Well, here I finally am, Christchurch, New Zealand. The sun is pouring through my long window in my surprisingly large single flat room and burning my right arm as I type. By the time I am finished with this blog, I will have acquired a driver's tan, New Zealand style.
I've been dreading writing this blog. How can I possibly say everything that I've done and that has been going through my mind in the last week without taking 6 hours out of a day in which I should be familiarizing myself, organizing, scheduling, exploring, relaxing... living? I suppose, unfortunately, I will not be able to update you with details and intricacies - but I have a feeling I want to tell you about everything more than you want to hear about everything, so let's give it a shot:
On the flight from Chicago to LA I sat next to a writer - I forget his name, but he was the co-writer of a popular and recent movie entitled "College", and said his next project will be coming out soon entitled "Demoted". Writers are thinkers, and it was fascinating holding a conversation with him as we held very similar views on life, discussing generational gaps, mentality shifts between high school and college years, politics, and life philosophies. We were on a plane plagued by what must have been a group of female models, which distracted our conversation multiple times, but made breaking the ice very simple, as we were both hoping to be one of the lucky guys to have a golden seat next to one of these slender beauties.
The flight from LA to Aukland, NZ was, well, long. After overdosing on three Tylenol PMs, I felt more drunk and useless than tired, and it was difficult to move my numbing lips to even tell to the student I was sitting next to that I was an idiot for taking 3. We had personal TV screens with a wide variety of options for our viewing pleasure, which made the flight somewhat bearable. Funny, it seems, how pampered we are that we can't sit on a plane for 14 hours without pumping the contemporary rubbage of television and music into our thick skulls. WE'RE FLYING!! How long have humans been writing, pondering, failing at, and dreaming of the possibility to spread some wings and soar? Guess it's not as fun as they may have thought.
We entered New Zealand at dawn, flying in as the sun was crouching over the horizon and the fog was enjoying its last minutes of ideal conditions. Flustered, tired, and confused, though pumping with anxiety and adrenaline, I couldn't wait to settle into a room and collect myself. Unfortunately, this condition I was in only grew while waiting to get off the plane, waiting to get through customs, waiting for everyone in our group, waiting for bus drivers, and waiting 3 more hours on the bus to drive to Rotorua, where when we arrived we waited for room keys. Waiting became the theme for the next week, as dealing with a group of 80 people going through commercialized tourist traps can become very stressing. We did do some fun things however:
ZORBING: An activity unique to New Zealand, in which they set you in a plastic globe sprinkled in water, surrounded by a larger plastic globe cushioning the smaller with a layer of air, and roll you down a giant hill. You can see the hill in the background, and maybe a giant plastic ball or two on the top. Look it up if you don't get it - I didn't understand it until I was there, but what a rush.
CAVING: Waitomo caves are a series of over 800 limestone caves located a couple hours north of Rotorua. As a budding geologist, this was the most fascinating experience of orientation. I could bore you with formation processes, but It's too nice outside right now to elaborate on anything. Just look at the pictures - they were really something to see. They gave us some overalls, hardhats with attached lights, and harness, and we found ourselves going down a 60 meter vertical (and quite tight) crack in the ground into a hidden world
of stalagmites and stalactites, and even one helictite (a horizontal and extremely rare and still unexplained stalactite) We got to zip-line through a pitch black portion of this cave as well.
THE MAORI: The Indigenous peoples of New Zealand have a very strong impact on modern New Zealand and are still highly respected and prevalent. We had the opportunity to learn the Hakka, which is a traditional Maori war dance used to instill fear into the opposing side. This dance is still put to use today by the New Zealand rugby team, the All Blacks to intimidate their opponents. The All Blacks are highly idolized in NZ, to an extent you would never see in the US. Anytime someone says 'the game', it simply means the most recent or upcoming All Blacks game. We were taken to a Maori mimic village where we saw various dances, fighting and cooking techniques. We then had a traditional maori meal, some of which had been cooking underground for 6 hours. Fascinating stuff. Here is a youtube clip that shows a similar display shown to us at the Maori village: www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JFU_DgV0IQ
Unfortunately I have to go accomplish things.
The forecast is sunny, optimistic, excited and reviving, with scattered unclarity and a chance for adventure in the evening.
Next up: Arriving on campus and experiencing cultural differences... stay tuned! Cheers!
