Settling In

Hello everyone,

I've moved into my dorm and am starting classes tomorrow, which I'm looking forward to. I've been pretty impressed with Victoria so far. They've worked really hard to make sure we know about all the services and activities available to us. I've had a nice week getting to know people from my hall and becoming further oriented. I've befriended a few Aucklanders and am very glad I chose Wellington as even they say Auckland isn't very nice at all. Apparently it's a sprawling city, whereas Wellington, besides being artsier, has laws against expanding into the 'green zone' on all sides. Auckland is constantly abused here, along with, more jokingly, its people who are referred to hereabouts as jafars, which stands for something not very nice at all.

This past week has mostly been filled with activities organized by my dorm, St. George. It used to be a hotel (the Beatles stayed there once) and is still in the process of being renovated, which gives us all something to grumble about. St. George is in a great location, just down the (really big) hill from campus and just a few minutes from the fun part of town.

Oh, and we need to stop giving the Canadians grief for saying 'eh.' The New Zealanders employ their version (the same sound but spelled 'aye') much more often than any Canadian I've ever known.