travel planning

today wasn't too exciting, although it was a bit of a roller coaster ha ha. so i got up at 8, showered, and was getting ready when the girl who lives 2 doors down from me, semi, came and knocked on my door and introduced herself, so then i got ready quickly while she waited and we went down to breakfast, where i found sophie, kendall, and emily. i had toast and an apple.

then at 9:10 the ra's lead all the international kids to the orientation meeting on campus, so we straggled at the end of the line, waiting for ej, who came out as we were going. we walked down to the business school, and as we went in we got these messenger bags full of pamphlets, which was exciting. the auditorium was mostly full when we went in, but most of us found seats together, and one of the international ladies we met at ispace on thursday spoke, and went over lots of info, none of which was too exciting. i think it was more important for the regular international students, who hadn't already had ies orientation. then we had a 'tea' break, with little sandwiches and muffins outside. we met 2 girls from canada, one from mcgill (rachel) and the other from vancouver, who are living in grafton house. they seemed really nice.

then we went back in and they talked a little more and then a local primary school group of maori students came and performed. all the schools wear uniforms here, and it seemed sort of incongruous to see them doing the traditional dances and stuff all dressed up like that, rather than in the traditional maori clothing. they were super loud, filling the big auditorium with no mics, and a little scary. the girls in the front row kept like, twitching their hands the whole time. at first we thought they were nervous, but they were all doing it.

so that was cool, and after that we left, even though there was a study abroad-specific talk. instead we went to the international office to find out how to change our classes, and then went to gael's office, which is really close to ih. we told her about our plans for the weekend, and she told us about classes and copied my passport and visa and we gave her our phone numbers.

then we went back to ih and sophie and ej and i needed to reserve a rental car and book our hostels for our trip (kendall decided not to come). the hostel's were fairly simple, we picked the ones in ej's 'nz on a budget' guidebook with 0800 numbers (so we could call from the hall phone and not waste our mobile minutes). we will be staying at the steamers beach lodge in te anau tuesday night, and the glowworm cottages in franz josef wednesday and thursday.

the car rental was not so simple. everything we tried online or on the phone a)was too short notice b)had no cars for pick up in queenstown or c) did not rent to people under 25. we then started looking up busses between cities, but there were absolutely none going between te anau and franz josef so that wouldn't work. we seriously considered hitchhiking for awhile, but although nz is supposed to be the safest place in the world to do that, it's still a little sketchy, especially since we were planning on doing major traveling at night. cameron, one of the kiwi kids we hung out with last night came by for awhile, and a kid named barret from canada (who is 23, the only student i've met older than me so far).

eventually we decided to go check out the rental car companies on beach st that gael had told us about, so we walked down, and the first place we went in, budget, had no difficulties, although there is an extra charge since we're under 25, so we decided to return it the first day we get to christchurch, and just rely on public transportation/walking there (when a man heard us discussing that in there, he was like 'christchurch is flat you'll have no problem walking' which was really funny/random, i guess compared with auckland which is super hilly, flat would be easier). so we booked that, for $280, which isn't bad split 3 ways (we were prepared for $450 or more by that point, and were just really excited to have any car at all). then we went to a little cafe we had gone by on the way there, and sophie and ej got smoothies and i got a chocolate sundae, which was vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce, and pieces of kiwi. it was delicious.

then we walked to the warehouse, which the kiwis compare to walmart, but feels more like a giant dollar store (where things do not cost a dollar). i wanted to get pushpins, hangers, a bungy clothes line (ej got one there earlier) and travel shampoos. i ended up with a clothesline, 2 bottles of water, a birthday present for serita, and a little notebook.

by then it was getting pretty late and we needed to get sleeping bags. b had told us about a place that has used outdoor equipment for sale on k' road, which we were gradually walking toward, but probably would not make it before it closed (most everything closes at 5 or 5:30 here), so we went in one store in the mall with the warehouse, and the cheapest sleeping bag they had was $109, and it didn't pack very small (a necessity for our purposes).

so then we were walking down queen st, looking for the dollar store where they had gotten hangers and pushpins, and we went by a store called kathmandu, and decided randomly to go in, and they said they were closing in 5 min, but they had sleeping bags that packed smaller for 90 bucks, so we decided we weren't going to find any others before the stores all closed, so we each got one, and the guy happened to see ejs student id, and gave us a 25% student discount, which was really nice, so we were excited about all our good luck, and walked home.

then there was a bbq ("barbie") outside in the courtyard, so we went upstairs quickly and then came down, and ate, and met 4 girls from california. they had gone to the south island the week before and done basically everything we're doing, and they said everything we've got planned is really fun. they also told us about these ice cream bars that are really good, and we were hey lets go get some from the convenience store next door, so all 7 of us did (kendall had a hall meeting). they also told us that the chicken flavored chips were actually really good, but they didn't have those at the store. so we took our ice cream back and ate it in the basement common room where there was going to be a group movie, but sophie ej and i had to do laundry and pack and go to bed early, so we didn't stay for the movie.

there is powdered detergent in the laundry room which is apparently free for us to use so we used that and did our laundry, and cameron and barret went by outside and yelled in the window and scared us to death. then i went up and figured out our driving directions for the trip, and sophie called a cab to pick us up at 5:45 am for our 7:10 flight (the busses don't even run that early). then i put pictures on facebook and hung my laundry around my room with my handy new clothes line (because i don't want to pay another $2 to dry stuff and most of it i hang anyway). now i'm goign to bed and getting 5.5 hours of sleep. again. goodnight

ies orientation

wow i have lots to write about, so this may stop being so detailed.

so my bags never came friday. luckily i heard sophie coming through the courtyard and yelled down to ask if i could borrow shower stuff and she said sure, so i went down and she, ej, and kendall (all living in IH), and lee and rachel, who are both from UR were just getting back from the 20th anniversary of the U of A marae thing, which they said was cool, except a lot of it was in maori and not translated. so i borrowed shampoo, conditioner, lotion, facewash, and a shirt, and became clean!

then all of us went to the chinese lantern festival in albert park, which is right next to campus. apparently it's a pretty big deal and is one of auckland's 6 major festivals. it was really cool there were all these big lanterns shaped like everything from flowers to a turtle band, to moving dragons, to cows and sheep that made sounds. and tons of all kinds of asian food vendders! kendall and i split some peanut satay kebab type things, and i got a "coconut juice" which turned out to be a whole coconut with a straw stuck in it. i also got roti with curry sauce, which was kind of indian bread, and very yummy.

so then we went to see the official opening ceremony, which started with these guys in dragon costumes and drummers in a little parade, that we followed to a stage. there, we stood as some important looking people filed right by us, including two guys with little security ear piece things (like in men in black). a minute later, they introduced the lady in the purple coat as helen clark, the prime minister of nz! we were amazed, we easily could have reached out and touched her as she went by! there were some speeches, and then some chinese dancing and drumming performances. unfortunately it had been raining the whole time, so we left after 4 performances and came back to IH. i called gael freaking out a little about my bags, and she said she would bring me a rain jacket and towel, and we could stop on the way tomorrow if i needed to buy anything.

saturday morning, i awoke to my new nz phone ringing, but by the time i got to it i had missed it. i called back from the hall phone (so as not to waste minutes), and they said my bags would be delivered sometime that morning, but probably not before we had to leave for our weekend trip at 8:30. i was quite annoyed. i borrowed a clean t-shirt from sophie, as well as all her toiletry stuff again, and we met kendall for breakfast, which was just cereal and toast. as we were eating one of the ras, praveen, came over and was like 'are you guys going on some sort of trip, there's a van waiting outside' so we finished really quickly and went down, and went around to the right side of the van, where the driver sits here, and there was a girl with dreadlocks who was like 'the door's on the other side' (also opposite from home) so we all got in and the 5th ies girl living at IH, emily, who we hadn't met before bc she got there late came in, and then ej did too, and we went to pick up the 4 girls from unilodge.

we then met up with the other 3 vans, and our driver, B, told us it was about an hour and a half drive to the te kiri, or omaha, marae, near leigh, north of auckland. it was pouring rain and the windows were foggy, so we couldn't really see much as we were driving, and it seemed really far. we stopped partway there at a little bakery that was cute, and gael found me and gave me a raincoat. the bus drivers and some of the kids got food, and then we went back out and got in the van, and B was like oh, i left the keys in there, and went to get them and it was really funny.

after more driving, we finally arrived at the marae. we all got out and B (for bianca) introduced all the guides. she is the owner of potiki adventures, and then there was tia, who is maori and has a blueish tattoo like lipliner around her mouth, and then a design down her chin. it sounds really weird but it looked really cool. there was also megan, jono, and curtis. so we all gathered under a little shelter by the parking lot, and B told us what was going to happen, and she and tia taught us a maori song, where they sang some words and we repeated. then an older maori lady came out and spoke/chanted/sang to us, and tia spoke back, and lead us into the marae, with the girls and the front and guys at the back. we had to take our shoes off to enter (we also couldn't take any food or drinks inside). we all lined up along the right wall (our shoes had to be on the right side as well), and sat down when B signalled to. then the maori woman, her nephew jake, and his son, gabriel who was 5 1/2 welcomed us, first in maori and then in english, and then lee spoke for our group and said thank you. then they sang a song and we sang our song (which they sang along with as well), and then all lined up and shook hands and pressed noses with jake and gabriel (so cute!) and kissed the aunt on the cheek. then we went and had tea and biscuits (cookies) in the dining room attached to the back of the building.

after that we all got mattresses and sleeping bags and sheets and pillows and set up our beds for the night, and then sat on our beds and all went around and each spoke about ourselves, our families, etc. it was actually pretty interesting. it was nice to get a small synopsis of all the ies kids, and the guides were really interesting. B and tia are from the same tribe to the north, and B said she was worried about them in the rain because it floods really badly there. tia has 3 kids (oldest age 7! she did not look that old), and teaches maori language at their school as well as helping B at potiki. megan is also maori, and jono is just an adventure coach type guy. curtis, as it turned out, is tia's boyfriend who was just hanging out with us, and he is actually an american indian from vancouver, and he and kendall were talking about native american stuff because she is from a tribe in wisconsin so that was pretty cool. another maori guide guy joined us as well, i didn't get his name, but he is some sort of martial arts champion. he was the only one who i really had trouble understanding, i'm guessing maori was his first language. after that jake spoke to us more about the marae and his family - they only just got electricity at the marae last year! while he was talking gabriel was like playing on a chair and tipped over on his head and we all like gasped and a girl tried to help him up, and jake like, didn't notice, and then looked over and was like oh! are you ok? and gabriel was like 'yeah it didn't hurt i was just trying to stretch my back' it was really cute.

then it was lunch time, and we had chicken salad sandwiches which were really good, and then all washed our dishes in the kitchen. because they are on tank water, they just fill one sink with soapy water and one with clean water, and everyone swirls their dishes in first the soapy one and then the rinse one. by the end the rinse water is pretty soapy. some of my water glasses tasted a little soapy, but it's non-toxic so oh well.

after lunch B counted us off into 4 groups, numbered 1-4 in maori (i was tahi, one). my group first did maori martial arts with a stick, the taiaha. to "warm up" he made us divide up half on each side of the kitchen, and then one group ran forward and backward across 10 times, then the other side did the same, then we did 9 and so on, down to one. this was bad news for sean and me, with very limited clothes to change into (actually everyone complained a lot, but it was good for us). then he first taught us blocks, then jabs, then more complicated combos. it was a little hard to understand what he wanted us to do, because all the names of moves were in maori (he said he had not taught a class in english before). at one point he was like 'we're going to play a game, and made curtis act out stabbing and blocking shots with him, but i think the rest of us looked so terrified he didn't make anyone else. my favorite was a sort of lookout combo, where you twirl the taiaha, and first go to the right, then front, then left.

after that we did team building activities with megan and jono. first were some name games, then the "electric shock" game where you pass a signal by squeezing hands, and the last game was this animal game where everyone is a member of the animal kingdom with king, elephant, gorilla, giraffe, moose, crocodile, monkey, mongoose, fish, crab, and roadkill. each animal has a symbol, and the lion starts, does his own, and then another symbol, and then that animal does his own, and a new one. if the person goes back to the one who just signaled to him, or goes too slow, they become the roadkill, and everyone below moves up. it was a lot of fun and we kept playing 'one more game'. after that it was dinner time, and we had chicken and assorted other stuff. after dinner groups tahi and rua (1 and 2) had to wash dishes, and i dried a lot and rinsed some. then they took us all to the pub in town (matakana) and we hung out there and watched rugby and the live band for awhile.

after that we went back and they set up a projector on a sheet over some mattresses against the wall and we watched while rider, which ej and i were super excited for, only most everybody fell asleep by the end.

we were woken up at 8am on sunday for breakfast, which was scrambled eggs, toast, and cereal with yogurt. i forgot that i really do not like eggs, especially without cheese. groups 3 and 4 did dishes, and then we swapped groups, only some of the activities were different. instead of team building that group got to do flat weaving, with the reedy-leafy plant that grows on the coast. and the martial arts groups did MUCH less running than we did! the other groups on saturday had gone swimming at a black sand beach where it was super cold, but our group got wetsuits and went boogie boarding at omaha beach. i obviously did not have my bathing suit or anything, but shaymali, who lives in california brought 3 so she loaned me one, and molly gave me some shorts, and everyone was really nice with sharing. the water really didn't feel cold at all with the wetsuits on, even when it started raining. that was a lot of fun, although we were cold after we took the wetsuits off at the end. we went back and showered and got all nice and clean and warm and dry, and the sun came out so people were playing touch rugby in the grass, and i watched. then we had lunch, make your own sandwich, and then tahi and rua had to wash dishes againnn. i rinsed for awhile but then left because i had done a lot the previous night and there were a lot of other people.

after lunch we packed everything up, and did the farewell ceremony with one of the local maori ladies, who said thank you for coming and good luck with our travels, and then was like 'now the floor is open to anyone who wants to speak' and there was awkward silence for awhile and then one girl said thanks and stuff, and then gael said stuff, and then another guy said thanks and stuff. then we all took a picture outside the marae (with everyones cameras of course), and left.

we stopped on the way back at the waiwera thermally heated pools on the way back, but i did not go swimming because i was all dry and warm and did not have more clothes. we were all expecting a sort of natural pool area, but it was really kind of touristy with just a bunch of pools at different temps. i went around with some other girls who weren't swimming and we dipped our feet and stuff, and then just sort of sat and people watched.

then we drove the rest of the way back to auckland, and B dropped us off and we said goodbye and thanks, and went into IH, where all the other students were moving in. praveen, the ra was at the desk and told me my bags had come and he had left them in my room for me, which was fabulous bc i really did not want to carry them up the 3 flights of stairs. so i went and unpacked an changed, and then we had dinner, the 5 ies girls, and we sat with one of the kiwi girls, called D, who was originally from south africa, but has been in nz for 5 years, but this is her first time away from home. she was only 17, and we felt really old! but most of the upperclassmen at uni here don't live in dorms, so most of our housemates will be younger than us.

after dinner kendall, sophie, ej and i went to ejs room to plan our adventure for this week, because since it's just orientation and there's no classes, a lot of ies kids are taking trips. we decided to go to the south island, and after lots of guidebook reading and internet searching, we decided on this rough plan:

leave tuesday morning, fly to queenstown, spend the day there, then rent a car and drive to te anu, the closest place to milford sound, in fiordland and stay in a hostel there. wednesday we will take a boat tour of milford sound, and then that night we will drive 5.5 hours to the franz josef glacier and sleep in a hostel there. thursday we will take a guided tour of the glacier, and either spend another night at the hostel there, or else drive to christchurch that night. provided riley is not traveling that weekend he said we can stay with him, otherwise we will get a hostel there too. then friday and saturday we will do things in christchurch, possibly a horseback tour, a whalewatch, or various other tours of christchurch. then we will fly back to auckland from there on sunday morning, and classes start monday!

after getting that all figured out i came back up here and had difficulties finding the cheap flights we thoght we had found, but eventually found some that aren't bad. it's a little less than $300 nz for the flights i think. kendall figured out that its like $650, not counting food, and she's not sure she wants to spend that much money. i understand her reluctance, and also i kind of want to not miss all the friend-making with kiwis and other IH kids during orientation, but we aren't going to have a lot of blocks of free time like this to travel so i think it will be worth it.

so then i was sitting here on the computer with my door open, and kendall had just imed me saying her hall was still really quiet even with kids moved in, and two kiwi boys came to my door and were like hey we are going around to meet people and nobody has their door open (and i was SO reminded of karen and me freshman year going visiting), and so i chatted with them for awhile and i was like my friend was just saying she wanted to find some new kids to meet! so i took them over to her room only i couldn't really remember where it was, so we just stood by the stairs and i yelled kendall and she came down to find us ha ha. then we hung out in her room for a long time, and ej came over after awhile. we were quizzing them on the 'kiwi lingo' in kendall's book which was really funny, and we watched funny youtube videos, and it was just a lot of fun, but i didn't get back here till almost 1, and now it's almost 3 and i have to get up at 8 so i am going to sleep. good night

the beginning

so last night we had an ies group meeting, and we met out in front of IH where the schedule said a shuttle bus would meet us, and i went a little early and a girl who introduced herself as jen was there, and we talked and then sophie, who i met at ur before, and ej, who goes to ithaca, and kendall, who lives in wisconsin came, and jen was like yeah i'm walking you over, and it turns out she did ies last year and ended up transferring here.

at the meeting, gael, our "mother while we're here" talked to us, and 3 ies alumni who have come back for various reasons talked to us, and everyone got their id cards, only we were supposed to bring our passports and i didn't so i did not get mine. the alumni told us all kinds of stuff, for example they described biking in the city as "an extreme sport" and there is a "bikes and busses" lane in the street. and one of them had a trainer kite surfing kite with her and i was really excited. and they said in nz culture, it's bad to be a "tall poppy" which means people don't talk about their accomplishments as much, and self deprecation is seen as better. and there is this tour company through the school that has all kinds of fun stuff like whitewater rafting and sailing and other stuff. and they said the best way to go on trips is rent a car, although driving is scary because it's either insane traffic in auckland, or tiny windy roads out in the country. and it takes 8 or 9 hours to drive to wellington, and then you have to take the ferry to get to the south island. so it might be better to fly, i don't know. a lot of people were already planning trips.

then we went on a tour of the campus, and i talked to a bunch of people, and we had dinner and i talked to more people. two of the kids have been here for a month, biking around the north island and camping. and there is a girl who lives on a farm in saratoga springs. and one of the girls from ithaca knows jennifer. and the kid who friended everyone on facebook, chris, was next to me at dinner and he says he does not like any outdoor activities, and we were all like, then why did you come. and sean just did not show up to anything all afternoon, i don't know where he is.

at the end of dinner one of the guys invited everyone back to parnell (where the boys live, a 30+ minute walk thru the auckland domain) but the four of us in IH were tired so we just walked back, and stopped at the gym to find out about joining, which costs $160. i think i am going to, so i can do the group fitness classes, and get a discount on the kiteboarding lesson program, which does not start till march 3.

then we came back to IH, and went around to see each other's rooms, which are all basically the same, although i like mine bc it has a sky light because i'm on the top floor. kendall showed us the "gym" which consists of a bike, some free weights, 2 medicine balls, and a deflated exercise ball, and one of the laundry rooms. i still do not have a good grasp of the layout of this building. then we hung out in ej's room for awhile just talking, and the three of them traded cell phone numbers, but i did not have one yet.

then we went into the common room and watched survivor (which was the first thing we saw when we turned the tv on), and i was falling asleep so i just came up and went to bed at like 9.

then today i set my alarm on my computer for 7, because my bags were supposed to get here early, and gael was taking people to the 20th anniversary of the uni marae, which we had to be at by 8:50, so the IH girls decided to meet at 8:30 to go. so i got up early to be ready in time.

however, when i went down to the office, it was closed, so i wandered and was bored for awhile, and i got an apple from the cafeteria, there were 2 other kids in there who i did not talk to ha ha. and i called the airline, who said my bag was in customs (after waiting on hold foreverrr). and the office was open by like 8:30, so i gave them my home cell phone number, as well as the airline just so i could be in touch (i've been calling from the landline out in the hall though don't worry). they said my bags were in customs and should arrive sometime in the morning.

and i decided not to waste all day waiting, so i went to campus and got my id card, and while in the international students office i saw the japanese girl i had met briefly yesterday afternoon, and another girl who was with her who saw my rochester hoodie and said she was from saratoga. and i wanted to talk to them more, but they were doing something that was taking awhile and i had nothing left to do in that office, so i went to the it place, and got my netid registered (so now i have an auckland email address), and then i went down to queen street again to got o the vodafone store and get a phone.

sophie said she got one for 90 bucks, with a prepaid sim card. so the first store i went in said they were out of the cheap phones, and the next one was $179, so they sent me to another store further down queen street. so i got the $89 phone, plus a $35 prepaid sim card, that has $5 on it now, and when i register online i get another $10. everyone here texts apparently, because phone calls are expensive, so i haven't decided if i should get 2000 txts a month for $10. i can add that anytime though. and the phone guy saw my rochester hoodie and asked where rochester is, and i told him upstate ny, and he was like "oh that's what i thought, i worked at a camp in scranton, pa last summer and went through buffalo and syracuse"

so i took my phone home, plugged it in, and tried to follow the directions to activate the sim card (which is just a piece of cardboard with a chip in it), which did not work, and i called customer service, and they said to go back to the store.

so my bags were still not here, and it was like 11:30, so i went to the cafeteria for food, where i met one of the ras (i think) and i forgot his name - i am really not doing very well with names. but anyway he said they don't serve lunch until sunday, and he was just using the toaster, and i told him about my bags and phone issues and he was really nice. so then i came up and ate some peanutbutter and bread (i don't have a knife so it wasn't so much a sandwich). and called the airline again, and they said my bag should be here within an hour.

so then i went all the way back to the vodafone store, and after waiting in line the guy did some computer stuff and fixed it, he said it was because they recycle phone numbers and there was some sort of hold on it from the last user. also, while he was on the phone with customer service he said, and i quote "no p no p, sweet as, thanks, bye" which roughly translates into "no problem, awesome, thanks, bye".

so then i came back, expecting my bags to be here because it had been more than an hour, but nope! (i feel bad i have bothered the guys in the office at least 6 times today) so i came up and called the airline, and waited on hold for ages again, and the lady said she didn't have my reference number in the computer, and was gone for a long time, and then came back and said she was going to call the airport people, and took my cell number and said they should call me within half an hour or so. it's been an hour. i think i'll go call again.

arrival

so i made a blog. yay. and i made it to auckland. yay.

so i left buffalo on tuesday, feb 19, and it was snowing so we had to de-ice, but there was no delay. i got to dulles just in time, my flight started boarding as i was walking up to the gate. at lax i had longer, which was good because i had to find a different terminal and get a new boarding pass from air new zealand. i still had plenty of time though. i talked to a couple on the lax terminal shuttle with a little girl who were going to samoa, and they had a blanket over the little girl's stroller so she could sleep, which looked really funny.

the airplane for the long flight (which was actually only 12 hours, not 20 like i thought it was) was super nice, very new and quite roomy. i think it was a boeing 777-something, in case anyone cares. there were 3 seats, an aisle, 3 seats, an aisle, 3 seats. i was right over the wing, and had the window seat (i picked the "a" seat on all my flights, to ensure i got a window, but by the end i had a sore neck from looking the same way all the time. i should have put the middle flight on the other side). it seemed like the end of the wing was really high up, compared with other planes i've been on, and i remembered how michael parker told me to watch how much higher the wing is when you're in the air than on the ground.

it seemed like most of the people had boarded and no one was in either of the seats next to me, but at the very end a couple came and sat down, but they were really nice. they were coming from detroit and had missed their first flight and gotten switched, so if they hadn't i might have had all 3 seats to myself!

anyway, we got dinner (chicken, veggies, roll, salad, and orange cheesecake - all pretty mediocre, but i was starving at that point). and then i discovered that one of the movies we could watch was across the universe and was really excited, but i fell asleep pretty quickly, and slept on and off for most of the flight. i played tetris for awhile, and watched some nz tourism videos, and went to the bathroom and walked around once. i really didn't get bored at all, those personal tvs are really nice. then 2 hours before landing we got breakfast, which was a "cheese omelet" which was really more a roll of scrambled eggs, with mushrooms and some little cake things that might have been sausage or might have been potato, or might have been something else, and a blueberry muffin, and strawberry yogurt. at first i thought i didn't want the omlet, but eventually i was hungry enough, and it really wasn't bad. as breakfast was ending the sunrise became visible on the horizon, rising behind us, and it looked really cool. i took a lot of pictures, but most of them did not come out very well.

then after we landed (45 minutes earlier than scheduled) we had to wait awhile for the plane at the gate before us to leave, and finally got off. i made it through passport control fine (and got a stamp!), and went to wait for my bags at the carousel. and waited. and waited. and waited. and finally i asked an air nz lady if i should be worried if my bags weren't there yet and she said to go see baggage services. so i did and after checking the computer they told me my bags were still in la, but would be arriving at 5 or 6 am tomorrow morning, and that they would be delivered to my residence, only i did not know the address. so i got some paperwork, and went thru customs, and came out into the main part of the airport, and there a bunch of college students and a guy with a sign that said 'university of auckland' called me over, and a kid named lee who goes to the u of r who i did not know introduced himself, and i said hi to sean, whose bags were also lost. there were 2 other boys and 4 girls who i didn't really talk to, and they all left on the shuttle to their apartments (which are kinda far away from campus i guess), and the driver guy (martin, he was really nice) was like, do you mind holding the sign while we're gone, there's supposed to be one more student arriving, so i did even though i felt really silly.

but no one had come over by the time he got back. so he said he'd watch my stuff so i wandered around and called the airline and gave them the street where i'm living (martin had told me), and filled up my water, and came back and he was still waiting, and he looked at the list and was like 'it's an asian name, and i can't tell if it's male or female' and i laughed and he explained how he can usually pick out the students, because they have trolleys with lots of bags, and laptops in the front part, while people 'on holiday' have bottles of duty-free alcohol in the front. and the american students always have way more bags because i guess the rest of the world's airlines allow only 20 kg of luggage (we get about 40kg).

so finally an asian boy came over and saw the u of auckland sign and was really excited, and martin told him he was going to huia house, which is pronounced "wee-ah" martin said he is from south africa originally, and he had to ask the locals how to say it too. the kid practiced pronouncing it a bunch of times it was cute. and martin was talking to another driver guy for awhile, so i made small talk. the kid's name is 'mo' but i think he said that's his last name, and he's from hong kong. he had a lot of trouble repeating my name (bc l is a hard letter for native asian-language speakers), but he was nice.

then we went outside and martin got the minivan and the driver sits on the right side of the car! that weirds me out more than the driving on the left side. it was about a 20 km drive to the school, and martin said that should take about 25 min, but there was traffic (it was around 9 am at that point) and he said it was because that's when the schools all start so kids were driving or being driven. he said auckland has pretty bad rush hour traffic, and the only public transport is busses. he also told us that 1.3 million people live in auckland, out of a total of 4 million in all of nz, and that the city is growing really fast. (i also learned from one of the video's on the plane that auckland is second only to la in terms of urban sprawl). we saw "one tree hill" which is this hill with a monument on top (kind of the shape of the washington monument), which martin told us is sacred ground to the maoris, and up until about 10 years ago there was a lone tree at the top, but a maori guy cut it down with a chain saw about 10 years ago as some sort of protest, so then they built the monument there. he said there's a good view of the city from the top, but it's too far from the uni to walk to).

he also told us that the "winter" season means rain, but not necessarily all day, there are lots of "4 seasons in one day" days. and that the north and south islands are like different countries. the north island was created mainly by volcanoes, while the south island is from one tectonic plate being pushed on top of the other.

one of the girls from the previous load called and did not have her bag, although she had had it when they loaded them at the airport, so we took a detour to the parnell appts where the boys (all 6 of them) are all living, and sure enough sean and another kid were sitting outside with the bag, so we got it, and took it to the girl who lives in the wellesley appts. the parnell ones looked like little cabins kind of, and they are across the auckland domain (big park), which martin said is a 30 minute or more walk to campus. i didn't really see the wellesley appts.

then we dropped mo at huia house, and martin went in with him to make sure he was checked in ok, and then finally he brought me to international house. it's at the end of whitaker place, which goes down a steep hill and turns. there's a little courtyard and sort of a school-looking brick building, about 4 stories tall. we went into the office, where the man in charge gave me my key and had me sign a form, and then brought me up to my room. i'm on teh third floor, and you have to wind all around through the building to get to it. the corridor doors are locked at night, but there's a little key fob that you just tap to open them, it's really nice. my actual door has a real key though. we went past the cafeteria, which is all brightly colored and looks like a cross between a high school cafeteria and some sort of lodge, and we can just eat there whenever we want (when it's open), there's no card swiping or anything.

my room is about the size of my single in anderson, but its carpeted, and has lots of nice storage space, like the closets in sue b. there was bedding folded on my bed which the guy told me is now my property, and i am in charge of keeping clean. there is an internet port right by the desk, and i registered my computer (i think it said it's $7 a week for internet, but that's fine, i need to have it here). the bathroom is down the "hall" but the halls here have like, windows with no panes, so they are semi-outdoors. it seemed clean, and there are 2 toilets and 2 showers so i don't think too many people share it. (i hope)

it was really hot and i was pretty sweaty by then, but of course, my deodorant was in my checked bags. i made my bed, and read through all the paperwork in my folder, which has a list of all the ies kids and where they are living, orientation schedules, contact numbers etc.

martin had told me that travel insurance might reimburse me for anything i needed while my bags were gone, so i found the ies paperwork but it didn't say, so i went back down to the office to use their phone. the lady i finally got ahold of said they give up to $1000 (nz) if the bags are gone more than 8 hours, but she also said something about $100, so i dont know if that means the first 100 is my responsibility? i also called air nz, and gave them the whole address and phone number for international house, and the guy said they pay for stuff if the bags are gone more than 24 hours, which i think it will be slightly under if they arrive when they said they would.

the guy at the desk who had helped me with the phone said "is everything sweet-as?" and i was like huh? and he was like "oh sorry, everything ok?" and then i figured out what he'd said, because i remember from the last time i was here that they say "sweet as" all the time for "ok" or "cool".

i asked the people in the office (i'm not sure if they are students or adults, they all seemed to have kiwi accents) where to go to get a toothbrush and stuff, and they said just go down symonds (pronounced like simon's) st, which is the main street i'm off of, and that martin said the uni buildings are further down. so i went for a stroll (by this time it was 11-something am), and decided to find the westpac atm where i can use my bank of america card to get cash without a fee, and that was on queens street which is a couple blocks over from symonds. queens street is pretty city-ish, busy, lots of stores. i felt really icky in my comfy pants, sneakers, and big less than jake shirt, but i really don't have anything else and i won't see any of those people ever again so whatever. i found the atm, took out $160 (nz) and then walked back toward campus. i considered going in some shops to find clothes but it was too overwhelming.

i walked the length of the campus on symonds street, it's really not far at all from where i live, martin said 10-15 min walk which isn't any worse than walking to the med center from towers. symonds street is pretty busy, with traffic and people and stuff, but there are trees and it just feels bigger and more college-y than queens st did.

on the way back i stopped at the student union, and went in the bookstore and school pharmacy. supplies at the pharmacy seemed limited and i assumed was overpriced at home, so i went back toward IH to the convenience store they had told me to go to, but when i got there i discovered prices were more than at the school. i bought a bottle of water, a toothbrush, bread, and peanutbutter though. all the deodorant there was either spray or roll on, and i had seen regular dove at the school pharmacy, and i was certainly not short on time, so i went back and got that (for $8.90!) and a contact case because although i had a new set of contacts and soln with me, i had no case. i also got some eyeliner so i don't look completely disgusting when i meet all the ies kids tonight.

then i came back to IH, and here i am. it's now 2 pm, and we meet at 3:40 for our first orientation thing, so i may take a short nap.

cya

linnell