The First Impressions

I'm finally here!!! Today I got in at 6am and got to my dorm at 8:30. Imagine a Village B with single bedrooms and a lock. Not to shabby. The complex has 24 "flats" and most of them have 5 rooms (mine has 4). The bathroom is nice and all that greats stuff. There a big courtyard on the inside with a ping pong table, grill, vending machine and benches. I'm very pleased to say the least.

Around 11:30 I started out on my first exploration. The University is about a 7 minute walk (uphill both ways...) from my front step. Got a little a lost but for the most part sings for everything is everywhere. Got my ID and a chance to meet my adviser who was really impressed by how together and organized I was. I get the impression that it's not so much that I'm really organized and that New Zealand is kind of just laid back. Anyways, I continued to walk around and set up a bank account and got a phone. Both tasks took about 10 minutes (I had dedicated my whole first day to that task). So at around 12:30 i searched for lunch and didn't find anything special. I think I'll be cooking more here because the food options weren't so grand. I guess they are British decedents after all...

When I got back to my room I set up some more things and for the most part I'm really moved in. I need to locate a Bed Bath and Beyond type thing to find some odds and ends but for the most part I'm set. The city is pretty big so I'll have plenty of times to do some exploring. I ended up getting very lost looking for dinner and I saw water at one point but I couldn't tell you much else about it. I've met one roommate thus far, Alethea. She's a Stats PhD student from New Zealand. She's been very nice and while we have nothing to socialize around like a TV or music or anything really, we've made an effort to meet each other. She suggested a park for me to go to tomorrow once I'm done running some errands and in general has been very helpful.

So far everything has been great. Earlier in the day I was a little scared that I had 5 days completely on my own with nothing to do. But now I feel like I'll get some solid exploring in. Tomorrow I'm even trying the bus so we'll see how that goes.

Oh and by the way the money is really weird here. It's super smooth and slick and has these transparent window type things. I don't know how to explain it but it feels pretend. Picture soonish...