Hello everyone--

Well I have been an absolute failure at keeping a journal since I've been in New Zealand so perhaps the ability to type about the experience will encourage me to not only be more thorough, but it will force me to write anything at all. I am currently writing from the comfort of my dorm room in Auckland, New Zealand: room 322. I am trying this blogging notion on for size because I'm not 100% sure how I feel about it just yet. Ultimately, I know there are many wonderful people out there with whom I'd like to stay in touch. I think what I like about blogging is that it allows you, the reader, to be proactive in your interaction with me. Haven't heard from me? Check the blog!

As a general review, I am in New Zealand and have been here for 3 weeks now. I am living in Auckland at The Railway Campus (that's the brick building up there), studying at the University, and internning at the Auckland Museum.

Courses I'm Taking

• English 333- New Zealand Literature III- This course is taught by three professors and covers the poetry, short fiction, novels, and films of Polynesia. One of my professors wrote the book The Whale Rider which of course inspired the movie which many of you may have seen. The course is very interesting because it's a field of English literature that I would never have come across at Boston University. The tough part so far has been that there is certainly an assumed amount of knowledge of the material. Everyone knows who Albert Wendt is, right? Don't worry, I didn't either, but his work among others has been pervasive and influential throughout Pacific Islanders. There's a lot to be learned, here, about the struggle between native populations and colonisers.

• English 347-Poetry Off the Page- This course is taught by two professors simultaneously. It is a new course that they're trying out which looks at poetry in all its forms outside of its typical published form. The first day that the class met happened to be New Zealand Poetry Day. In its honor, we went around campus and wrote poetry in chalk on the pavement. We also took pictures of the whole day and posted them on the web. That evening we attended a poetry reading of local poets. Our assigments are all handed in by posting them on the course website. It has been a very progressive and interesting way to look at poetry.

• SS315- History, Society, and Politics of Aotearoa New Zealand- This course is only for the BU students--all 17 of us. It is joint taught by three different professors from various departments at the University of Auckland. This course has been invaluable for my understanding of other coursework as well as the society around me. We have discussed the relationships between the Maori (the first people to inhabit New Zealand in 800AD) and the Pakeha (Maori word for "different," aka--the European settlers). We've learned about the national rugby team, the All Blacks, and other factors that foster national identity here such as: green landscape, beaches, and sheep. Our current professor, Steve, makes attending class like a two hour stand-up comedy routine: informative and hysterical!

Places I've Been So Far

• Piha Beach- On the first day here, BU took us on a bus trip not far from Auckland. One of our stops was at Piha Beach. This beach is seen as the quintessential Aucklander's beach. It also is one of the most dangerous beaches on the planet due to incredible rips and currents. We played in the very fine black sand for a couple hours and dipped our feet in the water.

• Mt. Eden- This is a dormant (we're told) volcano in Auckland. Given how lush and green the crater is, I don't think there's too much liquid hot magma getting ready to spurt out...I hope...

• Rangitoto Island- This island is also a dormant volcano that's located in the harbor not far from Auckland. We took a ferry out to it for a day trip to go tramping--not hiking, but tramping. It was beautiful and provided some great views of Auckland.

• The Bay of Islands--Yet another BU sponsored trip. I have finally found where tuition goes! We drove north from Auckland for about 4 hours to the town of Paihia. We stayed here while doing mostly educational things (ha!). We checked out the former capital of New Zealand, Russell. There we saw the Pompellier House which was a small place formed by Catholic missionaries to print and bind bibles in Maori in order to spread Catholicism. We also went to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds which is where in 1840 the Maori and Pakeha peoples both signed a treaty to respect Maori traditions, but more importanly to acknowledge themselves as a nation (albeit under British sovereignty). We got to see the haka (Maori war dance) performed and the Waitangi Meeting House which is covered with the wooden carvings of Maori tribes from all over New Zealand.

First, Sunny Russell, and then the Pompellier House

View of the Bay of Islands from the Waitangi Treaty Grounds

• Well now that the educational bit of Bay of Islands is out of the way, we did have quite a bit of non-classroom fun. We had a BBQ courtesy of BU and our program directors Kevin and Julie. We also participated in karaoke at "The Salty" (apparently BU has a running record of always winning...we didn't disappoint this year, either). I also went quad biking--aka ATVing!

Here we have a couple of fabulous renditions that the boys turned out. First Jon, Nate, and Rory serenade our program director, Julie, with the Righteous Brothers' "Lovin' Feeling." Next, Nate, Erik, Steve, Rusty, and Jon belt out The Backstreet Boys', "I Want it That Way." I'd like to take this opportunity to point out that Steve is the professor of our SS315 course (brown jacket, in case that needed clarification). While he'd like to pretend that singing the Backstreet Boys was somehow degrading, I must point out the emotion in his boy-band hand gestures.

First we have our program director, Julie, proving her sobriety to us. In the next image, we have one of my finer moments performing "Sweet Caroline" with Jon: "So good, so good, so good!" Some other songs that ended up being performed by the BU Crew at Karaoke included: Dancing Queen, I Don't Want to Miss a Thing, Like a Prayer, and Ring of Fire. Nothing quite like Johnny Cash karaoke!

In the first picture you can see me on my quad bike flying through a stream with Anya and Sass behind me. The second, while it might appear to be a stock photograph for a Windows backdrop, is actually one of many amazing views from the property on which we got to ride.

What kind of collection of Betsy's photos would this be without the adorable wildlife that she's encountered along the way? First is Dippy the miniature horse and then Ruby the pregnant border collie. Mom can we get a puppy?

While Becca, Anya, Sass, and I were busy quad biking, the boys went kayaking. Their trusty guide also taught them how to do the haka which they then performed on the guide's brother's bar that evening.

The Cast of Characters

• The Group- The group consists of 17 people mostly from BU with one from Colorado College, one from Wheaton College, 2 from St. Mike's, and one from University of Central Arkansas.

• Julie and Kevin- These two helped to get us acclimated to New Zealand and assist with our troubles. They also lead us on fun excursions to places like the Bay of Islands!

• Becca and Sass- These are my two darling roommates. Becca is from Brooklyn, NY and Sass is from Boca Raton, FL. We are having a fantastic time together and are getting along better than great. That's our mascot, Kiwi, prominently displayed in the photo with us. (Sass is on the left and Becca's in the middle)

Important New Zealand Vernacular

• Kiwi- New Zealander
• Kia Ora- Hello
• Jandles- Flip-flops
• Dairy- Quickie Mart/ Store 24
• Sweet As- Cool, general affirmative
• Bitsy- New Zealand pronunciation of my name
• Shout- Foot the Bill as in :"I'll shout this round of drinks, you get the next shout"
• L&P- Lemon & Paeroa, New Zealand's most famous softdrink, carbonated lemonade meets water?
• Aotearoa- Maori name for New Zealand
• Maori- First inhabitants of New Zealand of Polynesian or Melanesian descent (pronounced Mawh-ree)
• Capsicum- Green Pepper
• Chocolate Fish-- Marshmallow covered in chocolate--given as a token for a job well done (learned this one in class when we all got them!)
• gum boots- rubber boots, gollashes
• lift- elevator
• take-aways- food "to-go" While the terms are not too far off in meaning people look at you like you have 6 heads if you say "you'll have something to-go"
• tramping- hiking, has no connection to prostitution
• vegemite- yeast based spread that tastes like salt meets soy sauce, BLECK
• Zed- the letter Z, as in En Zed= NZ