Getting over the jet lag

New Zealand summer is not what I expected. I wasn't silly enough to think that it would be 90 degrees Fahrenheit and sunny all the time like home, but I was kind of hoping for a bit of sunshine and warmer weather than I left back in the wintery States. It hasn't totally disappointed me, yesterday I was out walking around with just jeans and a light sweater on and the soft breeze felt great. But today it's been alternating between sprinkling and raining pretty much all day. Which is fine, the greeness of the plants has to come from somewhere I guess, it just makes it a bit more difficult to motivate myself to go out and explore. But I'm getting quite a bit of that in, regardless of the weather.

I arrived safely in the Dunedin airport with all of my bags and feeling quite well rested for having traveled for 21 hours. I was surprised by the Auckland airport. I guess I shouldn't have expected it to be as different as most foreign airports are, but it felt very...American-like. They even had a MacDonalds. Stas, a Willamette professor, picked me up from the airport and drove me the 30 minutes to Dunedin proper through rolling green hills dotted with sheep and farmhouses. I had a quick tour of the town before arriving at my flat. Three of my flat mates are here already. Elizabeth is a geology major from Virginia who likes backpacking. David is a surfer from San Diego. Jenny is an international business major from Brasil. They're all really nice. Our other two roommates are supposed to arrive in the next few days. We have six bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, dining room, and back porch/garden area. My room is on the ground floor and is rather sad now with it's empty light yellow walls. But hopefully it'll perk up a bit when I actually get stuff to put in it.

Our flat is only a few minutes north of the campus and just south of the Botanical Gardens. You literally walk around the corner and you're there. It's gorgeous in there...the Leith River (more like a stream) that runs behind our house curls through the garden, surrounded by trees and natural growth for the most part but farther in there's a gorgeous rock garden on either side that is bursting with flowers now. There's an aviary, fountains, greenhouse, and tons more. I went running in there yesterday, it's on a hill which will take getting used to, but it was really refreshing to get some fresh air and to be surrounded by flowers and plants. The sweet smell of the roses from the huge rose garden was a pleasant reminder that it IS summertime down here.

The campus is gorgeous also, with the Leith River carving a deep channel through it's grassy lawns. Most of the buildings are modern but a few are old stone buildings like the famous clocktower. Campus is still a bit dead, coming off of summer semester, but it's just starting to come alive with students. All the locals are tanned from their summer holidays, making me feel even more foreign. Groups of international students are wandering around taking tours. Guys in cut off shorts and sneakers are riding around on their long boards while the most of the girls are wearing incredibly short shorts for the cool temperature.

I spent most of today exploring many of the campus buildings as I was trying to get my courses approved. It took much longer than necessary because I was going around everywhere asking for the Enviromental Science department (which doesn't even exist here) when what I really wanted was the Environmental History department. But I got to see a LOT more of campus than I would have and everyone who helped me was very friendly. So I am now (finally) registered to take Maori Studies, Environmental History of New Zealand, and Pacific Societies; it's going to be amazing. I was supposed to be in a chemistry class, but the one that I had cleared isn't offered this semester it turns out. And I don't feel too bad about it (I'm really looking forward to a science-free semester); especially because the Chem professor who I talked to here basically told me that I would get much more out of taking easier classes and learning the culture than spending time studying. He made me feel a bit silly really...but in a good way, everyone is so nice here!

My classes don't actually start until February 1st, and orientation doesn't start until next Wednesday, so I'm getting plenty of time to explore the town and get set up. I walked down St. George St. (the main shopping street) to the Octagon (the town center) yesterday. The sidewalks were slightly crowded with college students filling the skate/surf shops, clothing shops, cafes, and restaraunts. It will take a little while to get used to walking on the left side of the sidewalk and remembering which way to look before stepping out into the street; but there haven't been any major collisions yet, so it's looking hopeful. After the schools let out I started seeing young boys and girls in their school uniforms hanging out with their friends along the streets, the girls in their plaid skirts and knee-high white socks and the boys in their wool sweaters with collared shirts underneath. I found a great organic store; except most of their stuff seems to be from the United States.

Things that I have learned so far:
They do have peanut butter here!

In the Maori studies building (where some of my classes will be held) you're supposed to take your shoes off before entering the classrooms.

Regular bread is called 'vogel'. Who knew?

They carry a lot of American brands of products (compared to Europe)

Right next to campus is a pub that is older than the university itself and was written up once as being the best pub in the southern hemisphere.

Well, the sun has made an appearance and I'm going out for a job with my roommate.