Day 6

We went on a hike to the top of Mt. Cargill, which was an hour walk through the streets and then a 3 hour roundtrip trail. The terrain was steep, but well kept and the scenery was breathtaking. Near the bottom of the trail head, there was a map of the single-track mountain biking in the area - which was significant. When I finally get my bike finished, I'll have to ride around that area. They have held several mountain biking national races there, so it's bound to be technical and tough. I'm pretty excited about it.

At the top of the hike, you could see the entire city, the bay, the peninsula, and several miles inland.




Orientation for University is starting this week, and it is HUGE! There are several bands playing each day, tents set up all across campus, and multiple events going on throughout the week. Most are pretty expensive (like $25), so I'll stick to the free stuff. Tomorrow is Clubs and Societies day, where I can sign up for the sports clubs. In addition to mountain biking, I'm going to sign up for the water polo tryouts. They select a team to participate in the National University Games later in the semester, and it would be a blast. Wish me luck!

Yesterday, we went on a tour of the Cadbury Chocolate factory, which was yummy. The whole place smelled so good, but I'm sure the workers get sick of it pretty quickly. At least we got lots of free samples. Thursday, we will be going to the beaches, as long as the weather holds out. The ozone layer is really thin here, so it's easy to burn. They even have 70spf here! Hopefully my 30 will hold out. Friday is when we attend "primary lectures", which will tell us where our classes will be held and who our professors are. Saturday, we will be taking a guided tour of the peninsula, where we should get to see albatross and penguins!

That's all I got right now, miss you all!

Day 4

I'm almost finished building up my bike again, I just need some wheels and a chain. Hopefully, I can get them cheap and then don't have to worry about breaking them.

Now that I have had some time with the flatmates, we are all getting along so well! We've been having all these long (multiple hour) heart-to-hearts, about anything from politics to movies. Martin, the kid from Sweden, I swear is Ross in a few years. They could be related; he is tall, lanky, red hair pulled back in a pony tail and they even have many of the same mannerisms. He plays lots of video/comp games and likes strange music and movies. no offense, ross. Anyway, it's just really weird.

I successfully survived course approval, which was long and incredibly convoluted. You first have to pick up a course approval form, with a preselected schedule. Then you tramp all over campus, wait in long lines, and get the dept heads to sign each of your course selections. Next, you get the form checked by a selection volunteer, which sends you to a computer lab where they enter your information and any changes you have made to your schedule. If there are any time conflicts (which occur frequently), they send you to yet another computer lab where they try to rectify them. If that fails, you go back to step 2, choose another class, and go get the required signature. It took several hours. I finally got a schedule, which I hope will be an interesting one:

Intro to Biological Anthropology (incl forensic anthropology)
Cellular and Molecular Biology
Biological Chemistry
Intro to Economics

Little nervous for taking so many science classes, but two of them are 1st year courses, so I hope to not have too much trouble.

The weather has been rainy and cold since I arrived, but this morning was sunny and only a bit breezy. We are going to go on a hike to the top of the surrounding hills, to get a good view of the peninsula and Dunedin. I'll post pictures when I can.

Hope all is well at home, miss you all.

Day 1

I arrived in Auckland at 430am, 2 days after I left DC. The plane was nice enough; it had decent legroom and a personal TV system with a large selection of movies and series. I ended up watching Atonement, after which I cried (embarrassing; luckily, most people were asleep), and several episodes of CSI and Cold Case. While waiting at the gate for the plane to Dunedin, I ran into Spenser, which was a great surprise. It was a bit of a relief to have someone I knew around. We got a shuttle to our respective flats, which first took us all over the city while it dropped off the other 7 people in the bus. The ride was about 45min, taking us through the countryside- green rolling hills and acres of farmland. It was a little chilly today, only because it was windy and overcast. Kiwi locals said it never really snows here, so it can’t get but so cold (famous last words, right?)

My flat is #24 at 8 Willowbank, room 5 on the third floor (I have a balcony! See picture). The previous tenant in this room left me a nice note, his name is Patrick from Clemson University. There are 4 other people living here: Oliver (Germany), Martin (Sweden) and Becky (US) live on the first 2 floors. Sharing my floor is Natalie from Canada, and so far we are getting along really well. She and I attended a campus tour together and hung out most of the day.

I just got back from the grocery store which is a couple blocks south of here. Somewhat cheap, although it is strange what is more expensive than what; example: peanut butter is ~$3 for one jar. Fortunately, the NZ$ is cheaper than US$ (does that make sense?). Campus is pretty spread out, and most shops close around 5pm. There are a few 24/7 computer labs around, but by Saturday we will have internet here.

When we came back from our tour, and dinner at a cute Vegan café, the rest of our flatmates were hanging out in the lounge with a neighbor, Kelly. All are either vegetarian or vegan and two are lactose intolerant. Fun cooking times ahead! Everyone is into hiking (or tramping as they call it here), and Kelly climbs. Woot! She was upset I didn’t bring my harness, but, I’m sure I’ll manage… it isn’t like this is a great spot for bouldering.

Tomorrow we start our course selection, and I think my schedule should be pretty, well, easy. I’m looking to take a couple Māori classes, one in Geology, maybe environmental something or other, and of course, Cellular and Molecular Bio – just so I don’t have to take it at UR. We are also getting our student ID cards, which gives us internet access and local discounts. Next week we will be spending time in orientations and club fairs. I’m hoping to join the MTB and Water Polo clubs; I think they would keep me quite busy. I shipped my bike here in pieces, and although I need to get wheels, a headset, chain…and a helmet, I should have it built back up in a week or so.

I’m exhausted, we’re going to watch a movie and I hope I don’t fall asleep. Accents here are funny. Although I have to remember, that I’m the one with the accent.