Akaroa: My first trip outside of Christchurch was a day spent with Julie and my 2 flatmates Jacob and Alex in Akaroa on the Banks Peninsula. We arrived after an hour and a half bus ride and hired kayaks to spend our afternoon kayaking around the harbor on a quest to find some of the rare Hector dolphins which Akaroa is known for. The weather was just as beautiful as the scenery which consisted of turquoise water, clear blue skies, and grassy mountains and hills surrounding the harbor. Jacob and I shared a kayak, swapped life stories, and thoroughly enjoyed singing I'm On A Boat (something that's been occuring quite often recently since I've been on so many boats). After an hour and a half or so of kayaking we decided to get out at this little rocky beach and climb up the side of one of the hills to get a good view. After climbing over a small electric fence and passing a few cows/bull we got to the top and turned around for a spectacular view. It was absolutely stunning and I was quite disappointed not to have my camera on me. Thankfully since it was the first stunning experience and landscape I had encountered in New Zealand I don't think it's something I will ever forget. After we walked back down and found some awesome seashells and paua shells on the beach we hopped back in our kayaks and paddled against the current back to the village still in search for some dolphins. Just when we had about given up hope b/c the village was in our sights and the dolphins are usually found out at the other end of the harbor by the sea, 2 dolphins swam right up to our kayak about 3 feet away. It was absolutely one of the coolest experiences of my life! I was totally in awe and incredibly excited since one of the main things I wanted to do in NZ was swim with dolphins in the wild. The pair continued to swim alongside us at a further distance for about 15 minutes, ah it was just so cool! By the time we got back after about 3.5 hours of kayaking we were exhausted and starving. We got the most amazing seafood lunch at this little seaside restaurant and had our first taste of Monteith's Crushed Hard Apple Cider which we fell in love with. Luckily for me hard cider is a huge thing here and it's sooooo gooooooood! After lunch we returned to Christchurch exhausted, sunburned, and overjoyed with our awesome day in Akaroa.
Classes: So as compared to the typical 5 classes per semester in Geneseo, the typical course load in NZ is 3-4 classes and it's even possible to take 2 and still be considered a full time student. I'm taking 3 classes: strategic management, international business (referred to as IB which always makes me laugh bc it makes me think of the IB in Geneseo) and marketing research, all of which are counting towards my degree back home. I have 2 classes on Monday, none on Tuesday, and 1 on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday…it's great and my earliest class is 10 which is even better. Only 1 of my classes requires homework which is 2 online quizzes per week. Other than I have 1-3 tests/projects per class and a final . Since there are 25,000 students enrolled class size is about 100-120 for all of my lectures. I'm shocked at how small the campus is for so many people. Honestly it doesn't feel that much bigger than the Geneseo campus. It's definitely bigger but not nearly as big as I expected it to be. Since class sizes are bigger, there's fewer classes, and some buildings have more than 2 floors the campus is quite compact. Unfortunately people don't go to class as casual here as in Geneseo ie: no sweatpants and t shirt combos. However heaps of people (guys and girls both) go to class barefoot and on skateboards and long boards .
Lectures are pretty boring just like back home but what's really nice is that all the lectures and powerpoints are posted online before class which makes note taking so easy. In my 2 or 3 week (I cant remember) I had to give a group presentation in this huge lecture hall in front of my 115 classmates which was pretty nerve racking but it's over now and I don't have that much to worry about for the rest of the semester. I've also taken 1 test which unlike home was quite formal. It was like taking a Regents exam in high school-had to arrive early, bags had to be left at the front of the room, exam booklets, pencils, and answer booklets were laid out every other seat and it was timed. Also exams are all at night and not scheduled during regular class time.
Something random: my group memebers thought it was crazy that I've never seen a bear, they think they're all over the U.S….they don't have bears or really much other land wildlife besides birds here oh and possums which are actually quite cute and fuzzy compared to the scary nasty variety of possums we have back home.
