Oh O-Week!

This week is Orientation Week or O-Week.  O-week is an interesting experience to say the least.  There are some fun events every night, but they cost money to attend so I have not gone to many.  However to the students the main point of o-week is to go out and drink, EVERY night.  To my mother who checks this blog constantly and other concerned family members, don't worry I have not been drunk.

First, let's recap the highlights of my last few days. Monday, I got up early to get my Otago Student ID, the line was super long and it took about 35 minutes. They really need to get a better registration system going for such a large university. The rest of Monday was pretty chill, and I went over to Janessa, Juan, and Kelley's flat to play some card games that night.

On Tuesday, the O-week event was sports day where the different colleges (aka dorms) and the uni-flats competed.  The sports present were soccer, touch rugby, netball, and volleyball.  Even though I didn't sign up for a sport ahead of time I was still able to grab a Uni-flats t-shirt and play a few games of volleyball, which we dominated!  Then tuesday night we met up with some of Kelley's friends from her school back in the USA and drove over to a place in Dunedin where we could see some glow worms.  Glow worms are awesome, though to some they may just be green glow-in-the-dark dots.

Wednesday was another early start.  We had an international information session with the university.  It was kind of boring for we learned a lot of what they said on the Arcadia orientation and everything else was common sense. After sitting in the lecture hall (which was massive) for 2 hours we went out to check the clubs day, which is like the involvement fair at Denison.  Unfortunately the archery club's beginner sessions were already full, but I am on a waiting list if anyone drops out.  I am going to sign up for the tramping club (hiking), however, and there is also a Relay or Life here so I hope to get a team together. After getting to see all the clubs there, Janessa, Kelley, a new friend Theresa, and I went shopping at thrift stores and K-mart.  I bought 2 cheap shirts, which will hopefully fit in my suitcase coming home for I am sure to accumulate many more things. I must be careful! Wednesday night Janessa, Juan, and I went for a walk around Dunedin so see what the night life was like without actually participating. There was talk, however, about possibly doing some karaoke.

Now on to Thursday.  There was a scenic train ride for the international students. It was very pretty, but I was a bit tired and dosed a little bit. They didn't let us off train at stops until we got to the end to turn around. I got some good pictures though! Later on Thurday, Juan, Janessa, and I went over to a BBQ at Sarah's (friend from arcadia) flat complex, which turned out to be a lot of fun.  After we were there for a while, Juan, Janessa, Sarah, Rory (my plane buddy from LA, Rotorua, and Wellington!), and I went to get a little ice cream from a delicious and cheap place nearby.

I pretended I was on the Hogwarts Express just a little bit. 

The Conductor said something about a Lord of the Rings Scene or was it from the Hobbit?

Today is Friday, and there are preliminary lectures for some papers at the university. I have one a 3pm today for my music paper.  So instead of syllabus day, some papers just start a day early. Later this afternoon there is a Rugby game for O-Week! I am super excited to attend my first rugby game as it is a huge part of New Zealand culture, I just hope I can follow along and understand the rules. The game is not the national team (so not the All Blacks) so it is the Highlanders (Dunedin's team!) vs. the Chiefs (from Hamilton on the North Island). It should be a fun night!

Tomorrow is my surfing lesson, so wish me luck!