Catching up!

Hey everyone!

I've been so busy absorbing everything I've experienced so far (and getting used to being in class again) that I haven't had a chance to blog yet! Therefore I'm going to give you a quicker version of the past few days so that I can start writing more detailed posts. In a numbered fashion, here are some of the things I've learned since Thursday afternoon in Los Angeles:

1) Air New Zealand has incredibly nice planes and flight attendants. However, their weight limit on carry-ons is not so nice. Make sure you read up on that thoroughly before flying with them (and any other international airline) so you don't feel ambushed. I managed to get through the check-out counter without mine getting weighed, but it's really not worth the hassle if you can avoid it. The picture to the right is of our amazingly awesome plane for our flight from LA to Aukland, complete with personal TVs where you could order snacks and drinks, watch unlimited movies and television (each had their own remote and everything), as well as an American plug to charge our various electronics. I stole this from Megan because my pictures of the plane were taken on my iPhone which disappeared while I was rechecking my bag in the Aukland airport. Another story for another day.

2) You will never truly understand how beautiful this country is until you see it in person. Even just the view from inside the Aukland airport is gorgeous (the pictures don't do it justice at all). I'm extremely jealous of those who had window seats on the plane and were able to get pictures from the air. Also, if you ever have to switch between the International and Domestic terminals in Aukland, prepare for a zigzagging, seemingly random walk through the grounds of one of the stranger airports I've ever been to.

3) Wellington is easily the most beautiful city I've ever seen. I took an excessive amount of pictures on our drive into the city, which the bus driver narrated for us and took us on the most scenic routes possible. Wellington is the perfect combination of a harbor, city, and houses set into high hills and mountains. Some of the houses are built on such steep cliffs that they have what are essentially private cable cars to get from their garage up to their house (I think the driver said there are about 4,000 of those throughout the city).

4) Our dorms here are bigger than my room at Tech and have the luxury of a sink in our rooms (I love not having to walk down the hallway to brush my teeth), large closets (so much better than a wooden wardrobe), and cute bed covers and pillowcase (I got lucky!). The next building over has the dining hall, the office, and a room with a bunch of couches. The dining hall has much healthier food than we're used to, so while we're all a bit hungrier than usual (the food is taking some getting used to), we've all resolved to the fact that it's good for us in the long-run. The couch room is perfect for reading parties and planning those weekend trips that we're all looking forward to.

5) For those Tech people reading this, I will never again complain about Freshman hill. This is the hilliest city I've ever seen in my life. However, the beautiful unobstructed views you can see from so high up makes the aching calves and pinching of what might be shin-splints forming completely worth it. 

6) Taking a history or biology course abroad requires a lot more reading than you expect. I can't remember the last time I had to do this much reading a day for a class, but it's not bad when everyone else has to do it too.

7) 8am classes are much more manageable when you have to be at breakfast at 7am regardless of your class schedule if you expect to have breakfast. Meal times here are set in stone and if you miss it... well the chefs want to go home, so you'll be trekking down the hills for your meal.

8) Even the Victoria University of Wellington has amazing views. This picture doesn't show it all, so I'll be getting more soon.

9) If you go up to the Botanical Gardens after dinner to do some reading, there's a good chance you'll hear some distant music, walk down the other side of the hill to check it out, and wind up sidetracked at a concert for an hour. It's totally worth it though. Also, most of the music we hear here is American. One of my favorite songs I heard at this concert was the classic "Livin' on a Prayer" which I got to sing along to. Thanks to Jamie for the picture!

10) People jump off of things everywhere here, especially into the harbor. No matter what time of day I've been near the harbor, it seems to be going on. We got Jamie to do it our first day exploring here and that's where she first noticed the jellyfish.

11) There are jellyfish in the harbor, but they won't sting you. How do we know this? Little kids (and some people on this trip) like to pick them up and toss them to each other.

12) Everything here is expensive. The sunscreen I prefer costs $30/bottle instead of the usual $11. I don't like it.

13) If you leave your windows open all day (as you must on the top floor of a window without air conditioning, because it gets really hot up here), there is a good chance of a beetle flying into the crack between your bed and the wall. Now, I'm off to bed and possibly have a nighttime bug-battle. Goodnight everyone from lovely Wellington, New Zealand!

Love,
Nikki