Day 1 June 8th 2011

First day we walked around Rotorua and went out to lunch. We were told some of the main things about the city and we also checked into our hotel and went to dinner at burger fuel.

Prompt: First Impressions of New Zealand and three culture shocks I experienced and also what I am excited for tomorrow

          When we first started driving after we got out of customs, I just thought, there is so much green everywhere I look. At first, the country reminded me of Ireland because of all the different shades of green. My first impression was that everything was very spread out and nothing was cramped, it was more laid-back. I was also under the impression that things here are so much different such as how the energy is used in Rotorua. My first culture shock was that the people are very open and friendly and are willing to make conversation. One example was when I went into a shop and the owners started a conversation with us for about 15 minutes. Another major culture shock was driving on the left side of the road. I was so used to driving on the right side that it just didn't seem right to me. It will probably take a while to get used to, but it will happen eventually. My last culture shock was obviously getting used to the different currency. At some places I went to, I had to have the cashier help me pick of the right coins because New Zealand has coins for so many more amounts. Another thing that surprised me was the amount of diversity within the towns. There were people from all ethnicities in the towns and that was one thing I was unaware of. For tomorrow, I am very excited to explore more around Rotorua and have a full energy filled day of exploring. Specifically, I am excited for Ogoing because that is something that originated in NZ and is hard to find in America. I am also anxious to learn more fun facts about New Zealand culture and learn how everything we do ties in to what we learned in class.

New Zealand

New Zealand currency