Massey Orientation

I have now been at my flat in Lucas Creek for a week and am finally all settled. The first few days consisted of me walking to the mall and back multiple times a day in order to get everything that I needed. I knew that I would need a few things but I ended up spending a little more than I thought. I was able to get all my bedding for $90 though so that was pretty awesome and I only got a couple of weird looks during the half hour walk back to my flat! Now I only have to go to the mall for the grocery store which I don't mind since I actually like food shopping. It is defiantly weird shopping though. I have never shopped where I needed to get every single ingredient. Last week I was cooking chicken and forgot to get olive oil since thats always just been in the kitchen. I also didn't have any salt or pepper. I've noticed that they have much fewer brands here which makes sense seeing as there are only 5 million people in the entire country. All in all though they have some pretty good food here. The restaurants are exceptional as long as you stay away from places that you are used to going to in the states. For example, Domino's has a deal where you can get a large pizza for $5 anytime as long as it's carry out. Sadly it did not even taste remotely similar to the pizza back home.

Enough about food though! I love the location of my flat. It's a 20 minute walk to campus and about 30 minutes to all the shopping. In order to get anywhere you have to cut through a park which is kind of our backyard. It even has a zip line which I have in fact used to get home (but only when there are no families to judge me). There is also a nice area along the creek where you can sit and relax. It's a great place to pass through everyday and kind of relaxes you. Once you get through the park there is supposed to be a shuttle to take you to campus. I have yet to catch it though seeing as it tends to disregard the schedule completely. Luckily it hasn't rained too hard yet and I don't mind the walk.
Overview of the park
Orientation itself didn't consist of much. There were a few meetings we had to go to and a couple fun events. The pub quiz was the highlight of the week. It's basically like trivia night at a bar. My team should have won but I think we got disqualified since we had too many people. I think we had 11 but the limit was supposed to be 5... oh well. We were not happy since first prize was a $100 bar tab! It was still a grab event and a nice way to meet new people.
The pub quiz crew
Today was the first day of classes for most people but I don't have classes on Mondays or Tuesdays so I still have a day of summer/winter vacation left. I also just found out that I don't have a Friday class this week and the the rest of the weeks it's optional. It's going to be a tough semester :p

I'm looking forward to seeing how my classes are and also to the first post orientation IFSA-Butler event. We have a catch up dinner Thursday and it will be nice to see everyone who is going to the University of Auckland.

Ps. I completely forgot that I went on a hike Friday. It was a really nice day and I had no plans so I looked up local hikes and caught a bus over to Long Bay. There were some great views and it was nice to go on a little adventure.
My favourite pic from that day
The trees grew out from the cliff and covered the beach

Comments

  1. KatelynJuly 16, 2012 at 10:48 AM

    SO JEALOUS.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lisa RitterJuly 17, 2012 at 9:30 PM

    did you just spell favorite with a u?! who have you become :O love that picture from the hike though

    ReplyDelete
  3. MikeJuly 18, 2012 at 6:38 AM

    hahaha I didn't even notice that! My computer changes it automatically! And thanks I'm working on being artsy :P

    ReplyDelete

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