I arrived in Auckland yesterday and, from the outset, you'd have thought I was a giddy school girl on her way to the first day of middle school. Flying into New Zealand was incredible...its islands are outlined by sparkling teal waters and green mountains dot the surface. It truly looked just as it did in all the guide books.
Auckland is, for the most part, like any other U.S. city, save the hot accents and downright friendliness (that and some driving on the other side of the road). My friend Kim compares it to San Francisco, seeing that the streets are wickedly hilly.
A few things on New Zealand first - its people are known as Kiwis (so for the next 5 months don't be alarmed that I'm sharing many an adventure with a piece of fruit). On toilets- they have a half-flush and a whole-flush, which is crazy. According to the locals we met at an Irish pub last night, the separate buttons are for number one and two, respectively. I guess it's eco-friendly, if you will.
We ate along the harbor...which overlooks many sailboats (Auckland is known as the city of sails) and guessed on which food would taste good. Their food is surprisingly foreign. I was expecting a westernized cuisine. Anyways...

Last night I found myself among three Brits, a Canadian, a California Kim and many a Kiwi. We made our way to Murphy's Irish pub...a small joint that had a great band - played mostly covers, but played them really well. The Kiwis were so friendly, not shy to spark up conversation. What began as a quick bathroom stop at Burger King last night at about 1 am turned into a two hour laughing fest with some Maori boys. They filled us in on the local music scene and tried to teach us how to say the names of nz towns without sounding like dumb Americans. EVen today in the park, we had a chat with some Kiwis. (they recommended heading over to Mount Eden for a citywide view...which is where we're headed in a bit).
It's funny meeting people along the way, as every person asks us three things: a) where you're from. b) what you'll be studying. and c) who did you vote for. In fact, one of the girls was allowed in to a bar without her ID solely for the fact that she voted Kerry. We find ourselves apologizing quite often for our leader.
Tomorrow, providin that I wake up on time, I'm meeting my study abroad group to head over to Rotorua...where we'll have a Maori feast, go blackwater rafting (underground tubing basically) and what have yous. Then its off to Dunedin - everyone in Auckland has said I'll love it down there- very much a college town...but cold. I don't know - something tells me I can handle it! Off to buy the Katchafire cd - nz's premiere reggae band of the times. then its on to Mount Eden. I'm having a blast. This is going to be quite the adventure.