New Zealand Blog

Since this is more of a magic blog... with things in it that non-magicians probably don't want to read, I've started a blog focused just on my trip to New Zealand. If you're interested, here's the link:

http://abroadinaotearoa.blogspot.com/

Astonishment in Aotearoa

I'm writing from Aotearoa, the Land of the Long White Cloud. In English, Aotearoa is crudely translated to "New Zealand." It's a small island nation off the coast of Australia with rolling hills, beautiful harbors, glaciers, many species of endangered flightless birds, flocks upon flocks of sheep, and, of course, it's home to the legendary hobbits.

Fortunately, it seems my very presence on this island has driven New Zealand's monkeys into the sea... where they are all currently permanently checking their eyelids for holes. What does that mean? Go ahead. Check your own eyelids for holes. Check for a minute or two... and then imagine doing that for ETERNITY.

While you check your eyelids, I'll go ahead and talk about my experiences these past few days. It's been wicked fun... and, as they say here, totally sweet as!

Yeah.. er.. By the way, since I didn't manage to take my camera out of my bags yet for this four day orientation, I'll find pictures online to show you what I saw.

July 2nd: I got onto an Air New Zealand jet from LAX. On the plane, I watched 21 (about Black Jack) while the flight attendants served some of us free red wine and coffee. I was a little surprised by the wine, but it was a sign that I had left the States.

July 4th: After thirteen hours on a plane, I discovered that a giant line in the middle of the Pacific Ocean has eaten the 3rd of July. I also discovered that it was no longer 7/4. It was 4/7. And, worst of all, it was winter.

I called home, traded my nice, green rectangular dollars for colorful and strangely cut Monopoly money, and set foot onto Middle Earth. I discovered that food here is called "kai," and the comment "sweet as" actually means "cool" or... "awesome" or.. something like that. It's not actually a comment on.. you know... er.. yeah.

The organizers of the IFSA-Butler program picked us up from the airport and helped us combat our jet lag by spraying water on us every time we drifted towards sleep. No... wait. Nature did that all by itself. We went for a wander around our orientation place, also known as Shakespear Lodge. I watched two giant, hairy pigs eat the previous day's leftovers, learned a bit about the sheep shearing process, and dodged sheep poo and puddles of water on a hike (here, a hike is known as a tramp) up a hill towards a lookout point. There, I saw the beautiful scenery, the faraway city of Auckland across the bay, and a small island where the nation's indigenous animals and plants are watched over and protected.

I stayed in that blue house there.

I'm disappointed that I didn't managed to dig my camera out of my luggage by then, but the staff and my fellow IFSA-Butler students took a lot of pictures. At one point I'll get those pictures from them, and I'll put the real ones up.

Once the wander around the place was over, we went back to the Lodge for some kai (food).

The beach where we kayaked.

Then, with my leg muscles sore from the short hike, I jumped on a kayak with another student and paddled a bit around the shore. There was a shipwreck by the beach (literally), a constant wind pushing us back, and a little shore with little crabs, snails, and sharp rocks. I hopped around a bit on bare feet before paddling back. On our way back, one of our kayaking guides decided that we should play a little game. We pulled two kayaks together. My fellow rower and I sat, straddling the two boats, and used everything we had in us to pull the two boats together... while the other two rowers stood up and rowed...

An authoritative voice ordered all four of us to stand.
All of a sudden, three of us were standing. I was still sitting, trying to stand... and - no - the boats were separating. I sat back down, trying to pull the two together. Without my partner, I failed.

And, needless to say, I happened to be one of the three people there that day who fell into the cold, winter salt water.

After some more kai and a quick warm rinse in the shower, we went to some hot springs where we could finally warm up and relax. There was more kai after that and, finally, at 8pm, I hit the sleeping bag.

5 July: The next day, we started off with a morning Pub-less Quiz that both tested and informed us about basic New Zealand stuff. The Quiz was formatted as a multiple choice competition between small groups. At one point or another, each group had to give a little presentation/skit/song/dance/anything about the previous day. I used this time to introduce a little magic to the trip... and did that one, you know, where "The card just went all the way to the other side."

Heh.. it wasn't too hard, but it was effective. And fun.

Then came the Rogaining. I think it stands for... "Recreational outdoor gaming activity involving navigation." It was basically a gigantic scavenger hunt across the entire establishment... up and down small mountains, across electric fences, through sheep paddocks and poop hills, across streams and small rivers, and... well... wow. My leg muscles swelled and ached, my hiking boots are covered in mud, and I was soaked in the cold rain. But wow. Despite all that, I have to admit... it was kinda fun.

And, if you were wondering, my group got 5th place out of 8th. Not great work, but not too shabby either.

After getting wet and eating some kai, we went out onto a grass field near the beach (I guess everything here is near the beach) and learned to play Rugby. It wasn't too hard. The back and forth movement is tiring on the legs, but they're getting used to the movement... and hey - I think my defense isn't too bad.

After rugby dried us up, it was time for the "activity of your choice" time. We could either do some rock climbing (up and down a wall), shoot some arrows in an archery session, go mountain biking, or try our hand at mountain boarding.

I decided to take the risk... and go down a giant hill on what was, essentially, a skateboard.

Yeah. Um. I screamed a bit. Fell a bit. Twisted my ankles and legs into weird positions. Fell face first into sheep poo... and turned my pants into a yucky brown color. That's all. Wasn't much to it.

Then I showered. Was briefed on the correct procedure to use in the Maori welcoming ceremony. And fell asleep soon afterwards (thus missing my first chance to watch an All Blacks rugby game).

6 July: The IFSA-Butler staff separated us into Auckland University students and Canterbury students. We were briefed on academic information and campus life... then we learned two Maori songs and an American one (Amazing Grace). We packed and loaded the trucks. While we waited to leave, the guys played cricket...

We went to the Auckland Museum and then we headed off to the Marae...

Since it seems I've gotten to the point where I'm skipping over some major details, I'll save the Marae visit for another day. I want to do this part some credit. I'll be back later to finish this up. Good bye for now.