Well, I've finally made it to New Zealand. Almost 11 months after applying to this program on somewhat of a whim, I've made it. It feels pretty darn good, I have to say. Only, I'm struggling to keep my eyes open at the moment from the 24 hours of travel it took to reach this isolated island.
I boarded my United Airlines flight at 11:30 on February 15th at JFK airport in New York. It took six hours to reach L.A., some of which was spent sleeping, some of which was spent staring at Chris Noth (Mr. Big from SATC) and a few more reality television personalities, all of whom were on my flight. I read a bit, listened to music, read a bit more, and dozed. It was a pretty uneventful 6 hours.
After we finally landed, my friend Tyler and I met up with our friend Karlee- my roommate next year at school- who'd flown from Arizona. Famished, we waited in the tremendously long security lines that only LAX could manage, then made a mad dash for the nearest restaurant. As Karlee and I sat at the table talking, we noticed a man being escorted from the upstairs section of the airport by two other men and a flight attendant.
"Karlee, is that George Clooney?"
"Yes. Yes, it is..."
We both gazed for a moment, then whipped out our phones in a desperate attempt to catch him before he disappeared into the crowd. Just at that moment, the older fellow who'd been sitting in front of us decided it was the perfect moment to stand up and walk right in front of our cameras...
But it's ok because we chase after George and became his best friends and he invited us to his house at Lake Como in Italy and I chuckled at his jokes.
I boarded my next flight not long after we parted ways with George. I had to pry him away from me and it was difficult, but Auckland was calling.
Thirteen hours, this time around. Our group of about 22 boarded the plane and took the seats to which our behinds would become plastered after about 2 hours. It was a dreaded experience and my poor friend, Russ, who was my neighbor freshman year, became very ill just before take off. At least this time we had personal entertainment screens!
Anywho, skipping over details, we arrived in Auckland 13 hours later, cleared customs, gathered our belongings and drove away from Auckland International just as the sun was rising. It was about 6:30 a.m. on February 17th...the 16th sort of fell off the map this year. Crazy, huh?
Since our arrival at Huia Residence, we've walked downtown, picked up some necessary supplies, taken some very necessary showers, and relaxed a bit.
Auckland is a pretty city. They've taken pains to insure that there is plenty of greenery around the city and it very much reminds me of Vancouver in fact. It's got the harbor, the hills, the Asians...
I've enjoyed my first day greatly, and in fact, it is not yet over, so I should get back outside and keep exploring!

Kia ora (Best wishes)!