MONDAY:
It's been quite the wicked last few days here. When I was back in the states thinking about coming to New Zealand I was kind of worried or scared. I've never lived in a city before so this was quite the change, but so far these past days have been absolutely incredible. I have felt so welcomed into the city, country, and Massey Uni (University) at such a level of excitement I wasn't expecting. We were sitting at international orientation on Monday in the auditorium and I was hesitant at first, but they made me feel so welcome and wanted at the Uni. It reminded me of my first weekend back when starting at Susquehanna. There's so many new people to meet and so many new faces all around and exciting. I felt like a freshman all over again, but honestly that’s an ok feeling. It was so nice too because my flat mates and all the other first year students around me were going through the same adjustment as I was. At international orientation they did a wonderful job of making us understand a bit more about the Uni and they gave us tons of free food which is always wonderful. They even sent us on a bus tour around Wellington. This wasn't just any bus tour either; this bus tour was four hours long and if I'm going to be completely honest was amazing. They took us to almost my entire bucket list of Wellington. They showed us Mount Victoria, Weta Cave (Lord of the Rings workshop), the Botanic Garden Tour, Cable Car, Te Papa Museum (New Zealand's National Museum), and the Rose Garden. It was perfect because it gave me a little taste of all the places I know that I can and probably will spend days at. During International orientation this was my first time meeting students from all over the world so it was quite awesome! I made friends from Germany, Brazil, Singapore Switzerland and even Thailand. My favorite new friend had to of been Kate though. She was born in China and is studying at the Massey Uni as well. She is this extremely kind, friendly person. We initially bonded over her having a friend studying at the University of Maryland (I’m from Maryland if you didn’t know). But then we realized we share a love for the TV show Friends, and we actually loved a lot of the same Television shows like Modern Family, and Criminal Minds. We even took a picture together and exchanged Facebook information. This amazing study abroad opportunity wasn't just for me to emerge myself in the New Zealand culture, but for me to connect to those around the world.
TUESDAY:
Tuesday of my first week in Wellington was much more relaxed. Those of us from IFSA that came to Massey Wellington meet up with Taylor of amazing IFSA person in Wellington and went out for coffee. She showed us around the town a bit and it was a right nice time. We headed down to the public library and I finally saw the Beehive (New Zealand parliament building). It seems very common to have bean bag chairs in public places here so there were heaps of them outside the library. I quite like them being all around because it makes sitting less formal and more relaxed. On our day in town we took a trip to the Warehouse and if I were to compare it to a store back home it would be the Walmart of Wellington. Heaps of bargain deals and reduce items. After the Warehouse I ventured to find the grocery store and the store was called the Countdown. It was definitely your typically grocery store but it was rather funny because they have a large International section and this where I can find a lot of brands I’m used to in the states, but I actually choose not to buy any brands I’m familiar with because I thought it be nice to venture outside my comfort zone. I bought TIM TAMS! They are supposedly the best biscuits (cookies) in New Zealand so I’m very excited to try them. When I try them sometime this week I'll let you know how they are! I picked up your typical college foods as well, pasta, cereal, bread, raspberry jam, and spaghetti in a can. Having to cook for myself is all very exciting right now.
WEDNESDAY:
That brings us to Wednesday which was the kick start day to regular Massey orientation, which no surprise was absolutely fantastic. I had been rather anxious about coming and not knowing anyone, but meeting people at orientation has been a box of fluffies. Everyone has been so friendly and easy to talk to, and even the lecturers (professors) are so approachable. I actually ate lunch with 3 lectures and they were so down to earth. I can’t wait to start classes on Monday. I noticed though while at orientation there is a much wider variety when is comes to the type of students studying, meaning there seems to be more non-traditional students studying here. Majority are still typically students though for sure. All of my flatmates are 17 and 18 years old so it takes me back to my freshman year and seeing them go through their finding themselves and their friends stage. It is rather adorable to see the students going through this process. Wednesday there was so much free food it was great and I've never had so many lollies (candies) it’s crazy the amount of chocolate I've seen and consumed. They had live music on campus for us as well. It was a Wellington native band call the Tunes of I, they were rather good and I enjoyed them a lot. I’ll attach a video of them to singing to this post if anyone wants to check them out.
THURSDAY:
Thursday was yet another activity filled day and it was weird but I was talking to my friend Meghan and we said it felt like we’ve been flating here in Wellington for weeks already but it’s actually only been a few days. I can tell Windy Welly and Massey are already finding places in my heart and are feeling like home. Thursday was filled with campus tours, student expos, an Amazing race around the Uni, more free food and a pretty fun outdoor movie. The movie they played was called What we do in the Shadows. It was quite funny and it was a New Zealand comedy and the location was based here in Wellington. It followed a flat of Vampires through their everyday lives.
FRIDAY:
Friday night I went to grab dinner with some of the international students I had met and it was a great time. We went to this joint called Ekim Burgers. It was actually funny because I remember walking by this place and thinking “Oh that looks sweet I want to try it sometime.” The restaurant had a sweet vibe to it and it was very informal dining. That is a big cultural difference I've noticed in New Zealand. The dining places are much more relaxed and a come on in, make yourself at home feel. As in the states I rarely get that come relax and grab a burger and hangout atmosphere in the states. The burgers were well priced, I got an Esther burger for $5 NZ dollars and of course I needed to get some chips (French fries). It was delicious and if I’m ever craving a burger I know where to go! It was actually pretty funny one of the girls I met at dinner was from the states and when I told her I was from Maryland she said she went to Goucher College. This is a small college one of my best friends from home, Meagan goes to and she actually knew Meagan. What a small world we live in that I can travel all the way around the world and met someone that knows a friend back home. There was a performance arcade going on this weekend near the bay, so after dinner we decided to go check it out. At first we thought we might had missed it because we couldn't see anything going on, but we decided to adventure around anyway. It’s a completely different experience when you see the world at night or at least I think it is. We found this playground that had the best slide I've ever seen and being the adult that I am knew I had to slide down it. The slide was a lighthouse and it was huge, and took a bit more effort than I was expecting to climb but it was so worth it. Now having our childhood fantasies satisfied we ventures around some more and we happened across the Performance Arcade!! It was amazing, but by the time we had found it was closing down though. Luckily though when we stopped at this booth I was talking to one of the artists, he was from Australia he said it would be open all day tomorrow so I knew what I was doing tomorrow. The Australian’s man performance was sweet as though. So you walk into his booth and you can see 180 degrees live video playing and if you step backwards you can rewind the past and the pictures, if you stepped forward you could speed up time, and if you stepped in the middle you could literally freeze time. It was so inventive and I’m starting to understand why this is the creative capitol.
SATURDAY:
On Saturday I had made plans with Chandler, great name and for anyone that knows me I’m in love with the TV show friends so this is a great name. But so we were heading down to the bay and the Te Papa museum. It was a such a beautiful day out though so I skipped the museum and went photo-exploring instead. There was so much going on. There was this amazing Underground Market that happens every Saturday so I’m definitely going to go back. I had to pull myself away because there were so many beautiful handmade Wellington inspired pieces I wanted to buy. Outside there were dragon boat races going on, which were quite fun to watch. I took a bunch of pictures of the boats racing in the bay. I had time to explore the Performance Arcade some more as well. I more ended up just listening to a bunch of bands play their sets and man they were awesome! My favorite was this band called Towers. They were great, they had such a cool vibe to them I could listen forever. I’m hoping to check out their EP when it releases in May. I imagined Wellington to be this big city and you wouldn't run into people that often, but as I sat and listened to Towers perform, my friend Meghan was just randomly in the same place and a bunch of the international students I had met ended up running into us there as well. It definitely makes you feel more comfortable when you can just bump into people you know when you’re out and about.