A QUICK UPDATE

Still loving New Zealand, in case you we're wondering. I'm finding it mildly retarded that I am just now feeling my jet lag. I was fine for the first week but our "SO MANY ACTIVITIES" (think Stepbrothers) kept me really busy. Now that I have to time to relax I'm having a hard time staying awake.

Yesterday a group of us went to the Raglan beach. Which was totally kick ass, and cold. Of course I rolled around on the beach like an idiot and ended up looking like the creature from the black lagoon. I couldn't resist! I got sand in places where one should never get sand. I also got extremely sunburnt, damn New Zealand and it's lack of the ozone layer. A few of us jumped off a bridge a few times, it was pretty fun. It was even more fun when we saw the NO JUMPING sign after we were done. Oops. I have found that the Kiwis are really accepting of Americans; always really friendly and curious about where we are from. We've gotten stopped a few times on the street and people ask us where we are from. I never knew that is was exciting to be from Illinois.

I'lll explain some of the fun cultural differences while I'm here. Well, they drive on the opposite side of the road, and don't yield for pedestrians whatsoever. As our Australearn director so gracefully put it: "You are pretty much worth a 1,000 points each". Also, everything costs money. The interenet, going to the campus pool, you have to pay for a gym membership on campus. If you get anything free here, my friend Brian is pretty much bound to cry of happiness. Everything is also really expensive; like $8 for a 5 subject notebook and $3 for a paper folder. There are also no 1 or 5 cent coins. The toilets don't actually flush in the opposite direction, as the rumor has it, they only flush really loud and violently; using about 10 times as much water as a toilet back home. The drinking age is 18, but that is obvious and you know where that story is going. Uhhh, the crosswalk signs and PED door entries on campus all make really cool noises. Hanson and Nelly still play as cafeteria music on campus, apparently New Zealand is a little behind on the music updates. They are also obsessed with American based musicians, which in itself is sort of shocking. And no one makes phone calls. That's all I can think of at the moment.

Last night was insane. My friend Chris came over to my dorm around 9:45 to borrow my adapter and we saw our friend Brian in the RAs room. Lets just say the RA's really know how to party around here, especially when there is no one in the dorm. Great times. The stars here are also so much better than the States, obviously. I went out into the field by my dorm last night and watched the stars for a while. Totally awesome. I plan on doing it again tonight.

I think I might try my luck at surfing tomorrow. I will definitely fail miserably, but I have decided to take the advice from the awesome chick from Raglan. "Just have fun. You learn the best when you are actually enjoying yourself." She made it sound so easy. We'll see.