From an entirely different sky…

I’m here! And it’s beautiful, and sunny… and a city.

The trip over here went much more smoothly and was much more relaxed than I expected it to be. I drove up to Rochester airport in a snowstorm, checked my luggage, handed off my winter coat to my parents, and went through security… up until I went through security, I had all kinds of nervous knots in my stomach and wished that my parents could hold my hands through everything. But as soon as I got to the other side of the scary metal detectors, I suddenly felt completely independant and ready for whatever was to come. I waved to my mom across the glass walls who was easily spotted in her bright green fleece and arms waving back and forth like a flourescent traffic flagger… :o)

I gradually met up with different people going over to New Zealand throughout my 22 or so hours spent through airports and the air, and was able to sleep the majority of the overnight 13 hour 15 minute and 5 seconds of airborn time across the Pacific Ocean. (On the coolest Jumbo Jet I’ve ever seen…)
Our jumbo jet!

Once we finally all got here, we were dropped off at our halls and greeted quite kindly by the Kiwis who ran our building. They later took us around town to some of the good places to know (such as the grocery store- as we are on our own for food while living in the Stafford apartment building. Living here is unlike anything I’ve experienced before.

Window view to the left Window view to the right

My window overlooks, well, a city. There are tall buildings to one side and to the other a big green hill covered in trees. Because it’s all so new, I’m waiting for the moment that I feel like I really do live here. I imagine it will be once classes begin and I have a daily schedule to follow.

I have been here only three days and things all ready feel totally familiar, as the result of getting lost in the city countless times and then finding my way back with everybody. I’ve been able to befriend quite a few really cool people all ready- mostly other Americans so far, but I can’t wait for the other local students to move in so that I can start meeting Kiwis as well.

For now, I’m learning what it’s like to live in a city, because it is very much one. The streets are lined with coffee shops and cafes. Wellington supposedly has the second largest number of cafes and coffeeshops in the world next to Manhatten! It great having things so close- we walk everywhere that we need or want to go, and though I’ve been running (I’ve signed up for a 7k road race this weekend!), it feels great being so active all of the time. We have found a local farmers market up the street that happens every Sunday, and the produce is great! (And much less expensive than a grocery store). Wellington is a fairly decent size, but very clean, and beautiful buildings. The architecture here is very unique, yet EVERYTHING compliments one another in a fantastic, harmonious way. Another thing that I’ve noticed is the amount of sculpture and artwork throughout the city- the sidewalks are decorated in tiling, there is sculpture everywhere, and even the manhole covers take part in the decoration! What’s unique about the artwork here compared to that of NYC or any other city that I’ve been, is that it all relates to one another and tells the story of the New Zealand culture.

Decorated manhole cover

Just yesterday some of my friends and I went to the beach and had our first swim in New Zealand ocean water, then my friend, Aurora and I dug a great big hole in the sand… topping off the complete beach experience! I all ready got a minor sun burn on my face… (I was luckier than others.) I also just found out that we are under a hole in the ozone layer, so sunscreen is even more my friend that it ever was before! Some of the foliage here is unlike anything I’ve ever seen! And the sea life- we found a starfish yesterday thinking that it was one of the greatest treasures that we would find in this water! Then we looked around the bottom of the clear clear salt water and counted nearly 20 more only around our feet.

Aurora and I in our super deep hole (we The starfish that we found

Orientation starts tomorrow for us, so I’ll be meeting even more people, and get to know even more of the city and what’s going on. Random brochures and flyers for events can really only do so much…

There is a rugby game coming up that some of my friends and I are going to check out- get a taste for the city’s rugby pride (which seems to be pretty significant), and sometime before classes begin there is a small group of us who hope to go camping and hiking for a few days further up the north island. so hooray!

I hope that everything is going well with everyone!

Leave a Reply

2 Comments

  1. Paul H

    Cool starfish! Get some pictures of the legendary Haast’s eagle though. It’s awesome to see you’re having so much fun Alida!

  2. Steve Gallow

    Here’s the questions that everybody in North America is afraid to ask. Being south of the equator, when you flush the toilet does the water rotate in the other direction?

Next ArticleDriving on the left hand side of the road...