In case you're wondering, no, I didn't fall off a cliff, get killed by an earthquake, or explode with stress. I'm just too lazy, apparently, to do more blog posts. Also, nothing exciting ever happens here. But seeing as though I leave in a week (!) I figured I should let all my faithful readers know what I've been doing.
School is hard work sometimes! My classes weren't too bad (and way easier than MSU), but I did spend a lot of time studying. My four classes were:
Perspectives on the environment
Soil science
Evolutionary biology
Nga Tikanga Maori (Maori cultural studies)
I really enjoyed them all and learned a ton. Particularly my evolution class. Earth is so amazing and wonderful. I particularly enjoyed learning about human sociobiology and how we work. And learning about Maori was really cool too. I understand more about how things work here.
One thing that I really have learned here is that there's a whole world out there. America is not the only country. I mean, I knew that, but I never really understood until I came to NZ and met so many different people. I'm friends with lots of international students and I've learned so much about different cultures (primarily south asian). I do have a different world view (something I've learned all about having in my perspectives class) and it's nice. Sometimes people talk about America and I have a certain mind set about it now. I don't know how to explain exactly. But we can be so self-centered! And loud. That's something else I've learned. Americans are so loud and annoying! Geez.
I've also become, I don't know if proud is exactly the right word, but proud of where I come from. My friends like to make fun of Michigan and how I can stand the cold and stuff. And I actually wear MSU shirts. But trust me I'm not becoming a fan of football anytime soon.
This is a message from Chai:
What I've learnt about Kaitey while she was here in New Zealand was that:
1. She doesn't know how to pronounce CARAMEL, PLANTS. But she sure knows how to pronounce PORK, good on ya.
2. She's not good to study with, she keeps singing about many other girls who've had epiphanies and stuff.
3. She only gave me 1 timtam to eat after bugging her for so long about it, tsktsk. Talk about generosity! Okay I'm kidding, she got me white choc macadamia, that's a good start.
4. She'll be leaving soon >:(
5. She's a total kreeper, and a mooner tsktsk.
6. But she has awesome taste in friends, like this girl called chai, she's pretty cool. (:
I have made a lot of friends here and it's great. Chai is from Singapore, by the way. We all like to make fun of pronunciations. Like pork and caramel. And they think I say "pop" just to say it. It's a drink!
Another thing I've realized is that I've really gotten used to New Zealand. For example, when I think about driving on the right side of the road, it feels really wrong in my head. And lots of little words seem so normal now. I made a list of things I don't want to forget about NZ. I will put it in here...
1. The sink in the kitchen has two faucets - super hot and freezing cold. And lots of them have it.
2. Toilets always have a half flush or a full flush option.
3. Kiwis walk around barefoot. Or in socks and flipflops. I must say I hated the idea at first, but have fully embraced it! It's so much easier (this coming from the girl who was too lazy to wear tennies for 3 weeks and froze her toes every day). And if it's raining they were gumboots - super tall rubber boots. But in all cases they like to wear white stubbies. It's beautiful. Seriously - long baggy shorts look stupid.
4. They drive on the left and walk on it too. And I've fully gotten used to this idea too. I always automatically walk on the left.
5. They get earthquakes. A lot. I've been keeping track, and there have been 17 I've felt since 9 May. Usually they fall within the same few days. So we had five in one day. Most are in the 3's or 4's. But there have been two 5's, which are considered strong. The 5.5 I felt was quite scary. It lasted really long - about 10 seconds - and the room just kept shaking like crazy. I can't tell you how glad I am I wasn't here for the big one!
6. Right now it is winter and the sun rises at 8 and sets at 5. It was weird at first but now I'm quite used to it. I can see the sunset from my room and take pictures almost every day. (By the way, you might be surprised at my lack of pictures. I am too lazy for that :) story of my life.)
7. They love jelly (jello). It is at every single dinner. And it's not like the weird caf food that is there and no one likes. They can't bring it out fast enough. People love it.
8. Drinking is much more common and casual. The drinking age is 18 and there is actually a pub connected to the dining hall, so you can sit and eat dinner with a beer. I can't say I've ever taken advantage of it. I think I could count the number of drinks I've had here in NZ on one hand. Well, maybe two :) but that's another thing - almost all the Americans get drunk all the time. It's quite obvious who they are sometimes which is really sad.
9. Kiwis will say crap instead of crappy (like "I think I did crap on the test")
10. There is almost always no tipping (which is nice).
11. When ordering food at a restaurant, you usually order (and pay) at the bar (or counter). You usually don't encounter restaurants where you sit down and then order. I mean I suppose fancier ones do, but even the nice ones don't do it.
12. They farm deer. And sheep and cows, obviously. Driving you encounter them everywhere! It really is like everyone says.
13. Wearing a helmet while biking is the law. Can't image what that would be like at MSU!
14. They like putting eggs on burgurs and steak. Which is actually pretty good.
15. Their packaging is all so adorable. Everything has a cute saying on it. I've taken heaps of photos. I really can't get enough of it. The kiwi as chips are the best. And for example, the L&P (a pop) slogan is: "world famous in new zealand". Another great example is pineapple lumps. Google the commercial. It's just kiwi as! Pineapple lumps are actually quite delicious too!
16. The smallest coin is a 10 cent. So if you are paying with cash they round. And 5 rounds down :) It's so much smarter. The coins are 10, 20, 50, $1, and $2. The smallest bill is a $5. Their bills too are beautiful. We need some prettier money. There is a bird on the back of every bill.
17. They like to ignore parking rules. The park on the sidewalk, over the median, across handicap spots. The thing that gets me though is that no one cares at all.
18. Their plugs all have a switch. So you can turn off the plug. Genius! We need them in America.
19. Also with the plugs, and switches in general, up is off and down is on. Very confusing sometimes. Although I actually haven't even remembered it for about 2 months. I guess I'm used to it.
20. Everything seems to be of the brand Pams. All food. And tissues, cups, plates, etc. Another major brand is Budget. It's great! Cheap as.
21. The teachers are called lecturers (instead of professors) and you usually call them by their first name.
22. They are fond of weird flavor combos. Like honey baked ham chips. But usually they are quite good!
Here's a list of kiwi words/phrases:
heaps (a lot)
wee (small)
uni (versity)
mate (friend)
reckon (think)
dodgy (or dodgy as)
queue (like a line)
good on ya
keen (like "are you keen on...")
bugger
jandles (flip flops)
lolly (any candy. plane lollies are the candy you get on planes, in the shape of a plane)
bro (friend)
gumboots (think I already explained this one)
no worries
swot (study. this is one that I really had no idea what it was and had to look up online)
...as (can really be used with anything)
kia ora
cheers (meaning thanks)
car park
toasties (delicious grilled sandwich)
papers (classes - another weird one to american ears)
multi choice (instead of multiple choice)
revise (study, review)
I also understand the accent really well now. I used to not be able to understand half the things people said. One of my teachers in particular has a very strong accent. But now I don't even notice it! Here's a rough guide:
a is always short. Especially followed by an r - the r is not really pronounced. So 'car park' is pronounced 'caa paak'.
e is always long. So 'men' sounds exactly like 'mean'.
Actually r's in the middle of words are hardly pronounced. So 'cheers' sounds like 'cheese' to me.
That's about all I can put down in words. It's very different from a british or ozzie accent though.
Anyways, I hope that lets you know how New Zealand has been to me. I've had a great time. Way better than I expected (but I tend to think negative, so that's not really saying much). I didn't travel as much as I had hoped, but again, more than I actually though I would. And in my soils class I've had to know where places are, so that has taught me a lot of geography.
Hopefully everyone isn't expecting to get a beautiful amazing souvenir from me. I haven't even bought that many at all. Too much money and plus they are all so tacky almost. I do have a few things though. Most of what I'm bringing back is food - chocolate and timtams! I'm so sad we don't get timtams in America! And yarn - I've been knitting like crazy and have tons of hats and scarves to give out :)
If/when you see me, ask to see my pictures! I have heaps. You'll get bored, I'm sure. And I'll probably talk about my study abroad experience for the next several years. I still can't believe I spent the last four months in New Zealand!
Quoting Jon Foreman, "New Zealand, you're beautiful. I love you." :)))
