The St. Clair Adventure

Yesterday I went out with my flatmate Anna and another American student (I know, always with the Americans) to the St. Clair Beach area in South Dunedin. We originially wanted to take the bus out to the Otago to peninsula, but that quickly cancelled when we missed that bus while waiting at the wrong bus stop. We improvised and caught another bus instead to the beach.

The weather was not particularly nice yesterday. It was gray and dreary, but luckily not very cold at all. Down at the beach, it was a little misty and drizzly, but it was bareable.

The beach turned out to be very nice, despite how dull the weather was. We walked along the entire St. Clair beach area and the St. Kilda beach area, almost to Lawyer's Head, which turned out to be about 2.5km (nearly two miles). We had fun taking a lot of photographs of the area and running away from the tide on the shore.













The area reminded me a lot of the way the Oregon coast looks during the fall or winter.

It was at St. Kilda beach that we thought about catching the bus home from that area to avoid walking all the way back to the bus stop at St. Clair. There was no way to exit the beach, so we ended up trekking a few steep sandy hills to climb up on to a main road in a slightly sketchy construction area. We were hoping to follow the road out to the nearby residential area to find the bus stop. However, we were stopped by an unhappy beach ranger who let us know, "Yew gerls are trispessing." For a moment we were really worried that we were going to be in some sort of trouble. He merely scowled at us and told us the road we were on is fenced off for a reason and that no one is to be on the property. We apologized and explained we weren't exactly sure where we were going and that we were trying to find a bus stop. I'm guessing he was easy on us because we were foreign? Anyway, he had to unlock a gate for us to get out.


Taken just a few moments after the incident.

We ended up walking all the way back to the bus stop in St. Clair anyway.

We made it home safely though. It was a nice adventure.

Tomorrow is day one of classes. I'm nervous. I have Lit and Gender and NZ Art History. Hopefully I won't be too terribly lost on campus tomorrow. I'd hate to be late to a lecture filled with hundreds of people. Embarassing.

Anyway, wish me luck. I hope it goes well.

The Tunnel Beach Adventure

It was finally a beautiful day in Dunedin yesterday. The sun was out. It was probably in the 30's (celsius). It was warm. It was a perfect day for an adventure.

One of my flatmates invited me to go out to Tunnel Beach with her and a few other Americans. I had nothing planned for the day so I agreed.

The six of us met at a bus stop on George Street around 11AM. We caught the bus at 11:15 to Corstorphine Road. The last stop on Corstorphine Road was about a 20 minute drive. From there, we would have had to walk a mile or so down Middleton Road and then on to Blackhead Road to get to Tunnel Beach Road. However, the bus driver was nice enough to drive a little extra to drop us off near Tunnel Beach Road. It saved us quite a bit of time (although we still had to do a bit of walking).

The morning was fresh. We were just a little Southeast of Dunedin and it was beautiful. Lots of green hills with farm animals. I almost felt like I was walking through The Shire in the Lord of the Rings :].



I was with five other students. Even though they all knew each other well and they're in the same study abroad program, it was really fun. I was a bit worried that I might feel left out, but everyone was cool and we had a good time. It was sweet-as.

The walk down the trail to tunnel beach was spectacular. We walked along a steep, winding path right against a beautiful coastline defined by massive cliffs. There was the familiar smell of salt water in the air. It reminded me of home, and it felt nice.













We reached the bottom and had lunch on top of a ledge that jutted out from the coast and overlooked the beach.







After that, we went down through one of the tunnels to a little private beach area where we relaxed on the beach and lounged on some of the large rocks. We also played a little bit of frisbee. The water was way too cold for swimming. I wasn't really dressed properly anyway (I wore jeans and a blouse). We were there for pretty much the whole afternoon.







We left the beach at around 3 and started the hike back up the path (which was really difficult). At the top, it was still a long way until the bus stop. We did manage to meet the 3:40PM bus on time, though.

It was really nice to get out of my flat and meet some new people.

Last night was also the party for new international students. It was held at the Monkey Bar just a few blocks away from uni and our flat. The bar is actually an old church that's been converted into a bar/dance club. It was rather amusing. My flatmates and I hung out for a bit and talked with some other international students. I also tried some Speights ale, which is Dunedin's local famous brewed ale (it was pretty good). We stayed out late dancing. We went home after we had exhausted ourselves.

My feet have been miserable from blisters so I'm trying to take it easy on them (I'm sorry feet). I also think I might be coming down with a cold. My throat has been sore all day, but I'm crossing my fingers that it'll go away by tomorrow.

My papers [classes] begin on Monday and I'm excited to see how that goes. Mon and Wed from 11AM-1150am I have Literature and Gender. Wed from 12-1350 I have Irish Poetry. Tue and Thur from 10-1050 I have New Zealand Art History and then on those same days from 12-1250 I have Ukiyo-e Floating Art World of Japan, which I think I may delete and replace with something else. Apparently, that particular 300 level paper is a continuation of the 200 level paper, so I'm not sure why they allowed me to take it since I haven't fulfilled the prerequisite and I don't have much of an Art History background. Ah well, we'll see.

Walking Around Dunedin City

I've spent the first couple of days in Dunedin simply walking around the area for hours just observing everything and trying to soak in all the differences.

In many aspects, Dunedin reminds me of Portland. Both seem to have large numbers of young college students. Both also seem to be culturally diverse cities. Also, there are tons of little funky independent coffee shops here, which is very Portland-ish. The main street in Dunedin, George Street, reminds me very much of areas like Hawthorne, Belmont, or Alberta. In that sense, things here look rather similar to what I'm familiar with in Oregon; however, appearances are often deceiving. Dunedin may resemble Portland in several ways, but it is vastly different.

Dunedin is the city in NZ that has the highest rate of college students under the age of 25. It's a very young city. In fact, while walking around, I've mainly seen college students. Of course post-college students and older adults exist, as well a few uniform-clad high schoolers, but they are definitely the minority here. It seems as though city life centers around the university and campus life. Since it's orientation week, many students (especially kiwi students) seem to be having huge extravagant and crazy parties all day and all night. I've witnessed some pretty great university traditions. For example, the Toga Parade is an event in which all incoming freshers [freshmen] dress in togas and march down George Street. During this time, the mayor (who is an exceptional opera singer) gives the freshers a warm welcome, after which, all the upperclassmen take it upon themselves to also welcome the freshers (by bombing them with water balloons and other assorted objects). It's all in good fun. Everyone seems to have a great time. It was amusing to see hundreds of students dressed in togas running through the streets trying to dodge random objects.



Kiwis seem very friendly and love having fun. I constantly see groups of students walking around laughing, joking, or saying hello to people. I've also noticed that kiwis tend to have a really great sense of humor. Most locals I've talked to love cracking jokes or making witty comments.

The university, because it is public and ENORMOUS, is completely different from Concordia. Instead of one religious emphasis, there are countless student societies of all faiths - Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Christian. The uni is also incredibly open about issues involving sex, pregnancy, contraception, and STI's, things that seem to be almost ignored or overlooked at CU. The school is really lax when it comes to alcohol. I've seen students walking around campus sipping on beer during Orientation. Students here at school come from all over the world. Today at Orientation, I saw students from South Africa, Bahrain, Chile, Czech Republic, Poland, Canada, Guatemala, Scotland, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, and so many other countries (it would take me too long to name). Further, there are so many activities to do on campus! I have the opportunity to take art, dance, music, cooking, sport, and recreation non-credit classes. I'm thinking about taking wheel pottery, blues harmonica, Thai cooking, and wine making. I love the Uni of Otago.

Anyway, here's some pictures from exploring:




The clocktower building on campus.


The historic Dunedin railway.


St. Paul's Cathedral.


Beautiful stained glass windows in the cathedral.


The gothic architecture is amazing.


A cool view of Dunedin from the top of a massively steep hill my flatmate and I walked up.

I'm in New Zealand - Part II

Right, right, where did I leave off?

Val and I had just boarded the taxi shuttle and were on our way to the city of Dunedin. The drive was about half an hour. It was after 8, but it was still light out. A bit gray and dreary, but the sites were still visible. Fields and fields and hills filled with sheep (lots and lots) of sheep, cows, and horses. The Dunedin airport is pretty much in the wop wops (the middle of nowhere).

We drove through the main road of Dunedin and saw the Cadbury Chocolate Factory as well as a lot of shops and cafes and bars (a lot of all three of those here).

We stopped at the Proctor's Office to pick up our flat keys. Mine was the closest so I was dropped off first. My flat is located right across the street from uni. It's a really great location. It's well quick to walk anywhere cool (I noticed kiwis say 'cool' quite a bit).

I arrived to a dark and empty flat; none of my flatmates were home. I lugged my suitcases into my bedroom and was wonderfully surprised by how homey and spacious it iss (the flat is completely furnished and well-stocked). And we have full size bids (definitely a nice change from Concordia's tiny twin-sized beds!). I unpacked a few things, but quickly took a shower. I felt gross and really needed to. Afterall, what was supposed to be a 12-13 hour trip had turned into a 24 hour trip. I was completely exhausted and just needed to feel clean. I am so grateful that I had ValaRee as a companion on the trip. Despite how stressful, frustrating, and hectic everything was, we were able to cheer each other up and keep a really positive attitude. The trip was difficult, but we still managed to laugh and have a good time. If she hadn't been with me, I probably would have cried (especially when I realized I missed my connecting flight and would have had to wait in Auckland by myself for hours).

I stepped into the bathroom and was surprised to see we have a glass stand-in shower, a toilet, a sink, and a washer and dryer all in the same area!

I eventually roamed around the house and took a peak of the living room and the dining room/kitchen area. It's very nice. I'm also really impressed with how well the uni stocks the flats. We have eating utensils, pots, pans, plates, cups, a microwave, and a toaster, and all the other important essentials like a stove, oven, and refrigerator.

My flatmates arrived after a bit and it was really nice to finally get to meet all of them since I had been communicating with all three of them over Facebook. We didn't chat very long. I was anxious to unpack and settle a little. Honestly, I crashed soon after I put everything from my suitcases away. It was a well-deserved sleep (even though I was rather cold).


This is our flat! It's very cute.


Living room area.


Roommate's piano.


Sink area.


Dining area.


Bathroom.


A part of my bedroom.


Another part of my bedroom.

I finally believe that I'm here. When I first arrived in the country, it felt surreal, and honestly, it didn't seem different from home at all. I felt like I was still in America. But reality has been slowly settling in waves. At first it was the little things - like the different spellings of words. Then it was noticing the way people talk and becoming very conscious of my American accent. Then it was on to bigger things like traffic moving in opposite directions and the metric system. And then finally, it was coming to the conclusion that I am the furthest away from home that I have ever been, in a completely different hemisphere, in a completly different time zone, in a country I am not as familiar with as I wish I were.

It's almost overwhelming. No, actually, it is overwhelming. I haven't really had much time to rest as Monday was the beginning of orientation and there have been so many things I needed to get done for school and places I've explored.

The good news is I'm officially course approved (as of yesterday) and it was such a tedious and complicated process. But it's done! I also rented bedding from uni. I signed my lease agreement. I checked in with the International Students Office. I went grocery shopping (which turned out to be a truly interesting experience) and I've discovered my surroundings a bit.

Anyway, I've got to wake up early tomorrow morning for and International Students Information Session so I'll update later with a picture blog of all the sites I've seen so far.

I haven't had much time to relax. Ahhhh. I hope relaxation comes soon.

Kia Ora! - I'm in New Zealand (Part I)

I'm finally here in Dunedin, and boy, has it been quite the journey.

I arrived at the Honolulu airport at about 6:45PM (3 hours before my departure time)on the 20th. I lounged around for a bit and waited for ValaRee to arrive. By the time it was 9PM and I didn't see ValaRee yet, I was getting a bit worried. She finally arrived, but we weren't able to get seats together :[. It was all right though. The 9 hours and 15 minutes of flight went by a lot faster than I expected. I'd like to mention that Air New Zealand is absolutely wonderful. All of the flight attendants were extremely friendly and took great care of all the passengers.

For the first couple of hours of the flight, I decided to watch the movie "Sione's Wedding" (a popular NZ comedy about four Samoan males). It was amusing. Each passenger is privileged with a small personal monitor embedded in the back of the seat in front of them and a small remote which allows you to choose from a very large selection of movies, television shows, documentaries, and songs throughout the flight. For free. It was very great. I listened to a couple of NZ rock bands and then decided to try and get some sleep. It was a restless sleep. I woke up once or twice each hour. But finally, it was time for landing.

We arrived at Auckland at about 6:20AM the 22nd, 20 minutes late. ValaRee and I made the journey together to customs where we stood in a very, very long line for about 30 minutes just so we could have our passports checked and stamped by a customs agent. The kiwi agent made fun of me when I told him I was going to uni to study English literature and art. He said, "You came all this way to study English Literature and art?" as if it might have been the most ridiculous thing he had heard. He asked me if I was going to be a scarfie, to which I replied Yes. He said, "Do you know what a scarfie is?" I said, "Yeah, I think I read somewhere that it means a university student." He laughed and said, "It's a drunken uni student." Ha (hey, New Zealanders really love alcohol).

By the time we got to baggage claim, it was nearly 7AM and our connecting flight to Dunedin was leaving at 8AM. By the time we got our luggage and went through the inspection at customs (where we were ordered to declare and surrender all food and liquids), it was 7:30AM.

We tried as best as we could to get to the domestic transfer terminal quickly with all our luggage. The agents told us it was too late and that we had to walk to the domestic terminal to have our flight rescheduled. While talking with the agent I realized I had forgotten my purse at the customs inspection. I was paniced. We rushed back and luckily, it was safe (Thank Goodness).

I can't even begin to describe to you how much of a struggle it was to walk from one end of the Auckland airport to the other with two large suitcases, a carry on bag, and a purse (we should have taken a shuttle; we did not).

At the domestic terminal they told us we wouldn't be able to board another connecting flight to Dunedin until 3:30 PM. It was only 8:30AM. We checked in our bags and went on our wage to wander around the airport for a bit.

We exchanged money and I bought a phone card. I needed to call the taxi service that was planning to pick us up from Dunedin at 10:45AM (which is the time we SHOULD HAVE arrived in Dunedin). And I had to call my family to let them know I was okay.

We were starving so we got something to eat in the food court. ValaRee got a toastie (sandwich) and I got a fruit and yoghurt salad (yes, Kiwis spell yogurt with a nice 'h' in the middle). We looked in some of the gift shops and were a bit shocked by the prices of things. I guess we hadn't expected things to be as expensive as they are. The exchange rate from USD to NZD is nice. One US dollar will yield almost two NZ dollars so because of that, the prices of things here are basically double the price of things in the US. So if you were to buy a book in the US for about $14-$15, it would cost about $30-$32NZ. I saw a t-shirt that costed $40. It startled me - until I processed that it would be about $20 at home, which is about right. But still, those high prices scare me. Definitely something I'll have to slowly get used to.

I don't know how, but we made the hours pass. We talked, watched the show Numbers on ValaRee's lap top, read, listened to our MP3 players, watched some Rugby on the tele. 3:30 arrived and we got on the plane. It took us about 45 minutes to get to Wellington. We waited there for a while, and then boarded our next flight, which took about an hour or maybe a little less to get to Christchurch. Then from Christchurch, we arrived in Dunedin at almost 8PM. We were met by the taxi representative who helped us carry our bags to the little shuttle that would take us about 25km or so to our flats.

The weather in Dunedin was about 12 degrees Celsius. It was overcast, gray, and rainy.

I felt like I was in Portland.

I don't have many pictures yet, but I promise I'll post some too, especially of our flat.

I'm too tired to finish telling you about how everything's been so far, but I promise I'll fill you in tomorrow (with some pictures).

It's almost 10PM and I'm exhausted.

Good night everyone!

NZ is so close

With only 4 days before I leave, it seems I've entered the final count down. Everyone I know is asking me the same thing, "Are you ready? Are you nervous?" Am I ready? I think so. Maybe. Am I nervous? Of course I am! I think I do pretty well at adapting, though. The move from Hawaii to Oregon for college was shocking and exciting. I was so afraid that I wouldn't survive so far away from home, but I've been making it for three years. I know I will be fine in New Zealand. I'm excited to discover how this experience will change me and help me grow. I just can't believe the past two months went by so quickly. I almost thought February 20th would never get here.

As promised, CU has sent me half of my refund check. The remaining half has been mailed to me and may be in my mail box tomorrow. Another huge relief. Financially, I am set for this trip. I have enough money to pay for tuition at Otago, school books and supplies, rent at the flat, utility bills, food, and I still have extra to explore and have a great time in the country. A lot of that comes from the nice exchange rate from US dollars to NZ dollars. Right now, 1 USD = 1.88 NZD.

I'd love to be able to see more of the country. I've been corresponding with other American students and it seems many of us would like to visit the North Island sometime during the semester. Also, one of my flat mates has mentioned that she has a bit of an obsession with the Lord of the Rings trilogy and would love to visit some of the movie sites. Lucky for us, Queenstown and its surrounding areas were used as site locations for Middle Earth. Queenstown is not very far away at all. I've also heard it's a really great area for bungee jumping and sky diving :].

I've also explored the university's website and stumbled across the site for clubs and societies. I'm especially interested in the Cantores Choir, which seems to encourage international students to join, even for a semester. It seems like an awesome way to get to know a lot of kiwi students. AND the choir travels around New Zealand for performances. I know, totally awesome. I'm also really interested in doing volunteer work in Dunedin. I think it would be amazing to help out the community there in any way I can through the university's Volunteer Otago program.

Anyway, thanks for sticking with me. I know these early entries have been a bit boring, but I promise they'll begin to be really exciting very soon.

Four more days until New Zealand.

I honestly still can't believe this is really happening. It all seems like a dream. I think reality's going to settle very quickly on Friday.