Kia ora! It’s the end of my first week in Hamilton, New Zealand and so much has happened! I arrived at my flat last Saturday, expecting to spend the day unpacking, but instead my new flatmates Allie and Morgan told me they were going to Mt. Maunganui, or The Mount, and invited me to come.

I threw some clothes into my backpack and we were on our way to the East coast. Allie had a caravan so we stayed there for the night. The next morning, we climbed the Mount, looking out at the amazing views of the ocean and the white beaches.

The next few days passed in a blur with so much to do. Orientation, flat dinners, setting up my room and exploring in town. I met my other flatmates, Josh, Sean, Tyler and Ha

nnah and they introduced me to some Kiwi lingo. Basically you can add “as” to the end of pretty much anything. Sweet as, burned as, hungry as…I’ve already started using them.

 One thing I’ve noticed about New Zealand so far is that everyone is incredibly friendly and always willing to help you out. On Wednesday, we decided to take a trip to the hot springs. We took the bus to the closest town to the springs, Ngaruawahia. It was tiny and it was still 32km to the springs. We went into a shop to ask for a taxi’s number and the lady behind the counter said “a what?” which left us in a sticky situation. We were about to turn around and take the bus back, but the lady, Kelly, said that she would call her mum and see if she would drive us. We were so amazed that “Nana” as she insisted on us calling her, would take the time to drive some random strangers. Nana ended up waiting while we swam and then driving us the senic route back to Hamilton. We made a new friend and plan on going back and visiting her!

We experienced this generosity again on Saturday. My friend Meg and I took the bus out to Raglan beach on the West Coast and met some international students out there. We had a wonderful day surfing but when it was time to head from the beach back into town, our only option, as the bus driver has told us earlier, was to hitchhike. We were skeptical at first but soon just walked up to a young couple who were getting into their car in the car park and asked if they’d drive us. They replied that “Of course they would” and suggested a fish and chip shop for us to grab dinner at. They ended up coming and eating with us and telling us about some of the local culture.

 So far, so good. Bring on next week! It’s O-Week, which is short for orientation week and has a reputation for being crazy, with all the bars having themed parties and foam pits.

Karen

Location: Hamilton, New Zealand