Alive and Well!

As promised, a blog to let everyone in on what's going on in the Southern Hemisphere.

I got to UC yesterday around 9 in the morning, and upon looking at my watch (which I purposely left on Mountain Time) I had been traveling for 23 hours exactly. Luckily the trip went smoothly.

On the way to Auckland I sat next to a man who lives in the states but is from NZ and was going back for the first time in 2 1/2 years. Needless to say he was stoked. He talked my ear off which made the time fly. From President Obama to hating Aussies to rugby and cricket, he told me about everything I needed to know when I got to New Zealand. He also told me three times that "New Zealand's a binge drinking country." I countered with my Irish heritage but that didn't seem to phase him. Reese was sure NZ topped it all. So then we just decided to exchange drinking game rules and regs.

In Auckland I exchanged what cash I had left...magically 38 American dollars turned into 62 New Zealand dollars. And that was after the fee. I got a row to myself on the way to Christchurch, but would have been happy being surrounded by crying babies. I was so excited to be in New Zealand! I spent the flight looking at the ever-changing landscape below (although I must admit, when we were over the ocean I read Cosmo). This place is beautiful beyond description. Rolling green hills (think Peter Jackson's shire in Lord of the Rings) gave way to dormant, dead and active volcanoes, deserts and coastline.

In Christchurch I began stressing when I got to customs. I had declare my hiking boots and I was a fool and also declared that I had been hiking in the past 30 days. I thought for sure they were going to take them, or at least scold me. Luckily, the worst of it was over after I unpacked my large duffel almost entirely to find them. They of course passed.

An older man named Rob picked me up at the small airport. I didn't get the luxury of walking out of the terminal and seeing my name on a board. We were early and he was running late. When he turned the odometer/price tracker thingy on (he was a taxi driver) elation turned into frustration. No one told me I had to pay for the cab. I was under the impression that the University sent a shuttle. Rob however, distracted me with a miny tour of Christchurch and his stories of the area. He knew exactly where the Ilam (pronounced like I'll not ill) office was. When I took out my wallet he told me with a wink that the University was charged and that I needn't worry. At that point I wouldn't have minded paying him as he was so interesting. No one was in the office so I had to call an RA.

I sat on my bags to wait and finally took in my surroundings. Although campus was empty (it was only 9am on a Saturday) it was loud. And not because of cars. The street lights buzz as if there were a thousand bees in them and there are about a million ducks in the area. No matter. It was about 65 (Fahrenheit, I have yet to understand conversions) and again, absolutely beautiful. Palm trees intermingle with old growth pine and willows. The grass is perfectly trimmed and the landscaping is wonderful.

My RA showed up shortly after Rob left. She gave me a linen pack (75 NZD for sheets, pillow, two pillow cases, some sort of comforter thing and a cover for it...not too shabby) and we took a stolen grocery cart to my dorm. I live in the I block. Ilam has blocks A-P each about four stories high and two to four apartments on each floor. It's very art deco (as is a lot of Christchurch). Concrete buildings are accented with stainless steel and one specific color (my building has yellow panels under the windows). The apartments themselves are pretty sweet. I live on the ground floor, which isn't the best. My window is right on street level and there aren't screens. Also our porch is accessible from the sidewalks, whereas everyone else (obviously) have elevated porches. But no matter. I have four other flatmates, as they're called (they haven't arrived yet) and we all have our own rooms. As you walk in the door, there's a bathroom on the left and two bedrooms on the right. Keep walking down the hall and there's a living room with two couches and an arm chair and a flat screen (!) on the right and the kitchen on the left. The kitchen is equipped with an oven, stove, fridge, microwave, toaster, water boiler, plates, cups, bowls, knives, forks, spoons, can opener, spatula, sharp knives, pots AND pans. It's fantastic. I might buy a few more things, but for now it works. Of course everything is black, white, gray or steel (for example our counter top is stainless steel ha). Keep walking down the hall and there's another bathroom on the left, a bedroom on the right and my bedroom is at the end. I have two full-wall windows, TONS of closet space and my desk runs the length of one wall. There are also two huge built in cork-boards. It's perfect for me.

Anyway, as I was walking to my dorm, who should show up but Paul (my friend from Northeastern University). He lives in the building to the right of me, and our other friend Katie lives in the building to the left. As soon as I was showered I wandered over to Katie's window (she's on the first level too). She was talking to a kid from Malaysia named Mervin. We decided to embark on our first adventure.

We walked about fifteen minutes to the mall where we ate breakfast. I had spinach, feta and pine nut quiche with a latte. Apparently there is no such thing as just a cup of coffee. The place we went (a chain we think) is called Muffin Break. The muffin's looked delicious. They had sweet ones and savory (like ham and cheese). Later in the day we noticed a closer one to campus and I'm sure I will frequent it. After breakfast we wandered farther into town in search of the farmer's market. As we were looking at our map, a man came up to us and asked us where we were going. When we told him he gladly pointed us in the right direction.

The farmer's market is held every Saturday until noon in a park with "notable trees". That is, they are very old. We got there toward the end, but there was still a good selection of produce, organic eggs, homemade hummus and pesto, bread and meat. I didn't buy anything because I wasn't sure when I was going to be able to put it away. Katie bought homemade blackberry champagne that came in a milk bottle for eight dollars. It was the most delicious thing I have ever tasted. I'm definitely going to get it next week.

After the farmer's market, we went to Kmart so that I could buy a towel. We then took a bus into the city center and I proceeded to follow Paul, Katie and Melvin around in a complete daze. The days without sleep were finally catching up to me. After checking out nearly four outdoor stores (not even half of what was in the area!) we caught a bus to Sumner Beach. It was about a 20 minute ride in which we got to see all parts of Christchurch. The beach itself was beautiful, but chilly. The wind made it seem like it was about 60 or colder. It didn't make for great lying out weather, but I still managed to fall asleep for about fifteen minutes. After watching the surfers for a while, we hopped on a bus that took us right back to campus. Not before an old lady could help us with directions again, though. The people here are extremely nice and seem to love helping lost foreign kids.

Katie and Melvin went their separate ways once we got back to Ilam village. Paul came to my room to help me set up the internet. We found out that we have to pay for gigabytes used. 1.5 gigs cost me about 19 NZD. It was sort of a bummer until Paul's mom found out. Luckily she thought it was an outrage as we were never told we had to pay for internet. She contacted the school and they agreed. I guess they're in the process of working something out with UC.

Paul and I went to Woolworth's, the grocery store down the street and bought enough to last a while. Included were portabello mushrooms, coffee, grapes, bananas, granola, bread, yogurt, dish towels, local summer ale, oil and vinegar. I'm hoping to get at least one roommate who shares my cooking habits so that we can split groceries.

We met up with Katie for dinner around 630 and went to an Indian restaurant near campus. At first we were all astonished at the 18 dollar-a-plate prices, but then remembered the exchange rate. The food was delicious and the service was excellent. One of the servers noticed our accent and asked us where we were from. She told us all about Castle Rock (?), a nearby world-class bouldering area and when we left, she said "See you at Uni [=University=school]". Just another example of the friendliness we've encountered here.

I got to my room after dinner, made my bed and thought I would lie down to see how comfy it was with EVERY intention of wandering over to Paul's later to share a beer. I woke up at 6 am with my clothes and lights on. I changed into my pj's and slept until 9.

This morning I threw open my windows, made coffee, turned on my music and sat down to record the events since leaving. I had no idea it would take me so long, but I want to remember every detail even if readers don't want to know, ha. I haven't taken many pictures yet, but I'll be sure to include some in my next post. Adios, for now.