A rush of blood to the head

Yahoooooooooooooooooooooooo! Guess what I did this weekend...BUNGEE JUMPED!!!! It was one of the most amazing things I have ever done! I went with 6 other people from the Alpine club at Massey to Gravity Canyon about 2 hours north of Palmerston. We started off with the Flying Fox which is like a very long zipline that speeds you into the canyon from about 100 meters up and you hit top speeds of 160 kilometers/hour! The cool part is that you're lying down in a harness so it feels like you're flying through the canyon. It wasn't quite the adrenaline rush I was looking for but it was very cool to do and a perfect set up for other activities...Originally I was going to do the bridge swing because I was afraid of re-injuring my neck that I broke a couple of years ago because it's quite a shock to your spinal cord. But then four people did the bungee and it looked too fun for me to pass up! I ran onto the bridge wearing just my clothes and they sat me down and strapped on the bungee ankle boots and the bungee cord and walked me out onto the platform that stuck off the bridge. The jump master told me to wave to the people on the bridge and then 1,2,3 jump! So I jumped off the bridge attached only by a giant rubber band on my feet. I don't remember much of the 80 meter fall except the most amazing feeling of adrenaline, terror, and excitement and then the bungee catching me and rebounding me back up. I bounced up and down for a while and then was lowered onto a small boat in the river where someone unhooked me and then got lifted back onto the bridge by a small chairlift. The experience was unreal and I still can't believe I convinced myself to do it! On the way back we stopped and took pictures of the countryside because it was so pretty but the best memory of the day had definitely been the bungee off the bridge! Now it's back to classes and routine during the week but I'm already planning my next big adventure because unfortunately this experience has turned me into quite the adrenaline junkie.

Here comes the work...

Well the title says it all. I'm finally getting into the workload for my classes and it's starting to add up. I have a lab report for my Animal Behavior class due on Monday and a couple of papers for my other classes coming up in the next two weeks. I also have a TON of reading for my Maori class. I have to read well over a hundred pages for class next Tuesday!

I had my first Equine Reproduction practical yesterday and I got there at least 45 minutes late because I couldn't find the freakin' place! I assumed that a lab having to do with horses was going to take place at the Equine Center, which happens to be on the same road as the Veterinary Large Animal Teaching Unit. You can guess what happened. But once I get there we take a look at a reproductive tract of a mare and go outside to watch a stallion attempt to get a mare to tease him. For all those that don't know, when a mare teases a stallion it means that she is sexually receptive to him, or in other words, she is in heat. I think Equine Reproduction and Breeding is my favorite class right now because we talk a lot about the differences in Equine management between the US and New Zealand. For example, New Zealand has a huge Thoroughbred (racing horse) industry, whereas the US deals a lot with more working class horses such as Quarter horses.

This past weekend we had an international dinner and everyone brought a dish from their country which meant a lot of food and great company. I brought American burgers (you know the kind with way too much meat), but they were sort of undercooked, so most people stayed away from them. After that we watched the All Blacks of New Zealand beat the Wallaby's of Australia in a classic rugby match. I also had an interesting conversation with one of the older Atawhai residents, who happens to be a rugby referee as well as a war history buff. I actually ended up learning a great deal about the Civil War from him!

Yesterday I tried handball for the first time and it was fairly intense. I was the keeper for most of the game and got hammered quite a bit by tiny soccer balls. Handball is structured similarly to soccer but you don't use your feet (hence the name) and you are allowed to wrap you arms around the other person to prevent them from shooting at the goal. There is also a ring around the goal where only the goalie can reside, which is good news for me. I'm looking to make this a regular occurrence on Wednesday night and tomorrow morning one of my friends here is going to attempt to teach me Tai Chi. Wish me luck!

Above are some pictures from around the Atawhai Village area.

Maori adoration

I had my first Maori Culture and Society class today and after all the trouble I went to just to be able to take this course I thought it had better be worth it and it was! Everyone in the class is of Maori descent with the exception of the 6 international students (all from the US). Even the teacher is Maori and she introduced the class for the first couple of minutes in Maori! She spoke a lot of her family history while she introduced the topics and went off on a couple of tangents, but the best part is as she says "...well here I go off topic again, but the good thing is that everything I talk about in this class is related to the topic." I'm going to LOVE this class! Went to club day as well and joined the Amnesty International club and the Alpine Club that does skiing, caving, backpacking, and climbing trips for free! In a couple of weeks they are planning to go skiing at Mount Ruapehu and guess who is going to be first in line...

The beginning of classes

What a busy week! On Saturday I was supposed to go to an orientation for domestic students and optional for international students and even though I signed up to go I decided at the last minute to do something way cooler. About 11:00pm I checked my facebook and one of my friends had left me a message saying that they were going on a small road trip tomorrow morning and asked me if I wanted to go. I said yes of course and at 8:30 the next morning we were off to visit Lake Taupo! It was a four hour drive to get there but along the way we got to see the New Zealand countryside which was amazing! Lots and lots of sheep. We arrived at the town of Taupo which overlooks the lake and the snowy volcanic mountains and walked around the town and visited the hostel so I could get information for future visits. We ate at Burger Fuel for lunch and had the biggest freakin' burgers I've ever eaten! Before driving home we stopped at Huka Falls just north of the town and learned some pretty cool things about the river. Apparently the river supplies the north island with 65% of its power! In the evening when we returned my flatmates decided to through a spontaneous party that lasted until 4:30 in the morning. It was a good chance for me to meet a lot of the people from Attawhai Village in a fun environment, plus learn some interesting new games. I also got to talk with the group of girls from Germany and learn a little bit more about them and German culture which was neat. We talked about going back to Taupo at some point to sky dive since it is really big up there.

Monday was the first day of classes for me and it was very different from what I am used to. Currently I am talking Animal Health, Behaviour and Welfare, Animal Behaviour, and Maori Customs and Lore. There might be a way for me to take the Equine class, but I will have to speak with my lecturers about that. I had two classes and a lab yesterday and it was very intense. They really pack a lot of information into each lecture and one of my classes comes with a stack of notes that could rival a textbook in size. Clearly a lot of the work that is involved with these classes is studying to be done outside of the class. It will also be difficult for me to learn how to study since the only grades we get for the classes are two exams, sometimes just the final! It is not a requirement to attend lectures, but probably very well advised to. My Animal Behaviour class deals a lot with the quantitative aspect of animal behaviour which in turn involves a lot of statistics. Guess who hasn't taken statistics in over two years...I will have to do some review on my own and make friends very quickly with people or I will drop the class.

Side note: we had our village meeting with the RA last night and I found out that not only am I the youngest in my flat by 3 years, but I am the youngest in the whole Attawhai Village by that same margin! They kept referring to all the students in the dorms on campus as the young ones and most of them are older than me!

So today I will attempt to work the bugs out of my class schedule before I go to my one class this afternoon. After class I will go with my friend Erin to try and find the Green Bike shop where they sell you a used bike for $30. It would be great exercise for me to ride into town every once and a while.

I'm in recycling heaven!

So it's day four of my kiwi adventure and things just keep getting better! I have had two days of orientation and time to familiarize myself with Massey University and a little bit the city of Palmerston North. Through orientation I've met a lot of other international students as well as many Americans. The two largest groups of international students are the Americans and the Germans who seem to all be studying bio-mathematics. It's amazing how easily you can meet other students since we are all in the same boat. I was just standing in the courtyard area and a girl approached me and asked me if I was an exchange student all because I was wearing an NC State sweatshirt and we have been hanging out ever since.

During orientation we had the mayor of Palmerston North come and talk to us a little about the city and it was really fascinating. The city is really a student city and has a great transportation system from the University into town for free! They are also the most sustainable city in New Zealand with over half of its power coming from the wind turbines just north of the city. They also don't have central heating in the homes which means less energy to power several small heaters than one big one. And even on campus they have a place where you can go and pay $20 (New Zealand dollars) to get a second hand bike and you get half the money back when you return the bike so it encourages students to get bikes instead of cars! They are crazy about recycling and have bins everywhere. It almost feels unnatural to throw something away in the trash (or rubbish bins as they like to call it).

Today we had some pointless orientations, but also some really cool field trips. I still haven't finalized my classes yet because of time conflicts so I'm going to have to find another class to take. I had to choose between equine reproduction and Maori customs and lore which are two of the classes I wanted to take the most. The Maori class would give me an obvious insight on Maori culture and is one of the big reasons I chose New Zealand to study. The equine class would give me the opportunity to learn how they teach animal science in other countries which was also another motivation for me to come to New Zealand. In the end I chose the Maori class, because I will never again have the opportunity to take such a class and I already am taking two other animal science classes (they call classes 'papers' which really confused me at first when people would ask how many papers I was taking). In the afternoon we got to take a farm visit to the sheep and dairy units and watch some sheep shearing and sheep herding. My goal is to get some volunteer time at one of the units as I think it would be a lot of fun. For dinner we went to a hotel and were treated with a live performance of traditional Maori dance and song, including the famous Hakka. It made me all the more excited to take the Maori class. During the diner I talked with a group of American students and we formed an informal travel group. We all want to take a skiing trip to the volcanic mountains north of Palmerston so we are going to start planning right away!

Unfortunately I am still fighting jet lag so even if it is only 9:00 pm on a Friday night I think I am going to crash into bed and get some sleep. Still trying to figure out my web cam as well so all of those that want to talk with me on skype, be patient. :) More to come from kiwi land...

PS- Had cool discussions with my flat mates about American culture and politics and what was the most interesting thing they had never heard of...beer pong. That right there is priceless.

Kia Ora! Hello from New Zealand!

I'm here finally! This is my official second day in New Zealand! I landed yesterday at Palmerston North at 8 in the morning and started my adventure. Fortunately I met a girl on the flight that was also from the US and going to study at Massey. We informally decided to stick together as we began to explore.

We first got settled into our rooms. I am living in a flat just off campus in a placed called Atawhai Village. It's basically an apartment with five bedrooms, a bathroom, a toilet, a kitchen, and a common room (it also has a washing machine). The room I am in is very big for a single and has everything from a bed to a sink. I also have a really large window which looks out into our backyard! I was afraid when I first heard that I was living here that I would be put with only grad students or a family, since that is what it caters to, but I am living with all international students so far (our fifth roommate hasn't moved in yet). Two of the girls are grad students from Canada and somewhere in Asia (haven't officially met her yet) and the other girl is an undergrad from Germany. They are all really friendly and I think we will enjoy each other's company.

After we got settled, Erin and I took the bus into town and started to look around. It's just like a city with all the stores and restaurants, but not quite as big. We stopped at subway to eat our first meal since breakfast on the plane at 3:00am and then went to get groceries. I am, for the first time, feeding myself so I have to budget and choose wisely. Lesson number one: when you don't have a car, refrain from buying two weeks worth of groceries in one go. It was very difficult to get back to the bus stop and even more difficult to find my way back to Atawhai Village, especially when you get lost. Plus, the village is on a mini-mountain next to campus so I have to walk up a very steep hill in the woods to get to it and you can imagine with 40 pounds of groceries it took me a while. What's really cool here is that when you go grocery shopping you have to bring your own bags otherwise they charge you for plastic bags. How ecofriendly!

In the evening we made spaghetti dinner and I got to know one of my roomies a little better, and then proceeded to crash at 7:30 in my newly made bed. Slept for about 11 hours, which is the longest time I've slept in a very long time. Today I think we will go back into town to buy cheap cell phones and go around campus to find our way before orientation starts tomorrow.

For all those wondering New Zealand is 16 hours ahead of the East Coast in the US so while it is 8:30am Wednesday morning here, it is only 4:30pm Tuesday afternoon at home! Crazy!