Category: New Zealand 2012
-
The End of an Era
This is the end of an era. I left for New Zealand feeling apprehensive, excited, a little nervous, with no idea what to expect and no idea how it would change me. Now that I’m back and settled into my routine memories of New Zealand feel unreal. It’s like I have woken up to find…
-
How to be a Farm Girl
Kia Ora Koutou! I survived finals and I survived goodbyes to my international friends departing back home. I have passed my courses, moved out of my room, and left Ilam Apartments. It was a little sad seeing my room suddenly bare, leaving felt like I was scrubbing my personality off the walls but in the…
-
Three Months in the Blink of an Eye
Kia ora e hoa ma! (Hello my friends!) It is interesting that term two started with me cramming study for a psychology test and now it is ending with me cramming study for a psychology exam. Although sitting in the same place two months later doing the same activity (staring at the textbook, snacking, and…
-
My Life Has Become a Lucid Dream
Kia Ora Koutou! This is a dream. Real life can be dirty and heartbreaking and tough with moments of elation, but here, here I am living in a constant state of euphoria. I am living in a happy delirium where all of the pieces fall together perfectly. This week marks the beginning of the new…
-
Discover Your Inner Adventurer
Kia ora e hoa ma! At the beginning of every week in my Maori language class we are taught a “Whakatauki” which is a sort of proverb. Today in class we learned my favorite thus far: Whaia te iti kahurangi kit e tuohu koe me maunga teitei This translates roughly to “Pursue that which is…
-
Wait, I have to study while I’m here?
After a hectic and wonderful first week I finally have time to write. Wananei! It is very strange to be taking classes again. For the past three weeks I have been feeling that sense of the carefree and infinite that always accompanies the end of summer vacation. However those weeks were finite no matter how much I…
-
Tramping at Arthur’s Pass
Few places are more awe inspiring than the tops of mountains, especially mountains in New Zealand’s southern alps. In these past few days I have had quite the adventure. It started, as many adventures do, with a simple idea. I have explored a little bit of CHCH and a little bit of the surrounding area but…
-
Oceans and The Garden City
Before I left home I was told by many different people that the experience of studying abroad would change me. So far I can see that this is probably true. More real and relevant though is the fact that being abroad brings out positive traits that perhaps lay dormant in a familiar setting, for example,…
-
Arrival in CHCH
New Zealand is stunning. Finally arriving here after almost thirty hours of airports is a dream realized! Although airplanes and airport travel is not my favorite I met some very cool people. First was a mother and daughter pair who are headed to New Zealand for a wedding, while sitting next to them on the first…