July 21-July 29

Hello again! Sorry it has been so long since I have updated but things finally got crazy with school starting and traveling around! The weekend of July 21 I went to Rotorua, a town known for its thermal areas.  Six of us met randomly because we were all looking to go to Rotorua that weekend so we just planned it together! Out of the six of us there was one American (me) and five Germans, how did that work out?!  I wish I could say that over the weekend I learned so much German and now can have full conversations in German but we all know me too well, that didn't happen.  I found that there are some words very similar to English so through gestures you can figure out a lot but still don't know any German.  Thankfully, they were all very nice and spoke English and I've been hanging out with them all a lot now!

Before we got to Rotorua we stopped at Hobbiton, middle Earth from Lord of the Rings.  The group made fun of me because I was the only one who hadn't watched it yet but we have a date set next week to rent it for me!  This is apparently an important green doored hobbit house and oak tree from the book; so for those of you who know it here it is!  It was really cool there learning about how the film was made and seeing all these tiny props.

After that we finished our drive and had a look around the town which for some reason was very quiet on that Saturday afternoon so we went to a Polynesian spa!  We soaked in mineral pools, which are suppose to sooth your muscles and help people with arthritis, all night and enjoyed meeting other study abroad students.

On Sunday we went to the geyser and thermal pools (don't be mistaken you don't swim in these ones).  We watched a park ranger put soap inside to set the geyser off.  Apparently, it was discovered by prisoners who were clearing the area and thought it was a good idea to wash their clothes in the thermal pool so they wouldn't have to heat water but when they put the soap in they were surprised with this:

There were so many thermal pools and they each brought their own very nice smelling sulfur smell as you walked past them.  This was the last one that I saw though and was just so amazed by the color, the picture does not do it justice; it was a bright yellow green.

After that we went to see a Mauri (native New Zealanders) village and how they use the thermal pools to their advantage. In this picture the guide was showing us how they dig deep holes and then put a grill rack over it and box with lid.  This is how they cook a lot of food, steaming it, there is no way to over cook the food, the worst that can happen is the meat falls off the bone (sooooo horrible!).  Another way they cook is putting their vegetables in cheese cloth and throwing it into one of the pools.  I tried some of the corn they cook and it was actually pretty good!

The following weekend we all stayed in Auckland and explored around there.  Here I am at the top of Rangitoto, the youngest volcanic island in New Zealand, it's only 600 years old!  There was a beautiful view of the city and the other islands around us.

Since it is such a young volcanic sight it isn't completely covered in vegetation.  There were large areas of lava rocks and then a random bush.  No one lives on the island anymore although it used to be a vacation spot so there are a few houses along the shore. 

Here is the group that I went to Rangitoto with! Most of the people I went to Rotorua with came here too (the others had a class- on a Saturday!).

That's right you're looking at the cutest little monkey guy ever! On Sunday four of us went to the Auckland Zoo.  Thank goodness for me because I was really missing animals so this was a perfect fix.  This monkey was playing with and would sit on top of his little house and when we would turn away he would swing over to the window and make sure we were watching.

If you look closely you can see a bird with a long beak in the ground.  This is a native Kiwi bird, they are going extinct.  The birds are very shy and only come out at night but they can't fly so their beak helps them get all the worms and bugs out of the ground.  In New Zealand the word Kiwi is very precious and pictures of the birds are on everything, people who live in New Zealand are even called Kiwis!

This week I get to start my student teaching and see what schools over here are like, I'm really looking forward to that!  Also, I have already made a second ice cream cake, I know it's crazy but my friends from going to Rotorua wanted to try it and we had a big dinner together.  Be sure to update me on what you are up to! 

Miss and love you all,

-Michele

Exploring a bit

Hello! After settling in and just getting used to the city my flat mates and I decided to do a bit more exploring and getting out of the city. First, Hitomi and I went to a suburb of Auckland (still Auckland but feels like a little island) called Devonport.  We took just a short ferry ride over and when we arrived we were almost shocked at how much quieter it was than the main city.  It was filled with little cafes and shops, a kind woman in an art shop got to talking with us and told us where to go, what places to eat and everything.  We followed her suggestions and had a great day with chocolate, hiking, and a navy museum.  In the picture above I am standing at the top of Mt Victoria, basically it is just a giant hill and on top you can see all of Auckland.

As we waited for the ferry back to the city we watched a beautiful sunset!

I had orientation for a couple days and got to meet some cool study abroad people and some people in my major.  Each day there was free Subway sandwiches and cookies, as you can imagine I had a lot of free lunches and dinners but am now pretty sick of subs.  Above is a picture of me falling into Mt Eden ahhhh! Elli (the last flat mate from Germany- she finally arrived!), Hitomi, and I decided to go to Mt Eden, an Auckland famous old volcano.  When we got to the top it was crazy how huge and deep the crater was, looked like a great place to go sledding! 

Left-Elli, middle-Hitomi, right-me! The three of us in front of the top of Mt Eden, you can see the Sky Tower in the background and some of the city.  

The next day it was raining but was our last day before classes started so we knew we had to go out to enjoy our last hours of freedom from school work.  As you can see Hitomi and I gotten eaten by a shark, no big deal.  We went to the aquarium! When we arrived it was just a tiny building and we thought...how can there be $27 worth of fish sights in there? But it ended up the whole thing was underground, pretty nifty because then there was a window that looked out into the ocean.  

We got to see a few string rays and a man feeding them.  They would come up onto his arms so you could see half of them out of the water, it was really cool!  

Of course, we had to look at the penguins! 

And don't worry, we hung out with bubbles obsessed fish and Dory!

After our fishy day we made a family dinner to celebrate an exciting semester ahead of us! (By the way, Katherine is on the front and Elli behind her.)

I also made a Dad famous ice cream cake! It was a little difficult to find all the right stuff (I stood in the cookie aisle for probably 20 min and ended up asking an elderly lady which was her favorite biscuit) but in the end I got it pretty close.  My flat mates were very, very happy with it and I'm pretty proud! I already have requests to make one for birthdays and to come to Japan and Germany to make them, Dad you might go out of business soon!

I'm very glad to get out of the city a bit and now can't wait to travel on the weekends.  I luckily don't have class on Mondays, but soon enough they will start! I thought I came here just to hang out not go to class! Hope everyone is enjoying their summer and not working too hard! 

-Michele

The beginnings

I arrived after 18 hours of flying on Friday, July 6, 2012 in Auckland, NZ! After being very nervous about getting on the right bus I made it to this building to, my home for the next four months.  I got in and unpacked then got to meet two out of my three flat mates.  The first is from Auckland, Katherine, and the other is from Japan (doing an exchange program), Hitomi. 

Standing outside more door this is looking at the kitchen and living room.  The other direction is the three other girls rooms and the exit door.  

This is the living room, isn't it nice!? I'm very excited to have such a large comfy area to hang out in.

This is the kitchen, my shelf is the one that barely has any food on it haha. The sinks here are tiny, in the kitchen I can just fit a plate into it and the bathroom i can barely rinse my toothbrush without it hitting the side of the sink! Also you will see there is no oven here, meaning it might be a bit hard for me to bake cookies.  Katherine (a flate mate) told me that it is a convection microwave, very fancy, so I might be able to bake some stuff.

This is my room while standing at the door.  The window looks out onto the street I am on and then in the distance are some trees and more suburb looking areas.  I have a closet, shelves, desk and bed! I'm in the smallest room in the apt but it is enough for me!

This is a view from when I am standing at my desk.  I couldn't find any posters so I decided to decorate with scap booking paper that came in 3 colors and different designs on them, then I cut them into smaller and smaller squares as they went down the wall. 

I went out to find a plant because the apt looks very city like (no animals, no plants, no mountains in the distance).  This was the best I could come up with, a dead hyacinths.  My flat mates and I have faith that I'll be able to bring it back to life, a small challenge for the semester.

Hitomi went out to a market that night (oddly different sections on Auckland have markets at night) and found this plant.  She was so nice to get it for me and was sure to get the blue one so that it would go with my room!  Also it is very easy to take care of, sorta like a cactus so at least I have one plant I know will live.

While walking around Queens St (a big downtown shopping steet) I found a Dunkins.  So it's all going to be alright they have perfect coffee in this country.  Today when I walked in and asked if they had ice coffee, sadly they don't so I'm not sure what I'll drink but I definitely have to try it and see if it's as good as the States.

This is a cool art museum just three minutes from my apt!

This is a big theatre that holds the film festival at the end of July.  Apparently, there are carvings on monkeys throughout the entire place, I can't wait to go in a see!

I hope you enjoyed! I'll try to stay as up to date as possible but I know once classes start (next week) it will get harder. Also, just let me know if you can't see the pictures!

-Michele