Day 1

So the flights from American Airlines to Texas and then California weren’t so great, I was pretty upset and the people I sat next to weren’t all that nice. I guess I wouldn’t really know what to me either, given the fact that I was crying. The flight from LA, however, through Qantas, was honestly the most enjoyable flight ever! We had hot dinner of mahi mahi and breakfast of eggs with potato and zucchini, with BACON! A plane that will serve me a glass of chardonnay at night and bacon in the morning is a good plane in my book. Also, Qantas flights give out complimentary pillows, blankets, headphones, toothbrushes, and snack packs with lots of goodies and water bottles. I’m sure that they charge you for it at some point but I’m allowed to be super impressed right now. I also sat next to a very nice Fijian woman who told me all about New Zealand. Overall, I’d give that flight a 9.5. It would have been better if the screen on the back of the seat in front of me played all of the movies I wanted to watch, but I really can’t complain. I slept great! I also got to see my first ever Pacific Ocean sunrise.

Since then, I thankfully got my homemade maple syrup through customs, and managed to bring all of my scuba stuff. I met other girls on the plane that were travelling to the University of Auckland, and made some fast friends. Then, when we were all getting into the airport pickup car, Martha goes “I guess I’ll take shotgun” and gets into the front right seat of the car, and the driver walks over and says, “well now, are you driving?” Typical American not even thinking about which side of the car the steering wheel is on!! Seeing people driving on the left side of the street is definitely different!

I got settled into my room, which has a great view of the common area as well as the basketball court. It’s bigger than I thought and I went shopping today to get some things to make it seem more like home. Oh, a note about shopping: EVERYTHING is more expensive here. Shampoo cost me 10$ for something I could buy for 3$ in the states. Things are more expensive so I really limited what I spent my money on. I also got an international phone, with a new number. I’m so proud of myself for being able to navigate the city streets!

Another good thing about today: I tried kiwi gelato- SO GOOD. I also had dinner with Laura (from Canada), a girl from Japan, a boy from Dubai, and a bunch of New Zealand guys. The food was great! Now tonight we’re all going to see the Lantern Festival, because Chinese new year was last night and I guess they celebrate it pretty big here in Auckland.

Some things I learned along the way:

I’ll be using a co-ed bathroom. Kinda strange!

Canadians really do say “eh” (I have a new Canadian friend, Laura!)

Towels are expensive (I’m talking like 30$).

New Zealand really is as green as it is in pictures.

It’s really hard to find an alarm clock in Auckland.