Carly and Me on the beach at the YMCA
The view from our "wander" around the YMCAI haven't quite figured out yet how to put the images inside of the text..
Wow I’m finally here! New Zealand is amazing! I’m excited to write this – I am hopefully going to write a lot so that I can remember my visit as much as tell you all about it so if it gets a little boring feel free to skim ☺
It was great having Grandma bring me out to California and nice to meet all of Adele’s family. Our tour of LA the next morning was fun! At first when we went to check in they thought I was part of the Make A Wish Foundation, which was a little awkward. After we got that sorted out it was a great tour. We made it to the airport plenty early and Adele and Grandma sent me off around 7pm after a nice, final American dinner.
The plane ride over was very easy and relaxing. My vegetarian meals were decent and I slept for 80% of the flight. I did my acupuncture for jet lag and I think it might have worked, its hard to say since orientation sort of forced us to adjust to the time change (by not letting us sleep). I’m pretty sure the man next to me thought I was a witch when I was rapidly poking myself with a pen on my knees, toes and wrists, but oh well! We arrived at the airport and made it through customs and were met by the IFSA Butler staff. They were amazing throughout the entire orientation and I couldn’t be happier that I’m studying abroad through their program instead of others that I’ve heard about while being here. They had snacks for us and then we headed off to The Shakespear YMCA Lodge about an hour north of Auckland. After getting organized in our rooms and bunk beds we were given more kai (pronounced k-eye) and meaning food. I can definitely say that I was never hungry and the food was surprisingly good.We went for a ‘wander’ of the park and then given the schedule for the weekend by the head of the YMCA. The schedule that he wrote on the board honestly looked something like this:
Wow I’m finally here! New Zealand is amazing! I’m excited to write this – I am hopefully going to write a lot so that I can remember my visit as much as tell you all about it so if it gets a little boring feel free to skim ☺
It was great having Grandma bring me out to California and nice to meet all of Adele’s family. Our tour of LA the next morning was fun! At first when we went to check in they thought I was part of the Make A Wish Foundation, which was a little awkward. After we got that sorted out it was a great tour. We made it to the airport plenty early and Adele and Grandma sent me off around 7pm after a nice, final American dinner.
The plane ride over was very easy and relaxing. My vegetarian meals were decent and I slept for 80% of the flight. I did my acupuncture for jet lag and I think it might have worked, its hard to say since orientation sort of forced us to adjust to the time change (by not letting us sleep). I’m pretty sure the man next to me thought I was a witch when I was rapidly poking myself with a pen on my knees, toes and wrists, but oh well! We arrived at the airport and made it through customs and were met by the IFSA Butler staff. They were amazing throughout the entire orientation and I couldn’t be happier that I’m studying abroad through their program instead of others that I’ve heard about while being here. They had snacks for us and then we headed off to The Shakespear YMCA Lodge about an hour north of Auckland. After getting organized in our rooms and bunk beds we were given more kai (pronounced k-eye) and meaning food. I can definitely say that I was never hungry and the food was surprisingly good.We went for a ‘wander’ of the park and then given the schedule for the weekend by the head of the YMCA. The schedule that he wrote on the board honestly looked something like this:
9:30ish Kai
10:00ish Stuff
11:00ish Kai
11:15 Stuff
12:30 Kai
1:30 More stuff
etc…
Well the stuff turned out to be a lot of adventuresome outdoors activities. When we heard we were going to go sea kayaking they told us to bring our “togs, jumpers and jangals”. One of us was finally brave enough to ask what these were and we learned they are bathing suits, sweatshirts and sandals. Its been really fun learning all the differences in the language since New Zealand also speaks English. (I also found it interesting that one of the 3 official languages is Sign Language – Kate you have to visit now! )
Sea kayaking was so much fun but SO cold! I couldn’t believe that I was in shorts and a teeshirt on the ocean getting soaked in 45 degree weather. My partner Dave and I were very slow kayakers for some reason we just could not keep up with the others but it ended up being a fun joke. After learning how to steer and turn we played a game of kayak water polo where you basically throw balls at one of the leaders kayaks. Dave and I decided we’d be the team mascot since we couldn’t keep up anyways but we did end up scoring a point!
Later that night we went to “hot springs”. I thought it would be a lot more natural and outdoors-y than it was but it was sort of like a water park. The water slides there were the scariest I have ever been on! The seemed fairly unsafe and did not have a lifeguard but they were tons of fun! After that we went to a pub where most people bought their first legal beer. I was asleep by 7:30 that night, immediately after dinner.
The next day was even busier than the first. We started off with some educational material that was set up in a way to make it more fun. My group had to do an interpretive dance of our plane ride and arrival through customs. After our “pub-less quiz” as it was called, we did a ROGAINE, which stands for something about racing and getting exercise and competing. Well it was basically a timed scavenger hunt around the huge park for wooden blocks with symbols using a map a paper and pencil. We ran up some seriously big hills and hopped over a lot of electric fences but we my team ended up doing pretty well, with only a few of us getting shocked. That afternoon we had a couple of choices for activities so my friend that I’ve made, Carly, and I chose to go mountain biking. Wow was that difficult and scary! Going up hill was so hard probably because I was so tired already. Going downhill I thought I was going to go flying over my handlebars. (Two other funny differences. They call cross walks Zebra crossings and when you want to nap but not admit it you say I’m going to “check my eyes for holes”)
After mountain biking we obviously ate some more and then learned to play Touch Rugby. It’s a great game and I hope to join a club here so I can play a lot more often! New Zealanders are very competitive, I’ve learned, and were not happy if you weren’t giving it your all if you were on their team!
I went to bed before 8 again and woke up the next morning still very tired! The next day we left to go on our overnight stay at a Marae where the native Maori people live. It was such a great experience. The children of the Marae performed the Haka, or dance, for us. It is usually the adults that do it but they were off at a meeting at another Marae. It is custom for two of the boys from the visiting group to give a speech in the Maori language to introduce us. I had the best time watching the kids ages 0-9 laughing at the boys accents but trying to hide it. We then touched noses with all of the members of the marae that were present and said “kia ora” which means the breath of life but is another way to say welcome. This was the final step in making us part of the family at the marae. They taught us one of their dances and then we ate some kai and all went to sleep on mats in the “meeting room”.
The next morning we went on a wine tour and tasting. It was probably pretty interesting except that somehow I’ve gotten sick with a very sore throat and I thought I was going to throw up the whole time. The wine was gross but I’m sure anyone who likes wine would have very much enjoyed it! We then headed off to the airport for our flight to Christchurch. I am sitting in my bed here under the covers its 8pm. I have met 2 of my 4 flat mates. They are named Anthony (from Britain) and Leeland from Georgia (the state). One of the others is named Anna but I haven’t met her yet and the other is a Kiwi I believe so he is home for the break.
Tomorrow Carly and I are going grocery shopping and I’m going to the College Health centre for the very first time in my life since I can’t ask Mom to tell me what’s wrong with me! I guess that’s a good experience. Sorry this is so long and detailed it’s probably a reflection on the fact that I haven’t really made friends yet and there isn’t much to do. Its still been a great start to my trip; I just need to adjust to the winter light and weather! Miss you all!
10:00ish Stuff
11:00ish Kai
11:15 Stuff
12:30 Kai
1:30 More stuff
etc…
Well the stuff turned out to be a lot of adventuresome outdoors activities. When we heard we were going to go sea kayaking they told us to bring our “togs, jumpers and jangals”. One of us was finally brave enough to ask what these were and we learned they are bathing suits, sweatshirts and sandals. Its been really fun learning all the differences in the language since New Zealand also speaks English. (I also found it interesting that one of the 3 official languages is Sign Language – Kate you have to visit now! )
Sea kayaking was so much fun but SO cold! I couldn’t believe that I was in shorts and a teeshirt on the ocean getting soaked in 45 degree weather. My partner Dave and I were very slow kayakers for some reason we just could not keep up with the others but it ended up being a fun joke. After learning how to steer and turn we played a game of kayak water polo where you basically throw balls at one of the leaders kayaks. Dave and I decided we’d be the team mascot since we couldn’t keep up anyways but we did end up scoring a point!
Later that night we went to “hot springs”. I thought it would be a lot more natural and outdoors-y than it was but it was sort of like a water park. The water slides there were the scariest I have ever been on! The seemed fairly unsafe and did not have a lifeguard but they were tons of fun! After that we went to a pub where most people bought their first legal beer. I was asleep by 7:30 that night, immediately after dinner.
The next day was even busier than the first. We started off with some educational material that was set up in a way to make it more fun. My group had to do an interpretive dance of our plane ride and arrival through customs. After our “pub-less quiz” as it was called, we did a ROGAINE, which stands for something about racing and getting exercise and competing. Well it was basically a timed scavenger hunt around the huge park for wooden blocks with symbols using a map a paper and pencil. We ran up some seriously big hills and hopped over a lot of electric fences but we my team ended up doing pretty well, with only a few of us getting shocked. That afternoon we had a couple of choices for activities so my friend that I’ve made, Carly, and I chose to go mountain biking. Wow was that difficult and scary! Going up hill was so hard probably because I was so tired already. Going downhill I thought I was going to go flying over my handlebars. (Two other funny differences. They call cross walks Zebra crossings and when you want to nap but not admit it you say I’m going to “check my eyes for holes”)
After mountain biking we obviously ate some more and then learned to play Touch Rugby. It’s a great game and I hope to join a club here so I can play a lot more often! New Zealanders are very competitive, I’ve learned, and were not happy if you weren’t giving it your all if you were on their team!
I went to bed before 8 again and woke up the next morning still very tired! The next day we left to go on our overnight stay at a Marae where the native Maori people live. It was such a great experience. The children of the Marae performed the Haka, or dance, for us. It is usually the adults that do it but they were off at a meeting at another Marae. It is custom for two of the boys from the visiting group to give a speech in the Maori language to introduce us. I had the best time watching the kids ages 0-9 laughing at the boys accents but trying to hide it. We then touched noses with all of the members of the marae that were present and said “kia ora” which means the breath of life but is another way to say welcome. This was the final step in making us part of the family at the marae. They taught us one of their dances and then we ate some kai and all went to sleep on mats in the “meeting room”.
The next morning we went on a wine tour and tasting. It was probably pretty interesting except that somehow I’ve gotten sick with a very sore throat and I thought I was going to throw up the whole time. The wine was gross but I’m sure anyone who likes wine would have very much enjoyed it! We then headed off to the airport for our flight to Christchurch. I am sitting in my bed here under the covers its 8pm. I have met 2 of my 4 flat mates. They are named Anthony (from Britain) and Leeland from Georgia (the state). One of the others is named Anna but I haven’t met her yet and the other is a Kiwi I believe so he is home for the break.
Tomorrow Carly and I are going grocery shopping and I’m going to the College Health centre for the very first time in my life since I can’t ask Mom to tell me what’s wrong with me! I guess that’s a good experience. Sorry this is so long and detailed it’s probably a reflection on the fact that I haven’t really made friends yet and there isn’t much to do. Its still been a great start to my trip; I just need to adjust to the winter light and weather! Miss you all!
Audrey im sure you will make plenty of friends don't worry about it .... But as your other doctor i think you have a sore throat and what you should do is gargle warm salt water haha. But enjoy yourself and have fun we miss you too
ReplyDelete