Renee's Canterbury Tales: The past 24hour update.

So I have been in New Zealand for about 24 hours now. Which is really weird to think considering I left on Sunday night and it is now Wednesday afternoon. As I was flying I watched the little map of the plane cross over the "International Date Line" as I crossed into the future! Haha. The flight was not too bad actually, the airlines said it was going to be 13.5 hours when it only took 12 hours. I like the new trend of lying about the air time to make you feel better when you get there sooner than expected. The flight was delayed half an hour in LA but still made it to New Zealand around 10am on Tuesday. A group of us from my program met outside the airline gates and got our luggage and went through customs very easily. We could not believe how empty the whole airport was. No lines at all, completely different than LAX. So after being question by customs about the type of soil on my hiking shoes (New Zealand has a VERY strict biosecurity as they do not want people bringing in any plant or animal diseases) all of us took a shuttle to the place we would be staying for orientation. The weather was beautiful, sunny and warm. Much nicer than the cold and foggy Fresno winter I was stuck in...

After checking in and getting our rooms we dropped our bags off and went to lunch at the dining commons. I am staying in one of the few doubles with Tara. She will be going to the University of Auckland so I won't be going to school with her. :( After lunch a group of us headed out to explore the city and get cellphones. We all came to the conclusion that Auckland is like a cleaner, less crowded LA with a beautiful harbor. We walked around pretty much the whole afternoon and decided to head home once we were all sunburned and exhausted. The sun is much stronger here than in the US and of course I failed to listen and did not wear sunscreen! Everyone rested and cleaned up before dinner and we all decided to go out that night and explore the nightlife. I'm pretty sure everyone, including myself, had a great time.

As for today, it's almost lunch time and not sure what the plan is after. Maybe more exploring or beach or hiking or all the above? Today is the last day before orientation starts tomorrow so we have the whole day off. Then it is five days of orientation in Auckland and a week of freedom before I have to head to Christchurch for my orientation at Univ of Canterbury.

Now for a few photos..more to come on Facebook!