On the go at Otago:
Alison Recknagel in New Zealand
I'm spending a semester at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand and thus far, it's been a blast. I came over with the IFSA-Butler programme that started off my trip with a great orientation which included a visit to a Maori Marae.
I decided to go to New Zealand because I wanted to go somewhere I had never been before. I had studied a little about Maori culture and was really interested in it too. when I was younger, my family would go to Hawaii for spring break. On the island of Oahu, there is an attraction called the Polynesian Cultural Center. Basically it's the Epcot of Polynesia.
Each island is represented with its own sort of village set up. There are displays and a shows at each island demonstrating the culture of that island. New Zealand (or Aotearoa) and Maori culture would always be my favorite out of all the other islands.
After that, I did a little more research and paid attention when movies like Whale Rider came out. I love how family-based the culture is. I love the beauty of the language and how it's survived until today. They still keep many of their traditions sacred. I find that beautiful.
In addition to that, I made a friend my freshman year at PC who had studied in NZ. I made him sit down and tell me all about it. By then end of that discussion, I was sold.
My favorite experience thus far is I had the chance to fly up to Auckland and then drive all the way from Auckland to Dunedin-- Auckland is on the top of the north island and Dunedin is on the bottom of the south pretty much. I got to see almost all of NZ in 48 hours. Plus New Zealanders (aka Kiwis) are some of the nicest, easy going people I have ever had a chance to meet.
I play in a bagpipe band back home and found a band here to play with and they are so nice. I don't have a car, but I've worked it out to get rides from them and hanging out outside of band. Just all around, the Kiwis are an easy-going people. They don't worry about the little things and don't stress out much.