Crystal's Semester in New Zealand: Adjusting to the Kiwi Life

Now that classes have started, I have a bit more of a routine and feel less like I'm on vacation. I am enrolled in four papers (courses) while I'm in Dunedin: Athletic Injuries, Prescribing Exercise, Medical Aspects of Physical Activity, and Maori Society. Class is going well, there's not a big difference in the way material is presented (PowerPoint slides, lecture notes, pre-labs). One of my professors is actually from Canada and it took me a while to realize I wasn't hearing the NZ accent! I crack up a little every time she says about, out, throughout... -ou's in general. It gives me a little taste of the U.P. right here. I'm finally starting to know my way around campus and throughout the city.

One big difference in the courses here is the grading system. There aren't any exams throughout the semester. I have lab assignments and a few papers to write. The finals, however, are usually worth over 50% of your overall grade and take place over a 3-week period--intimidating!

I couldn't believe my eyes when I came across this gem on the grocery store! Almost the same ingredients.

There is so much right around Dunedin to do it amazes me, you just need to be willing to walk a wee bit.

The other day we went for a hike to Mount Cargill. It is supposed to be an hour walk to the trailhead and then a 4 hour return hike. The directions to the trailhead were simple, walk down this street go straight and it's on the left. Nope, not simple enough! Instead of going straight, my friend and I followed the same road we were on (it didn't look as simple as it sounds now) and ended up...far far north of Dunedin. We climbed hills and saw all sorts of animals, I even had a conversation with a sheep. It took almost two hours before we realized we were extremely lost. Instead of giving up we decided to make an adventure of our own. We hiked up a side road which led to some type of logging trails, we believe. In a few minutes we found ourselves on a walking path filled with blackberry bushes and blackberries to feed a family. There was never any type of sign to indicate it was private property so we had ourselves a little snack before continuing on. We ended up coming out meters away from the side road that lead to the Mount Cargill trailhead (5 hours later). After deciding it was much too late in the day to start the hike we headed home, but now we know where we have to go next time.

We spent the night at Long Beach this weekend which isn't too far from the city. It is filled with these amazing caves you can sleep in, no tent required. The weather couldn't have been more perfect. I swam in the ocean, played soccer and Frisbee, and had a fire with s'mores and "hot-dogs". The sausages here are weird, let's just put it that way. It was everything I could want out of a beach weekend. Although, I did find a dead sheep in the bushes which was mildly disturbing. We are pretty sure it had fallen from the cliff above; it was really sad (no pictures). BUT, the view from the beach is incredible. Here are a few of the views I was able to capture.