St. Patty's, Speed Dating, and Akaroa

This is long overdue, but since I finally got around to updating pictures, its now time to talk about St. Patricks day. So St. Patricks is pretty much as big a deal here as it is in any college in the US, except without the pinching. We went out to the Irish bar near campus where most people were gathering from Lincoln. After a while, we made it to Christchurch where we all had some green beer and heard some live music. It was fairly laid back considering it was a Wednesday. The next day was my friend Kayleigh's birthday and Elyse (my floormate) had heard about a speed dating event at Canterbury (the nearby university). They begged me to go and after spending hours saying "I can't, I'm not social enough" I got convinced into going. We got there and were 3 out of 20 women and 20 men. At first, I was terrified but once I sat down, had a drink to sip on during those awkward quiet moments it wasn't too bad. It was really cool just to chat with some kiwis though I did get tired of talking about my major. As long as everyone was there just for fun and not seriously it was perfect. After, we took one of the kiwis with us that had said his name was Lego on his nametag.

After a fish and chip stop, we ended up at an empty bar. Literally there was 3 men singing karaoke and the really bored bartender. Because it was Kayleighs birthday he gave us free shots which were amazing. Seeing as the bar really only had one thing to offer, we decided to ask for a chance at the mics. Thats when the ridiculousness ensued. We sang all songs from the 90s including Britney, NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, and then went into musicals singing Little Mermaid, Hakuna Matata, and then a duet between Lego and I doing Summer Lovin. It was definitely one of my most fun and memorable nights out.

Kaleigh's Birthday Shot, including Kaleigh, Elyse, Lego and I
The following day we originally planned on going to my friend Claire's boat in Akaroa. However, our ride fell through and we weren't going to make it in time. It ended up that Lannette (my floormate and fellow EAP kid) was going later that day to hike. I joined up with her and Bronwynn and Blaine to climb Purple Peak. It was a nice hike above Akaroa harbor and towards the top, consisted of a practically non-existent trail. But we were definitely rewarded once we got to the top. We had a view over the entire harbor as we made our way back down during the sunset. After a dinner of fish and chips and passionfruit ice cream, we headed home.

360 of Purple Peak

heres a link to pictures of the Hike in Akaroa
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=159893&id=665896295&l=47d989397a

Differences between New Zealand and the US

So I've realized that I write about a lot of adventures on my blog but have yet to give you all a clear inssight to how New Zealand really is. I am quickly approaching the halfway point of my trip and find that now is the best time to share what I have learned.

So far, I haven't really felt much of a difference between the US and NZ. I mean true, they have accents and they laugh at mine, but it never really felt all that different, especially while on the North Island. Now that I'm at school, I'm beginning to see a few differences. First off, from appearance, the kiwis at my school are a whole different breed. Because I'm at a farming school, there are not many Maoris (native people of New Zealand) meaning that my school is lacking in diversity easier found in the North Island. They are also big on the mullets. And I mean seriously intense mullet. The worst I've seen has been a shaved head with dreads as a mullet. Then there are the stubbys. These are the really short shorts worn by rugby players and all boys at my school. Being a cross country runner, seeing that much thigh on a guy really doesn't freak me out much, but I can see how others would find it disturbing. Then theres the bare feet. Pretty normal in Santa Cruz, but they take it to a new level here. At least in Santa Cruz I can say its because a beach is nearby. Not so here. They will bust the bare feet out at every chance and I will admit I am falling victim to it, despite bringing most of my shoes from home.

On the type of people here, I'm finding it a bit rough to meet people my year. Kiwis are notorious for their friendlyness but I'm finding it difficult to bring that out of people I only see at class. Most of the kiwis I've met are freshmen because they are the most eager to meet new people and because they live on campus as well and eat in the dining halls. Kiwis are also extremely outdoorsy. I swear there hasn't been a single day that there weren't people outside of my dorm playing football (soccer), frisbee, or rugby. It's refreshing to find people hanging out outdoors instead of inside playing video games.

The schooling is pretty different here as well. They have 5 years of high school, enter college at 17 or 18 and only have 3 years of university. The classes are listed by year, and you pretty much have to have your major decided on arrival. If you are doing a field such as law or engineering, rather than having postgrad, they just go straight through school for 6 years. I think that would be useful in the US but also make it hard to do some self discovery along the way. Also, there is very little homework in classes. Grades are usually based off a mid semester test, a project/paper, and then a final (worth about half the grade). Its intimidating not to have a buffer of easy grades found in participation and homework.

I'm also finding a lot of similarity in the law system of New Zealand. It seems like a weird thing to notice but I'm taking two classes pertaining to the legal system and it just keeps popping up. Despite New Zealand being part of a monarchy (they fall under England) they definitely are more similar to the US. Seeing as we are both countries strongly influenced by England, we have similar set ups in our government. They have someone who makes the decisions similar to the president under the Queen and Parliament is pretty much equivilent to Congress. The just created a supreme court in New Zealand rather than England which is set up like our Legislative branch. They use Common Law like the US does and finds inspiration from the Magna Carta and other British documents we did as well. It's definitely making my legal studies class easier and at least I know what to expect if I ever get arrested :) just kidding.

One thing I'm also finding interesting is the relations between Pakeha (Europeans descent Kiwis) and the Maori. I'm taking a class called the Treaty of Waitangi between the two. Apparently there is a lot of resentment between the two races due to recent priority given to Maoris when it comes to scholarships in school or other such things. It reminds me a bit of how the US handles Native American people. They are pretty much guaranteed a free education for college but I would never resent them that unlike the Pakeha. I'm finding it to be pretty similar to how the US handles most Native people; and in my case, I continue to think of the Native Hawaiians. I guess because I come from that background, I'm more likely to side with the Native people rather than the incoming settlers. I look forward to learning more about the relationship between these people.

Theres a few more revelations I've had but I don't want to overwhelm you. I've found that New Zealand is not as green (environmentally wise) as I originally believed it to be. Most is part of a restoration project since the Europeans decimated everything upon their arrival. Theres a lot they are ahead on, and yet so much they are missing due to their isolation. It will be interesting to see how much more I will learn over the next 3 months.

Fox Glacier and Dinner with Ivan

So the following morning is something I had eagerly been looking forward to. We got up bright and early to drive another two hours south of Hokitika to Fox Glacier. The drive was beautiful and felt similar to Hawaii. We stopped in a tiny town for brunch which was delicious barely made it in time for our guided tour of the glacier. Once there, we piled onto a bus and drove through a rainforest to end up at the glacier. We began the hike in a glacial valley carved away by the glacier ages ago. It was made of schist, which is a very easily broken rock. The hike then continued into the mountain side next to the glacier and into the rainforest. After 250 stairs up, I was sweating and went the sports bra route the rest of the way up. I found it ironic that I was hiking to a glacier in a sports bra. Once we got up the equivalent of a 53 story building, we were level with the glacier. We then put on our crampons (sharp metal brackets that you put on the bottom of your shoe so your shoes stick into the ice) a necessity when you are as clumsy as I am. We then began a climb up stairs carved into the ice onto the glacier. We moved faster than the average half day hike and arrived at a glacial tunnel/cave. I was really excited about it, but unlike most of the girls, chose to stay warm rather than slide down the tunnel. After spending an long time enjoying the wonders of ice, we began the descent back down. Overall it was an incredible experience that I will cherish forever. Once we got back to the town, I was thoroughly starving. We found this adorable place called Cafe Neve with a great waiter named Mike. We began with garlic bread and I had a delicious cajun chicken sandwich. They also had amazing pizza and my only wish was that they weren't 6 hours away from Lincoln. I couldn't pass up a chance at dessert and I had the summerfruit crumbles which was fantastic. It was about this time that things starting going wrong. We were about to leave when we realized we had only a quarter of a tank in the car and the gas stations in New Zealand close at 5. While us girls came to terms about spending the night in town and enjoyed ourselves at the bar, the boys began a search to find a way home. They ended up with two options: siphoning gas from a locals car and finding someone with a mobil card. We went with the mobil card and found someone who had a friend in the next town over with one. We drove to Franz Josef glacier, bought a man a beer, payed him for gas and we were on our way. The boys were pretty smug about finding a solution but the problem was now it was 10:30 pm and we had a 6-7 hour drive ahead of us. Taking advantage of the situation with a good mug of Tui and catching up on some journaling.

Kevin took the first shift of driving which I was so thankful for. He got past the difficult winding roads back to Hokitika and then Arthur's Pass. Our job was to keep him awake. This resulted in us singing for two hours. Like really awful yelling singing of disney songs, bob marley, gwen stefani, and even some rapping. After that, I went to sleep because I had the final shift. We got to the rest station in Arthur's Pass at 2:30 and I began my first driving in New Zealand. This was scary for multiple reasons. It was pitch black, winding roads, and the car was not the best at getting up hills. And did I mention they drive on the left side of the road?!?! In the end it wasn't too bad to adapt to and Lannette and I talked so I could stay awake. We got back to Lincoln at 5:30 in the morning and I went straight to sleep.

The following day I did miss my morning classes before having my meeting with Ivan, the EAP advisor from Auckland. He told us he was taking us EAP kids out to Chinese that night and as usual when it comes to food, I was super stoked. We arrived and immediately began ordering entres (appetizers) of wontons and egg rolls. It was done family style (with the big plates everyone shares) but we each ordered something. Next was the actual meal where I ordered a beef noodle meal that was delicious. I had a bit of everyone elses as well and was stuffed when they asked about dessert. But considering it was a free dinner, why not indulge. I had an ice cream sunday and tried some fried ice cream. Overall it was a lot of fun to have everyone together and eat some delicious food. And I'm so thankful for Ivan and his wife Barbara to come visit us and feed us poor uni students.
Sorry you can hear Kevins ramblings about girls sweating in the background. Also, when I say the kilometers, I mean the sea level the glacier is at. Its unusual because its not very high in the mountains.

Heres a link to the all the pictures from the glacier.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=163374&id=665896295&l=59499a7aa6

Alli's bday and Wildfoods!

So this has definitely been the most eventful week/weekend. So much so I'm splitting it into two entries for an easy read. We started the weekend festivities early on Thursday because we were celebrating Alli's 21st birthday. While we are not in the US and are already allowed to drink, it doesn't mean that a 21st will not be truly celebrated. It was a lot of fun because us girls all got dressed up to go out on the town. I think it had been the first time all of us went out as a big group.



The following day we left for Hokitika which is on the west coast of the south island. The reason being WILDFOODS festival. It's basically this big festival where they sell really interesting and wild food. Oh and people also dress in crazy group outfits. We arrived later in the evening after a beautiful drive through Arthur's pass. I rode out with my new floormates including Lannette and Kevin from the epic road trip on the North Island. I stayed at Alli's friends house that night, eagerly anticipating the festival on Saturday.

We got to a late start on Saturday since we all wanted to sleep in. This was Alli's actual birthday and we began the morning with Happy Birthday and a candle in a muffin. After dressing up (my friend Liz and I were jungle cats) and drawing on our whiskers and noses, we were ready to go.


The whole gang

We arrived at the festival starving which was perfect. I wasn't too adventurous and began my morning with a delicious strawberry waffle. We began wandering around to see some of the rather crazy costumes. There was a man in a Borat thong, avatars, too many wheres Waldos, and much more. We ran into more EAP kids which was really awesome. There was also a lot of weird food to choose from. There were grubs, snails, worms, and more insect varieties. I think the worst was a stand called Rocky Mountain Oysters, which was in fact, bull testicles. Definitely steered clear of that one. I did have a friend encourage me to eat something that looked like a chocolate truffle. Turned out to be ground up worm with chocolate inside. It wasn't too different from a regular truffle except with a weird after taste. I also had moonshine which was pretty gross. That was it for my food festival, I really didn't have an adventurous palate and the money to support buying all the food.

avatars, complete with tails and wigs

That night I went to concert they had which was really great and fun. I ran into my kiwi freshmen friends and danced and sang to some good classics. After a few hours I realized I hadn't had dinner and went to have a classic kiwi cheap food, fish and chips. We then wandered to he beach to chill at a random bonfire before heading back to the house. I piled on the layers to sleep in a tent in the backyard and was quickly asleep.

Heres a link to the craziness of Wildfoods.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=163360&id=665896295&l=c8365c4aa2

Shopping, Rugby, and more Shopping

So after the adventure of last week, it was time to get into the serious business of classes. We just finished our 2nd week and my schedule is now FINAL. Which is totally fine by me, because I like all of my classes. So really not much happened during the week until we went out on Thursday night. Normally, I am strictly a weekend girl, I don't particularly like going out on school nights (yes I am a nerd). However, Lincoln has these amazing things called Field Trip Days every few weeks where the classes can go on field trips if they want. None of mine did so that meant I was free on Friday, and free to go out on Thursday.

We took the shuttle into the city with all the other Lincoln kids (it was freeee! a nice change from paying $3 everytime). We got dropped off at the Mad Cow which was kinda uneventful at that time. We left to go hang out at the Yellow Cross again, where I saw one of the bartenders from the previous weekend (its probably bad if I start becoming a regular at a bar right?). We then migrated to a nearby one with comfy couches where we ran into grad students from Lincoln. We hung out with them for a while before we started a hunt for fish and chips. We fortunately turned the corner and had some of the best fish and chips I've had since arriving in New Zealand.

Half of the group decided to head back but Cayla and I decided to wait for the shuttle back into Lincoln. We got separated from the rest of the group staying out and decided to just go back to the Mad Cow (where we were getting picked up). At this time, they had a foam party in the back room which frightened me a bit at first, but figured why not. After dancing around in knee deep foam (god only knows what was in that foam), we headed back into Lincoln.

Friday was a self declared homework day while everyone else left for their weekend adventures. Nic, Cayla, and Val all took off to go hike in Arthur's pass, so that left Liz and I in Lincoln. We chose to make it a productive weekend and I guess you could say we did.

I began my morning with homework and moving. I had been hassling the housing office to move to semi catered (so I could eat dinner with everyone) and they finally made it happen. After that we really wanted to go shopping. Sounds silly, but the Kiwi girls are putting me to shame and I needed more going out clothes. Plus, my mom did say to go shopping instead of having her ship stuff to me. We went to the Riccarton Mall and after a good day of trying on clothes and deciding if the exchange rate worked in our favor or not, we went into Christchurch.

We met up with the grad students again before we went to the rugby game. I'm thinking at this rate, I should just get the season pass for the Crusader games. Anyway, they won once again and it was a much more eventful game with the competition stronger. Liz and I ran onto the field after and I met 4 players (including hottie from the previous match) before we went back into Lincoln.

Today we decided we needed to yet again go shopping. We went back to the Riccarton Mall and ended up making some "neccessary" purchases. The weekend total was a pair of leggings/pants, a nice going out dress, perfume, a bathing suit, two tank dresses, a beanie, and a nice tanktop. Due to great sales and my excellent shopping technique, it didn't add up to too much. It probably helps that the NZ dollar is equal to 70 cents US. Overall I'm quite satisfied with the purchases and now can stop looking like a slob when I go out.