Botanic Garden, International Buddy Dinner, and a Fun-Filled Saturday

Saturday, July 23

            Friday afternoon, the weather turned from being nice all week to cold, windy, and rainy. When I woke up this morning, the weather was dreary, so I stayed inside all day. I started reading Little Women for my children’s lit. class, and I really enjoyed it. I’ve never read it before because I thought it would be boring, but it is quite the opposite.

            Tonight, there was the Te Puni Ball, which had a Willy Wonka theme. This struck me as ironic because last year’s gala at Bates was also Willy Wonka. Tickets were expensive and I didn’t have anything to wear, so I ended up not going. I went to the Christian Club again and had a fun time there. Unfortunately, the rain and wind picked up while I was there, and I got completely soaked on the walk back. I had to hang my coat and pants to dry when I got to my room. After that was taken care of, I went over to Esther’s room, and we watched a movie together.

Sunday, July 24

            This morning I went to St. Paul’s Lutheran Church with my friend, Elisante. He was one of my Capital Safari tour guides. The service was interesting, a lot more standing and sitting and songs intermingled with speaking than I am used to. We also took communion, and it was my first experience having real wine in church. By rows, we made a ring near the front of the building, and the priest went around handing out the wafers. He was followed by a man holding a common cup and a woman carrying a tray of individual “cups” of wine (which looked the same as the ones we use at Sunnyslope). You could drink from the common cup, dip your wafer into the common cup, or take your own cup. I opted for the third choice. It turned out to be the priest’s last Sunday there, so there was a potluck lunch following the service, but Elisante and I didn’t stay for that.

            It was still rainy, windy, and cold, so I spent the afternoon in the social space of TPV reading. In the evening, I went to St. John’s Presbyterian. I saw a few of the same people and also met a few new ones. The message tonight was a presentation by a missionary who is taking a group to Myanmar later this year. It was interesting to hear her story and see pictures. They said next week they are watching the movie “Prince of Peace,” and I got very excited at this news.

Tuesday, July 26

            After three solid days of perfectly miserable weather, the clouds finally cleared, literally (not one in the sky today), and the sun came out. It was still a bit windy, but nothing compared to the previous days. At lunch, I ate with Cheng, and he invited me to go to the Botanic Gardens with him and a friend. We walked around there for about an hour and a half, and I got to see the rose garden (which is not very rosy at the moment) and the greenhouse (which is amazing). I’ve never been in a greenhouse before, and they did a great job varying the colours and kinds of plants. I even got to see tiny Venus fly traps!

The rose garden

Tiny Venus flytrap

Friday, July 29

            Tonight, there was a dinner at Namastey India organized by the international buddy program. The dinner was scheduled for 7 p.m., but we didn’t order our food until about 8 p.m. My buddy and one of my international friends were supposed to come, but they never showed up. I met a couple people from New Zealand, a couple people from Sweden, and a guy from Malaysia. The food was delicious, and the atmosphere was nice and relaxed.

Saturday, July 30

            Today was a pretty busy day for me. I did my reading for class in the morning. I started “Faces in the Water” by Janet Frame for New Zealand literature. It is about a woman who is continually committed to mental hospitals. It is very interesting, and I am excited to continue reading.

            After lunch, I went to the tennis courts, which are a 15-minute walk from my hostel (hall of residence). I found out at the Wednesday Christian club meeting that Jeremy plays tennis. He invited me to come practice with him and some friends. When I got there, we had to wait for a court for about 20 minutes. Then we got to hit a little bit. It felt so good to hit a ball after a month! There was a group of players (who had the court before us) who started hitting with us, and when I had to go, they told me they come and hit every weekend. I am happy to find some people who play tennis. It amazes me how few people here (that I’ve talked to) play tennis.

            In the afternoon, I went with a group of young people from the Christian club to Laserforce (laser tag). We met at the house for afternoon tea beforehand. We had around 17 people, so it was a good group. I did poorly in both games we played, but it was still lots of fun. Rayce was going to come with us, but he had a dorm meeting, so he may go with his group sometime in the future.

            After dinner, I went with a friend from my hostel to a bar called Hotel Bristol to watch the All Blacks game. At first we couldn’t find a table, but then some people left and let us get the vacated table. It was in the perfect spot for watching the game, which was projected on a screen. A couple other friends joined us, and I had a really good time. The game was very entertaining; it was New Zealand against South Africa. The All Blacks won 40-7. Even though I understand very little of the rules of rugby, I still enjoy watching it.

Rugby, Tango, and Everything In Between

Sunday, July 17

            Throughout the year, the different Halls of Residence and Houses have inter-hall competitions. They had netball and soccer tournaments last trimester, and a choir competition is scheduled for late September (which I may be participating in). There was an inter-hall rugby 7s tournament this afternoon. It took place on the turf field right outside Te Puni Village (TPV – my hall of residence), so I went down to watch rugby in person for the first time. I watched the first four games, two of which TPV played in and won, but then I went inside to do reading for class. The next day, I heard that TPV won the whole tournament, and the team received a free pizza dinner. For all the scrapes the players had from the turf, I hope they thought it was worth it. TPV also won the netball and soccer tournaments (there are pictures in the cafeteria; that is the only reason I know of the other inter-hall competitions).

Te Puni is in the grey

            So in my last post, I apparently forgot to mention that I went to the Christian Club meeting on Saturday night. They provided dinner, one person gave a message, and a couple others gave their testimonies. There, I met another American named Rayce. He came with a group (I don’t remember what it’s called). I was surprised to see that out of the people there (30-40), more than half of them were Asian (though the “leaders” are Caucasian).

            Anyway, this is a set up to say that in the evening, Rayce and I went to St. John’s Presbyterian Church for their evening worship service. Rayce had been there the week before. There were about 30 people there, mostly young adults. We sang a few hymns, listened to a message, and then ate a light meal (although we had to wait until 8 p.m. to eat it). It was fun to go to a worship service where the majority of the participants were around my age.

Monday, July 18 – Friday, July 22

            My second week of classes went well. Tutorials started this week, and I think they will be interesting. It will be nice to get the chance to discuss what we read and learn about in lectures.

            I joined the gym on campus to do group exercises. They offer a schedule of different classes, including yoga, pilates, zumba, pump, and step, and I can do as many as I want. I tried pilates on Monday, zumba on Wednesday, megadanz on Thursday, and yoga on Friday. I am going to try some new classes this coming week to see which ones I will do regularly.

            On Wednesday, I went to the Christian Club meeting for lunch and saw Rayce there. He talked me into joining a tango dance class with him that meets on Friday afternoons. I felt a little foolish at the dance class, but it turned out to be pretty fun. I think I was able to do most of the simple steps by the end of the hour.

            Friday night, I went with Rayce to his friend’s flat to watch my first All Blacks rugby game. They played Fiji and won 60-14. It was fun to watch, but there was more whistle blowing than I was expecting. After watching rugby 7s on Sunday, it seemed that there were tons of people on the field.

Let Life at Uni(versity) Begin!

  So one morning, I don’t remember which one, I came out of my room, looked out the window, and saw a beautiful rainbow! It made me very excited.

Saturday, July 9
  At orientation, there was a group called Capital Safari who organized a handful of tours around Wellington. The tours were loosely based on categories, such as shopping, sports, Lord of the Rings, museums, etc. Andrea and I signed up for one that went to the City and Sea Museum, walked by Oriental Harbour, and visited the Te Papa Museum.

  The City and Sea Museum was interesting because it talked about the history of the city and its harbours and told stories of the different ships that had landed there.

Outside of City and Sea Museum

  On our way to the Te Papa Museum, we walked by the water. One interesting thing I saw at the Te Papa Museum was a colossal squid that New Zealand fishermen caught.

The squid is 4 meters long

  There is also a marae in the museum, which is a meeting place for the Maori people. It is all hand-carved and very beautiful (picture further down). There is a section of the museum that talks a lot about the history of the Maori people, including the treaty they signed with the Queen. The Te Papa Museum was so big that I did not get to see everything.

Monday, July 11

  My first day of lectures went well. I had two in a row, linguistics and children’s literature. My experience here will definitely differ from Bates. There are about 100 people in my lectures, but we split up into groups of 20 for tutorials once a week for discussion led by a senior student. Coming from Bates where my biggest class was around 60, it will be interesting how I adapt to this type of learning environment.

  In the afternoon, I got the chance to attend a powhiri, a Maori welcoming ceremony at the university’s marae. We had to go to a briefing beforehand to learn the proper protocol. When we approached the marae, the women walked in front with the men on either side and at the back, signalling that we came in peace. If the men (warriors) had walked in front, that would be a sign that we came for confrontation and war. As we approach the marae, the karanga begins, which is a call performed by a female.

This is the show marae at the Te Papa Museum. But the one on campus looks very similar.

  Because of the cold weather, we did not go through the outside portion of the ceremony. Instead, we immediately went inside the meeting house, with the men sitting in the front row, the women behind them, and separate sides for the tangata whenua (hosts) and manuhiri (visitors). A man of the tangata whenua makes a speech, followed by a waiata (song) that the group performs. After, a person from the manuhiri side makes a speech, and then we had to perform a waiata (another reason why we had to go through briefing before attending the ceremony). We offered a donation to the marae and finished by going to the tangata whenua to hongi, or touch noses; it represents the two sides coming together.

  After the ceremony, which was conducted entirely in the Maori language, we went to the attached dining area for hakari, the sharing of food. Everything was delicious, and I got to meet a few new people who had also taken part in the ceremony. We couldn’t take pictures of the marae or powhiri, but the building looks similar to the one I saw in the Te Papa museum. Inside, the walls are lined with intricate carvings of the Maori ancestors and decorated lattices. Not all Kiwis get the chance to attend a powhiri, and I felt honoured to be able to take part in this.

Wednesday, July 13

  Today was clubs day at VUW (Victoria University of Wellington), and I got to see what clubs Victoria University has to offer. There unfortunately wasn’t a tennis club, but I did sign up to get more information about the Film Society and Christian Club. The Christian Club offered a lunch at their meeting place, which is a house on a road a little below the Kelburn campus. I went there and met some new people.

Friday, July 15

  In the evening, there was a welcome function for the international students at VUW. They offered some appetizer-type food as well as white and red wine and beer. It is different to have everyone at uni old enough to drink.

  I was able to meet up with Andrea and a couple other friends, including my tour guides from Capital Safari. It was a good opportunity to meet students from all over the world, although there were a good number of Americans.

Saturday, July 16

  Today, I walked to the Te Papa museum to do some more exploring. I found an outdoor area called Bush City that was complete with waterfall and bridge.

 

  It was a nice day, and I was again reminded why Wellington is such a great city. Though the weather can be temperamental, it usually permits walking around, and the city layout is easy to become familiar with.

First Days in Wellington

  I am officially in Wellington! It took me a few days to get Internet access, but now I am ready and able to describe my first experiences in Wellington. All in all, the trip from Phoenix to Wellington was uneventful. My flight left Phoenix at 8:00 p.m. (although I don’t think we actually took off until about 8:35). Fortunately, I had a little more than two hours in LAX, so the delay didn’t cause any problems. I met my friend there since she is studying abroad in Christchurch, New Zealand. Near the end of the flight, we were able to catch a glimpse of New Zealand, and the landscape was gorgeous. Everything was green and alternated between rolling grass and clusters of trees. Having just watched the first Lord of the Rings movie the previous night, I was distinctly reminded of the Shire where the Hobbits live. I can’t wait to see other parts of the country throughout my time here.

Houses on a Hill

   We landed in Auckland a little after 8:00 a.m. and clearing immigration and customs went quickly. We used the outdoor pedestrian walkway to get to the domestic airport. The air was refreshingly cool but not cold enough to require a sweatshirt. My flight from Auckland to Wellington was uneventful. When I went down to baggage claim to meet a rep from the school, I found out that six other American students arrived at the same time. Close to the airport, there are hills and houses are built all over them. It was neat seeing them snuggled against the side.

My room

  After getting dropped off at my dorm, I tried accessing the Internet but was unable to because my account had not been set up yet, so I went into town. It is quite easy to get to one of the main streets of town from my dorm. The one downside of it is that Kelburn campus (dorm building included) is at the top of a hill. I did not anticipate how many hills there are in Wellington. The view while going into town is beautiful, but walking back to my room is a workout. I was able to find Briscoes to buy a few things.

Tuesday, July 5

  Today I had orientation. While waiting to sign-in, I met another study abroad student, Andrea, who is from Germany. She and I stuck together during the two information sessions and lunch. During one of the sessions, the guy who was running it gave us a little quiz about New Zealand, during which I learned that the most popular pastime is gardening and that there are 10 sheep for every person. After lunch, we split up to take a Kelburn campus tour. Once that was finished, we attended an enrolment meeting. 

Sushi to Go

  When orientation activities were done for the day, Andrea and I decided to walk through the city and see the harbour. She had been a couple days before with friends, and I was excited to see the water. I was amazed at how well Andrea knew her way around having only been there once before. We walked by the Te Papa museum and then down by Lambton Harbour. We searched for a place to eat and ended up finding a little sushi carryout place. It was popular; the line didn’t shorten the entire time we were there. The food was delicious and fairly cheap. I got my fill for under $5.

Wednesday, July 6

  This morning, I went to enrol in my papers (courses). That took less than an hour, and then I went to buy a mobile phone and some other supplies for my room. I met Andrea in the afternoon, and we walked to the Botanic Garden. We spent a couple of hours there and also explored the cable car museum.

View from Cable Car Station

  I had my first meal in the dining hall at dinner that night. I met a group of students who live on the 10^th floor of the building adjoining mine. They were kind enough to let me sit with them and hang out afterwards.

Thursday, July 7

  This morning, I got up and met Andrea at the Parliament building to go on a tour. Unfortunately, we couldn’t take pictures inside the building. I learned some interesting things during the tour.

•            The Parliament building was never finished; the statue is supposed to be in the middle of the building
•            The Beehive (next to Parliament) can be moved on rails when they are ready to finish the building
•       The Beehive (exec wing) is connected to Parliament House by an underground tunnel

The Beehive and Parliament

  I spent a quiet afternoon in my room, and that night, I went out to get hot chocolate with a couple of my friends. I am excited for my papers to start and see what they will be like.

*Disclaimer: I changed the spellcheck on my computer now that I’m in New Zealand.