Hello All,
As I write this to you, I am currently sitting on my double bed that I will be sleeping in for 5 months! I have quickly gotten settled, and have been told to 'RELAX' by Greg (the husband of the family that I am living with!). So, I have unpacked everything, but have not decorated yet, still need to hang the pictures that I have brought and to make the room "Karenized". But, before I rant on about the room and decore, I will first have to tell you the story of how I got to be in this beautiful land.
Sunday - All the rest of the family (besides Heather) came to drop me off at the airport. It was exciting to know that I was the one leaving, instead of Heather, as that has been the case the last few times I have gone to the airport. So, went to the bathroom before checking in my bags, but before I could check in my bags, who do I see walking down towards me? My housemates from St.Catharines! What a surprise! (Or lack of surprise, because unfortunately my subletter had let the cat out of the bag the night before when he was saying goodbye). Oh well, still amazing to see them before I left! :) They eventually left because they had school work to do, which is totally understandable, and then it was only my family and I left. We had lunch and waiting for a bit, and then I decided that it was time to say "Goodbye" and be on my way. So, after only a few tears (surprisingly) I made my way through security (which I did not get stopped at!) and made my way to the gate that my plane was leaving from. Sat down, and got to go on the internet to update people about the status of my trip before I spotted the perfect present for the family I was going to stay with. Right to my left was a store with Canadian Maple Syrup in a Maple Leaf glass container. I quickly bought that and was just waiting for boarding. Once they called my section, I got up and got into line, and into the plane with great ease. On the plane ride to Vancouver, I sat beside this lovely girl about the same age as me, but we didn't talk much. Basically just a "hello" and "Can I please get by you because I need to use the bathroom". The plane ride felt long, but that was because I didn't bring my headphones in my purse and my backpack (where they were) was in the compartment above the seats. So, I read Beth's plane letter for me which was soooo funny and did some Sudoku's before I had to go to the bathroom and then retrieved my headphones from my backpack. That is the problem with being in a window seat, you have to be the one who needs to say excuse me, and such. So, that plane ride was good once I got my headphones and could watch some movies/listen to some music.
So, got off that plane ride and on to the next one. I didn't need to get my baggage because it was automatically transferred to Auckland, so I went all the way around the airport (to the totally opposite side) to catch my next flight. On the way there, I saw the girl who was sitting beside me, I asked her where she was going and she quickly explained that she was going on exchange to New Zealand, to Otago University. I gasped and told her I was doing the same thing. SO, I had a travel buddy and it came in handy waiting in Auckland for 8 hours. So, we got settled at the next gate and got ready for the next flight to Auckland. The big flight, 13 hours!!! We talked to our moms who were ready with questions about the trip and the next one. We met a nice New Zealand girl who was on high school exchange in Ontario, and we talked to her a bit. A quick 3 hour wait and we were on the next flight. Unfortunately, we did not get to sit beside each other again, but I did sit beside a nice Canadian couple who were on their way to a holiday in New Zealand, so we chatted a bit but nothing too deep and got on our way. The airplane served both dinner and breakfast so we were well feed, but being on the window again it was hard to flag down a stewardess if you wanted water, or something to drink, so I just waited patiently until one actually took notice of me. The plane ride was overnight so I attempted to sleep for most of it. It was hard to try and get comfy in a little seat, but I got around 6 hours or real sleep, but I attempted for most of the ride to sleep. I got up only twice to go to the bathroom which were nice and close to me, but surprisingly my legs were not very sore after the plane ride.
Monday - was on the 13 hour plane ride. Didn't do much, but sleep! (What a great Valentine's day!)
Tuesday - I soon caught up with Alex (the girl I sat beside on the first plane) and we got our luggage to go through customs and such with. And that went smoothly too. I changed my shirt and was ready to go again. It was hot and muggy in Auckland! So, with 8 hours to kill, Alex and I decided to walk to the Domestic Terminal and then decide what to do from there. We met a girl who was going to study at another University (or "Varsity" here) so we chatted with her for a while, but her plane left way before ours, so we parted ways from her. We decided that we were going to go see the city for a bit so we walked down to the 'airport shopping centre' and found a little cafe with internet. So, we stopped there to update Canada that we have survived the long overnight trek to New Zealand. So, after that we decided to go back and wait at the airport, which we decided later, that we should have waited until later, because after 2 hours of waiting by our gate, we were deathly bored, and tired, and just saying the most ridiculous things! About 30 minutes to our boarding time I remembered that I had cards and we played Crazy Eights until we asked a person at the airport if we were at the right gate. She told us we weren't, because they had changed gates around, so we managed to find our way to the right gate and take the short 2 hour flight to Dunedin! It was light the entire way so I looked out the window at the mountains and then patchwork fields! It was beautiful! I took pictures, but they didn't show the beauty of them. We got into Dunedin 4pm their time and it was absolutely beautiful! The rolling hills, and the grass so green! It was just plain gorgeous. I got off the plain, and met up with Alex again, got out of the gate and saw Greg and Devon (their 10 month ago girl) waiting there. So, Alex and I met them and then got our bags. Alex and I then parted ways after the journey we had took together.She is just living downtown near the University, so I am sure I will see her often! :)
So, Greg and I packed the car and we drove back into town. Went past the beach where people were surfing and then picked up Celia (Greg's wife) when on the way "home". I got the grand tour of the house and then unpacked and showered. Had a dinner of potatoes and a mish-mash of vegetables (delicious!) and then updated facebook, and went to bed at 9. It was a LONG trip but so worth it. It is now 11:30 on Wednesday and Greg is going to go show me around campus!
This was a ridiculously long post, and I doubt these posts are going to be this long. BUT that is all that is up with me at the moment!
Love to all!
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