We did it! We survived a full day of living amongst Kiwis. I don’t think we’re any closer to being a kiwi, but I definitely have a new perspective on things.
The kiwis are quite possibly the most polite, friendly, and helpful people I’ve ever met. When we got to our hotel on Tuesday just about every person in the lobby offered to help us as we were obviously carrying a lot of shit (3 suitcases, 2 backpacks, a briefcase, and a purse). It wasn’t the standard “Welcome to our hotel, I’m here to be forced to serve you” it was more of a “Gooday Mate, Could I help you with that? No, are you sure? Well if you’d like some help just let me know. Cherrieo!” I’m not doing their kindness justice right now; you really can’t describe it in words. Another example was yesterday Amy and I went down to the front desk to inquire about a few things, and on our way to the elevator there was a man about 25 feet ahead of us who just got on to an elevator. The elevator had plenty of time to close its doors and start heading up to the floor of its choice, and the man (a kiwi) held the door open button, said “Hello” and asked us which floor we were headed to and pushed the button. When he got off the elevator he told us to have a wonderful evening. Would that happen in the USA? Maybe. But in kiwiland this sort of thing runs in the blood. Everyone everywhere has been friendly. It’s like nothing I have ever seen before. I don’t think anyone could have a bad day here, because if they left their house and walked down the street they would be cheered up instantaneously.
We walked around a lot yesterday, exploring the city and getting our bearings on the Auckland Central Business District (CBD). It’s not too different from any other downtown areas in larger cities, except of course for the Sky City tower – the largest freestanding building in the southern hemisphere. For some reason I’m mildly obsessed with this structure, and have been taking a lot of pictures of it. It looks cool – very cool.
When I looked online before coming here, I was planning on spending a fortune on a cell phone / minutes. The pre-pay plans are minimum $.89 cents per minute (~.80 cents US). Amy and I went to a vodaphone store yesterday afternoon and talked to a saleslady, who hooked us up with a 12-month contract plan for $39.99 / month where we get 200 minutes to other vodaphone phones, 2000 texts, 20 min to any NZ number, and unlimited calling / texting to our “bestmate” (similar to fav-five but a fav-one). On top of that we each got $90 off a phone. I don’t know why anyone would do the pre-pay plan – it’s literally 100 times as expensive! Obviously it didn’t take long for Amy and me to realize that not doing this was stupid, so we filled out some forms and walked out of the store. We get to pick up our new phones today – Yay! If anyone wants my number let me know. I get free incoming calls.
Today we have to go to an orientation at the International Exchange Program headquarters here in Auckland. This is where we find out how to sign up for a bank account and get the New Zealand equivalent of a SSN. I’m sure there’s other stuff they tell you too, such as don’t take candy from a stranger and other things like that.
Hope all is quiet on the eastern front and the northern hemisphere,
Zach
P.S. – FFC stands for “Fuckin’ Foreign Country”. It’s a saying my father coined when we moved to Hawaii. So far it’s only been used to describe how much more awesome New Zealand is than the US.
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