Our first impressions
Wow am I jet lagged. I think my eyes are bleeding. Hopefully not. Anyways, Jen and I made it to New Zealand safe and sound. We got about 4-6 hours sleep on the slightly shorter than expected 12 and 1/2 hour flight.The flight was fairly enjoyable, slightly less cramped than a regular coach flight, but still kind of tight. I had someone who reclined 100% of the way into my lap and I couldn't do much of anything the whole trip. Jen had a much better seat with no one in front of her. The guy in our isle seat slept the whole way making it problematic to ask to go to the bathroom so I think we got up once the entire flight.
Some cool things about the flight was that they show you on your own personal video screen where you are at all the time and how much time is remaining in the flight. Being a control freak and slightly anxious I appreciated the constant feedback. Also your personal monitor and free headphones work with your own remote control in your armrest which gives you access to a TON of music, movies, games and information. I played a game called Caveman (think Pengo) for a while and Tetris for a bit. I watched Bridge to Tabathia as well and Jen watched that recent Ed Norton period movie. She also watched Becomming Jane. I was impressed with the selection of movies. They even had movies that weren't out in the theateres here in New Zealand yet. They also had a huge "classics" section which included such favorites as Ferris Buellers Day Off, Galaxy Quest and a ton of other great movies from every genre. They even had all 3 Lord of the Rings movies and just about enough flight time to watch them all! Maybe next time.
After landing, we breezed through the airport stopping to take a photo of the "Please do not spit in trash bins" signs. We had a slightly cranky immigration officer, but got through with just a few cursory questions. The baggage claim was filled with people, but they were all surprisingly staying behind this yellow line a foot away from the conveyor belt. In America people would be pushing and pulling and knocking people onto the belt and here, everyone was chill and just waiting there turn.... Most people were even at the"end" of the belt area instead of crammed at the entrance. A cute begal and her handler were sniffing all the bags looking for agricultural violations (bringing in food or plant matter) and not drugs (although maybe that too). We got a free coffee from the Welcome to New Zealand booth and breezed through customs in about 15 seconds with a single question to verify our answers. We had our bags X-Rayed and Jen was challenged to open one for about 30 seconds. I think they saw our teddy bears and smiled and closed it up again.
So far so good, but after getting out to the pick up area, our driver that was supposed to have our name on one of those cards was no where to be found. We wanted a picture as this would probably be the only time anyone would be meeting us at the airport with our own name card and private car. Turns out he was late and we finally found his contact information and found him. It was more of a shared shuttle service with a private van and we had to wait about an hour to round up everyone. We met a nice girl from New York that was on the same flight and going to the University as well. We also had a chance to try some more coffee and to get on a free wireless network (most aren't free and I think we found an exception). I made my first international Skype call to my Dad and it worked perfectly without a hitch. Also we sent out a few emails and Jen called her parents.
After that a long ride to the Youth Hostel with the AWESOME and very friendly driver giving us informationand tips, we finally arrived. We were travelling with a girl from Norway and another student. A quick check in at the Hostel came next and we had to store our bags till 2pm while waiting to get a room. My headache wasn't getting any better, so Jen and I went out for a short walk to check out some cafe's. This city seems really beatiful so far and we are at a small cafe where I am writing this. It reminds me of a mix of Seattle and Van Couver so far. The only weird things that seem like culture shock so far are the driving on the opposite side of the road and getting in the opposite side of the car, compared to what we are used to. Most of the signage looks American and we have seen a Starbucks, a Subway, Coca-Cola, McDonalds, etc... There are a few local chains and brands we are starting to notice. The metric system is going to kick our butt soon though. That would probably be the other hard thing to adapt to. Also crossing streets is challenging as you don't know where someone is going to come at you from.
One more big shocker before we sign off for a while. Prices are very expensive. We just paid $32 NZD for breakfast at a run of the mill cafe. It was 2 eggs, toast and bacon for me and Jen had some sort of Potato pancake and egg dish + 2 coffee drinks. Mine was $11.50 for 2 eggs, toast and bacon which would probably run about $4-7 in the US. We get about 25% off from the exchange rate, so the whole meal is about $24 which is on the high end of brunch in San Francisco for this kind of place. Seems like every price we see is way more than we expected including rents which look to be $300-600 per WEEK for the kind of place we want to get.
Well more later and we will start adding pictures to the blog soon. So far New Zealand is great and we are excited to check out the University next.
Matthew
Some cool things about the flight was that they show you on your own personal video screen where you are at all the time and how much time is remaining in the flight. Being a control freak and slightly anxious I appreciated the constant feedback. Also your personal monitor and free headphones work with your own remote control in your armrest which gives you access to a TON of music, movies, games and information. I played a game called Caveman (think Pengo) for a while and Tetris for a bit. I watched Bridge to Tabathia as well and Jen watched that recent Ed Norton period movie. She also watched Becomming Jane. I was impressed with the selection of movies. They even had movies that weren't out in the theateres here in New Zealand yet. They also had a huge "classics" section which included such favorites as Ferris Buellers Day Off, Galaxy Quest and a ton of other great movies from every genre. They even had all 3 Lord of the Rings movies and just about enough flight time to watch them all! Maybe next time.
After landing, we breezed through the airport stopping to take a photo of the "Please do not spit in trash bins" signs. We had a slightly cranky immigration officer, but got through with just a few cursory questions. The baggage claim was filled with people, but they were all surprisingly staying behind this yellow line a foot away from the conveyor belt. In America people would be pushing and pulling and knocking people onto the belt and here, everyone was chill and just waiting there turn.... Most people were even at the"end" of the belt area instead of crammed at the entrance. A cute begal and her handler were sniffing all the bags looking for agricultural violations (bringing in food or plant matter) and not drugs (although maybe that too). We got a free coffee from the Welcome to New Zealand booth and breezed through customs in about 15 seconds with a single question to verify our answers. We had our bags X-Rayed and Jen was challenged to open one for about 30 seconds. I think they saw our teddy bears and smiled and closed it up again.
So far so good, but after getting out to the pick up area, our driver that was supposed to have our name on one of those cards was no where to be found. We wanted a picture as this would probably be the only time anyone would be meeting us at the airport with our own name card and private car. Turns out he was late and we finally found his contact information and found him. It was more of a shared shuttle service with a private van and we had to wait about an hour to round up everyone. We met a nice girl from New York that was on the same flight and going to the University as well. We also had a chance to try some more coffee and to get on a free wireless network (most aren't free and I think we found an exception). I made my first international Skype call to my Dad and it worked perfectly without a hitch. Also we sent out a few emails and Jen called her parents.
After that a long ride to the Youth Hostel with the AWESOME and very friendly driver giving us informationand tips, we finally arrived. We were travelling with a girl from Norway and another student. A quick check in at the Hostel came next and we had to store our bags till 2pm while waiting to get a room. My headache wasn't getting any better, so Jen and I went out for a short walk to check out some cafe's. This city seems really beatiful so far and we are at a small cafe where I am writing this. It reminds me of a mix of Seattle and Van Couver so far. The only weird things that seem like culture shock so far are the driving on the opposite side of the road and getting in the opposite side of the car, compared to what we are used to. Most of the signage looks American and we have seen a Starbucks, a Subway, Coca-Cola, McDonalds, etc... There are a few local chains and brands we are starting to notice. The metric system is going to kick our butt soon though. That would probably be the other hard thing to adapt to. Also crossing streets is challenging as you don't know where someone is going to come at you from.
One more big shocker before we sign off for a while. Prices are very expensive. We just paid $32 NZD for breakfast at a run of the mill cafe. It was 2 eggs, toast and bacon for me and Jen had some sort of Potato pancake and egg dish + 2 coffee drinks. Mine was $11.50 for 2 eggs, toast and bacon which would probably run about $4-7 in the US. We get about 25% off from the exchange rate, so the whole meal is about $24 which is on the high end of brunch in San Francisco for this kind of place. Seems like every price we see is way more than we expected including rents which look to be $300-600 per WEEK for the kind of place we want to get.
Well more later and we will start adding pictures to the blog soon. So far New Zealand is great and we are excited to check out the University next.
Matthew
Labels: Auckland, cafe, cost of living, prices
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