There is an overwhelming amount of information to take in moving to this new city, getting adjusted to the school, meeting new people, and observing the cultural differences. Just being here one day it is hard to ignore the absolute beauty that this city holds. From an infrastructure perspective, the sidewalks are so wide and clean compared to most U.S. cities and there is a much lower homeless population on the street. It seems like no matter where you are, there is always breath-taking views and sites.
Here is the park that’s just across the street from my dorm and next to campus. The trees are huge and hundreds of years old. In the background you can see the Sky Tower, a distinct part of the city’s skyline and a building I’m hoping to get to the top of one of these days.
I was lucky enough to be able to also travel to Northland, which is a few hours north of Auckland. This was a drastic change from the city, scattered with farmland and hills that gave incredible views of the massive amounts of land and natural resources this country has. We learned about their resource conservation while facing land needs from the local farmers and spoke with everyone from dairy farmers to developers to political leaders about the issue.
Here is the view from one of these vantage points. Even with the amount of land being put in covenants (land preservation areas), the kiwis consider the encroachment of dairy farmland on the natural landscape concerning. In comparison to the U.S., which relies generally on corn-fed factory dairy farms, this conflict was really interesting to observe.
Although this was all amazing to learn about, the most interesting part of the trip was interacting with my kiwi classmates. You would think that English is English but it is sometimes very hard to understand the New Zealand vernacular (togs are a bathing suit) but I am having so much fun learning.
Our first introduction to the University of Auckland was an orientation session for international students on Monday morning. What stood out the most was the opening which was a Maori dance called the Haka. Maori traditions and words are everywhere in New Zealand, showing their connection to their indigenous people. This respect was also very contrasting to the U.S.’s relationship with the Native Americans.
After the presentation, the university held an Amazing Race for students to get acquainted with each other and the city. Auckland city isn’t that large but it was really helpful in learning where everything was with a fun twist.
At my on-campus apartment building we also had O-week celebrations, including barbecues, movie nights and Carlaw Olympics. University of Auckland puts on its own O-week as well with a weeklong club/student activities fair, concerts in the park and vender booths. They have done an amazing job getting students to interact and making everyone feel welcome, and classes have just started!
We took a day trip to a friend’s bach (beach house) in Mangawhai. This is just one of the stunning views I witnessed. After sunset, the sky was so clear that I could see the most stars I’ve ever seen in my life.
