A Whole New World

I have two more days until I leave for my semester abroad in New Zealand, where I will be going to Massey University in Wellington. Two more days until I part with my family, friends, and home for almost five months. I am going to be in a whole new world...I won't know anyone, I won't know my way around town, I won't know what the classes will be like, I won't know anything about living there...

Sounds a lot like starting college to me. Been there...Done that. 

I'm just terrified I'll get lost in an airport.
 

Besides that, there isn't too much adventure to write about yet...attempting to pack my life in two suitcases, talking to people at banks who don't seem quite qualified for existence. So why make a blog entry, you ask? To enlighten you to some of the random information I have gathered on my new home, of course :)

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The indigenous people of New Zealand are the Maori..I'm still not positive how to pronounce that..or anything in their language honestly. I'm sure I will learn. From what I currently gather, it sounds somewhere in between 'mowri' and 'mari' . They have an amazing culture though, which I won't take forever elaborating on. Go do some research.
 

"Aotearoa" is the name for New Zealand in the Maori language. It means "land of the long, white cloud"
 

The majority of the country speaks English, with an accent somewhere in between Australian and British..they get mad if you say Australian. there's quite a rivalry between the Aussies and Kiwis.
 

The country is actually made up of over 700 islands, although primarily consists of two--the north and south (I am on the very southern tip of the north island). On those two islands, there are rain forests, glaciers, and everything in between.
 

New Zealand was the first country to grant women the right to vote

They were also the first to bungee jump
 

The country is obsessed with rugby. Their team, the All Blacks, is the most successful in history, and they make sure everyone knows it. Before every game, the team does the Haka, a Maori dance that would traditionally be performed before battle. It's intimidating. 

The largest city, Auckland, gets twice as much rain as London, but also twice as much sun

"There's a real purity in New Zealand that doesn't exist in the states. It's actually not an easy thing to find in our world anymore. It's a unique place because it is so far away from the rest of the world. There is a sense of isolation and also being protected." --Elijah Wood

Speaking of Elijah Wood, the Lord of the Rings movies were filmed there, as were many other things I didn't know about: The Last Samurai, King Kong, Chronicles of Narnia, Avatar, and my favorite, Xena: Warrior Princess.

The country has 4.2 million people...and 40 million sheep.

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All I can say is this journey is looking like it will be one heck of an experience. I can only dream of the adventures that lie ahead.  

Oh, and wish me luck with those airports.

--Jill