and so it begins...

Kia ora!

Well, class officially started Monday, and now that I'm four days through the first week, I have a pretty good feel for how each of my classes are going to be. Classes in New Zealand, I'm finding among other things, are much less structured then the lectures you'll find in the States. For example there are no correlating Monday Wednesday Friday, or Tuesday,  Thursday classes. My timetable (what they say instead of Schedule) is completely random, and I hardly ever have the same lecture in the same classroom at the same time two days a week. Which is going to make it quite difficult to memorize my classes. 

But besides that, all of my classes are small. I'm accustomed to the 300 person lecture halls back at ISU. Well, the maximum amount of people I have in a class here is 50 in my Psychology lecture. The Minimum, is 4. In my Physical Thermodynamics course there is a total of 4 people in lecture, myself and 3 other guys. It blows my mind really. My two other classes Religion and OChem have about 20 people in them. The lecturers all vary in teaching methods, which is something you can find in the states, and they are fairly easy to catch on to and understand. Though I am finding a bit of a culture shock in the different notation and jargon in my Termo class, that is going to take some getting used to.

So all in all, life is going well around campus. I've joined a few student groups, including the Alpine Club (they just do a bunch of extreme sports, not just what we would consider "alpine" in the States), the Surfing Club, the Massey University Christian Fellowship and the Fire Club. 

 Additonally, I had an interesting opportunity at the Alpine Club booth. I'm sure you are all are aware of what a Cicada is. Those annoying, hornet like insects the buzz and bite and sting?

This particular species is unique to New Zealand, as are all that can be found in this country. At the clubs table they were frying them up in a pan, in a sort of stir fry style. I had the pleasure of eating one, wrapped in a leaf of some sort. Surprisingly, it really didn't taste that bad, only slightly discomforting when it's leg or wing became wedged between my teeth. But, it was definitely an experience that I'm not likely to have again, but at least I know now that I can eat bugs if I need to ;). But none the less, I'm pretty excited about the Clubs I joined, and hopefully they will give me more opportunities to get out and about and off of campus.

Speaking of getting off of campus, this weekend I plan to go Tramping (Hiking as the non-Kiwis say it) with a few friends in a local gorge. I'll take lots of pictures, so you can look forward to that. I apologize that this post was neither extremely exciting nor congested with pictures, I promise the next one will be.

Noho ora mai.

Spaghetti for Breakfast...

...and other weird / strange / different / unique things about New Zealand that I have come to discover:

1. Seriously, Spaghetti and Baked Beans are legitimate breakfast food here. They serve them on toast next to eggs. So strange...
   
2. They drive on the opposite side of the road. (yeah I know that's a lame one, but it counts)
3. HOWEVER, the traffic laws are crazy. For instance, when we are wanting to make a right turn back in the states, you all know how we have the right of way ahead of someone wanting to take a left turn into the same lane. In New Zealand, it's the opposite law. Someone wanting to make a RIGHT turn (remember that they drive on the opposite side of the road) has the right of way before those turning left.
4. "Fizzy Drink" is what you would call a soda or pop. You say pop and they'll wonder if something is wrong with you.
5. They call Skim Milk, "TRIM" Milk.
6. Ketchup doesn't exist... it's "Tomato Sauce". So careful when you are buying tomato sauce to make spaghetti (for breakfast...), it might not be what you think.
7. You have Rubbish Bins, not trash cans. *
8. likewise, Garbage and Trash = Rubbish *
9. "as" is added to the end of everything we would consider "cool".
   i.e. "Sweet as" "Fresh as" *
   i.i.e Fresh = Cool
10. "No Worries" is something they really do say all the time, that wasn't a Hollywood creation or anything. *
11. I know many of you wanted me to check to see if the water in the toilets spun the other way, but sorry to disappoint you when I tell you the water doesn't spin in these toilets. And they have too different flush buttons, half and whole. So, if you just did number one... you can flush half and not waste as much water :D.
12. Also, the place where you go to use such facilities is not called the Bathroom. That's where you go to take a bath. It's called the Toilets.
13. They make you pay for plastic bags in stores.
14. Flip flops or Thongs are really "Jandles" **
15. What we think of as Cookies are "Biscuits" over hear. There is no word for what we consider a Biscuit.
16. People don't wear shoes here, hardly ever. Going to lecture, going to the dining hall... bare feet.
17. Everything comes out here about 4 months late. Music, Movies, TV shows... books aren't as late, but still late.
18. Guys have mullets and wear short shorts. Not kidding. I would take a picture, but I think that would be rude.

*All things asterisked mean that I think they are awesome and plan to use them when I come back to the states.

** Double asterisked means that I most definitely will use them.

Oh strange New Zealand... this is just a little list that I've been wanting to make. If I've forgotten anything I'll add to it, same as when I come across something new. Similarly, if you know something or I've told you something that I didn't add here, comment to remind me. 

Mā te wā!

Nau mai

Kia ora. 

Well, these past few days have been quite busy. I've been attending International Student Orientation, along as just the general (freshman) orientation. But it's been fun really. The orientation here, and maybe that's partly because of Massey and partly because it's New Zealand, is so different from back home. For one, they took us out on farm tours, where we saw cows, deer (which they farm) and sheep. The cows were nothing new, same with the deer... however I had the chance to see a farm deer, close up, as in right next to me. And then of course sheep, because what would the Kiwi's be if not the watchers of sheep. But really, it was cool to see the sheep dog at work, and amusing to see how the sheep reacted to our presence when corralled right next to us. Sadly, I didn't bring my camera to the farm.

But the next day was easily just as unique. We attended a commencement ceremony, where we had a Master of Ceremonies who was Palmerston North's designated Town Cryer. She looked like a pirate. The entire evening was incredible though. The university staff were dressed in what looked like eloquent graduation robes, they had a formal procession, sang the national anthem (which sadly I couldn't really hear or understand), and then there was this fancy dinner. I sat with some friends that I made who are also American, but they are pretty cool. It's nice to have people you see regularly again, the lack of company would have been my only complaint about New Zealand up until that point.

(From left to right) Jillian, Michelle, Jack and Me.

The Staff in their robes. I met and had a nice chat with the Vice-Chancellor that evening as well, he's sitting sixth in from the left.

Stage, with a view of the tables.

The Pirate Town Cryer

So far things are going well, I'm excited to get started on the semester, hopefully I can get into some fun Papers (Classes). Until next time, mā te wā!

Look at all the Ducks!

Kia Ora!

And Happy Valentine's Day! I know that's a little bit early for all of you, but still. Well, I've been adjusting to life in New Zealand, it's been for the most part quiet around campus, not very many people have moved in yet. But there are a few people who have been in my dorm since I've arrived, and about 4 more Americans moved in today, which is nice just to have more people around. But these past few days I have just been getting acclimated to life here. One thing I've come to notice is that time goes by very slowly, which makes you take life a little more slowly, which is refreshing really. So often we get caught up in everything we have to do that things go by in such a flash. I've noticed that now I do things much more deliberately, paying much more attention to the little things. Just looking out the window, washing dishes, walking around... I feel I take more things in and just breathe. It's a very cool feeling. 

Over the past few days I've had the chance to take in a little more than just the campus. I went out into Palmy (which is what the locals call Palmerston North) and walked around, did some necessity shopping, and of course took some pictures. 

Most of those pictures are taken in and around the square, which is about the central part of Palmy. I don't think they quite convey how pretty it is. But for me, the thing that can't not bring a smile to my face are the ducks. They are all over the area all around campus and this area, similar to squirrels would be in the Midwest. 

There are so many of them! They always seem to lighten the day when I see them, just waddling around everywhere. Well, time for me to go get to know some more people. Have a wonderful day!

Welcome to New Zealand

Kia Ora!

After a very long and long day in things that have to do with air, I have finally arrived at Massey. My day began in the Minneapolis airport where I said my farewells to my family and then entered the terminal, en route to San Francisco. That flight was fine, nothing out of the ordinary. I sat next to two very nice gentlemen, one who owned a bicycle franchise and talked about it a lot. He also snored a bit when he snored. But all around it was a good flight, and now the tricky part was to find my way to the International Terminal in the San Francisco Airport, which turned out to be cake. Soon I was in line to get on my 14 hour flight to Auckland, NZ. Again, I was seated next to two very nice gentleman, one who was in the pharmaceutical industry ironically enough. He spent much of the duration of the flight trying to coax me into that professional choice. But besides that he had experience living in this region of the world and shared with me some of his best tips and experiences from his time abroad. I watched a single movie due to my headache, but the trip didn't seem to take so long since I was in an out of sleep. By the way, Air New Zealand is GREAT. Fantastic food, nice people. If you ever find yourself needing to buy a ticket to come Down Under, I would recommend them. Given, I don't have anything to compare them to, but the were very accomodating, and did I mention the food? 

Even despite the fact that the flight went well in many ways, I was getting quite sick of flying for one day. However seeing this cheered my spirits back up: 

In the Auckland Airport I had the option of taking a shuttle to the domestic terminal or walking, and not only did walking give the chance to not sit, it let me go outside. As you can plainly see it was gorgeous! It was comfortably warm with the sun not even up yet and I was surrounding with views like this. It was hard not to be excited to be here with green all around you. But then it was time to get in a plane for the last time, which was a slightly uncomfortable fit with my slightly too large carry-ons. But again, the scenary shut up any negative thoughts in my head when I looked out my window and saw Middle Earth.

And now I'm finally here! A Massey International Student Support Employee was there with a little sign that said "Kelsey Moore", which is just so cool. And then we were brought to campus. While driving you could hardly believe how green this place is, it's just beautiful and I'm not even into the good stuff yet. 

And now I'm in my room at the University.

That's the view from outside my window.

This is the Kitchen and Common Room with big Plasma TV.

Here's my Hall.

So that's about all I know about so far, I've done a little bit more wandering around campus and such, but going into the city is for tomorrow, and hopefully I'll just continue to branch out from there. Have a goodnight!