new digs, new people

so i moved out of my temporary accomodation, and am now in my self-catered flat. i have my own room still, i lucked out with a corner room so i have two windows and a good amount of space. i dig my essentials shopping, got sheets and hangers, etc., and hung out downtown with Kim. my flatmates are all international students, all from different places: Mateja is from South Dakota, Martin is from Norway, Romain is from Paris, Nathalie is Dutch and Lena is German. i had to go to an unbelievably boring info session for Student Village, basically the Do's and Do Not's of living here. my friend from Turkey, Chiran, and I were going to go to a pub afterwards, but the place was a tad dodgy and closed early. instead, and this was extremely exciting to me, we went to a liquor store to buy chick beer, aka Smirnoff Ice Triple Black. woohoo for 18 being New Zealand's drinking age. i realized after leaving with my booze in hand that from now on, for the rest of my life, I'll ALWAYS be able to purchase liquor legally as i'll be turning 21 here. hee. the world is no longer a safe place.

back at my flat, Mateja was cooking dinner with two of her friends Kristina and Matt, both from the states, and Nathalie had two people in for drinks as well, Andi from chicago and Kylie, the lone Kiwi. Romain joined us, and the lot of us hung about, drinking not too much, but getting to know one another and generally being relaxed and groovy. i really, really, really like my flatmates, i love my flat, and i can't wait 'til tomorrow, when Leigh, the Res Manager for Student Village apparently gets buses to take us into town for us self-catered kids to buy groceries. have to pay for our own food, but the buses or whatever they'll be are FREE. i have totally scored here. seriously, i'll be so spoiled whenever i end up on my own.

i am so ridiculously happy here. classes start monday, and monday i have only one class, and a totally kosher schedule the rest of the week. i think i may have picked the best place in the world this time around for study abroad. i might be on the arrival high, and may be due for a crash anytime, but right now i'm having such a fantastic time!

first day of orientation week

so after being quite the bitch hermit in my room when not wandering about the city, i sat outside in the courtyard to meet people, which was a total success. i met a few of the RAs, who told me people were playing volleyball, and amazingly, i played and had a good time. i met up with Kim, a girl i had been on the shuttle from auckland with, and we chatted, so i have a friend on campus now. the two of us met up for breakfast this morning, and now i'm sitting in the international office NOT paying for internet. yay, free internet makes me a happy clam. we have an orientation at 10 oclock, and then i'll probably so a little bit of essentials shopping. the summer school kid who is occupying the room i'm supposed to be in still hasn't moved out, but i'm okay living in my dorm room...still, apparently i get a sort of flat, like a full kitchen and bathroom shared with only a few other people. *does a little dance* anyway, i'll be letting Kim use the computer now, so i'll try to update again soon!

i'm in new zealand!

so, it's been a trip, but i'm at last in hamilton, and sort of settled in.

first, can i just tell you how obscenely beautiful this country is? it's currently a tad on the roasty-toasty side, 76 with 63% humidity, but i'll get used to it. just have to drink a lot of water. i've taken a few walks, and am currently in an internet cafe downtown. hamilton seems like a spunky, fun place. and RHPS freaks, listen up: Richard O'Brien lived and worked here, apparently paving the way for him to write the play. there, i kid you not, is a Riff Raff statue in the middle of town. whenever i can get pictures uploaded to the internet, i'll prove it.
i'm not in my permanent digs yet, as there's someone else living in the room assigned to me. my temporary place is good, not the apartment-type thing i wanted, but perfectly livable. i'm just happy to not be having to look for flats like the other people i drove here from auckland with. most of the group the University driver picked up with me were Americans, plus two Germans. everyone seems nice, i actually bumped into two of the Americans, Andres and Nicci today, and we bought cell phones together. yes, i know, that was fast. but i'm happy to have one, and be contactable.

i've made a few mistakes already. i locked my keys in my room when i left to brush my teeth this morning, and had to chase down the RHD of Student Villiage to let me back in. she's very nice, so there's no problem there. i also just bought two, count them TWO, random sandwiches for 12NZD that were made of chicken, avocado and i think cranberry sauce. it's not too bad, i suppose...i guess i have a meal for later.

all in all, i'm so glad to be here. getting here was harsh, i actually missed my connecting flight to san francisco from las vegas, but the us airways people had a ticket for another flight that got me there in plenty of time to catch my LONG sfo-auckland that night. plus, since i flew on star alliance airlines, they were able to check me in all the way to auckland from denver...score! and the flight was NOT 18 hours as i had reported, but 13. apparently the flight back is longer. i'm not too jetlagged right now, but we'll see how things go.

i miss people in the states, but i really feel like i got a good place here! i doubt i'll be updating too much, but i'll try to whenever i can! loves!

i have a suticase packed! my cds and dvds i'm taking are set! yay! i'm on my way in less than a week! wahoo!