Kia Ora! (Maori [native people of New Zealand] for, Hello!)
The orientation to New Zealand begins! First off —
I”M IN NEW ZEALAND!! MIDDLE-EARTH!!! THAT”S AWESOME!
As we stepped off the plane and made our way through the airport, this was one of the first signs I saw:
Needless to say it gave me goosebumps!
WOW!! What a way to begin a semester!
First, the flight from LAX to Fiji was the longest flight I have ever taken; roughly 11 hours! I will never complain about a two hour flight again… But the plane was huge and incredible!
We arrived in Fiji around 5 AM and from there rushed through customs to get to the exit and (hopefully) arrive to the ferry on time to get us to the island that we would be staying at for the next 4 days. At this point I didn’t really know many of students I was traveling with because my time in LAX was cut a lot shorter than I would have liked. [Thank you issues at the check-in counter…. *sarcasm eye roll*]
Once through the Fijian customs I had to quickly switch around a few belonging in my bags because we could only take a backpack to the island. Our bigger checked bags were then taken to the Radison Hotel on the mainland, where we would spend our last night in Fiji.
Luckily the entire group arrived at the ferry with just enough time to spare. Finally, after several plane rides, very little sleep, and tons of airport stress we were all able to relax on our three hour ferry ride to Naviti Island. This also finally gave us all time to get to know each other. The scenery wasn’t too bad either:
Once we arrived on Naviti Island we welcomed with chilled refreshments and some Fijian music and song played by the resort staff.
Well, here I go again! As Bilbo Baggins would say:
“I’m off on an adventure!”
Tomorrow I will embark on my second semester abroad! This time I’ll be heading to New Zealand with The Education Abroad Network, or TEAN for short. There I will be studying at Massey University in Palmerston North, New Zealand (on the north island) aka Palmy, as I’ve read it is commonly referred to by the locals. Overall I will be in NZ for roughly 5 months. 5 MONTHS!!! That may sound like a long time but after how quickly last semester went by I know that the end of my NZ Adventure will come sooner than I hope. Better make the most of it I guess! And I can’t think of a better way to start a semester long program in New Zealand than with a pre-semester trip to Fiji! [Side note: TEAN, you rock for offering this!!]
Emerson Was Right 