It's only been a couple days but since they've been kind of eventful, I feel like I've been neglectful of this poor blog. We got into New Zealand on Tuesday, and it was amazing to fly over and see New Zealand from the wee plane window. Even from thousands of feet in the air, everything was so lush and green with some trees, a few houses and lanes sprinkled on.
It was a long drive from the (kind of small) Auckland airport to the house but I didn't mind because I love car trips so I can look out the window, although this time it was from the left side of the road. All the freeways were so clean and new with barely a spot of litter to be seen! The roads were smooth, unlike some of the freeways back in California which look ragged, and plagued with potholes and faded lines. Plus, some of the freeways there would have so much litter it's kind of shameful. Here, everywhere we go we're surrounded by greenery, trees, cows and sheep, which even though it sounds like somewhere in some agricultural US state, I don't mind it. Hiking trails, streams and the like are close by and everything is so laid-back. A lot of people don't work 5 days a week so it's not common to see someone hiking or out and about in the middle of the day. How nice is that? Everyone so far has been friendly, even the people at customs and the airport. At the luggage carousel an employee asked me if I had all my luggage. I was sort of surprised, as she didn't have to ask me (yet she did) and she at least sounded sincere about it. Everyone who passes by greets you and asks you how you are. It excites me when people notice my accent and ask me where I'm from because I'm usually on the other end. Now, I'm the one with the accent, which although it sounds strange, it's something I've always wanted to experience!
Our first full day in Auckland was really nice since the sun was shining and it was a really leisurely morning/afternoon. I poured myself a bowl of cereal and milk and after taking a peek of the backyard, I went out and had breakfast on a huge, mossy rock. Despite my excitement and urging that Swathi should join me, she didn't want to sit outside so I just enjoyed the quiet and the nature myself, optimistically imagining that perhaps that's how Kiwis have their breakfasts. After watching the Tyra Banks Show (we only have 5 channels and it was only American programs on at the time, unfortunately), we picked up the little cousins and relived some of our childhood when we brought them to the neighborhood park. There are few days that I consider blissful, but that it was indeed and it was also perfect.
Between then and now, we've just been checking out the sights. We've done some hiking, shopping at the Warehouse (sort of like a Costco and a Target, in my opinion), and after getting sick from hiking, we spent yesterday hopped up on cold meds and napping. Today we felt much better so we went out the the Bay of Islands (to be honest, I was so sure I kept hearing 'Bay of Violence' and wondered what kind of strange place the family was planning on bringing us to) to go on a ferry tour and we also saw the Kawiti glow worm caves which now makes me wish I owned a glow worm cave as not many people can say they own one.
Tomorrow we'll be checking out the sand dunes which excites me because you can climb to the top and slide down them. Before hearing about the sand dunes I actually wasn't too interested in the tourist sites because I'm generally more interested in seeing a country as the locals do than as a tourist (such as living in a residential area, going to a grocery store, etc.), but I have to admit, I want to slide down a sand dune!
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Monday, May 26, 2008
I like surprises.
I wanted to blog the day before leaving, but at first there wasn't much to say and then there was too much to do! I had disastrous piles of stuff on the floor, my bedroom light went out (which I hesitated to have fixed as I thought could get everything done before dark... I was wrong), and there was just so much to do to get ready. I was actually able to fit everything into one large suitcase without expanding it, but it was overweight, so I ended up with a 10-lb. duffle bag and a very loosely packed suitcase. I also had to put the books in my carry-on into my duffle bag because it was overweight, so I didn't get to read a very helpful book on New Zealand on the flight. : /
So, our trip actually got off to a very interesting start: our first flight out to Hong Kong was delayed 5 hours, so after checking in, I went back home with my parents (and we pretended it was dress rehearsal for them taking me home from the trip), snacked and took a nap before going back to try again. Despite all the kids and babies onboard, the flight was actually bearable and my headphones were a decent enough escape to drown out any screaming. My only complaint was that my seat neighbor didn't seem to have the same concept of elbow room and personal space and the woman sitting in front of me put her things under her seat instead of the seat in front of her so I couldn't really put my things under the seat space I was supposed to have. I also spent all these years oblivious as to how to recline my seat until this flight, so I did spend a few pathetic moments trying to use brute force to recline my seat. I seriously thought that one's own weight was what reclined the seat and that being smaller than the average person must've been why I couldn't put my seat back. I sort of felt sorry for the person sitting behind me as my fight with my own seat must have been a bit obnoxious to him. I kept thinking that it would be great if only there was some sort of button I could push to put my seat back. And then I found it.
And that's only the beginning, my friends! With the 5-hour delay, everyone (including us) missed their connecting flights. I was looking forward to having a slumber party at the airport as I've always wanted to know what it was like to spend the night at the airport and have an adventure similar to that in The Terminal. That would've been cool, but what was cooler was that our airline put us up in hotel rooms next to the airport. Swathi and I got separate rooms and since it was 1 am, we had to walk back to the airport to the 711 for food since nothing else was open. There was something princess-y about having strawberry ice cream and sponge cake for dinner, but the fact that I was wearing the same 3/4-sleeved shirt in humid 80-something degree weather didn't make me feel so princess-y.
Since we didn't have our check-in luggage, I was stuck wearing said shirt for another day (in humid Hong Kong weather, mind you!) and I didn't have any of my toiletries. Needless to say, I did feel quite gross and couldn't help but make my complaints known every 10 minutes. Of course, Swathi was wise enough to have some of her basic toiletries and a change of clothes in her carry-on, so unlike her, I didn't feel so fresh and cute. Despite all that, we still had an absolutely mahvelous time in Hong Kong. Surprisingly, we were able to take public transportation on our own without getting lost both to and from the downtown area so we could do a little shopping. I'd been to the same area before about 3 years ago, so that helped in figuring out the trains and the area since a lot of the names, stores and places were familiar. We ended up going to the mall next to the Marco Polo Hotel (it helps that that was actually the hotel where I stayed in the last time I was in Hong Kong) and we also checked out Nathan Road per the suggestion of the concierge, but there wasn't much there so that, the heat and sporadic showers pointed us back to the mall. I think we spent quite a bit on food, although with Hong Kong dollars it's always confusing because the high numbers makes it seem like you're paying more. I kept wanting to pinch myself today because I couldn't believe that not only was I out in the streets of Hong Kong, but I was doing it all with Swathi. Sounds like a weird dream, right?
Anyway, I felt quite grown-up today being able to manage a hotel room all to myself and also being able to get around in Hong Kong. Sure, it really helps that all signs are also in English and everyone we've talked to spoke English, but Swathi and I were pleasantly surprised that we were able to get around without getting lost. I actually got a bit comfortable here so when Swathi really liked the view of the skyline from across the bay, I thought it was a bit disappointing that we wouldn't be around for the evening when there's a lights show with the skyscrapers.
Even though Hong Kong wasn't my first choice in destinations, I was still just as excited to be there as any other place. The little things like the traffic driving on the other side of the road, the way we saw a whole bunch of fans crowded on one side of a building, the MTR (it makes BART look primitive), and the unfamiliar shops reminded me of how much I love being out of my element in a different place, no matter what it is. It also reminded me of the things I look forward to being excited about when I live abroad someday. Passing by the non-Chinese people in Hong Kong that looked like they were on their way to work made me wish I was one of them. My dad would think pigs have flown, but I actually wouldn't mind living here because it is so different and I enjoy the familiar and unfamiliar aspects of it all. There were things I recognized and things that were still different to me so I was both comfortable and also still excited when I was here.
Not bad for our first day in, huh?
So, our trip actually got off to a very interesting start: our first flight out to Hong Kong was delayed 5 hours, so after checking in, I went back home with my parents (and we pretended it was dress rehearsal for them taking me home from the trip), snacked and took a nap before going back to try again. Despite all the kids and babies onboard, the flight was actually bearable and my headphones were a decent enough escape to drown out any screaming. My only complaint was that my seat neighbor didn't seem to have the same concept of elbow room and personal space and the woman sitting in front of me put her things under her seat instead of the seat in front of her so I couldn't really put my things under the seat space I was supposed to have. I also spent all these years oblivious as to how to recline my seat until this flight, so I did spend a few pathetic moments trying to use brute force to recline my seat. I seriously thought that one's own weight was what reclined the seat and that being smaller than the average person must've been why I couldn't put my seat back. I sort of felt sorry for the person sitting behind me as my fight with my own seat must have been a bit obnoxious to him. I kept thinking that it would be great if only there was some sort of button I could push to put my seat back. And then I found it.
And that's only the beginning, my friends! With the 5-hour delay, everyone (including us) missed their connecting flights. I was looking forward to having a slumber party at the airport as I've always wanted to know what it was like to spend the night at the airport and have an adventure similar to that in The Terminal. That would've been cool, but what was cooler was that our airline put us up in hotel rooms next to the airport. Swathi and I got separate rooms and since it was 1 am, we had to walk back to the airport to the 711 for food since nothing else was open. There was something princess-y about having strawberry ice cream and sponge cake for dinner, but the fact that I was wearing the same 3/4-sleeved shirt in humid 80-something degree weather didn't make me feel so princess-y.
Since we didn't have our check-in luggage, I was stuck wearing said shirt for another day (in humid Hong Kong weather, mind you!) and I didn't have any of my toiletries. Needless to say, I did feel quite gross and couldn't help but make my complaints known every 10 minutes. Of course, Swathi was wise enough to have some of her basic toiletries and a change of clothes in her carry-on, so unlike her, I didn't feel so fresh and cute. Despite all that, we still had an absolutely mahvelous time in Hong Kong. Surprisingly, we were able to take public transportation on our own without getting lost both to and from the downtown area so we could do a little shopping. I'd been to the same area before about 3 years ago, so that helped in figuring out the trains and the area since a lot of the names, stores and places were familiar. We ended up going to the mall next to the Marco Polo Hotel (it helps that that was actually the hotel where I stayed in the last time I was in Hong Kong) and we also checked out Nathan Road per the suggestion of the concierge, but there wasn't much there so that, the heat and sporadic showers pointed us back to the mall. I think we spent quite a bit on food, although with Hong Kong dollars it's always confusing because the high numbers makes it seem like you're paying more. I kept wanting to pinch myself today because I couldn't believe that not only was I out in the streets of Hong Kong, but I was doing it all with Swathi. Sounds like a weird dream, right?
Anyway, I felt quite grown-up today being able to manage a hotel room all to myself and also being able to get around in Hong Kong. Sure, it really helps that all signs are also in English and everyone we've talked to spoke English, but Swathi and I were pleasantly surprised that we were able to get around without getting lost. I actually got a bit comfortable here so when Swathi really liked the view of the skyline from across the bay, I thought it was a bit disappointing that we wouldn't be around for the evening when there's a lights show with the skyscrapers.
Even though Hong Kong wasn't my first choice in destinations, I was still just as excited to be there as any other place. The little things like the traffic driving on the other side of the road, the way we saw a whole bunch of fans crowded on one side of a building, the MTR (it makes BART look primitive), and the unfamiliar shops reminded me of how much I love being out of my element in a different place, no matter what it is. It also reminded me of the things I look forward to being excited about when I live abroad someday. Passing by the non-Chinese people in Hong Kong that looked like they were on their way to work made me wish I was one of them. My dad would think pigs have flown, but I actually wouldn't mind living here because it is so different and I enjoy the familiar and unfamiliar aspects of it all. There were things I recognized and things that were still different to me so I was both comfortable and also still excited when I was here.
Not bad for our first day in, huh?
Monday, May 19, 2008
Six more days!
While I still have a lot to do before I go, including a fat research paper (I'm 3-4 pages in so I'm taking a well-deserved break right now), it's so surreal that I'll be leaving at the end of the week. As I've told a lot of people; I haven't really done much packing so far; I've only made a few unofficial piles of stuff throughout the house a pepto-bismal here, a photocopy of my passport there, and the like. I usually pack for trips by making extensive lists, sub-lists and drafts of said lists, so last minute packing actually isn't that bad when you make lists obsessively. Once I get my final exams out of the way, that's when I'll really start packing everything up. I also need to do a few things here and there around the house, such as typing up instructions for mummy dearest as to how to use the DVD player and putting little sticky dots on the appropriate buttons to help her out, or finding a good knitting project to take with me on the trip.
Even though everything hasn't sunken in yet, my parents have been treating me as if I'll be gone forever or as if I don't have much time left in this life, which for the most part is kind of nice and the rest is strange: my mom is making my favorite things for dinner every day this week, I'm not allowed to drive in case an accident happens which will hamper my health or my plans (the strange part), and last Saturday my parents finally took me for a drive down Lombard Street (when I ask if we can go my dad usually tells me there's no time) and later we had dinner at Ikea (I do like their meatball plates).
My trip sunk in a little when we made a trek through Chinatown to buy copious amounts of candy for my host families as it sort of hit me that there would actually be real, living, breathing people on the receiving end of these gifts and these gifts were meager offerings to thank them for letting an American college student live in their home for 2/8 weeks. I've spent months trying to imagine the curious, exciting feeling of waking up in the mornings in another house and realizing I was in another country so after all that time, it's just strange that it's actually going to happen now.
Swathi and I will be leaving for Whangarei, New Zealand this Saturday with a stopover in Hong Kong first. I just checked the weather for Whangarei and tomorrow's forecast is in the lower 60's and raining. Temperature-wise, it's been similar to the weather in SF lately minus the recent heat wave. New Zealand is known for a lot of outdoorsy stuff, but I don't know the the weather will permit us to do any of that. Most of things I want to do involve shopping though, so I think I'll be okay with that. We'll be tormenting the unsuspecting Kiwis for about two weeks and then it's onto a stopover in Hong Kong before we go to Bangalore for 2 months...
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