An Introduction to New Zealand- The first 24 hours.

I Freakin' Love New Zealand. The people are incredible! When I arrived at my new flat, I met two of my new flatmates- we definitely clicked- and I had not been in the house for more than 10 minutes before I we were dragged out to meet Kristin's posse where we sang karaoke, played Cranium, and brought out the bubbles and play dough. I can't forget the musical instruments- there was one of everything and no one who could actually play. Apparently, "everyone who comes into this house has to play the drums, it's like an initiation." I met over 20 people last night! Not bad for only having been in Palmerston for about two hours. Well, actually I owe the honors to Kristin, she made the whole gig quite an introduction for Julie and I (Julie is another flatmate- there's 4 other than myself and I've only met 2 of them.

The airplane ride was Interesting. 

to make a long story short- when we landed the 747 in NZ, we lost all power. Apparently something came unplugged when we landed.... It all worked out. I guess it was a lucky day. Another story to further the short story... The earlier flight to LA from UT was much worse though, I have to say I thought I was going to die. At the airport there was an announcement that the plane was being checked for mechanical problems and that it may be a few minutes before boarding. Well once we all got arranged in our squishy seats, the pilot announced that the plane was too heavy. So... They threw off a stewardess along with her luggage. Apparently she didn't weigh enough though, so then they started throwing off our baggage. "The good news folks is that we got all of you on this flight, however if you cannot find your luggage please make a claim and we will be shipping it to you," said the captain. At that point I was certain my luggage got tossed aside as it was some of the heaviest. The plane engines started to warm up... but the left engine wasn't firing right. After de-icing the plane 2x, they had both engines running more smoothly, for now. Finally in the air about 2 and a half hours late, we hit awful weather. The turbulence was so bad that we actually had to re-route the plane to fly over the Pacific Ocean around a thunderstorm and back to LA. Then the left engine began it's noises again... When the pilot gets on the intercom with a under tone of panic, "stewardess immediately stop serving beverages and take a seat", you get a little concerned. It wasn't the only time he made such an announcement. All I can say is Thank God we landed safely in LA. *this story is based on real facts and a genuine experience. No animals were harmed in the making. Luggage was later found where it was suppose to be.

I hope i find you all well. I certainly don't feel as if I am on the other side of the globe as much as perhaps in another state in the USA. Perhaps that is because I haven't been to see the Ocean yet. Well I'm certainly keeping things interesting; I had my foot sculpted with playdough into a "piece of art"? and this new friend of mine ate it off of my foot. ...  ...   I'll just add a photo later, it was interesting.

I look forward to hearing from you all, I'll have to take some photos of this beautiful place and put them up. Catch you all later!