01.03.2019 ~ 01.09.2019

From MLB-ATL-IAH-AKL-DUD

The journey to our first destination of Dunedin, New Zealand took total of 33 hours of travel time, 21 hours on the air and 12 hours on the ground. I went through 5 airports, 4 flights, 3 meals, 2 time changes, and 1 trip.

After saying goodbyes to my aunt and uncle, I flew from Melbourne, Florida to Atlanta, Georgia where I met up with Duco van der Beek, another friend who is doing the program with me. I had some trouble checking my baggage all the way to Auckland, NZ, so I had to leave the terminal once I landed in Atlanta and went to the baggage claim to pick it up and recheck it to New Zealand. From Atlanta, we travelled to Houston, Texas. I started getting motion sickness half way to our destination, which was a first to me since I haven’t gotten motion sickness from flying in a very (very) long time. Due to my poor judgment of thinking ‘it’s probably nothing’, I had to fly 15 hours from Houston to Auckland feeling awful from motion sickness. On a positive note, for our long flight, Duco and I both got extremely lucky with our seatings, as we each had the whole entire row for ourselves. My side of the seats even had advanced leg seatings to transform the seats into a bed. I was able to traveled comfortably while laying down.

Once I landed in Auckland, I had 7 hours layover, in which I was able to meet Duco’s friends from ORGT (Outdoor Recreation GT). After the long wait, we boarded onto the flight headed to Dunedin, New Zealand. It was apparently one of the hottest day of the year in Dunedin, with the temperature being 33 degrees Celsius when we got out of the airport. When we got onto the bus to get to UniCol, I was sitting by myself since I didn’t know anyone on the bus. Riddhi was very kind and asked if I wanted to sit with her (and we’ve been friends ever since 🙂 )

Exploring Around

After getting settled in at UniCol, a group of us went to New World, which is about 15 minutes away from our dorm. New World is similar to a slightly bigger version of Publix back in US, in which it has various things you can buy from food/drink, laundry detergents, and body wash.

After dinner, we had our first toast time at 9 pm. A small group of us sat outside on the picnic table. We introduced ourselves to each other by saying our name, major, where we come from, and things that we are most excited about the program. It was really nice meeting more people and making new friends. It was also fascinating to find out that the sun does not set until 10 pm. The day felt so long.

The following day, we had our orientation in which we explored around the University of Otago campus. It was such a beautiful place with fascinating architecture. One thing I noticed is that most of the buildings have gargoyles on the wall which was really cool! Due to the bad weather of nonstop heavy rain, the afternoon trip to the Orokonui Ecosantuary got postponed to a later date. I was a little bit disappointed as I was looking forward to seeing all the plants and animals during the tour. As we didn’t have anything to do for rest of the afternoon, some of my friends and I decided to walk to a nearby beach called St. Clair Beach. It ended up taking 9.5 miles / 3.5 hours total as we also explored the town while we were walking around. The cold and rainy weather didn’t stop us from getting to the beach; St. Clair Beach was so beautiful—the water had that aqua tint to the color, which made it mesmerizing. We walked around the beach for a short while (had an unpleasant surprise of finding a dead penguin, yikes) then headed back to the dorms.

First Week of Classes

Monday was the first day of classes! After having a nice breakfast at the cafeteria, we headed towards the Castle C building for our first class of the day COE3001 – Deformable Bodies (8:00 am). Understanding the topic was a little bit rough as we were still not fully back into the groove, but it was still a fascinating to learn about the topic! Then, we had our next class of LMC3254 – Film History (9:45 am). As I love movies, this class was very intriguing to learn about all the different aspects that play into a roll in making a movie and how films evolved throughout time. After class, Matt, Duco, Maya, and I went to get our ID for University of Otago at the library (one more token that makes this trip more official haha). After lunch, the people in COE3001 started working on the homework. It was so long, mainly due to us not used to doing work yet / our mind not being in shape for the school term. We also had our first night class for COE3001 as we needed to make up some contact times that we will be missing due to traveling one weekend. When the class got out at 8:30, I was so exhausted as the day was so long with classes and doing work. To treat ourselves for surviving our first day of class, we went to the Rob Roy Dairy to get some ice cream. I heard that it was one of the best ice cream place in the city, and I was so excited as I absolutely love ice cream! I tried the real fruit flavor of strawberry, mango, and banana, and it was heavenly. I am definitely planning on going back again very soon.

On Tuesday, a group of us went to the warehouse to prepare for our first weekend trip to Te Anau and Milford Sound. I am beyond excited for the upcoming weekend trip in few days, as we will be hiking and kayaking while camping out in the wild. The following day, I FaceTimed a friend from back home. Although I loved being here, it made me be homesick as I miss my friends & family very much.

Some Q/A About Me!

What is your current emotional state (ecstatic, homesick, nervous, etc.)?

• I am so excited for the first weekend trip but a little bit nervous about driving a 10 person van on the opposite side of the road.
• I miss friends & families from back home.

What is your personal goal of this trip?

• One of my goal is to collect postcards from each place I visit. I started collecting postcards when my older sister sent them to me from all over Europe while studying abroad in Germany for a year.

What is your favorite food or drink in the dining hall?

• Favorite drink – hot cocoa from the coffee machine. On cold nights or after a long walk, it’s a nice treat that’s always available.
• I love the toast time after dinner, as I can chill and hang out with people.