NZ so far or things I love about this place or cult kiwi snacks and crazy commercials

So tomorrow I register for classes. Hopefully I’ll be taking Marin Biology, Maori for Beginners (it’s a language class), Introduction to Maori Society, and then New Zealand History 1350-1940. The whole process is supposed to take me like 4 hours. Outstanding : / I'm pretty tired, and there aren't really any amazing stories to go with the pictures. So I'll just intersperse them.

The Water Caves at Sumner Beach At Low Tide

The last couple of days have been pretty awesome. I’ve been hanging out with some kids from my program and my flat mates with their friends. I really like the group. The schedule has pretty much been orientation, explore, shop for necessities, scavenge for food, and then cards.

I purchased a bike off of the kiwi equivalent of eBay. Hopefully I’ll pick it up on Thursday. I’m super excited. It’s a refurbished mountain bike, it looks really nice. The plan is to learn how to mountain bike. We’ll see how this all works out.

On top of the Sumner Cliffs

So things in New Zealand are crazy price wise. Some thinks are super expensive that I’m not used to. Kiwis (which oddly enough seem to mostly be imports from Italy) are $17 for a kilo. Chicken is about $15 a kilo, lettuce $5 for a head. And this is at the discount market. But Fridays are Frugal Fridays! Win! And once I get my student ID card, extra discount! Double win!

Phones are a giant pain in the ass let me tell you. First off, the actual phone itself is mad expensive. The POS (piece of shit) Nokia’s that are just like the brick shape that they basically pay you to take in the states run for about 80 bucks if you’re lucky. Most phones are about $400 to $700 with a bunch reaching over the $1000 mark. And yes, that includes the I-phone. Then calling is like 80 cents a minute. That’s even for people who have the same phone in the same damn country. Bananas. That’s why everyone texts. I still haven’t purchased a phone yet because I don’t know what carrier to pick. But tomorrow is D-Day.

Looking back onto the town of Sumner

The group looking out to the ocean

Playing in the sand :)

Things that I love about New Zealand

1. Their money

It’s bright and colorful and doesn’t bend, rip readily, or get soggy. But the whole having a $2 coin is tough because I’m used to coins being miniscule and not keeping the best the best track of my change. But that’ll change. Oh, and there is no penny. Brilliant.

2. Tim Tams

Holy cow are these things amazing. God didn’t give the New Zealanders those disgusting things known as Pineapple Lumps. No, he gave them Tim Tams. They are delicious chocolate fudgy mousse between two light buttery wafers dipped in real milk chocolate. And there is this amazing drink called the Tim Tam Slam. You bite the corners off, dip the cookie in Milo (their version of hot chocolate) and sip using it as a straw. Words do not encompass the amazingness of this cookie.

3. Hokey Pokey

It’s the best damn vanilla caramel buttery ice cream every with bits of caramel honey comb stuff in it. And if you want to change it up, we discovered dipping your spoon in peanut butter makes it that much better.

4. The peanut butter

Is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G Even the cheap no name brand is better than the skippy poop we have at home. I will never look at peanut butter the same again. America, the bar has been raised.

5. C4

We only get a few channels here, but this one is the best. I think it’s like the youth channel. But it has these great cheesy reality T.V. shows, game shows, NZ music videos and commercials. We all love the commercials. There aren’t any car ads, no medicine ads. Just hilarious ads and a ton of amazing PSA’s. Pure gold.

Commercials

This is what I was referring to in point 5.

· http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpj2oVJhYjM

They consider these awful candies they’re national treasure. Its chewy stale-ish pinappley marshmallow filling surrounded by chocolate. It was a fun experience though.

· http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xW4qptCre8M&feature=related

Experienced it. Terrifying even when it’s just the beach. Thank god it’s been too cold for the transition to take place.

· http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RenRILqwhJs

There are all of these 100% New Zealand posters that are hanging around, so that’s what they’re referring to. I laughed a lot with this one.

· http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiPbiDs5L0g

I don’t even know how to describe our reaction to this one. I’ll let it speak for itself.