Hey hey! It's week 15 and it's already October! This week is my birthday week and my best friend studying in Australia came to visit me to celebrate my birthday with me. It was really nice to have someone familiar to home with me. Next week is "study week" which is a whole week off of classes to focus on studying for finals. This semester is almost over WHAT is going on!! I'm planning on traveling a bit of the north island next week with some of my friends so that's what's getting me through the stress of my upcoming finals.
This week I'm sharing some differences I've noticed between Pennsylvania and New Zealand, and also differences between the universities.
One of the major differences I immediately noticed when coming to New Zealand was the emphasis on the environment. Recycling and energy conservation is huge here, there's more recycling bins than general waste bins, single use plastic is not used here (and is almost completely banned), and people in general have a better sense of how to live with as little waste as possible. I think this is amazing, being an environmental science major, and it made me realize how much waste we produce in the US. The amount of plastic we use and throw away on a daily basis is absolutely crazy compared to the New Zealanders.
Another thing that is different is of course the products they use and the brands in the stores. I have not recognized many brands of products since I've been here, especially with medication and food items.
The money here in New Zealand is the New Zealand dollar, which is worth less than the US dollar. One NZD is equivalent to 0.64 USD, so this was interesting to get used to. The prices for everything here are much higher than they are in the US, but that's because of the exchange rate between the two currencies, so it's actually not much different. Every time I spent $30 NZD on a pizza I would have buyers remorse, but I just had to remind myself that it's actually not that expensive.
Now, the differences on campus. First of all, there is no flex. You eat in the cafeteria in College Hall for every meal, and that is the meal plan. At first I was disappointed because now I'd have to pay for the copious amounts of coffee that I drink, but they have coffee in the cafeteria so it's not that bad. Another thing is you have to pay for the gym membership here. It's $220 NZD a semester which is kind of expensive, unlike the free with tuition gym at SU, so being someone who likes to go to the gym this was pretty sad for me.
One of the biggest things for me that is different between SU and Waikato is the way I interact with people. When walking by someone they will always look you in the eye and say hello and anyone can walk up to you and start a conversation. I feel like at Susky, when you walk past someone you aren't expected to greet them or look them in the eye. It's more comfortable for me to start conversations with people I don't know here at Waikato compared to Susky just because of the nature of the people here.
Overall, there are things I like about Waikato better and things I like about Susquehanna better, but that's all a part of the abroad experience! I'm loving New Zealand so much and I say this every week, but I can't believe it's going by so fast and is almost over. I'm trying to enjoy every second of my time here while is lasts, even though sometimes I wish I was home with my dogs.
This week there was a climate strike for the whole city of Hamilton to join, so of course me and my friends participated. Here's a picture from that!
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