So it begins...

The sun shines and it is good. I think its crazy how much weather can change my mood. So far in Dunedin its been 70% crappy rainy-ish cold weather, although recently the sun has been shining reminding me that it’s summer here. Don’t get me wrong, even in the rain I’ve been happy, but when the sun shines I cannot stop smiling. The Kiwis (New Zealanders) assure me that it’s not usually like this.
So the flat is pretty sweet. It’s got a common room joined with a nicely sized kitchen, 4 bedrooms (we all have our own room), a small bathroom with just a toilet and sink, and finally a bigger bathroom with a shower, washing machine/dryer, and sink. It’s set back from the street a bit and we also share the house with another group of flatters, so we enter through the back of the house. There’s a nice little lawn for the kids.
Otago (my university) is not far and the center of campus is about a five minute walk, making it a pretty sweet location. It’s a pretty school, with neo-gothic architecture. There’s a nice river that runs through campus and by my flat. Sweet as (that’s the Kiwi version of cool). I really want to and probably will tube/raft down it. I’m excited.
I’ve just been getting acclimated with the town (aka going to bars) and exploring the area. It’s “O”-week right now which is Orientation week. This translates into a week full of debauchery. It’s a big drinking fest with some musicians and entertainment that come to campus. It’s been pretty fun but classes and a semblance of a schedule will not be bad. We had surf lessons the other day (happen to be the first awesome sunny day since my arrival). The beach is about a 10 min bus ride from Dunedin and is amazingly beautiful. Surfing was a blast and a half. I even got up on the board a few times. After surfing we played some touch rugby on the beach and then went to a cliff side that overlooked the water to have lunch. Man o man was it gorgeous along with the fact that the food here is damn delicious.
Additionally, I’ve been playing Frisbee about 3 times a week, along with tennis, soccer, etc, regardless of the weather. The ultimate team is a bunch of good guys and I’m making some friends I think through that, beyond the Arcadianz (we’re named Arcadianz, the nz for New Zealand). We hiked a nearby mountain, about a forty minute trek to the trailhead then a 3-4 hour roundtrip hike. The sight from the top and along the way is breath-taking. It reaffirmed my choice to come here.
Classes started this past Monday, so vacation is over. I’m taking 4 classes and the 3 I’ve had so far seem pretty engaging. We’ll see what happens once work starts to pick up soon. We’re also getting internet soon in the Flat which is very exciting because that means I won’t have to tramp down to the library to check my mail. Speaking of mail, if you want a post-card, letter, etc please get me your mailing address so I can send you stuff. After class I think I’ll be going surfing again, so we’ll see how it goes. Oh and there are sharks here (great whites among others I think) although most people I talked to say that its not a big problem, although Kiwis are notoriously laid back about that kind of stuff. Wish me luck!