparing, and so forth, I have finally arrived at the lovely destination of Palmerston North, New Zealand (better known as Palmy by locals and students at Massey). I arrived in Auckland International Airport on Thursday, February 11 and spent the night. Upon waking up on a lovely little bench in the airport on the morning of Feb. 12 I made my way over to the domestic terminal where I boarded a tiny AirNewZealand plane. I was picked up by a friendly Kiwi by the name of Claire along with two other girls from the States. I arrived on campus by 10 am where I met my first flatmate (my flattie).

Sindell is from Arizona and is studying pre-vet. She is enrolled in Massey for the full five years. Later that night Blake and Rudy arrived to the flat, however they moved out already. Blake goes to UVM with me and so I enjoyed being able to talk about Vermont. I felt a little bit more at home. So anyway, she and Rudy, her boyfriend, transferred to the campus in Auckland. Anke is now living in the room Blake was in. She is from Germany and is studying geography. Alyssa and Khali are my other two flatties. Alyssa goes to Iowa State and is from Nebraska. She is also pre-vet, animal science. Khali is a Kiwi and Maori (the indigenous Polynesian tribe of NZ). She is studying psychology.

The five of us live in a nice little flat in a village called the Atawhai Flats (the "w" is pronounced like an "f"). It is made up of mostly International students, some families, and a mix of undergrad and postraduate students. We all have single rooms with their own sinks, large walk in closets, a desk, and a bed. They are rather roomy! We also have a fully equipped kitchen and a living room. I would say I am living rather comfortably!

This entire past week was a bit of a whirlwind. We had orientation every day. It got quite redundant and very tiresome by the end of the week. Definitely an information overload! We visited a milk farm and a sheep farm, since Massey started as a farm, where we saw cows being milked and a sheep get shorn. There were many lectures on what to expect and the services offered throughout campus, and lots of free food! By the end of the week I befriended people from all over. Singapore, Dubai, Iowa (a lot of people from Iowa State), Norway, Germany, the Pacific Islands, just to name a few.

On Friday Feb. 19th we had Market Day on the concourse, where representatives from different places on campus and throughout town came and gave away a lot of free stuff. Also, it was the opening of the first on-campus bar (interesting, i know!). One tent was from the Empty Vessel, a bar downtown, and they had people do crazy things to win prizes. Bernsten, from Dubai, had to have vinegar, wasabi, lemon juice, and Tabasco sauce put on his tongue for thirty seconds. Another girl had clothes pins placed all over her face. Kayla, one girl from Iowa State I have become particularly close with, got pied in the face five times and won a free round of drinks for her and whoever she brought out with her. So that is what we did that night. No worries though, the drinking age here is 18.

Yesterday there was an outing for international students. We arrived a kiwi's house where we gathered before going tramping (hiking) along a short path in the Manawatu Gorge. I got to see a silver fern, the national emblem of NZ, and a koru plant. The koru plant, shown at the top, is part of a fern that starts out tightly rolled up, like a scroll, and slowly unwinds into a fern. It represents the unfolding of new life or renewal to the Maori. From here we made our way to the wind farm. This was a spectacular site. It was amazing how little sound they made. The windmills were enormous and numerous. They were complimented very nicely by the rolling green hills and blue sky!

I am situated centrally on the southern part of the North Island. Palmy itself revolves around the town square, which is made up of a large green park complete with ponds of ducks, bridges, monuments, and beautiful gardens. It is a small city on US standards, but large for NZ. There is lots of shopping, and buses are free with your Massey ID.

Massey's campus is full of gardens, ponds, and lots of lush green trees. My walk to class every day consists of 167 stairs down a hill surrounded by full green flora and fauna and many loud insects, and a bridge across a small stream. Everything smells fantastic! I have grown to really admire the campus.

So today was my first day of classes. I didn't have my first paper (class) until 3:00 so I was able to get lots of rest as well as fit in a run. Although, I do not suggest running up those steps! So I had Victoria's World at 3:00. It was a small class of only about 23 students, but I think it should be interesting. It is basically a survey of the Victorian era, focused on Britain. We were let out early, but I will be back to that class come Thursday. But I think I have just about exhausted myself of every topic right now. I apologize for the novel I just wrote, but I needed to get everyone up to speed. I miss you all more than you could know!

So for now I will just leave you with a few NZ phrases:

Cheers: Thanks
Sweet as (not what you think it is when you first hear it spoken): great, or a general term of enthusiasm
Rubbish: garbage
Lollies: sweets
Uni: university
Wop-wops: an remote area; boondocks

p.s. No one wears shoes here! I love it!


peace.