The University of Auckland

I can't believe it's been over two weeks since I posted. So much has happened since I moved into my flat over three weeks ago. I guess the best place to start would be the beginning.

Move In
I moved in on a Tuesday. Tommy helped me bring my bags up to my flat (number 9, room 2), wished me the best of luck, gave me a hug, and left. About 10 seconds after the door closed, I thought to myself "Oh. My. God. I'm on my own." There would be no meeting up or group outings, no one would be checking in on me and the people I had spent the most time with over orientation were on their way to Wellington and to Melbourne, Australia. I took a deep breath in, and said to myself that I might as well get started unpacking. My room is nice enough. I have a bed, a desk and chair, a wardrobe, nightstand, and some additional shelving. It's quite small, but it definitely does the job.



At some point during my process of moving in, Liam must have come home. He introduced himself as one of my flatmates. He's from England and is studying international business here for a year. Since then, we've become good friends, sharing our international student experiences, comparing British English and American English and learning about each other and our respective cultures. Later that day, Liam and I went to the supermarket. I was very thankful to have him show me around and help formulate my to-do list (i.e. get my student ID photo taken/ID made, fill out the paperwork to get a card that says I'm over 18 so I don't have to carry my passport around with me when I go out, etc.)

No. 14 Whitaker Place
Over the next few weeks I would meet Brooke, Helen and Michael. My other three flatmates. Brooke is a Kiwi. She's lived all over the world, but moved back to New Zealand three years ago. She does her own thing mostly because she has her own Kiwi friends and boyfriend but when she's around we often talk and I'm friendly with all of her friends. They give me a better glimpse into what a lay Kiwi is like. Helen is also from England. She goes to Nottingham. She studies Psychology and is very British and sweet. I've enjoyed learning about her life back home as well as hanging out with her. She's a great friend and has been there for me on a few rough days I've had. Finally, there's Michael. He's from Austria and very nice, but mostly keeps to himself. He stays in his room a lot, but if we invite him out with us he often comes. I appreciate introversion, but I hope he puts himself out there a bit more so he can grow from this experience.

Whitaker is a very social building and most of my friends live here. There's always something going on. Whether its parties or movie-watching or study parties, there's pretty much never a moment of silence or boredom. I've made friends from all over the world: across America, England, New Zealand, Ireland, UAE, Germany, Spain, France, Canada, Australia, South Africa and China just to name a few. I truly love living here. It's like living in an apartment (I have to cook and clean for myself, provide my own toilet paper, etc.), but there are RA's in case I would have some sort of a problem. The location is perfect, located off Symond's street, a street many university buildings are on or off of.

Classes
Here, school is that thing that interferes with travel and enjoying New Zealand. But, I suppose since that's the true reason I'm in New Zealand, I should spend some time in my blog describing it. I've switched my classes around a bit. I'm now enrolled in Pacific Arts (an art history/pacific studies paper), The Novel, The Native and The New (an English/History paper), Making Disabilities (which I'm counting for my Rhetoric major hopefully) and Intermediate German 2.

I was originally enrolled in a history class with 400 students in it, but I decided I should take harder papers (they call courses/classes papers here) and that I would much rather be in a smaller class. It was an extremely frustrating and laborious process (I was sent to 6 different places and it took me 5 hours) but eventually I was enrolled in my English class. It focuses on 18th century British literature, which is something I've previously struggled with. This should prove to be a challenge, but I'm more experienced and a harder worker since the last time I tried to read Swift and the like. The paper is a 300-level (it's the highest offered for undergrads) with most students being in their final semester of Uni. The lecturer, Erin, seems very down to Earth and easy to talk to. Our class as a whole has about 50 people, I'd say, but she also teaches the tutorials of about 20 students once a week. I've enjoyed having these tutorials so far. It reminds me of the small, discussion orientated classes I'm used to at Drake. I don't like Erin's lecturing style, but that's not to say I particularly dislike the lecture-tutorial format.

I'm also enjoying the other three papers. My Pacific Arts class allows me to learn more about Pacific culture (not only New Zealand, but also Samoa, Tonga, Hawaii and a few other islands) as well as satisfy my Artistic Experience requirement for graduation. During lectures, my professor is extremely intense, talking for the full two hour period with only a 10 minute break. Needless to say, my wrist always hurts after that class. Making Disabilities seems interesting so far, but to be honest, I'm beyond the level of analysis we're doing. Still, I wouldn't be considering disabilities in the way in which I am without the paper. And, I'm really excited for our first project. We have to put together a portfolio of 10-15 pictures depicting Auckland's relationship to disabilities and describe/analyze them in relation to a particular quote from a class reading.

Finally, I'm so glad to be taking German! It's not very hard yet—though German never has been for me, to be honest—but I still learn new things every day. I'm very thankful that I enjoy the course because I take it 4 days a week and it's my earliest class. At the conclusion of the paper, Stefan (my lecturer) recommends us to take the German proficiency exam. It's internationally recognized and I could put that I'm fluent in German on my resume if I pass.

Travel
Last weekend, I took my first weekend trip with people from Whitaker Place. The following description is taken from my journal so that's why it's in past tense:

I'm currently on my back from the Bay of Islands. Myself, Irish Heather, Sarah, and Emily are in one car, while Nick, Liam, Brian and Helen are in the other. Unfortunately, we've only been here about 27 hours. It's been a great trip though. We attempted to leave at 8:30 AM yesterday (Saturday). As soon as we started to drive, however, we heard a strange noise coming from the back, right tire. We stopped before we even made it to Symonds St. Turns out, there was a giant spring lodged into the tire! Nick made fun of Heather (who is driving) for the fact that we hadn't even left Whitaker before we needed to go back to the rental place. Once we were there, we had our tire changed and hit the road.

I slept for part of the drive because the night before Helen and I went to see the British comedy Four Lions at the New Zealand International Film Festival. Then we went to Wendy's (Helen's first time) and back to Whitaker. We went into Matt's room (my very close Kiwi friend here) to borrow some CD's, talked with him and Glen for a bit and then went to see the drag shows! The first one was at a bar called Naval. The theme of the drag show was Glee (can't wait to tell Mom that!) and they had about three songs and dances prepared for us. A bit later, we went to Family, another gay bar on K' Road. This one was more like a nightclub, but I was not in the mood/prepared/dressed for that sort of atmosphere. Family's shows weren't as good though, but I knew all the songs they lip synced. One I had even sang for a concert in the fifth grade! Anyway, we got back pretty late and I woke up pretty early. But, I was NOT going to let that affect the weekend.



When we arrived in Paihia (the island we stayed on) five of us decided to go kayaking. We grabbed a quick, proper good (a British phrase I've been working into my vocabulary) lunch and headed to the kayak rental. We kayaked to a really pretty island, which Nick nicknamed 'Shutter Island.' I promise it was not as creepy as it sounds! We explored a bit; everyone had a few beers (I only had one since I'm not a big drinker) and we played some frisbee. Next, we went to Tore Tore island. We hiked up a path and came to a beautiful view. We sat there and chilled out for a bit. Nick took a 'boy band' shot of us. I, of course, fell coming back down. It didn't really hurt, I honestly thought it was hilarious and just sat on the ground for a minute laughing.



It was time to head back and boy, was it windy! This wind, of course, caused giant waves. Less than a meter off the rocky coast, Nick and I capsized. It was freezing, but quite funny. The worst part was that my flippy floppies fell off and I cut my feet up pretty badly. With Brian's help—he acted like our kayak instructor throughout the day—we flipped it back over and continued. Nick and I knew we'd have to be very careful for the rest of the trip back. Whenever there was a large wave coming, we'd stop paddling and focus on centering our balance. We finally made it back to shore and were quite exhausted. This description may sound somewhat brief, but the kayak outing took us a full 3 hours. I ached so badly!



Per my suggestion, the five of us climbed into the hot tub at the hostel we were staying at. It was pretty much the best feeling ever after being freezing and uncomfortable in a kayak for three hours. We freshened up, reunited with the three girls who didn't go kayaking with us and went to dinner (at the same place we had lunch, unfortunately). By this time, I was absolutely exhausted. Even though it was only 8 p.m. all I wanted from the world was some sleep. While everyone else went to the bar next door and grabbed some alcohol and headed off to drink at the beach, I slept. They said they had a great time, but I did not regret going to bed early in the slightest. This is reflective of what I was told at my orientation: I'm studying abroad and I need to do what I want to do. It's my 5 months to have the experience of a lifetime and I should do what I want/need to in order to make the most out of my time in New Zealand.

When we woke up that morning, we checked out and found some breakfast. My throat really hurt and I had a cough so Helen and I went to get a hot chocolate and flat white, respectively. A flat white is a kind of coffee drink. It's similar to a latte, but made with tastier coffee and stronger. It's made with one shot of espresso (for the small ones anyway) but with less milk. Anyway, I grabbed a croissant for breakfast and some money from the ATM. (in addition to croissant I ate the muesli bar I brought with me in case we didn't get breakfast. I was quite prepared for the weekend, people were teasing me a bit about it, but I just blamed it on my 'Jewish Mother' personality.

Afterward, we headed off and walked a while around the rocky beach. It was pretty, fun and exciting.



Then we drove to the supermarket, grabbed some food for lunch and headed out to Haruru Falls. The waterfall was really neat. It was quite large and beautiful. We could walk on rocks right up to it. I've never been so close to falls before. I feel they would never allow such a thing in America. There would be a fence in front of it so we couldn't get to close to the edge for fear of accidents and resulting lawsuits.



Next, we went for a big, 5k trek. It was fun, but tiring. We stopped for lunch, which was amazing. Six of us split three French baguettes, turkey and cheese. I had a banana and some chocolate as well. After a tiring walk, it totally hit the spot. On the way, we stopped and took some pictures. I fell again; big surprise—not. On the way back, we powered through the path. Doing the second 5k in about 50 minutes rather than the normal 90 minutes. I think the walk back was more enjoyable because we were so direct. I got into the zone and was very into the hike. When we got back into the car, we had some more chocolate, turned on the iPod and chilled out for the car ride home. I had a fabulous time at the Bay of Island. During the walk, I decided I was really glad I chose to come to New Zealand. This weekend was so accessible. There's so much nature at my fingertips and I'm loving it.