As Sweet As...: February 2011

So starting this has unfortunately taken longer than I had hoped, but better late than never. I've been here for just over 2 weeks now, and I must say I'm pretty positive they have been the best 2 weeks of my life. I have seen some of the most incredible sights and met some of the wonderful people. I'm studying at the University of Waikato in Hamilton, which is on the North island, for those of you who don't know.

So this first post isn't a book, ill only slightly mention what Ive done so far-

Started out in Auckland, which is in the northern part of the north island. We only spent one night there and then moved on to Rotorua. Rotorua is known for the amount of adventurous activities it has. The 4 nights we spent at the hostel were some of the most memorable of the trip. We went Zorbing (where you get in a plastic ball and then are thrown down a hill), learned the Haka (the NZ All Blacks chant), pet a lion, hiked through redwoods, toured a Maori (the New Zealand natives) village, and went splunking in the glow worm caves of Waitomo (if you have seen the show Planet Earth- the ones from there). Pretty incredible week to say the least. I won't go into too much detail here but if you ask me too, I would be more than happy to. (comment below and ask me! :) The next week was spent at school being the only one in the dorm going through international orientations and and the occasional day trip.

I guess what I will go into a little detail about is the here and now and the past few days. This past weekend was the best couple days I think I've had since I've been here. Two of my friends (Ace and Chris) and I befriended a kiwi (a NZ local), Ben, and he's been showing us some pretty memorable experiences. Last Thursday he took us to Raglan again, which is one of the major surf towns about 45 min. from school. This was my second time there, and he showed us the local spots, Bridal Veil Falls, and we went to a bridge and jumped off into the water below. Incredible to say the least. The next day we met up with him again where he took us kayaking to a waterfall he found. It was ridiculous. I feel like I am going to run out of positive describing words soon, I just don't know how else to explain what I'm going through. Anyways, after that we had coffee and sat and talked for about 3 hours. Ben has had one of the most ridiculous life stories I've ever heard. He's been a kayaker for years, and traveled the world going over about every waterfall you've ever heard of. Oh and, he quit his high paying corporate job out of the blue to change his hobby to a lifestyle. He's friends with/has connections to about every person in Hamilton, along with many of those involved in Nitro Circus- an MTV show where adrenaline junkies such as Travis Pastrana and Tony Hawk show off their talents doing crazy stunts. He's only 27 and has the exact life he wants, while being one of the coolest people I've had the pleasure to meet. I envy him to say the least. After we talked, the four of us grilled out at his flat and each drank a bottle of wine into the wee morning hours.

The Next day, those of us from Australearn (the company I came with) went to Tauranga for the night. About 16 of us. We hopped on a bus crazy hungover and traveled the hour and a half drive to the coast. Upon arrival, we hiked up Mt. Manganui, which is only about an hour hike to the top but has some incredible views. We watched the sun go down and spent the evening relaxing. The next day we were all the the beach ALL day relaxing. Tauranga is definitely a sweet place to spend some time. the shops there are so cute and they have tons of restaurants. Successful weekend in my book.

Monday marked the start of classes and "O" Week, or Orientation week. Classes are about the same as those in the US, so were not too eventful. But O week is pretty cool. On the main area of campus (or the "green" as we call it) is a stage, and a ton of vendors. there is all sorts of music and entertainment going on ALL DAY and you can get tons of free things from all the vendors. This week is definitely a party week, even though classes have started. Even the clubs downtown has huge events that we all attend- foam parties, wet t-shirt contests, singles nights, rodeo nights, and others.

Today is Tuesday- and the second day of classes. I only had one, so its been an easy day. I think I only have a pick up game of frisbee planned later, and that's about it.