O-Week!

The beginning of the semester starts with orientation week, or O-Week. There are lots of events that go on like concerts, giveaways, a club fair, etc. We arrived in Dunedin (pronounced Do-Need-In) at the beginning of O-Week. This week is also a week for a lot of parties. Much to my surprise, when I walked up to my flat there was a party going on! I went in and put away my bags, made my bed, and took a quick shower and was ready to partake in the festivities.

The above are some pictures of my room! Not too shabby 

The name of the game was Scrumpy Hands. If anybody has ever played Edward 40 hands, its pretty much the same thing. A 40oz bottle of Scrumpy (kind of like a cider) is taped to each hand, and the goal is to drink them both to get them un-taped from your hands. Its more challenging than it sounds! But it was a great way to meet all the cool people living in my complex. I met sooooo many students from the U.S., but also some students from France, the U.K., and Czech Republic.

All of the international students and kiwi hosts of 378 Leith St. (minus me)

The next day was ISA orientation with the international office, which meant another early morning. After a few hours of that we needed to confirm our classes. If you're interested in knowing what I'm taking here's the list: 

Introduction to Conversational Maori

Art and Archaeology: Of Gods, Heroes, and Men

Animal Designs for Living

Ecology of Communities and Ecosystems

The next day was international student orientation (the details are rather boring so I'll spare them), but after orientation was clubs day! In the Link there were all sorts of tables set up for all of the clubs that the University of Otago has to offer. I signed up for a few, but I'm really excited for this one club I signed up for that is working to stop deep sea oil drilling in New Zealand, and is writing a letter to the University to make it less dependent on oil. The next day I got my student ID (I feel so official now!) and did some other small errands. 

Today was the first day of adventure since we have been to Dunedin. Originally, a group of us were supposed to go to Tunnel Beach, but we ended up missing our bus so we settled for any beach. Off to Saint Clair's Beach it was! We all chipped in for groceries and had a nice picnic on the beach. It was fun to just relax on the sandy beach, oh!, and I finally got to touch the Pacific Ocean!!! The water down here is absolutely gorgeous! Nothing at all like the water in Delaware. 

The beautiful blue water

Touching the Pacific Ocean!

Some gnarly waves at Saint Clair's

Farewell for now! I'm off tomorrow to figure out where my classes are on this massive campus!

Rotorua

Sorry it's been so long since my last post guys, I've been non-stop busy the past few days! So to continue the tale I will tell you about the town we stayed at from Saturday (2/20) until Monday (2/21).

I'll start with a little history about the town. Rotorua is famous for its hot springs and mud pools as it has a lot of geothermal activity (which also results in a horrible sulfur smell). It is surrounded by 8 lakes, and in 1886 there was an eruption by Rotorua by Mount Tarawera which caused the death of 120 people, destroyed the Pink and White Terrace - which were considered one of the 8th wonders of the world before their destruction - and buried the Maori village Te Wairoa.

Lake Tarawera - The largest of the lakes that surrounds Mount Tarawera

During my stay in Rotorua I spent a lot of time at the lakes. There is a lake view right in town which was absolutely stunning, especially in the evenings. 

The lake front view from downtown Rotorua

The town also holds a museum and beautiful government gardens, and is also home to some wildlife. 

The Rotorua museum

Part of the government gardens

More of the government gardens

Some strange bird (Mini Kevins?)

Black Swan

Lots of wonderful views, but sometimes the sulfur smell was a bit much to handle! Along with exploring the town I also got to see a show at the Agrodome in Rotorua. It was amazing to see that people came from all over the world for these shows! 

New Zealand's Sheep Breeds

Sheep shearing right on stage!

Milking a cow

They train their dogs to jump on the backs of sheep!

Sheeeeeeppp

After the Agrodome show we were able to go swimming in one of the lakes surrounding Rotorua. We swam in Blue Lake, or also known as Lake Tikitapu in the traditional Maori. The water was absolutely beautiful, and quite refreshing after having to deal with the 80 degree heat on the North Island. 

The view of the lake when we got off the bus

The lake from the shoreline

If you couldn't guess, Blue Lake is named for its blue water. There is also Green Lake, which is named for.....that's right! you guessed it! It's named for its green water. 

The final part of this trip was learning how to perform the haka. The haka is a Maori war dance that was used historically to connect the warriors with their ancestors and prepare them for battle while intimidating their enemies. The haka has become famous in New Zealand as their rugby team, The All Blacks, performs the haka before they play. 

Ka mate! Ka mate!
(It is death!, It is death!) 
Ka ora! Ka ora!
(It is life!, It is life!) 
Ka mate! Ka mate!
(It is death! It is death!) 
Ka ora! Ka ora!
(It is life! It is life!) 
Tenei Te Tangata Puhuru huru
(This is the hairy man) 
Nana nei tiki mai 
(Who fetched the sun) 
Whakawhiti te ra
(And caused to shine again) 
A upa ne ka up ane
(One upward step, another upward step) 
Upane, Kaupane
(An upward step) 
Whiti te ra
(The sun shines!)

This is the chant that goes along with the actions of the haka. Here is a video of the All Blacks performing their version of the haka:

I wish I had the video of our haka to share, but my program hasn't posted it yet! 

Me and two friends dressed in traditional wear for the haka

It's been an amazing adventure so far! Now to just survive orientation week! 

Hobbiton!!!!!!!!!

   Today marks a day of special remembrance as one of my childhood dreams came true - I went to the land of the hobbits! For those of you who don't know, Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit are some of my favorite movies and books in the entire world, and as a kid you could often find me sitting in my dad's comic book store watching the films. This made today one of the most spectacular days of my life. I would put it before my visit to Harry Potter World!

  I awoke this morning at 4:30 as it was about 10 am back home (not an ideal way to start my day). After breakfast, we quickly loaded up the bus and made our way toward Matamata, the town that holds the treasure that is Hobbiton. After a two hour drive we arrived to the town and pulled up to this magical place. I was so excited for this trip that I even wore my One Ring necklace.

Welcome to Hobbiton!

Shortly after we arrived our tour guide (William) hopped on our bus and began to give us lots of interesting information about Hobbiton. Did you know it's actually also a working farm? They have tons of sheep there! A quick drive brought us to the beginning of the village where the hobbit holes reside. Unfortunately, the interiors of the hobbit holes are not done. Instead they built the interiors in a studio in the city of Wellington (also located in New Zealand), so all that's left is the exteriors. The hobbit holes are built in various size ranges to help make the big people look bigger and the little people look...well...littler. William also informed us that to help portray the actual size of the hobbits, children were hired as background actors and dressed in adult hobbit clothes to give the appearance of working adult hobbits in the background. 

Some of the first hobbit holes that we saw

Not only does this place have hobbit holes, but it also has the crown jewel - Bag End! If you don't know, Bag End is the residence of Bilbo Baggins and later his nephew Frodo. Bilbo meets with dwarves here in The Hobbit, and Gandalf comes to visit them both here in The Fellowship of the Ring. 

Bag End

A motto to live by

We also got to see the party tree where Bilbo gave his birthday speech in the first movie. 

The Party Tree

Looks ready for a party!

 We ended the tour with a stop at the Green Dragon Inn for a complementary drink (nothing like free alcohol).

Nothing like spending your second day in New Zealand in such a magical place!

P.S. There will be more pictures on Facebook of my trip to Hobbiton!

Here I am Auckland!

 Many of you may know that I have embarked on a journey to study abroad. What fabulous destination have I chosen? Not Europe, not Asia. Nope. I chose the great country of New Zealand! New Zealand is home to many wonders such as endangered animals and plants, a fierce rugby team, and let's not forget it's where they filmed the greatest movies of all time (that would be The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit if you couldn't guess).


Today was my first day in this great country. I left Philly International Airport at 1 pm on Wednesday (2/17/16) flew to Houston - a 3.5 hour flight - had a quick 4 hour layover and then departed on my grand journey of the 14 hour flight to New Zealand. To be honest, the flight wasn't bad at all. Friendly crew, and friendly company made for a smooth trip. I landed in Auckland around 6 am on February 19. It was nonstop from there.

I quickly met my ISA group (there's 25 of us!) and we soon departed from the airport to see the rest of Auckland. Just being on the bus you could see such wonderful views! The scenery is absolutely spectacular!!

After a quick stowing of our luggage at the hotel, and a quick orientation, we got to do a bit of exploring while out for lunch (I had pizza, nothing too exotic).

View as we walked through Myer's Park

A kindergarten near the park

The park!

The University of Otago building - Where I'll soon be studying! 

After exploring and finally being able to check into our hotels at 2 pm, I went to finally take a shower and prepare for the traditional hangi dinner with the Maori. A hangi dinner is traditionally meat and root vegetables cooked in earthen pots in the ground. Tonight's dinner was lamb with potatoes, squash, stuffing, and steamed pudding for dessert. Before dinner was served we learned and observed some Maori traditions. One tradition is the hongi - the Maori greeting. To perform the hongi, grab each others hands (like you're going to shake hands), put your other hand on the person's shoulder, and press noses. This is significant to their culture because it acts as a transference of life force between  the two people, and it is considered the highest honor of greeting for the Maori. During the hongi you also exchange the words "Kia Ora" to each other, which essentially means "Hello" and "Be Well". It can also mean thank you. 

The wharenui where dinner was held (wharenui translates to "big house"). The structure of the house holds a lot of symbolism for the Maori culture. 

After dinner we were free to explore yet again, so a small group and I took in the night views that Auckland had to offer. The best by far was the Sky Tower lit up! 

The Sky Tower! Some people are crazy enough to bungee jump off of this building

Now its time for rest! I'll need it for exploring Hobbiton tomorrow!