Student Bloggers

As I sit in my room that turned out to be 100x bigger than I imagined… So many things are running through my head. The past two weeks have felt like two YEARS. I still can’t believe I’m all moved in, enrolled in classes, and have even made a few friends. I guess I should rewind to orientation though..

After three long days of flying, including two layovers 12+ hours long, I finally made it to Auckland. However, I was there about 6 hours before the rest of the Arcadia orientation group was supposed to arrive, so I set up camp on a bench and got some rest. The airport had wifi… but the biggest and probably only problem with New Zealand is the wifi. It's terrible and very limited. Most places that offer free wifi only provide about 200 MB (about 2 texts messages) or give you a time limit. It will be an interesting year here, I’m sort of excited to put down my phone and enjoy my surroundings… but it’s a little frightening when I just wanted to let my family know I was okay and had trouble reaching them.

I finally met the rest of my orientation group, and it was so nice to be with people just as nervous and jet lagged as I was. To get us on a normal schedule, our orientation leaders planned the whole day for us exploring Auckland... so, no nap time. Auckland was beautiful though, even with the cloud blanket. The Maori name for New Zealand is Aotearoa, which literally translates to “land of the long white cloud.” As soon as I stepped outside the airport into the rain, I knew I had picked the right place to spend my year. I don’t know how I will be able to leave here, and that’s not for a whole year! After four days of orientation, the group split up to fly to our different schools throughout New Zealand. Who knew it would be emotional saying good bye to people we met 4 days ago… I am looking forward to visiting my new friends during the semester! Turns out I am the only person in the Arcadia program this semester who is staying for a whole year. I will be sad to see all my new found friends leave... But then a whole new batch will come :)

Now that I am looking back, the way I pictured my dream orientation wasn’t even half as great as it turned out to be. I know I have already made some lifelong friends, and I haven’t even been here two weeks. I want to write all about orientation, but for those of you reading to attend next semester I don’t want to ruin the element of surprise ;)  All I will say is zorbing is one the greatest experiences you will have in New Zealand.

So fast forward to when we finally arrive in Wellington from Rotorua. It’s really starting to hit me that this is my new home for the time being. The Victoria International staff picked us up and separated the group depending on where we lived. I was picturing this small flat for about 4-5 people….Turns out I live in a HUGE house for 10 people. My room is massive, and my flat mates are awesome. I have a Kiwi mate who is from Wellington, flat mates from Denmark, England, Germany and France, and 4 others who are from different states in the US. My road is also pretty social, so meeting all the neighbors from around the world has been so amazing. It’s crazy how small of a world it is though. A girl in my Arcadia program goes to college with a girl I was in girl scouts with, and went to elementary school with. Insane!

The International Office of Victoria and our RAs have planned so much for us too.  From movie nights to meet and greets, where they provided pizza and alcohol (being legal ROCKS). Wellington itself is amazing enough..

• By the end of the semester I am going to have a rockin’ bod thanks to these hills (it’s a love-hate relationship right now)
• The fact you drive on the left side of the road is still taking some getting used to… Thankfully one of my friends bought a car and has had no problem with this, good thing he’s driving.
• You also walk on the left side of the sidewalk. I learned this fast when I was keeping right, walking up the stairs to class and ran into everyone. Whoops.
• Being able to have a delicious, filling meal for $5 NZD is AWESOME! No more overpriced chipotle bowls.
• I never thought I would like living in a city, but Wellington is something else. Every time you make a turn you’re somewhere completely unique and new, the city is like a maze.
• There are also friendly stray cats everywhere, including one who is a part time resident at my flat (pictured above). If you know me at all, you know how happy this makes me :)

I will update you all more often now that I am in one place with decent wifi. Tomorrow the Arcadia Orientation group leaves for Queen Charlotte Sound, so I’ve got to catch an early ferry to the South Island. Cheers!

-Kenzie