For a while I had forgotten that my schooling was going to start again! I can’t complain about the long break I had before classes started. This semester will be my last and final one before I receive my B.A. in Communication Studies, thank God! It is nice to know that all of my requirements for my major and minor have been met, so I am able to take courses of any subject matter here. While I thought I would be taking advanced photography classes, I learned that in order to be in advanced art classes at AUT I would have needed to study abroad for one year. Advanced courses last for two semesters and not just one. So instead of studying art I have enrolled in two “papers” as they call classes in NZ that are suited for international students. I still need to learn the names of what the courses are called in the Maori language without having to look at a piece of paper! It seems like all the names here have some kind of sound like taka taka or puka or tuta or other crazy sounds within them. When people ask me where I have traveled to, I have to often look up the name because I can’t pronounce or remember it because it is in the Maori language! Before I came abroad people made it sound like classes in other countries were as easy as you could imagine with no attendance policy and little work. Maybe in other countries it is that way, but not at my University here. We have attendance and in every class I have a decent amount of work and papers to write.
So the first class I am taking is called Ki Te Whaiao: Introducation to Maori Society. I am really happy to be in this class because part of the reason I was drawn to New Zealand was to learn about the Maori culture. If any of you haven’t seen the movie Whale Rider, then go check it out! It will give you a little taste of what I am learning about in this course. Lots of Maori vocabulary is used which is something I need to get use to and will be a bit of a challenge. Although I need to brace myself for learning new words because the more I think about it, the more I would like to learn German! Two of my best buds Claudia and Stephie are in this class (who speak German!) which really helps make the time go by faster. It’s a good thing Stephie is in there because she is the best note taker ever! I find myself drifting more than often since I have six hours of class in a row. By the end I am a bit antsy! On Wednesdays from 2-8 my classes are held in a building called the Marae, which could be compared to a church. Shoes must be taken off before entering the building and no food or drink is allowed either.
The second course I am taking is called Te Ara Pou: Leadership. I really enjoy the teacher that I have, he is a small little Maori man that is an excellent guitarist. I thought that it was cool that by the first day of class (which is a class of about 150) he somehow knew my name and greeted me with a “hello Bethany. How are you doing today?” I have been very pleased with student teacher interaction here, it seems like the professors really care about their students. So far we have learned about personality types in this class and the strengths and weaknesses of both. The first sessions have been interesting and the teacher keeps the class laughing the whole time.
A normal schedule here at AUT is four courses as a full time student. Instead, I am in a program that allows me to take two courses with one internship. My internship counts as two courses in credit. Like my university at home, while I have to work around 16 hours a week for a company I also have worked required within school as well. I am glad that the schoolwork required here is much less than it was back at home. I find it strange to require additional schoolwork on top of paying to work for free. Regardless, two research papers aren’t too bad for additional work. AUT was supposed to place me into a company within photography. The school was having a difficult time finding a photography firm. Regardless, I was placed into a creative industry and I am content with that. The company I am interning with is made up of three men Dale, Luke, and Parish at a print and graphic design firm called Make Ready. The office is located on top of a coffee shop a block away from the beach. Views of palm trees and sun can make it sometimes a little difficult to be inside! Clients of theirs include Starbucks, Red Cross, and local companies as well.
I really enjoy getting to know these guys; I like their sense of humor and laid-back attitude. It seems like they are happy to have a girl around the office as well. Luke has been my supervisor and is very pleasant to work with. The only problem at the beginning was not having any set tasks assigned for me. I needed to create one for myself, I hate just dilly-dallying around and waiting for the time to pass. So I made the recommendation that I help create a photo library of images that the company can use within their designs to save them money from having to purchase from an outside source. The company was fine with that. I was also happy that an additional project was given to me. Make Ready wants images of their printed designs to create a slideshow they can show potential clients. While taking pictures of literally pieces of paper may not be that exciting, it gives me something to do and something to be good at. With the resources that I have, I think I am doing a good job so far and the company seems to be pleased as well.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Monday, March 7, 2011
Up I Go
Hills, hills, hills, and more hills. Auckland has them absolutely everywhere. People tell themselves they are getting use to them but I think it’s all lies! Haha, the climb to my apartment up Wakefield Street makes me quiver a bit thinking about it. This could be because I have absolutely zero hiking experience and North Carolina is as flat as a board in comparison. One day a group of us decided to do some walking through Auckland and go see the view on top of Mount Eden. I thought the walk/very short hike up Mount Eden absolutely would be the biggest hill I would be climbing for a while (wrong!). A Cross Country team was training on the mountain- the highest point in Auckland. Some of the kids looked like they were being tortured and one member even said, “hey boys you want to go ahead and throw up so we can get this over with and finish early today?” If that team runs those hills everyday, I think they might be the fastest in the world, ha.
I understand now how people say reaching the top of the mountain is really satisfying. Not that this was a big mountain by any means, it is actually very small but regardless I still thought the view at the top was really cool. There was this huge valley along the way there and the friends of mine I went with wanted to go down it! I am very impressed with everyone else’s drive for adventure and willingness to do new things. It makes me happy that I have found people that will push me to try new activities that I wouldn’t normally. Stephie and Claudia have been wonderful to have around this trip, they give off so much positive energy and are unique from anyone I know. Usually when I meet people I am able to say, “you remind me of this person in my past…” But Claudia and Stephie are brand new types of people and I love it. Two guys I have become buddies with are Roman and Martin. To describe everyone a little…
Claudia is from Austria and has very cool looking light blue eyes. While she never played sports she is very good at them, including climbing trees. She likes to hike with her bare feet and is quite the pro at it. I once asked her if I needed shoes for a walk up a landmass alongside the beach. She said no and basically hopped uphill like a happy rabbit and I about pierced my feet with every rock possible. She doesn’t give herself enough credit for her English speaking capabilities; I think it is really cool that any of my friends here know two languages. Even though she may not know everything she wants to say all the time, it is so easy to tell she is very outgoing and social. She’s eager to learn and picks up things very quickly, already her English has improved so much. Claudia is the first person I’ve met that also use to set their alarm clock as a kid really early in the morning and keep hitting snooze to have vivid dreams. It is cool to find someone to talk about dreams with and how interesting and important they can be in our lives.
Stephie has short hair and can pull it off very well, when she is all dressed up she reminds me of the singer Pink. I find her a confident and strong person. I really like her style; she always has fun outfits on. For two years she was a nanny near Washington D.C. Her English is very good and her accent is not thick at all. Stephie is very smart and is right there with me with my sense of humor and often keeps me in tears laughing so hard. I can tell that she is dedicated to school and is a very responsible person but she also knows how to have a good time. I don’t think anyone could feel lonely when Stephie is around. She is always so accommodating to everyone. Lately a few of us have been doing a diner rotation and she has been so kind making sure that the food people are fixing does not have dairy in it. Everyone is so nice for accommodating me in meals, just one more month and I’ll try dairy again!
Roman is very tall and has two grey spots of hair spotted on the back of his head which he says he doesn’t like but I think it makes him look distinguished. He is a handsome guy and looks very young for his age; I never would have guessed he was 30. He is very good at climbing and does it often back home in Switzerland. His voice is quite distinct; it sounds quite calming and can be understood well. Roman’s masters is very interesting, I haven’t completely understood all of what he does but it has to do with forensics and computers. So I think that means he would be hired by a company to investigate fraud. I am hearing new names all of the time here and so far I think Roman has been the coolest. Martin is from Denmark and is a great person to hang out with. He is very well read and it is easy to strike up an interesting conversation with him. Martin knows a lot about many different topics. While he has his own opinions he is very open minded and willing to listen to new ideas and sides of an issue. Philosophical and intelligent with a good sense of humor describes him well. He is a great photographer and I really admire the pictures he has been taking.
Since it is summertime here it has been great checking out all of the beaches. I still think that every beach I have seen here tops any that I have seen in my past. I think one of the coolest parts about beaches in New Zealand is the fact that there are beautiful trees and grass as nice as a golf course right next to the sand. If you’re a person who hates sand but enjoys the water, New Zealand is the place to go because there are plenty of places on the lush green grass to chill out. A group of about 12 of us decided to spend some time on Waiheke Island. It is about a 30 minute ferry ride away from Auckland. The ferry was pretty sweet, I was expecting some slow ride but this boat really booked it! I had to be careful standing when I was taking pictures to not fall off or slip.
The place we stayed was called the Haneruka Lodge. It was amazing! There was a huge Native American TP built that a lot of our group slept in. The TP had about ten beds and it was pretty big. The hostel was different from any that I have seen so far. It was a five minute walk through the woods to get to it and the lodge was well hidden with trees. The owner of the hostel had the cutest dog ever and was definitely one of those guys who never wanted to grow up. Each night he stayed up as late as the rest of us pouring many people drinks while taking them down as well- the beer gut definitely was forming. He just decided one day to buy a hostel, but I think this means he was rich first somehow and then bought one. Although I really have no idea how much it would cost. There was also a pool that you could jump in from off the roof above and lots of tables under the trees.
All of us ended up staying two nights and each night we brought and cooked food from the store for dinner and breakfast. I really liked doing that, it was a lot cheaper and it gave all of us a chance to sit together and get to know each other. Some of the other girls I haven’t mentioned yet that came along too were Anita, Julia, and Alex and I am still getting to know all of them. Some of the other guys were Karston, Jakob, Peter, and Mario. Peter, Jakob, and Karsten came together as friends from Denmark-they make a good trio together.
When we were on the Island I was excited to Kayak for the first time. The water was choppy and wind strong- it was definitely a work out. But the scenery around us was awesome. It felt good getting soaked by the cold water because it was very sunny out. We stopped at a small little land mass and rested for a while. It was three hours of kayaking and a lot of fun. My partner was Mario and I believe he was a little upset that I couldn’t go faster! The motion took some getting use to, I think I will be better at it the next time.
As for the bike riding we did the next day…I failed pretty badly at keeping up! I was wearing sandals and didn’t bring any water with me. Big mistake for a 30 km bike ride up hills that you were so big you had to walk your bike up or peddle and go no where. So Mount Eden was not and will not be the end of big hills! I felt like I was holding the group back so I decided to go my own way. For the first time I hitch hiked! Haha, a guy named Dave who had a truck was very nice and offered to take me back to return the bike. I have been told by a lot of people that New Zealand is one of the safest places in the world to hitch hike and it is quite common. Dave was a builder on the Island and had lived there for about 12 years. What a cool life to live at a place like that. The whole group enjoyed hearing my story about Dave. I ended up going back by myself on the Ferry because I wanted to take some time to take some pictures. I feel like I haven’t been taking very many since I have been here. I am so impressed with seeing with my own eyes that I am finding it hard to take time out to adjust my lens. But I will start because I know that traveling is the greatest time for photos.
I understand now how people say reaching the top of the mountain is really satisfying. Not that this was a big mountain by any means, it is actually very small but regardless I still thought the view at the top was really cool. There was this huge valley along the way there and the friends of mine I went with wanted to go down it! I am very impressed with everyone else’s drive for adventure and willingness to do new things. It makes me happy that I have found people that will push me to try new activities that I wouldn’t normally. Stephie and Claudia have been wonderful to have around this trip, they give off so much positive energy and are unique from anyone I know. Usually when I meet people I am able to say, “you remind me of this person in my past…” But Claudia and Stephie are brand new types of people and I love it. Two guys I have become buddies with are Roman and Martin. To describe everyone a little…
Claudia is from Austria and has very cool looking light blue eyes. While she never played sports she is very good at them, including climbing trees. She likes to hike with her bare feet and is quite the pro at it. I once asked her if I needed shoes for a walk up a landmass alongside the beach. She said no and basically hopped uphill like a happy rabbit and I about pierced my feet with every rock possible. She doesn’t give herself enough credit for her English speaking capabilities; I think it is really cool that any of my friends here know two languages. Even though she may not know everything she wants to say all the time, it is so easy to tell she is very outgoing and social. She’s eager to learn and picks up things very quickly, already her English has improved so much. Claudia is the first person I’ve met that also use to set their alarm clock as a kid really early in the morning and keep hitting snooze to have vivid dreams. It is cool to find someone to talk about dreams with and how interesting and important they can be in our lives.
Stephie has short hair and can pull it off very well, when she is all dressed up she reminds me of the singer Pink. I find her a confident and strong person. I really like her style; she always has fun outfits on. For two years she was a nanny near Washington D.C. Her English is very good and her accent is not thick at all. Stephie is very smart and is right there with me with my sense of humor and often keeps me in tears laughing so hard. I can tell that she is dedicated to school and is a very responsible person but she also knows how to have a good time. I don’t think anyone could feel lonely when Stephie is around. She is always so accommodating to everyone. Lately a few of us have been doing a diner rotation and she has been so kind making sure that the food people are fixing does not have dairy in it. Everyone is so nice for accommodating me in meals, just one more month and I’ll try dairy again!
Roman is very tall and has two grey spots of hair spotted on the back of his head which he says he doesn’t like but I think it makes him look distinguished. He is a handsome guy and looks very young for his age; I never would have guessed he was 30. He is very good at climbing and does it often back home in Switzerland. His voice is quite distinct; it sounds quite calming and can be understood well. Roman’s masters is very interesting, I haven’t completely understood all of what he does but it has to do with forensics and computers. So I think that means he would be hired by a company to investigate fraud. I am hearing new names all of the time here and so far I think Roman has been the coolest. Martin is from Denmark and is a great person to hang out with. He is very well read and it is easy to strike up an interesting conversation with him. Martin knows a lot about many different topics. While he has his own opinions he is very open minded and willing to listen to new ideas and sides of an issue. Philosophical and intelligent with a good sense of humor describes him well. He is a great photographer and I really admire the pictures he has been taking.
Since it is summertime here it has been great checking out all of the beaches. I still think that every beach I have seen here tops any that I have seen in my past. I think one of the coolest parts about beaches in New Zealand is the fact that there are beautiful trees and grass as nice as a golf course right next to the sand. If you’re a person who hates sand but enjoys the water, New Zealand is the place to go because there are plenty of places on the lush green grass to chill out. A group of about 12 of us decided to spend some time on Waiheke Island. It is about a 30 minute ferry ride away from Auckland. The ferry was pretty sweet, I was expecting some slow ride but this boat really booked it! I had to be careful standing when I was taking pictures to not fall off or slip.
The place we stayed was called the Haneruka Lodge. It was amazing! There was a huge Native American TP built that a lot of our group slept in. The TP had about ten beds and it was pretty big. The hostel was different from any that I have seen so far. It was a five minute walk through the woods to get to it and the lodge was well hidden with trees. The owner of the hostel had the cutest dog ever and was definitely one of those guys who never wanted to grow up. Each night he stayed up as late as the rest of us pouring many people drinks while taking them down as well- the beer gut definitely was forming. He just decided one day to buy a hostel, but I think this means he was rich first somehow and then bought one. Although I really have no idea how much it would cost. There was also a pool that you could jump in from off the roof above and lots of tables under the trees.
All of us ended up staying two nights and each night we brought and cooked food from the store for dinner and breakfast. I really liked doing that, it was a lot cheaper and it gave all of us a chance to sit together and get to know each other. Some of the other girls I haven’t mentioned yet that came along too were Anita, Julia, and Alex and I am still getting to know all of them. Some of the other guys were Karston, Jakob, Peter, and Mario. Peter, Jakob, and Karsten came together as friends from Denmark-they make a good trio together.
When we were on the Island I was excited to Kayak for the first time. The water was choppy and wind strong- it was definitely a work out. But the scenery around us was awesome. It felt good getting soaked by the cold water because it was very sunny out. We stopped at a small little land mass and rested for a while. It was three hours of kayaking and a lot of fun. My partner was Mario and I believe he was a little upset that I couldn’t go faster! The motion took some getting use to, I think I will be better at it the next time.
As for the bike riding we did the next day…I failed pretty badly at keeping up! I was wearing sandals and didn’t bring any water with me. Big mistake for a 30 km bike ride up hills that you were so big you had to walk your bike up or peddle and go no where. So Mount Eden was not and will not be the end of big hills! I felt like I was holding the group back so I decided to go my own way. For the first time I hitch hiked! Haha, a guy named Dave who had a truck was very nice and offered to take me back to return the bike. I have been told by a lot of people that New Zealand is one of the safest places in the world to hitch hike and it is quite common. Dave was a builder on the Island and had lived there for about 12 years. What a cool life to live at a place like that. The whole group enjoyed hearing my story about Dave. I ended up going back by myself on the Ferry because I wanted to take some time to take some pictures. I feel like I haven’t been taking very many since I have been here. I am so impressed with seeing with my own eyes that I am finding it hard to take time out to adjust my lens. But I will start because I know that traveling is the greatest time for photos.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Finally another post
Ok so let me try to recap the past days! So much has happened that I have not wanted to spend any time sitting at the computer. But I will go back the best I can starting back on the road trip with Chels......
At last, a full day spent by the ocean. Waihi Beach was gorgeous with a trail that wrapped around the sea on a large land mass. I have never seen a beach like this before, it seemed as if it were a picture in books. Bright colors of blue and green water glistening in the sun was incredible. The ocean was too cold for me but Chelsea is a fish and jumped right in. The sun in New Zealand is very powerful. Both of us put on sun screen multiple times. Even with sunscreen and breaks from the sun for food, both of us soaked up many rays. I am glad that we decided to eat at a small little takeaway place right on the beach. Locals were popping in and out all day. The both of us could have split a meal easily; I have never seen so many fries and such large pieces of fish. The fish n’ chips were absolutely delicious and came wrapped up in massive pieces of newspaper. The batter was so tasty. I had ordered the same meal from a restaurant once since I had been in New Zealand but it did not even compare to this place.
It was one more night in Hamilton before I moved into my apartment in Auckland. I really had no idea what to expect, but was hoping that I did not get paired with 17 and 18 year old rowdy Americans. Luckily, I did not! Currently I am living with a German boy and girl. Ben and Kata are 24 years old and are going to school here for post graduate studies. Kata is studying design and Ben Engineering. Right before classes started another roommate joined us. His name is Marques from Brazil. All of their English capabilities really impress me. So far my roommates have been very friendly and also very structured. The four of us sat down for a meeting and each week all of us have assigned chores. Also, if we buy something we must put the price on a spreadsheet so if someone wants to share it, we evenly split the price amongst all of us. While it is more structured then I am use to, I am really happy that everyone is respectful and friendly. I think my spontaneity and sense of humor sometimes slightly confuses them. I have realized in my experiences so far that Germans are very prompt and put together.
My room is on the 12th floor and I have the corner bedroom with two windows. The entire side of my living room is also all glass. The view is quite amazing. I really don’t think I will ever be bored sitting in my apartment; there is so much to see just sitting at the table. You can look down at the harbor and watch all of the sailboats. Auckland is the city of sails, which I did not know. They are everywhere and really take over the water. I also have to be careful to keep my blinds down at night because I can see clearly into the buildings next to me. Some of the things I have witnessed across the way have been funny (haha no I am not a peeking Tom, it was not on purpose!). Although people watching on the street below by the bus stop is something I enjoy doing on the weekends, people really do some interesting things!
The first couple of days while I settled into my apartment Chelsea stayed in a hostel and planned her two weeks of traveling ahead of her to look for a job. While she was there at the hostel she met some cool people. Charlie was a young guy from England, Danny an American that went to Notre Damn and was surprisingly friends with a girl from my high school, and Scotty a recent graduate from Colorado. All of us went to a Rugby game one night and even though I knew nothing about the rules it was still a lot of fun. Charlie attempted to explain them to us, but I absorbed very little. One of her hostel mates was an Australian that was an amazing graffiti artist. He had hundred of pictures that he took of the huge murals he had spray-painted. He travels all around the world spray-painting amazing pictures that have something to do with the culture of the country he is in. I was very impressed with some of the locations and also the murals themselves.
So the same day of the Rugby game I met a girl who is now a good friend of mine. She is from Austria and her name is Claudia. How we met is a funny story. I live on 12f and she lives in 13f, an identical apartment to mine but on a different floor. That day she accidentally went into the wrong apartment when I was sitting at the kitchen table. I introduced myself thinking that she was my next roommate since we still had an empty room. After a few seconds she started to look very confused and realized she had walked into the wrong room. I am so glad she made that mistake! Later that night I met up with her and she introduced me to a couple of people she had been hanging out with as well. So that night I also met my good friends Stephie (from Germany), Roman (from Switzerland), and Martin (from Denmark). They are all really awesome people and each unique. Through these cool cats I met even more people who have all become good friends of mine.
A group of about 12 of us often hang out together and I am the only American. A lot of them speak German and Danish. To me it seems like German’s who speak English slightly sound like people from Ireland. I actually thought a couple of people I met were Irish and found out later they spoke German. It is funny what has happened to my language since I’ve been hanging out often with a lot of people who’s first language is not English. Instead of forming a New Zealand accent like I thought, I have been picking up a foreigner’s accent learning to speak English. For instance, instead of saying yes or yeah like I use to I now say yeaht. I also find myself tongue tied because I am always trying to find the perfect vocabulary or grammatical way to say something so my friends will be able to understand and learn from me. I am excited to help them understand new words and also teach them English slang, haha. Since I have been hanging out with so many people who speak German it is kind of making me want to learn German. I failed pretty badly at learning Spanish, but maybe something new could work for me. I think it is good that there is an American around so it forces them to speak English more instead of always their native language so I can be apart of the conversation. So knowing German would also be nice so I can listen to any secrets haha!
Learning cultural differences is really interesting to me. I think out of all of the different people I have hung out with, I differ the most from those who are from certain parts of Denmark. It seems that I am too forward or animated for them. It is something that I would like to be mindful of and respect them for our differences. This trip so far has been a big geography and history lesson. I really should have studied a map before going abroad. I feel emberassed at times that I don’t know which countries are where and what language is spoken in each country. For instanced, I did not know that people in Switzerland and Austria also speak German. I am also surprised how often the topic of World War II has come up. In particular, the English guy that Chelsea had met Charlie was especially sour about a lot of issues, especially about the outcomes of many wars.
Being an American studying abroad has been challenging in that there have been lots of stereotypes labeled onto me since I have been here. One person at a bar I was talking to even asked the question after hearing I was American, “Are you a porn star? I hear a lot of people from American are into porn.” It’s not like my clothes indicated anything, I was wearing a plain white tshirt and jean capris. Other international students also seem to know more about the American government than I do. And also expect that everything that the American government does is what I stand for. I hope that after getting to know people, I will push them away from the stereotypes against me and they will start to understand that every American is not the same as the stupid characters from “Jersey Shore.” I really enjoy the good friends that I have now because they do not classify me under any stereotypes and get to know and learn about me for whom I am and not every other American.
More to come, not close to caught up!
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