Week 1: Getting Settled

It's officially been one week since I flew 9,000 miles across the globe to Hamilton, New Zealand! I've already met some cool Kiwis and other internationals and am pretty well-versed in the campus. It's very foggy and rainy here (it's winter) but still mild compared with MA winters at about 50 degrees Fahrenheit.

Travel:

Miraculously not horrible! I had an aisle seat from Boston to LAX. Those who know me well are aware of my extreme fear of flying, but thanks to a small pill my doctor prescribed, I was calm throughout! In LA I had about an hour and a half layover so I talked to Rachel (older sister who lives in Santa Barbara) on the phone. I also got a yummy caprese-esque grilled cheese from a food truck that was in the terminal, which was cool.

For the longer flight - 13 hours - I unfortunately had a middle seat. To my left was a UC Davis administrator and to my right was a Hamilton native who grew up on a dairy farm, and they were both super nice. The UC Davis lady and her husband were vacationing for about a month and Corina was returning home from some traveling in Canada (she now lives in Auckland). Corina gave me some tips to living in NZ and knew a lot about U of Waikato because she graduated from there a few years back!

In hindsight I shouldn't have bought the grilled cheese in LA because they fed us three meals on the flight; they were surprisingly good and we got free wine! Me and my two new flying buddies toasted to vacationing, studying abroad, and returning home to the beautiful country of NZ. I slept (not very well), watched TV, and chatted with them, which made 13 hours doable.

Interestingly, they had to disinfect the plane once we landed to make sure no nasty American germs spread to NZ. I gathered my luggage from baggage claim and went to customs, which only took about a half an hour. After declaring my sour gummy worms and chocolate covered pretzels, I was in!

The uni (as they say here) had a shuttle prepared so once the handful of other people made it through customs we all hopped into the van and drove about two hours south to Hamilton. The shuttle driver was very confused as to why someone named Bryce was a girl. I met a doctor of dairy (or something like that) who was very kind and gave me his card in case I had any questions during my stay; he guest lectures at Waikato but was in the States at a conference of some kind (the details are vague because I was pretty exhausted). Of course my fellow shuttlees brought up Trump and we all had a fun chat about him. :)))

Dorm:

They call them blocks here, and I'm in block one. It's a decent sized room, but I have to share one toilet and one shower stall with five other people. The dining hall sucks (maybe I'll lose weight?) and I really don't like having to eat at scheduled times. When I arrived, the campus was empty because almost everyone was still on break. The dorm room was freezing and it wasn't until a couple days later I noticed the radiator – a godsend! The first night I passed out at 4:30PM and woke up at 4:30AM. When breakfast finally rolled around, there were four people in the dining hall. I'm becoming more accustomed to the time difference, although I start to get tired at around 7 or 8PM. More students are returning from break so campus is filling back up, which is good. Breakfast is a measly choice of cereal or toast. And yogurt (ew). I feel like I'm at camp!

Hamilton:

I walked around campus and explored the suburbs of Hamilton last Saturday and it was basically like a fall day in the burbs of MA, except instead of soccer practice, they play rugby. Hamilton is a valley surrounded by mountains which is why it's so damp and foggy. There are lemon trees and other fruit trees, and it's very scenic. I got a bus pass (student discount for the win!) and have explored downtown Hamilton a bit. There are loads of cute cafes and restaurants downtown that I can't wait to check out, as well as places like Kmart for any convenience needs. My friends Justice from PA and Chenay from AZ (goes to ASU) and I walked along the Waikato River for a bit. Fun fact: The Rocky Horror Picture Show was created in Hamilton!

Food & Drink:

As I mentioned, the dining hall food is horrible when you're used to making your own meals. Kiwis put mayo on everything – salad, sandwiches, pasta, "hot chips" aka French fries. I accidentally poured soy sauce on my salad because I thought it was balsamic vinegar; salad dressing isn't hugely common here so I went out and bought some. I like the traditional Kiwi dessert pavlova – it's basically meringue with some whipped cream and a kiwi slice on top. Tasty!

Justice and I have been testing out various NZ foods but I'll save our thoughts for a different post.

Orientation:

I felt like a freshman again during the two orientations study abroad and exchange students had to attend. One was Tuesday for an hour and the other was Wednesday for about four hours. Mildly boring but necessary, I suppose. Since I had already explored campus, enrolled in classes, got my student ID, and taken the bus to the center of town most of the information was redundant for me. Afterwards, they gave us lunch and we grouped into teams of six for their version of "The Amazing Race." My teammates included two people from China, one from Denmark, one from India, and one from Nigeria. We didn't win anything but had a blast running around campus performing various challenges. Pretty proud to say I made the free throw shot for the gym challenge (on the third try but who's counting?) and French-braided the mannequins hair in the salon challenge.

Kiwis/Slang:

They don't wear shoes and from my understanding can go anywhere (like a grocery store) without them on. Flip flops = jandals. Wop wops = boondocks. Cops don't carry firearms. Scrumpy = a large plastic bottle of alcoholic cider that Kiwis hate but I didn't mind. Most people are open to having conversations about Trump/ask my opinion of him. People still hate the Pats and Bruins over here, which I was surprised to discover! Everyone is very aware of America and they usually have strong feelings about it, whether that be they don't care to visit, or are obsessed. I love Kiwi accents!

*For optimal slideshow viewing, click on the photo and it will open a better viewing platform so you can read the captions*

Movies/Night Life:

A group of us internationals saw Spiderman Friday night. There are a few differences between American and Kiwi movie theaters: the chairs don't move at all, there's a lot more leg room, and their popcorn sucks when you're used to tons of butter and salt slathered on it! A movie ticket is $14.50 NZD for a student, which translates to about $10.50 USD.

Town is fun, there are lots of bars and clubs for college students. On Thursdays students get in free, and all other nights the cover charge is $5 NZD, which isn't bad. There's a karaoke bar I will definitely be dragging others along to!

Hobbiton:

I may have teared up a bit Saturday as we made our way through the gorgeous landscapes of The Shire. The tour was interesting and we lucked out with a sunny day; it only started raining when we got back on the buses. I managed not to splurge at the gift shop and instead tried to take some good photos. At the end of the tour we got a drink at the Green Dragon and sat by the giant fireplace with Pickles the cat, who is a local celebrity. She couldn't be bothered to move from her armchair and bit you if you pet anywhere below her head. Safe to say we are now best friends.

Up Next: Classes start! Re-Orientation week (Re-O) aka hitting up the clubs in town for some fun themed nights!

Apologies this post is so long and poorly organized – I will work harder at condensing next week. If you made it through to the end, thanks so much for reading!

Let's be pen pals!

Updated Mailing Address:

Parcels

The University of Waikato Student Village Bryce Bozadjian The Mailroom 21 Ruakura Road Hamilton 3216 New Zealand Postal The University of Waikato Student Village Bryce Bozadjian Private Bag 3105 Hamilton 3240 New Zealand