The first thing I tried to do after I woke up was of course, straighten my hair. I plugged my flat iron into the converter and put the transformer box on to the outlet. After about 5 minutes of straightening my hair, the transformer box made a loud snapping noise and started to smoke A LOT! I panicked and turned off the power .. and then called Logan! haha. There was no one else in my dorm and I thought the outlet was going to blow up, so I called him freaking out. He came over and unplugged everything, and for some strange reason, everything seemed to be working fine. I was too worried to keep doing my hair, so I left it alone and we went to register for our classes :)
It was a really simple process and took only about 20 minutes. Before we came to the uni, we were preapproved for certain courses that we could take. We went to the FASS (Social Sciences) building and the receptionists asked us what papers (their word for courses) we were interested in enrolling in. As study abroad students, we are allowed to take about 60 credits, which is about 4 classes. We told the receptionist the classes we wanted to take, and she inputted them into her computer to see if there were any time clashes. After a few tries, we both got our schedule. I am taking a Maori language class, Maori anthropology class, a Ed. class and a Psychology class for credit at Linfield. I don't have class on Mondays, and the earliest I start my day is 11! :) Logan is taking the language class as well, but he's taking a Maori business economic class, a Treaty of Waitangi class, and a KAPA HAKA class!!! Its 3 hours on Thursdays and usually, international students aren't allowed to take this class, but because he is from Hawaii, they made an exception. haha!
After registering for our classes, we caught the bus to "the base." While at the bus stop, we asked another lady who was waiting for the bus, what the bus fare was and if she had any advice for catching the bus. She happened to have an extra bus card, which decreased the bus fare cost from $3 to $2.30! Nice, huh?
We caught the bus to the base, which is a big outdoor outlet mall with a bunch of different stores. It used to be an airforce base a long time ago, which is how it got its name. I bought a cheap hair straightener for $40 and Logan bought a Katchafire CD. Food is pretty expensive here. Sushi is sold individually and each piece is about $1.50!
While walking around the base, I got a text from Kamakana, one of the boys from Hawaii. He asked if Logan and I wanted to have dinner with a lady who lives here in NZ, but is from Hilo. She married a Maori guy and they live in a town near Hamilton. So, after going to the base for a couple hours, we caught the bus back to campus and got ready for dinner.
The lady's name was Aunty Kim and she works in the Management School here at the uni. She is from Hilo and married a Maori guy named Hotu. They live in Whatawhata, about 45 minutes away from campus, and they have five kids. We met Aunty Kim at her office and then got in her car and drove to the grocery store to pick up things for dinner. She told us about how she moved here and worked for Uncle Hotu's tribe, Tainui, for a while and then worked at the uni. She and Uncle Hotu started two different canoe clubs here in Hamilton. Uncle Hotu is REALLY into paddling. He travels all around the Pacific doing regattas and such. He goes to the World Sprints every year. He even owns a New Zealand war canoe!
Their house is out in the country and they have sheep, pigs, a dog, and lots of cats. They even have a pretty large pond inside of their property. Their house is very homey. The walls were cluttered with different Maori pictures, baskets and things. All their children are very involved in the culture. The two eldest boys just graduated from the uni and are pretty fluent in Maori. The middle two girls are in high school and the youngest is enrolled in a Maori emmersion grade school.
We had chopped steak, salad, and beef stew for dinner. It was really good! Uncle Hotu cooked for us. He talked about being from Hawaii and how we liked it here at the uni so far. We left their house at about 10 and Namaka, the second oldest son, drove us back to campus.
It was a lot of fun!
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