Meet Palmerston North

I have now arrived at Massey U! HURRAH!!! The bus ride down was fantastic! It was really sad saying goodbye to the bunches of fantastic people that are going to Auckland, but it is so exciting to finally be HERE, where I’ll be staying for FIVE MONTHS! Look at the capitalization, people. It is obviously a big deal.

Bus Ride from Rotorua to Palmerston North

Our bus driver was Lauren aka Stella, and she was absolutely marvelous. There was only four other AustraLearn kids going down to Palmy with me, but we had a good time on the bus. We drove past Lake Taupo, and it was so windy that it looked like the ocean:

We also drove past what I think Lauren said was Mount Doom… Does anyone recognize it? Anyways, it was absolutely beautiful and we all kept sighing. For example:

We also stopped and BEHOLD A RAINBOW! Lefty informed us that rainbows happen all the damn time in New Zealand, but they are still insanely gorgeous:

CAN YOU BELIEVE THERE ARE ACTUALLY PLACES ON EARTH THAT LOOK LIKE THIS??? NO YOU CANNOT BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT HERE! Why not come visit me, eh? JK guys :)

Massey Uni

So far my only complaint is that they haven’t done so well with meeting us. It’s there spring semester, so most students are returning, but still! We basically got dropped at our rooms and that was absolutely it. Bri lives up in these cool little houses and she came down and sat with me while I unpacked so she wouldn’t have to hike around in the woods between campus and her flat by herself in the dark. I went up with her and she has a cool little space, but I like being closer—although I won’t get the sexy, toned legs she’ll have. Sorry Ty… Anyways, we couldn’t figure out the buses and no one was around to help so we called a cab. Bri, Jennifer, Matt, and I all went down to Palmy to watch the All Blacks game. The All Blacks are the NZ rugby team and coincidentally THE BEST RUGBY TEAM IN THE WORLD! We went ended up getting dinner at Burger King first as it was one of the only food places open. (Side Note: There are a ton of Asian food places here, and I plan to go to some of the Thai restaurants and think of Viki) Then we went to a bar called Icons and watched the game. We all drank Tui because it is the best beer in the world, and the All Blacks killed the Australian Wallabies (which is probably their biggest rivalry) and it was insanely awesome. Oh and the All Blacks do a ritual called the haka before each game. It’s kind of a dance that was developed out of the Maori rituals that were formerly performed before going into battle. You can see it here .

We also ran into a few Americans from Massey, one of who is leaving and one who will be around. After the game, us ladies were tired so we took a cab back. OH and we had the same cab driver both times, and he was uber nice and helped us find the good sports bar and was really nice about dropping us off and I love Kiwis so much!!! Oh and Julia: according to Lefty, NZ drivers are the worst in the world… I considered telling him to go to the DR, but I figured he’d tell me to piss off, so…

Wow, I was just interrupted writing this by two of my floormates, Kate and Jeremy. Kate lives just a few doors down and she just moved here from Hamilton, so she is almost as lost as I am. Jeremy was here last semester, so he is uber helpful. Anyways, it was just like The Floor because we were sitting in the hall talking for about an hour about nothing. Hurrah!!!

Back to what’s going on! Sunday, Bri, Jennifer, Kate, and I all went into Palmy to do some shopping. I got a bit of a feel for the town and found TWO YARN SHOPS! They were closed, but their existence makes me happy. I bought crumpets, jam, pita, and hummus, so hopefully that will give me decent breakfast and lunch—I can get dinner at the Dining Hall, which isn’t that bad. It looks a lot like the Commons at UMBC, actually. I keep feeling on and off a bit nauseous, but I’m chalking that up to completely different food and sleeping patterns as well as a tid of anxiety. So I guess that is all I have to say about everything, especially as I have probably used up all your interest in myself in New Zealand. Everyone email me and comment and send me love!!! I miss you all a ton!!!