Landing, Day 1, Day 2--So much going on

Arrival and Day 2:
So much happens in one day, it's amazing, but classes start tomorrow so it will probably slow down.
The flight was not too bad, not nearly as bad as I had expected. I got lucky with the aisle seat for the long flight and the window seat for the short one. There were tons of movies and all the music you could ever want for free on the long flight. I watched The Heat and The Internship. I'd seen both but I was trying to sleep. If it weren't for my painfully aching shoulder, it would've been nice as far as flights go.

Landing was horrible. Customs stole my peanut butter because it had honey (whatever) and then I got stuck there forever because the people before me did not declare their oranges. (Another good reason to hate oranges!) I walked out and there was not a single person from my group about and I had no idea when my next flight left. I became frantic, did not buy a phone, couldn't get the ATM to work, and almost forgot to drop off my luggage. Luckily, I was eventually able to get money and got my bag to the transfer to domestic area with 1 minute to spare. I also made it onto the plane. Wellington is notoriously windy and that flight was bumpy!

It was raining when we landed, but within hours it became hot and sunny. The weather is a bit like Santa Barbara, except that the sun is much more intense. I got lucky. I totally forgot sunscreen when I left to adventure but only received a minor sunburn.

Adventures of day 1:

Walked past a lot of houses, they really like stain glass around here. I don't know if it was just that neighborhood or what but there was stain glass everywhere.

We then toured  parliament. The parliament building is amazingly beautiful inside. It is very classic with beautiful stone work and painting. The ceilings all fascinated me with their beauty, but I could not take photos. They recently build another parliament building (I believe it is where their judge is so that they can try people in New Zealand and not send them to England. This is a recent development). The building is affectionately called the Beehive. I will post photos tonight.

Random cool fact:  New Zealand was the first country to give women the right to vote. The year was 1893.

New Zealand does not discriminate against their ancestors like Americans did. Maori people even have their own party in parliament. Their culture is an important part of Kiwi life. People spoke to me in the Maori language twice in the first day I arrived. It is a second language here, taught to kids in elementary school, and on signs throughout the city.

Also, buildings here are very earthquake safe since they have so many. They had two around a 6 on the richter scale in the last year. It is interesting seeing all they do to protect buildings.

After parliament we wandered down to the harbor. It was beautiful. Pictures to come.

After the harbor we checked out some shops and then rode the cable car back to Weir House.

The food at Weir House is "free" to me. But it is not very good. It's at least edible but generally pretty bad. It's possibly worse than Woody's and has far fewer options.

My room is big. I'm on the top floor and I don't know if they have the heater on or what but it is so hot there. It is like walking into a sauna. The lower floors are cool. I do not understand, even heat rising does not explain this. Also, the building is wifi, except my room. Looking into getting an ethernet cable from the administration.

Day 2:

We had orientation and toured Victoria University. It's pretty but Tech is so much nicer. From the looks of things college is a very different experience here. School pride isn't a thing. They had 1 sweatshirt and 1 shirt in the bookstore. But they did have L&P. It is a delicious soda. Unfortunately everything is super expensive here and a soda costs 5 dollars. Minimum wage is 17 dollars. Mara got the soda and I took a sip. I got a chocolate bar I guess but its called a chocolate slab and is much thicker. It is small for its price, but it was so good. It was an L&P bar made by a big fudge company from the looks of it. Oh L&P is like sprite and is made by Coca-cola. It was originally a combination of lemon and mineral water from Paeroa, hence L&P. It seems to have an extra flavor that makes it superior to sprite. Back to my chocolate. It was white chocolate with L&P flavor. There were like lemon chunks that were like pop rocks. It was great. I'm considering buying a bunch and bringing home if doable.

Today instead of going to the beach (Kinda sad, but I'll get to it) we stayed in and planned our weekend trip. Unbelievably difficult. Buses are expensive and not extensive. Flights are costly, but they seem to be how to get around. The ferry to the south island alone is 65 dollars each way. After giving up on Abel Tasman after the cost of just getting there rose above NZ$400, we decided on Waitomo and Rotorua. I'm very excited for them. We have already booked our hostel, buses, and a glowworm caving tour. We are also looking into geothermal pools, mud baths, and cultural experiences.

I also went on a short photo adventure. We passed a beautiful looking park (forest?) yesterday so I went back to explore alone. It was great. It was like dropping into another world in the middle of a major city. It was very green and lush and well...like hiking through a forest. It opened at a waterfall and immediately after there was Woof Woof Ruff, a dog exercise area. That was a beautiful meadow. Then I walked through heavily graffiti filled areas. Finally I came to a street I walked along yesterday. With only 20 minutes before lunch and no idea how to get back without finding the cable car, I turned back and walked from where I came.

Anyways, photos posted soon.