Dunedin: Otago University

We arrived in Dunedin on Sunday, February 10th. I got to my flat around 4:00 and met my kiwi host, Jess, who is awesome. It only took about half an hour to unpack, because I didn't bring a lot. My room is significantly bigger than my room at home, but I don't have nearly enough stuff to fill it up. I've decided that a sleeping bag, travel pillow, and travel towel will be sufficient for the semester, instead of the $100 linen package.

We got pizza for dinner with some people from my program, explored the city, and bought some essential groceries: bacon, cheese, apples, peppers (now called capsicums), yogurt, and wine. I soon discovered that these were not sufficient for proper meals. If you didn't already known, I'm on a meal plan at Hamilton. A second trip to the grocery store would prove much more successful.

The next day I skyped Rizzo and Marcus, who see to be managing well without me. I got kabobs for lunch with Sherry and Stu, and then Sherry and I went for a run/explored Dunedin. We checked out the botanical gardens, parrot cages and all, sweet as (that's the NZ lingo) new rugby stadium, and the Octago (home of most/all of the Otago Uni night life). We watched some more cricket as well.

For dinner, I was invited over to the lovely flat where my new NZ friends, Mike, De (Dee? D? I guess I don't know how to spell his name), and Anya, live, along with Jess and Connor. We played pizza roulette: you order pizza from a local pizza place and tell them you want to play, and before they put on your toppings, they load up one of the slices of pizza with peppers and hot sauce. Then the toppings go on, and all of the slices look the same. Long story short, Mike lost, but we all shared the piece because apparently Kiwis aren't big on spicy food. We got ice cream after, and I sampled the NZ famous flavor: Hokey Pokey. It's kind of honey flavored with corn pop-like crunchy bits in it. It was pretty good, I guess, but not worth all of the fuss. Gioia and Nicole and I then played our first every New Zealand game of Settlers! A friend of ours had a party after which was a lot of fun.

I'm now realizing that I didn't take any pictures the first few days here. This post is kind of lame, but the pictures will come soon. Patience...

The following day I made bacon for breakfast. Smart. I mailed in my application for a 18+ card (so I don't have so carry my passport to the bars or grocery stores) and set up a bank account with a local bank with Sherry. We ate at Velvet Burger - venison burger, grilled pineapple, chili mayo, lettuce, tomato, beets, and fatties (yet another name for 'fries'). We also went shopping for real food! Stuff like Milk, bread, eggs, hummus, peanut butter, chips, hot sauce, apples, avocados, lettuce, oil and vinegar, shrimp, more cheese, grapes, etc. We had a potluck at Sherry's (roasted carrots, parsnips, NZ sweet potatoes, cauliflower) flat with Claire (salad with oats, apples, caramelized onions), Jane (spicy chicken), and Josh (bread and beer). I made a salad with shrimp, grapes, tomatoes, and peppers. I played some more Settlers with Josh and Tyler (from Colgate, dunno why I'm friends with them). In an exciting Settlers finale, I managed to score (Rizzo, Marcus, Jake, Bryce, Simple, Mitch, Sam, Rock, Fuzzy, Tay, Slime, Gioia, Nicole, and all other Settlers friends, I hope you're paying attention) 15 points in one game. That's right, longest road, largest army, and 2 VP development cards in a six point final turn. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, please refer to my previous post and start playing Settlers!

Here come the pictures! 

The following day, I was up early and took the bus to St. Clair beach with Gioia, Matt, Sherry, Jane, Andrea, Sarah, and Maddie. We climbed up some beautiful cliffs, and as they headed back to the beach, I found a spot in a little nook on the edge of the cliff overlooking the ocean, blocked from the wind.

Though cloudy in the morning, the sun came out later, and it proved to be another gorgeous day. I was content to stay in my nook all day, writing in my new journal (via Anna), reading the first book in the Game of Thrones series (via Boca), lounging in my Crazy Creek, eating nectaries from the Uni fruit stand and thai sweet chili veggie crisps with basil pesto hummus, and getting a splash of ocean mist every so often. Jealous yet?

Eventually, I decided to pack it up and explore the beach a bit more. There was some really cool seaweed, some nice flowers, and the remains of an old dock.

As you can see, it was a pretty fantastic beach. I decided to talk home because it was so nice out. Walking everywhere barefoot is a thing around here, so I made the walk without shoes. I stopped at a small fish and chips joint where I got some cheap, greasy, delicious food. The walk turned out to be longer than I thought, so it took about two hours. I just googlemaps'ed it, and apparently it is just over 7.5 km(~4.5 miles).

I then played a game of Settlers with Gioia, Nicole, and Matt, and Matt became 1-0 in his career. Beginner's luck, but congrats to Matt.

For dinner, we had a bbq at our flat. Our neighboring flat and our flat have now agreed to be the same flat for social events, meals, etc. The flats are fully furnished, complete with a grill, a big clothes line, and a mini igloo/dog house type thing that I discovered is actually a pizza oven! We also have a huge grassy backyard with some benches and enough area to play a competitive game of football (soccer) or rugby. You won't hear me complaining.

Jess and I also welcomed our newest flatmate, Matt from Tennessee, to the flat. Two more flatmates to arrive soon.

The next morning, Sherry, Matt, and I walked to the Reservoir. It was about a 30 minute hike to a really nice lake. We sat on a bench and chilled for a while and played with some ducks.

We took a longer way home through the forest and I got home just in time for rugby practice. There are a bunch of different teams/clubs/leagues around here, but this practice was with the Otago Uni team. It was the second practice of the preseason, and since orientation didn't start for a few days, most of the team wasn't there yet. There were about 15 or so guys, mostly Kiwis but a few Americans, including my friends Stu and Madison. It turns out all of the New Zealand/All Black rugby player stereotype was pretty accurate. They're all a lot bigger, stronger, and faster than I am. We had a pretty intense practice, switching between sprinting conditioning and playing touch rugby. I kept up okay in the touch and in the early stages of conditioning, but near the end it was clear that I had been doing a lot more driving (Texas, home, New York, home) than running in the last month or two. Needless to say, it was probably the best game of touch I'd ever played (Jake, you might not even get picked first with these guys!), and I had a blast. They had a bbq after practice with hot dogs, gatorade, apples, and granola bars, and I think it's a pretty common post-practice thing. The guys are all really nice, and one of the guys in charge showed us Americans the clubhouse. It's a great room with a monster projector TV, a bar, and a bunch of tables. It's where the team watches big international matches, has socials with their opponents, and hangs out before going to the Highlanders games across the street. I can't wait to be apart of that.

Oh, also, apparently most of the A side players weren't on campus yet. Can't wait to see what the B side, heck, the C side looks like! Also, just a heads up (no pun intended) to all those worried about my long list of rugby injuries, I'm only going to be training (practicing) while I'm here, no contact for me. It was tough to tell the coach that I couldn't start at Flyhalf for the A side. This team sends more guys to the All Blacks than any other school, just to give you another idea of how good they are.

Our third flatmate, Kylie, arrived today as well! I was so tired after practice that I pretty much fell asleep on the spot. But not before I was able to Skype Rizzo from Cameroon and tell her Happy Valentine's Day!

Friday morning I was up early to register for papers (classes). It's a pretty lame system they run here. You have to get a signature for each of your classes, which means standing in long lines. I was lucky to finish in two and half hours. Let's just say I get pretty good at Super Jewel Quest, the coolest cell phone game ever.

I then met up with Tyler to go check out our potential new toy. The visit was a success, and we made plans for the following day to purchase it. That afternoon, I hung out in Dunedin with a bunch of people and made enjoyed another potluck dinner at Sherry's. We played charades for a while until we made our way to a nearby party. Eventually (~2am), some flatmates and I began to made the hike to Signal Hill. It's a pretty long hike, so we turned around and chilled at Logan Hill park, a fantastic view.

Oh, man. That was a long post. I'll stop now and continue later. Saturday was a big day; my favorite day in NZ yet. Stay tuned.