This weekend has been the definition of relaxation. This Sunday may have been one of my best days in Wellington so far. For starters the weather was absolutely perfect. Everyone keeps saying you can’t beat welly weather on a good day and they are so right. It was sunny yet breezy so it kept you at a perfect temperature of hot and cold. My Sunday started with a trip to the fruits and veggies market, which has already became a favorite time of the week for me. I went down with my friend Michelle and it was nice to shop around all the locally grown markets pointing at good deals, or odd fruit and veggie names. There is something about the atmosphere that is hard to describe but I absolutely love it. It’s not like the typical farmers markets I’ve been to in the states. It’s much livelier and more of an event then just a shopping trip. As I was picking out my fruits for the week I thought to myself.. Wow what am I going to do without my weekly shopping market this time next year? I decided when I get back to Susquehanna next year I’m going to take more advantage of the locally grown markets that happen. It’s such a good feeling when you have all these delicious foods and you’ve supported the local business instead of the chain grocery stores. It set the tone for the rest of my day. After our shopping adventure I had the best intentions of doing homework and I definitely need to do some, but this weather was too beautiful to stay indoors so the homework was going to have to wait. Plus my friend Megan asked if I wanted to go to the beach, so I think we know where I was headed. We went to oriental bay which is a reasonably short walk (15-20 mins) from where I live. People were full out enjoying this most perfect weather at the beach. This was my first time checking out the beach really since I’ve been in New Zealand. They are not really known for beaches mostly because they don’t have very good surfing waves and Wellington especially is known for having a lot of wind, but it wasn’t that type of day. So I throw on my togs (swimsuit) and sunscreen and headed to the beach. Our friend Annika joined us as well. I remember saying to Megan “Do we even go to school?” Of course we do, but in that moment I felt like I was on a summer vacation with friends, just relaxing and soaking up the beauty. It was just a perfect day.
My weekend besides that was also pretty wonderful. On Fridays I don’t have any classes so I get the three day weekends and I take full advantage of the plus day and go out and about. This Friday I went on a trip with the Massey International organization to Te Papa, the national museum of NZ and they were having a day to celebrate international students coming into Wellington. If I didn’t already feel like Welly was my home this event sealed the deal. It was so sweet that they took the time to welcome us into their city and country. The event was filled with speakers, performances, pictures, and the best muffin I’ve had since getting here. I might have taken more than one. But I got to meet the mayor of Wellington! I don’t think I’ve ever even met the mayor in my hometown of Maryland but I met the mayor in NZ. After the festival I relaxed for a bit and then went walking around the city with Megan. It was nice to take some time and walk around places I hadn’t seen yet. Later that night I ended up meeting some of my friends down at the Southern Asian festival that was happening near the bay and it was such a new experience. I sat down at one of the bunches as everyone was still buying food and was thinking to myself, I came to NZ thinking I would only experience NZ culture but at this festival and so many of the festivals I’ve been too I get the opportunity to go beyond just one culture and see Welly for the mixing pot of blending cultures that it is. It was so sweet to see how happy and excited my new friends were at the festival because a lot of their home countries we’re being represented. It was a nice night filled with new experiences, spectacular entertainment and good people.
My weekend besides that was also pretty wonderful. On Fridays I don’t have any classes so I get the three day weekends and I take full advantage of the plus day and go out and about. This Friday I went on a trip with the Massey International organization to Te Papa, the national museum of NZ and they were having a day to celebrate international students coming into Wellington. If I didn’t already feel like Welly was my home this event sealed the deal. It was so sweet that they took the time to welcome us into their city and country. The event was filled with speakers, performances, pictures, and the best muffin I’ve had since getting here. I might have taken more than one. But I got to meet the mayor of Wellington! I don’t think I’ve ever even met the mayor in my hometown of Maryland but I met the mayor in NZ. After the festival I relaxed for a bit and then went walking around the city with Megan. It was nice to take some time and walk around places I hadn’t seen yet. Later that night I ended up meeting some of my friends down at the Southern Asian festival that was happening near the bay and it was such a new experience. I sat down at one of the bunches as everyone was still buying food and was thinking to myself, I came to NZ thinking I would only experience NZ culture but at this festival and so many of the festivals I’ve been too I get the opportunity to go beyond just one culture and see Welly for the mixing pot of blending cultures that it is. It was so sweet to see how happy and excited my new friends were at the festival because a lot of their home countries we’re being represented. It was a nice night filled with new experiences, spectacular entertainment and good people.
Sorry I didn’t go in chronological order with my story this week, but I wanted to tell you about my Saturday as well that started with wishing my amazing Grandma a happy 70th birthday! I think my grandparents are still kind of amazed and confused about the whole skype situation and that only makes it that much better. I was the first to tell her happy birthday, technically for her it wasn’t her birthday yet but since I’m over 12 hours ahead of the states for me it was her birthday so it counted for me being first. After that I went to check out the dragon boat festival that was happening down near the bay. I posted pictures of them racing the boats a few weeks ago but Saturday was the big racing event. There weren’t as many people out as I was expecting but this was probably due to the cloudiness of the day in general, but as the clouds started to clear more people began to show up. It was Megan, Adeena and I that went to the festival and afterwards we went on a food adventure around the city! But you’ll never guess where we ended up eating.. We ended up back in the cube and decided to save money and just fix food at home instead. Which if you look though the photos you’ll find a pasta dish and that was my crowning moment in food for the week. Cooking has been such an entertaining experience so far and I love seeing what creations I can make. We did ventured back out eventually though to find some delicious desert to satisfy our sweet tooth. We ended up grabbing a desert from this place called Heaven’s pizza and it was pretty delicious. I had a piece of double chocolate fudge cake and it was definitely something I’d eat again. It was the perfect night to sit outside and eat your desert and people watch as everyone was gearing up to go to town on their Saturday night. I happily went to bed early after my action packed day. That was basically my relaxing weekend and I just love this city more and more as each day passes.
A few other random but memorable moments of the week were I finally received my Massey ID card! Not that I didn’t feel like an official student before but I most definitely do now. I also got a city library card and I know it wasn’t completely necessary but it’s free and I absolutely love going to new libraries so I figured why not! I found this book while just browsing through the photography section called “Pictures of Peace.” The idea of the book is they asked a variety of photographers what they would photograph if the world was at piece and each response was unique and they provided some photographs from each photographer as well. I’ve always been inspired by the idea of peace and living in a peaceful mindset so I loved flipping through the pages and reading everyone’s responses. Oh also from this week here are a few NZ food facts I’ve learned, jelly= jello, cheese toasties are most definitely grilled cheese, and my flatmates have never and wasn’t sure if s’mores were real. That last one was a crazy thought for me haha I told them not to fear sometime this semester I will find an open fire and introduce to them to the beauty that is a s’more.