Skydiving and Walk to Mordor...

Over the weekend I went on a little camping trip with some IES friends. We decided to drive 5 hours down to Lake Taupo and Tongariro Crossing. This weekend was 100% about thrill seeking adventure. Point of the Trip: Go skydiving, climb Mount Doom, and go on a hike through Tongariro Crossing. The crew consisted of Laura, Ian, Jeremy, Zach, and myself. We rented a car and took off Friday afternoon. Thankfully no one let me drive. On the way to our campsite, we saw a really beautiful rainbow that touched down on both ends. I crossed my fingers that it wouldn’t rain this weekend. We made a quick stop at the supermarket to get the essentials for survival: bread, peanut butter, nutella, raisins, peanuts, and fruit. The drive was nice and scenic and we arrived in good time.

It was dark by the time we got to the campsite. We set up tent and crammed our five selves into our four-person tent. We knocked out some card games and taught Laura the way of Hearts. She shot the moon, which is pretty impressive for a first timer. After that we crashed for the night. As I was trying to sleep I realized a couple of things. First, I could use a sleeping bag. A blanket is just not enough to trap in heat for the night. Second, even though I DESPISE wearing socks to sleep it was a necessity for survival. My feet were frozen and numb. I couldn’t get into the car because it was locked and it was the dead of the night. I didn’t want to wake up anyone so I just tried warming up my feet with my hands. Not so successful. Luckily, Jeremy woke up and threw me his socks. Chivalry is not dead. Or maybe it was just watching me pathetically try and warm up that evoked pity to chuck me socks. After I put the socks on I finally got a good hour of sleep before we all had to get up to start our day.

This last Saturday was my definition of a perfect day. I’ll take you through it start to finish, but I’m pretty sure it may be one of the best days of my life:

Woke up to Happy Valley, our campsite. It was nice and sunny. No rain to be found. We packed up and decided to go check out Huka Falls before our main event. We got to the park and the falls were absolutely stunning. It pours out massive amounts of water, giving off a Niagara Falls feel, but it’s not crowded with tons of tourists. We went hiking around there for a little while and then decided it was time to take off for our next adventure.

We all went on this trip to go… skydiving. Yes, the insane act of falling out of a perfectly good airplane for the heck of it. We get to the shop early to make sure our reservation was all ready to go. When we got to the desk they informed us that the wind was suppose to pick up during the day, so we might as well just go right now. Uh… Um… Not quite sure if I was ready for that. We watched this video of what jumping out of an airplane looks like and it was less then comforting. Then they shoved a piece of paper at us to sign away our life. It is not their fault if we die or get hurt. Great… I just signed my death sentence. I’m sitting on the coach in a complete bundle of nerves. They take us outside to get suited up and ready to go. We put on fire truck red jumpsuits, funny cap with goggles, and gloves. Then they strap on a lifejacket around our waist, since we’ll be diving over the lake. After that they hooked us into our harnesses. I met my instructor, Rhys. He was a pretty attractive kiwi skydiving instructor. I figure, hey if I’m going down at least I’ll be strapped onto the back of a beautiful man. We head towards the plane and hop onboard. Everyone looked terrified. My instructor told me his first time to go skydiving was when he was 8 and he didn’t want to go. His father was an instructor and took him along for the ride. When I was 8 I was terrified of roller coasters. I couldn’t imagine jumping out of a plane. I was fourth to jump. Watching everyone go ahead of me was not the least bit encouraging. I started thinking about all those thoughts that run into your mind when you panic about dying. But then I knocked myself back into my senses. This guy is a trained professional. He’ll get me to the ground. No worries. My turn finally came and I sat on the edge of the airplane. I refused to look down at my doom. Then Whoosh! I was out the plane. 12,000 feet, 45 seconds of straight freefalling. It was intense and exhilarating. The view was spectacular. At times it was really tough to breathe, because the wind was smacking my face so fast. Skydiving is the closest I will ever feel to being a bird. As I was falling I started to wonder when the parachute would go off. Would it work? Luckily it came out and it did indeed work properly. So, I just spent the remainder of my flight, floating along with the wind enjoying the glory of the fall. I was happy when we touched down onto land and could hardly believe I actually went skydiving. The whole thing happened so fast that it was hard to swallow the whole experience.

After we finished, we decided to cruise around Taupo. We saw a stop for launching off goofballs out onto the water. I spent a buck to swing a golf ball to try and make a hole in one. I figured my golf ball was lucky. I was wrong. I swung and barely tapped my golf ball, which proceeded to roll down the hill into the water. It was crazy windy outside. Zach, one of the guys on our trip is a super athlete. He got two golf balls onto the plank. I thought it was near impossible. The weather conditions were unreal it was amazing that he landed two of those shots. Afterward, we stopped at a Honey Shop and taste tested all the different types of New Zealand honey. Then we went to a park that had a hot water spring. Hot water springs are a phenomenon: Hot water coming from a waterfall producing it’s own mini hot tub area and then the water eventually gets cold the further you trail out. I jumped into the water in my sports bra and dry fit shorts. Why waste an opportunity to go swimming in NZ? No one needs a swimsuit. The hot springs were incredible and rewarding after such an extreme day. After that we grabbed pizza to go and headed to our next campsite. We got to the campsite and jumped on a trampoline like 5 year olds for a little while. Then we devoured pizza and wine.

Overall it was a picture perfect day. Huka Falls, skydiving, launching golf balls out onto Lake Taupo, test tasting honey, swimming in hot springs, jumping on a trampoline, and wine with pizza. What a life.

Sunday we woke up bright and early to start our hiking trip. I woke up with my feet frozen even though I busted out 3 layers of socks. I decided to put on every layer of clothing I brought the night before. It was a good concept. It worked for the most part. We got our tent all packed away and we road a bus to Tongariro Crossing. I packed my Northface hiking backpack up with all the food necessities and was ready to rock the hike. The beginning wasn’t too bad. It was steep and I was wearing way too many layers so I had to shed them as the morning went along. It was super foggy around 7am and we could see where the clouds came down to meet the ground. The hike was 12 miles for Tongariro Crossing and then we also planned on hiking up Mount Doom from Lord of the Rings.

We got to Mount Doom and decided we’d take a whack at it. What a joke! Mount Doom is not a mount to hike up. It’s absolute insanity in the form of a mountain. There is no path. There is no safe or easy way up this thing. It’s just a ton of unstable rock and dust. The boys jetted off and were more then excited to tackle this hike. I was not in the mood to climb up to my death. Laura and I trekked up the mount together. It was awful. The incline was intense. I was not wearing proper hiking shoes. My backpack made me a bit unstable and I was sliding all over the place. I was terrified. We met pleasant tourists along the way. Not a single person we met was a Kiwi. Kiwis know better then to hike up this thing. Heck, I’m sure Peter Jackson and Elijah Wood never hiked up this mount. They just happily hopped on an airplane and flew up to the top. I have few words to describe the sheer agony I felt on this hike. I’ve decided to rename Mount Doom: Mount Turn Around, Mount You are An Idiot, Mount Suicide, Mount Irrational, Mount Hell. Any of these are suitable. People are morons for trying to hike this mount. After we decided we had enough, we decided to hike down. Hiking down wasn’t any easier then hiking up. I’d find myself constantly sliding and loosing my balance. I slipped and fell more times then I could count. I ate Mount Doom more times then I’d like to admit. I was not up for the challenge. I finally made it down to the bottom of the Mount and thanked God for sparing my life despite my idiotic attempts to climb Mount Doom. I am not a Hobbit. I did not enjoy my trip to Mordor…

The boys eventually caught up to us and decided we should get on with the rest of our journey. I was already physically wiped and now it was time to go on the Tongariro Crossing. It’s oh, only a four-hour hike! This is Outward Bound in a day. I needed my Fakahatchee Crew with me to make light of the situation. We started up the mountain and my legs were already cursing my existence. I toughed it going up the first half of the hike. We finally got to the top and the view was absolutely unreal. There were small ponds of emerald green and red rocked mountains off into the distance. We continued on the hike and the rest of the way was incredible. It’s the best hike I’ve ever been on. Tired and all it was absolutely worth it. We walked through tall grasslands with purple bushes. We walked past streams. We walked past lakes and tall mountains. And to end of our hike we walked through a semi rainforest. It was sweet. The people who made this trail knew exactly what they were doing. My body was so tired. When we finished our journey, I was never happier to see a car. We had quite the adventure. What a weekend.

This blog does not do this experience justice. And if you read through this whole thing, props to you. I wrote a ton. It’s good to be alive and it’s good to be on the ground.

Fishing Initiation

Dear Friends, I survived my first week of school. I only ran around frantically the first couple of days and then I got the hang of it. By the end of the week, I felt like a rockstar at Auckland University. So to treat myself, I decided to hop onboard a boating trip this weekend with my Kiwi family. Trish came and picked me up at the Uni and away we went. We drove up to the Northland to Tutukaka: Welcome to the Motherland of marine life.

I stepped foot onto Maxifun boat, expecting it to be just that... maxi and fun. Boy was I in for a rude awakening (we'll get to that later).

The boat is beautiful: well equipped with plenty of shelf space, a couch for me to sleep on at night, and our very own espresso maker to keep my caffeine addiction at ease. My first night of sleep was solid. I caught good zzz's, counting sheep.

The next morning we got up with the sunrise to start our fishing day. Greg, my Kiwi dad signed up his company in this intense fishing competition. This is why I get to be here this weekend. But first let me put a little disclaimer on the situation: The last time I went fishing was with my Grandpa when I was 6 at a dinky pond in Sedelia, Missouri. Needless to say, I know nothing about fishing. We eat a quick roll and then set off onto the water.

I had a lot of thought going into this weekend. What I expected it to be like. What I thought I'd get out of it. Here is the fantasy I painted in my head:

Wake up to a beautiful sunrise welcoming us into the day. Calm waters with a slight breeze and the sun shining down on our boat in all its glory. Going exploring through caves and coves and getting glimpses of the beautiful islands. Catching a huge Marlin shark on my first attempt fishing. Getting my tan on. Oh and also seeing dolphins. Plenty and plenty of dolphins.

Well friends. As we all know fantasies don't ever quite pan out. Here is what actually happened:

I woke up. The sun was quite lost in the clouds. The air was a bit chilly with no sunshine to reign down upon us. The waves were incredibly choppy and enjoyed controlling our boat and where it went. I failed to catch a Marlin shark on the first go. In fact, I didn't catch a thing on the first go. The second try I caught something!!! It was a baby snapper. We had to throw it back in because it was too small to keep. Pity. Oh and I have terrible sea legs. They asked me before we left if I ever had motion sickness. I said no in my confident, cocky ways thinking I can handle anything. Well, I was wrong. My stomach kept tossing and turning with the waves. Constantly rolling and no way to escape the feeling of being ill. I tried for as long as possible to fight off my stomach, but it finally caught up to me. The crew tried to encourage me to look at the horizon line if I started feeling queazy. I stared intently on the horizon line with all my might. Fail. Ladies and Gentlemen I left my DNA in the Pacific Ocean. My gift to the sea. I saw no coves or dolphins. But I felt well acclimated into the boating world. I roughed the water and I stuck it out.

On our way back to the marina harbor we hit some pretty intense waters. There were tons of reports in the morning advising boats to stay inland and to not go out on the water. Well, this is a fishing competition, and there are fish to be caught, so there was no stopping this crew. Maybe we should've taken the advice. As we are cruising back to shore I can feel the boat fly up out of the water and smack down to the rolling waves. We bump and crash into the waves and I can barely hold myself down from flying out of the seat. I looked at Trish to see if I should be concerned, but she pulled off her motherly composure well. I thought well, this must be... normal? All we needed to add to this scenario was a huge thunderstorm and Lieutenant Dan from Forest Gump shaking his fist angrily at God. This is the moment I experienced. We we plowing through 4 meter waves. That is equivalent to 12 foot waves. No biggy right? They don't make rides at Disney World this intense. Well here were the sign that made me realize huh, maybe I should start to worry.

Warning Sign # 1: Stuff is flying left and right inside the boat's living space. Apples go flying, the teapot goes flying, magazines hit the floor.

Warning Sign # 2: The boys from upstairs come down and hand us all life jackets to put on. Huh... that's no good. I don't really feel like going for a swim

Warning Sign # 3: Trish takes the dry bag and starts to put cellphones, cameras, and other electronics in.

I thought we were goners.

Luckily, Greg is quite the Skipper and he drove the boat all the way back to the harbor without crashing. We fought the storm and came out on top. Again... I left some DNA in the Pacific Ocean.

Overall, this was quite the ordeal. But we did get a great feed out of the deal. I had some quality fish for dinner. Tried Hapuka for the first time. Probably the best fish I will ever have. Tried smoked Marlin. Greg won a marine TV. I tried oysters for the first and last time in my entire existence. I also got to meet the famous NZ fisherman, Matt Watson. Matt caught a Marlin shark while on a surfboard once upon a time. He's been on David Letterman and 60 minutes. I guess that's pretty legit. First time boating was absolutely epic, and I lived to tell the tale. Great fish, great trip, great people, and great adventure.

We drove back Sunday to see Lauren perform her gig for the Saints and Sinners Tour. On the drive back, they closed off a portion of Motorway 1, the country's main highway. So instead of going back the way we thought we would, we had to cut across to the Westland and then down. I felt pretty seasick still in the car. I just tried to force myself to sleep through most of it. We stopped and grabbed a bite at the Bay of Islands. I could see where the Treaty of Waitanga was signed. It's quite a historical place in NZ. We got back to Auckland just in time to quickly throw on a dress and get ready to head out for the gig. We grabbed pasta on Parnell Street and then went to the show. Lauren was incredible. Her voice has gotten better over the years. The trio was fantastic and the overall sound was great. I was impressed at how many instruments she picked up in the concert. She's quite a classy lady. All in all, this was a great weekend.

I'm happy to be on land and I'm happy to be alive.

Togs and Jandels

Since we are still in Orientation week, this is the perfect time to travel and take a couple quick trips. I spent the week tramping around Auckland and checking out all the sites close by. (don't worry friends, tramping is just a term for camping, hiking, and traveling that the Kiwis use) I'm going to tell you about my three mini trips

Rangitoto Island

I went with 7 other International Students on a ferry boat over to Rangitoto Island. It's a beautiful island close by that has a volcano. Our mission: to climb up the volcano. The last time it was activated was six hundred years ago, so we're all safe and good to go. We took a 3 hour hike. We got some great views of sulfur rocks and the New Zealand Skyline. I failed to bring any water so by the time we made it to the top, I was incredibly dehydrated from the climb. We found a cave to walk through on the hike that was bee infested and pitch black. Too bad bees are in New Zealand. After we finished our hike we took a swim in the water. It was quality times with wonderful people.

Devenport

A couple of us who stayed in Auckland for the weekend decided to check out Devenport's beach. It's located on a peninsula off Auckland. It was a ten minute ferry ride to get over to our destination. There is a sickly steep hill called Mount Victoria that gives a 360 degree view of Auckland. Once we arrived we decided to blow off the 10 minute walk winding around and around the mount. We decided to walk straight up it. I thought we were all going to die. If I ever thought Jewell's hills were steep, I take it back. This mount was insane. There were times I thought we were just walking up completely vertical. Once we reached the top we felt pretty happy with our decision to avoid taking the scenic route. We took some goofy pictures and then decided to walk down the same way we walked up. Forget the trails, we are just going to go straight down. Well its really easy to slip and catch yourself sliding down this thing. We watched some people take cardboard boxes and sit on them while riding down the mount. This was NZ sledding at its best. We tried sliding down the hill and taking it slow but instead we just got tons of grass riding up our shorts and shirts. After we got down, we walked to the beach. It was beautiful and pretty secluded. You could tell this was a neighborhood beach and not a huge tourist attraction. I found a sand dollar and took some pictures with it until Jeremy, our environmentalist friend told me I was killing it and that I should stop and let it stay in it's natural habitat. I laid out on the sand and just enjoyed a really lazy day. Just closing my eyes and taking it all in rocks: the smell of sea salt, the sunny warmth, and hearing the rolling waves are just too perfect here. I split ice cream with Matt and then we made our way back to the ferry. All in all a successful beach bumming day

Piha Beach

Today I went with Carly, Lauren's sister and her two nephews, Payton and Stephan to the beach. It's about a 45 minute drive from Auckland but it's absolutely breathtaking. It was pretty cold but still a nice day for the beach. We laid out and tanned while the boys played in the sand. Then we decided to walk up Lion's Rock. It was huge and rugged but had spectacular views walking up. We went swimming after going up the rock. The waves were huge and the tide successfully pulls you in whatever direction it wants you to go here. We didn't walk too far out so we were good to go. Instead of staying in the waves, we moved over to a pretty sweet waterhole to swim in. I am getting use to having a beach around. I'm going to be sad to be stuck in the Midwest once I come home. We don't exactly have surfing weather.

I'll conclude with some changes and things I've learned while I've been here:

Swimsuits and Flip Flops are apparantly called "Togs" and "Jandals" here

Hokey Pokey is a type of candy here, not a song

Kiwis don't really cut a mean rug on the dance floor: they tend to only nod and bob their heads. They did not pop, lock, or drop it when the song came on

Party in the USA is really popular here, and that surprised me

Tramping is the same thing as Hiking

Fun expressions to use "sweet as" and "choice"

Their radio stations play all types of new and old school songs from the States: I heard Pretty Fly for a White Guy and One Sweet Day

They use euphemisms when referring to their restroom and trash: Where is the "loo" and I need to take out my "rubbish"

They like to abbreviate as much as the next person, Auckland is called Uni

I know there is more to my adventures and I'm just skimming the surface, but that's the best I've got. Dear United States, I miss you. Thank you for knowing that the Hokey Pokey is a dance. Thank you for dancing. I'm proud that we cut a mean rug.

Auckland Introduction and Orientation

Where to begin, I just don't know. Wow, so much going on and so little time. I've moved into my Uni dorm at Auckland. It's a small hole in the wall that resembles a prison. Okay, probably an exaggeration but it's pretty tiny with the bare necessities. It's nothing like the sorority hotel back at Jewell. I'd say maybe it's like Eaton Hall, only make the rooms singles, leave out the mold, and make it co-ed. I'm in the process of decorating at the moment. Any pictures or anything that comes close to looking like art will do. They’ll go straight up on these corkboard walls. Another ridiculous dorm scenario is that there are zero cooling systems in the building. I can open my windows to try and let some air in, but the first couple of days were humid and muggy. Thank goodness the weather cleared up since then and it's beautiful and sunny. Currently the climate is rocking the white puffy clouds and has a nice breeze. This was the weather I was hoping for.

When we first arrived at the Uni we went to an afternoon meeting with all the other IES students. Pretty much the meeting was "Hey, pack your bags we are going on a trip!" We had barely moved in and it was time for us to go on a little field trip to Te Kiri Marae (a sacred meeting area for Maoris) I was happy to leave my little hole to go on an adventure. The marae was BEAUTIFUL. I mean honestly I think someone must've killed me and sent me straight to heaven. The view from their hill was unreal. It was bright blue water with cliffs jetting out to meet the ocean along the coast. It was bright green and bright blue everywhere. When we first arrived out of respect, we had to learn a song, take off our shoes, and sing to the Maoris in order to be welcomed into their space. We passed our test and they let us in the marae to stay the night. We unloaded and they split us up into four activities for the next two days: Poi making (it's used as an instrument to make beats), Martial arts, Kayaking, and Flax Weaving. After we did our first two activities we spent the afternoon at a rocky beach. It was really beautiful but rocks cut us all up since it was hard to tell where you were stepping in the ocean. The next day we lucked out and got to spend the entire afternoon on a sandy beach. It was the best feeling in the world: just catching wave and laying out in the sun without a care in the world. I could get use to student orientations like this.

The sun here is incredibly intense. There is a hole in the ozone layer right over New Zealand. So instead of just applying sunscreen once, it's a daily chore. So on day one I got burnt on the back of my leg. Day two, I got fried. I’m sporting some pretty choice burn lines.

The worst part of this mini trip and first NZ hiccup I encountered: losing my room key and swipe card access. It was brutal. I looked all over the lawn to try and find it. It’d only been about 48 hours and I Iost my room key. I think this might be a record for the fastest key loss in the history of the world. I gave up my search after I realized it was far long gone and nowhere to be found, and prayed to God that someone at International House would be there to let me in. When we arrived back to the dorm, I went inside with our IH (International House) crew and tried to hunt down an RA on my floor. No luck. There is NO RA on my floor. The main office lights were out and locked up. I can't blame them, it's a Saturday and pretty dead around here, since the other students haven't arrived yet. But this is an emergency. I went outside to the phone that rings to get a hold of a staff and a sign said, "If weekends, only use in case of an emergency." Well, I'm not bleeding and I don’t have an arm dislocated, but this is still an emergency: I'm burnt, sleep deprived, and locked out of my room which has everything I need. I picked it up and waited until a guy answered the line and told me to meet him in the foyer. He unlocked the office and said they would have to charge my account to replace the key. At that point, all I wanted was a nice shower before Lauren came to pick me up to hang out. I got the spare, headed up to my room, and shower super fast.

Lauren came and got me and it was really exciting to finally see her and catch up after all these years. We went to an Indian restaurant and split some dinner. Then I got to stay at her house and we talked about my trip so far and her music tour that she just finished up. They are going to do a show one more time in Auckland sometime in March, so I hope I’ll be free to go.

After spending some time with Lauren, I got back to the Uni to start up Orientation. This gives me some time to figure out city college life and how to get around this town. The Orientation was really packed. There are over 4,000 international students studying here this semester. Just looking at the people from the USA alone is 1,800 students (which is bigger then all the students at Jewell). So we just got a huge bag of stuff. I am so sick of getting all these random stacks of notices of important information. I think if they actually wanted us to read anything, they’d shorten up the stack.

Today made me really appreciate Jewell’s faculty back home. This is why…

I got online to check my course schedule and low and behold the person who enrolled me into classes stuck me in the wrong one. I’m only allowed to have a certain category of class and the Uni over enrolled me in that category. So I commence my epic journey to get this sorted out. First, I go to the University’s International Service Help Building. I wait in a long line and the go in to meet with a lady in charge of helping international students. She transferred me to someone who works with American Students. I waited around to be helped and I finally get someone to call us over. Matt and I tried to go in together since we had some similar questions but the guy split us up. I went in first. My first mistake with this man was the shirt I was wearing. I decided to represent my home state and wear my MU Tigers shirt. He quickly informed me that he was a Huskers fan himself. I could tell I am getting off on the right foot. He went through and explained to me that if I wanted to get into any other classes I would have to prove my way with the specific department. I got really frustrated because I didn’t want to run around campus trying to get this fixed, I just wanted it fixed. He highlighted my campus map for me in the direction of the Arts building to talk to someone about the Political Science class I am picking up. I start my trip to the Arts building and only get turned around once. I finally find the building and then proceed to wait in a super long line. I get to the counter and the student worker tried to figure out how to help me. He went back into an office and then told me that I’m in the wrong building to get the approval I need. He then directed me to go straight to the PolySci building. I trucked my way to the building and these houses are quite big with huge doors, but the doorknobs are down low “hobbit sized” doorknobs. I go in and get to the front desk. The lady sent me upstairs to find someone in the building. The name and number didn’t match up. Luckily a guy who works with undergraduates was up there and just let me step into his office. I tried to explain to him why I wanted to take the class and my prerequisites. Well here’s the kicker, no one on the planet can understand what the classes “Responsible Self” and “Medicine, Money, and Morals” actually are. Try explaining CTI to anyone not in the Jewell bubble: it’s comical. He then tells me I can go talk with the professor and get his approval and come back or I can try and prove to him I am qualified. So I decided I’m sick of walking and I’m not going anywhere else today until this guy signs my paper. I sit down at his desk and determinedly pull up Jewell’s course catalogue. I let him look over the descriptions and then he made a phone call. He tells the guy a little bit about me and then the guy on the other line of the phone told him, “Oh yeah, she sounds overqualified to take the course.” All that work just to find out I’m overqualified!

So this is why, my dear friends, I am proud to go to William Jewell. To change a class or to get enrolled somewhere takes minutes, not hours. I don’t have to tramp around a large city to find the building I need, I just have to walk across the hill. Also, Jewell’s faculty goes leaps and bounds for their students to achieve and to be successful. So here’s a shout out to my homeland. I never knew how good I had it, until I experienced something different. Here is good too, I just feel like a dog jumping through hoops to get what I need sometimes at the end of the day. I think it just comes with being in a new culture, a new school, and just going through the process of getting acclimated. I’m ready to start class soon.

Two Days of Fun in NZ Sun

The flight from LA to New Zealand did not feel as appallingly long as I thought it would. I got on the airplane and sat next to a charming elderly couple named Peg and Jack. I hope that when I'm their age I'll be traveling around the world with my husband. There were a few students on the plane leaving to study abroad. I met a guy who was headed to Melbourne Australia and a girl who was going to Fiji. The entire plane ride was in the dark. It never succeeded in catching up with the sun. That helped me sleep a bit. Peg told me that the stars in New Zealand look different and they don't have the same constellations as the US. I'll have to look out for those while I'm over here. I spent most of my time on the plane watching a movie, listening to music, or sleeping. I slept most of the way there, so by the time they woke us up for breakfast we had an hour to go left in the flight.

I got off the plane and there was Trish Thomson waiting at the gate. She is my foreign exchange student's mom who is truly a wonderful woman. She gives off a motherly vibe, which put me right at ease. We grabbed coffee since it was only 5:20am and got ready to head to her house in Hamilton. The first thing I noticed about New Zealand was that most of their things are way smaller then ours. Their coffee is equivalent to 1/3 the size of our small coffees. Our small would be their large. We hauled my bags off to the car and I instantly tried to walk over to the passenger side. She laughed and asked me if I was planning on driving us back. Their steering wheels are on the right-hand side of the car. Friends, I don't believe I am in Kansas City anymore.

The house in Hamilton is large and has a beautiful backyard. It overlooks Waikato River. Their house has a side unit that is just meant for guest or people who want to rent out a place to stay. It has its own mini kitchen and dining room area. It’s really quite a great place to get to stay for a couple of nights. The weather is incredible. It’s about 75 degrees here. The only problem I have is the humidity, but I think it’s suppose to rain in the next few days so that should help it die down.

Once I got all settled into my room, we took off to go sightseeing. Trish took me all around. I got to see Lauren’s old house where she grew up. Then we went to Raglan: a black-sanded beach. It was really amusing to see black sandcastles. This beach is great for surfing. I think I’ll take a whack at surfing sometime while I’m here but I’m sure it may only be a feeble attempt. We grabbed a quick lunch at a café. These type of stops are really common for New Zealand. We split a roasted vegetable salad, since we both weren’t too awfully hungry. The salad had warm roasted carrots, pumpkin, zucchini, and lots of other vegetables piled on top. I’m not use to eating salads that are warm, but it tasted great.

After that, we went to the elementary school to pick up Trish’s grandsons, Paton and Stephan. The school kids came running out in their bright yellow uniforms. Kids with accents are just so much cuter then American kids. Paton and Stephan are 8 and 9 with surfer length haircuts, big eyes, and freckles. I’m sure they were thinking, “Who is this weird girl with the funny voice?” Trish introduced me as Lauren’s “American” sister and they shrugged it off and we headed towards the car. On our ride to their dad’s work Paton asked me all about American fireworks. He loves lighting off fireworks and I’m a bit of a pyro myself. We had a quality bonding chat over our knowledge of Black Cat and artillery shells. I brought along Reece’s peanut butter cups for the family so I gave them to the boys. I think that instantly won them over. We were going to grab them a quick bit to eat so we suggested McDonald’s and they asked if we could go to the Sushi place instead! I cannot think of a single American kid who would ask for Sushi over a Happy Meal. But I’m glad they wanted sushi because I got some great food out of that scenario. We dropped them off and I met Lauren’s brother, Brad. Then we headed back home. I wanted to sleep so bad the entire day because of jetlag but I fought it off. I finally went to bed around 9 because I just couldn’t handle being awake anymore.

Today was an awesome day. I woke up around nine and felt really refreshed. I lounged around the house during the morning. Once Trish came back from work we headed out to Matamata, also known as Hobbiton. Yes, today I got to go to The Shire from Lord of the Rings! The drive was incredible and super hilly. I saw TONS of sheep. It was quintessential rural New Zealand. We had afternoon tea before the tour started, and then we hopped on the bus to go out to The Shire. Our tour guide had a rad Kiwi accent.

The place was so green and such a perfect location for the film. Supposedly, Peter Jackson flew over this land and spotted a perfect tree and the pond right next to it that could’ve been taken right out of the book. Just think, this land won it’s claim to fan just because he happened to see this tree next to the water. I can’t imagine being sheepherders getting a phone call from Cinema Works asking them if it was all right if they used their land for three major motion pictures from a classic trilogy. I managed to take a ton of photos and also get an unexpected souvenir “sheep poo” on the back of my jeans. How it got there, I just don’t know. Most of the set has been completely taken out because of the contract. A big storm came while they were demolishing the set so they left the scene and left a few of the Hobbit holes. The landowners negotiated for two years to get that part of the set left up for tours. I’m glad they did.

The tour was packed and there were two guys with backpacks that were chalk full of stuffed animal bears. It was… odd. To say the least. I got to be a Hobbit for a good hour and a half of my life, romping around the Shire with Trish. We took some decent photos on the countryside, then the bus took us back to the starting point. At the end of the tour, since it is a sheepherding land, a man demonstrated how to sheer a sheep. The guy picked a sheep that never had its fur cut. It was pretty comical: the sheep put up a great fight. That thing did not want to loose its coat.

After the demonstration, he passed out a couple of bottles and they let loose baby lambs to feed. It was the cutest thing ever! Lambs are adorable. I can honestly say I’m going to have a hard time eating lamb after this event. This was a good first adventure in New Zealand.

After Hobbiton, Trish took me to meet her mother in Matamata. It was a wonderful meet cute. We had afternoon tea and had a great talk. I’m pretty sure I want to adopt this lady as my third grandmother. I’m starting to love the idea of “afternoon tea”. I always loved tea, so it’s just a great excuse to get to drink some everyday. We went to a fun café for dinner and I devoured the best fish ever. It was delicious. We saved some room to split dessert three ways and had one last cup of tea. Then Trish and I headed home before the rainstorm hit in. I’d say this was a fantastic introduction to New Zealand. Tomorrow = School. I’m ready to get started. Here’s to living an adventure!

This is the Start of Something Good

The time has finally arrived: I am on my way to begin my overseas adventure in Auckland, New Zealand. I've dreamed about going to New Zealand like most girls dream about their wedding day. My infatuation with this country began in the seventh grade when Lauren Thomson, a kiwi singer-songwriter landed on my doorstep. She came to study abroad for a year in the United States. During this time, I found out about New Zealand and why there is so much to love about this country. Sure it's the land of major motion pictures, sheep, and rugby. It's even the hometown for the Flight of the Choncords. But, there is so much more to love. Every person who ever came to visit from down under has impressed me with their charm, vigor, and passion for life. So I am off to spend 5 months studying, traveling, and living the dream of a wanna be Kiwi.

Before I could leave snowy Kansas City I had to overcome one great obsticale: packing... How does one pack for 5 months? That's a great question. I had no clue what to bring or how to stuff everything in my two suitcases. I packed, and repacked about three times that day. It was a process. I didn't want to overpack, and I also didn't want to leave anything worth having at home. Eventually, I had everything ready to go. My family weighed my bags on the Wii Fit to make sure they wouldn't be overweight. I'm sure I'll be frantically looking for something I left back at home soon enough. But for now... all my bags are packed, I'm ready to go.

Saying goodbye was hard. I think the longest I've ever been out of contact with my family was the two weeks I spent in the Everglades with dolphins and mangroves. I wanted to take the time to sit down and tell the people I love how much they mean to me and how grateful I am to have them in my life. But alas, the best I could do was give them a quick call or a huge hug. Good part about this is that it's really not "goodbye", it's just "see you later". I'm going to miss my dogs. New Zealand doesn't quite understand dogs as pets. They are only good for sheep herding. I beg to differ. Rocky, my Shitz Zu is the perfect lap dog and foot warmer. Who is going to patiently and happily great me when I wake up in the mornings by wagging their tail? If only I could've snuck him past customs.

We hauled my bags into the van and made our way to KCI. I teared up a little in the car, but I refused to cry. I figured if I started, I'd set off a domino effect. I was impressed by the persistence my brother-in-law and father had about getting off work to send me off. They were bound and determine to see me get on the airplane. We got my bags checked outside in the freezing cold. I got to see my breath in the air for one last time, and then I headed in to board. I gave everyone one last hug and goodbye and then I made my way to the gate.

The flight was pretty laidback. I sat next to a father-daughter duo who was on their way to college search. Most of the flight, I found myself listening to my I-Pod and making feeble attempts to sleep. I'm terrible at sleeping on airplanes. I had a complimentary drink of Bailey's and coffee to warm me up. My stomach tossed and turned. I think it's just nerves. When we began to land I saw the father sitting in front of me reach out to hold his son's hand, as the plane came down to land. I thought it was pretty endearing. I'm a sucker for familys. Then we finally arrived. "I hopped out the plane at LAX with my dream and a cardigan" It was epic.