My life for the last 2 weeks.

I thought I would catch you all up on what’s been happening in my life over the past 2 weeks. For those of you that don’t know, I am spending this semester in Wellington, New Zealand through a study abroad program called The Education Abroad Network (TEAN). I flew out of LAX on Saturday, June 23rd and first stopped in Fiji for 4 nights. Then I flew to Auckland, NZ for another 4 nights. Finally, I made it to my new home, Wellington, on Tuesday evening and have been here for a couple nights now. I’m currently staying in a hotel until I can move into my flat on Sunday. Words cannot describe how excited I am to not be living out my suitcase. Anyway, here’s a brief description of my time in both Fiji and Auckland, and first impressions of Wellington. It has been quite the adventure so far…

BULA! Pre-Semester vacation in Fiji

The sunset on our first night on Naviti island.

Let me just say, one of the main reasons I chose to study through this program was because of this Fiji trip. I had read wonderful things about it, and because the cost was included in my program fees, I just couldn’t say no. And I was definitely not disappointed. We arrived pretty early on Monday, June 25^th and were greeted by one of our TEAN coordinators, Kate. She is Australian and was really cool. We dropped all our luggage at the hotel we stayed at on our last night (and there was A LOT between the 21 of us) and then jumped on a large ferry on our way to the island we stayed at. (Fiji is made up of over 300 islands and just over 100 are inhabited). Our resort was on Naviti which was about a 3 hour boat ride in which we passed by several other islands and resorts. It was incredible. Once we arrived to Naviti, we were greeted by the staff playing/singing a welcome song for us (“Bula” means hello/welcome in Fijian... but we seemed to use it in many other contexts.  I probably said that word 400 times over the 4 days there). We all slept in bunk beds that were nice and close to each other in this large bunk house. If we weren’t all going to bond in that situation, I don’t know when we would have.

The beach view from the local village.

The school house at the local village.

I have never seen water as blue and as clear as the water in Fiji. It was also like bath water and swimming felt amazing. There was a large raft we could swim out and relax in the sun. I spent a lot of time laying on the beach or snorkeling. I’d never been snorkeling before, but it was so much fun. The coral was amazing in our little bay and I got to see lots of awesome fish. We also went a boat ride to a different island one day to snorkel with manta rays. I only saw it twice because it was very hard to swim and keep up with the darn thing, but it was crazy! I was right above one at one point. Another day we took a hike over the ridge and visited the local village on the island (everyone that works at the resort is from the local village). The view from the top was breathtaking, but the hike wasn’t easy. Especially on the way back when the sun was getting hotter. In the village, we visited the school and walked around a little. The women of the village set up their handmade crafts for us to purchase. All the jewelry was very beautiful. The whole experience was very humbling. Everyone was so nice and welcoming.

We also played sand volleyball, Fijian games (spear throwing and tug-o-war), and entertained ourselves at night. Everyone from my program was very nice and we all seemed to get along well, which was great. There were several times when I was sitting on the beach, looking out of the breathtaking view, and I would think “Is this real life? Am I really here right now?” I feel so very fortunate to have gotten the chance to experience something like this.

Snorkling in the bay of our island.

Our last night was spent at a resort on the mainland. We had a delicious dinner together and then all pretty much passed out. Not having sand everywhere and a hot shower were the best parts of this night. Bright and early we got up and on our plane to Auckland. Finally, after months and months of waiting, I was on my way to NZ!

Welcome to New Zealand! TEAN Orientation in Auckland

Sky Tower in Auckland

At the top of Mt. Eden.

We arrived in Auckland and right away went to check into our hotel. It was a really nice place. The first day we took a walking tour of Auckland and then had dinner at a tapas bar. It was delicious, but I never seem to get full just off tapas. Oh well. The following day we met our guide for the day, Mellissa and prepared ourselves for a day full of Maori history. She is decedent of one of the tribes and had a lot of insight into the history of NZ. She took us to Mt. Eden which was a volcano and now serves as a park/look out over the city. We also visited a Maori museum and learned even more about Maori culture. It really was fascinating, but I was so exhausted from traveling and lack of sleep. However, we had our first NZ fish and chips experience for lunch and it was delicious. Each meal was wrapped up in several layers of newspaper like a present. Haha. And we sat on the steps of the museum and ate the food out of our laps. Very casual, I liked it.

Maori mask.

Going over the 7m waterfall.

Our raft flipping over.

The following day was my favorite of the trip. Sunday morning we set out for Rotorua for the day/night. Rotorua is about a 3 hour drive from Auckland and we drove past many sheep farms along the way. We actually stopped in a town now called “Hobbiton” that is the starting point for LOTR trips to the “Shire.” I need to get back there sometime in the next few months! First on the agenda was white water rafting. I’ve done this before in Costa Rica, but I was still anxious. We got all suited up and got into the water with our rafts. We were then told that the 7 meter water fall (about 21 feet) we were about to go over is the highest commercially rafted waterfall in the world. THE WORLD! Ahhh. It was so exciting. We went over a smaller waterfall first and that went fine, but the second didn’t go so well. We were the only raft to flip. It all happened so fast. One second I see us going over the edge of the fall and the next I realize I am under the water. I was able to find the surface and grab onto the raft, but it was intense. There was a split second of panic, but once I found the surface I knew I’d be fine. Everyone else was fine too. The whole river was a lot of fun and I’m kind of glad we flipped. It was an adventure.

Zorbing in Rotorua.

Then we went Zorbing; which is when you climb inside this large plastic hamster ball filled with some water and roll down a hill. I rode down in the Zorb with another girl and we bounced around the whole time. Besides the fact that we had to stand in the frigidly cold air, in wet bathing suits, for 30 minutes before it was our turn, it was a blast! We finished the night relaxing in some geothermal hot springs in Rotorua which was the perfect ending to a cold day (even though it smelt like rotten eggs). We stayed at a backpacker’s hostel that night and then made the drive back to Auckland in the morning.

Crazy vine tree.

Our last night in Auckland was spent having a super fancy dinner out with our program leaders. After, we all toasted to wonderful orientation and the new friends we made. The next day we were all splitting up and going to our home universities so we all hung out at the hotel that night and enjoyed everyone’s company for the last night. The next morning we all got ready to leave Auckland (some stayed and moved into their university housing in Auckland) and it was very bittersweet. But I am sure I will see them all again sometime soon as we all plan to travel a lot this semester.

First impressions of Wellington

After an 1.5 hour flight delay we finally arrived in my new home, Wellington, on Tuesday afternoon. When I stepped off the plane, it already felt like home. We are staying in hotel until we can move in to our flats on Sunday. I’ve done some exploring of the city and have walked to campus. I even found the flat where I’ll be living and am very excited to move in. We went out a couple nights ago and the bar we went to was packed. A rugby game was on and everyone in the bar was glued to. It was really exciting. I just wish I knew what the rules were… I need to figure those out soon because Kiwis are seriously passionate about their rugby. Life here doesn’t seem too different from back home, but I am sure I will notice more as time goes on. However, on our first night here there was an earthquake… the first one I’ve ever experienced so that was quite exciting. Haha. It wasn’t big, but our hotel shook for about 15 seconds. I’m glad we got that out of the way the first night, so now I feel a little more prepared for the next one. Maybe…

Botanic Gardens in Wellington.

I am missing you all and am a little bummed I wasn’t home for the 4^th of July, but am so happy to finally be in Wellington. I will try to keep this blog up throughout the semester so you all have an idea of what I’m up to. You can message me on Facebook or email me also (fros0084@umn.edu).

From now on, my entries won’t be this long… promise. J