Kia Ora!

(to be continued...)

Kia Ora! ‘Kia Ora’ means welcome in Maori Language. WE finally arrived Wellington Airport at 11.25pm (NZ time) – 8th of Feb. Students from Victoria Uni of Wellington (VUW) welcomed us at the arrival hall...They gave us a welcome pack and sent us to Cumberland. It begins my first night at a new place called NZ! 1st nite was scary…They placed each of us in a single room on the 10th floor yet we don’t dare to stay in a single room, so 3 of us decided to stay in a single room. After taking bath in a freezing cold environment, me, wyne, poh yee & pui ting went to the nearest store to get mineral waters. It was 2am in midnight and the whole street was pin drop silence…It was abit eerie & it was cold! After getting some stuff, we quickly went back. What was so scary is the lift at Cumberland, 3 of the lifts are not functioning properly.Some1 even trapped inside the lift but luckily is not me. My case was I went into the lift & I could not press any button in the lift, then the lift closed its door itself and I was sent to the 10th floor… the door open in a sudden, when I wanna press the ‘open’ door button to hold, I found out that the lift do not have any button to open the door (due to my ignorance). I was shocked and when I decided to walk out, the lift close its door again and I was sent back to the ground floor…It was crazy isn’t it? Some of my frenz at the ground floor felt weird why I was still in the lift?! I almost went crazy when the lift close the door again and I was sent bck to the 10th floor…end up when the lift open its door, Wan ling & Wyne quickly pressed on the door to hold it and I was escaped from this ‘haunted’ lift..*phew*.. At nite, due to carelessness, I locked my keys inside my room, ended up Wyne & I dun dare to go down to the office by lift nor the staircase, so we stayed a night in wan ling’s room…

The next day we were still miserable yet I gotten news that we are going to moved into another accommodation - Nomads Capital! I felt relieved that I finally escaped this scary accommodation .. Yet, another series of stories gonna begin… Nomads is much better compared to Cumberland in terms of facilities and rooms…Wyne & I were put into a dorm of 4ppl…Evyday we got the chance to meet different people sharing our room. Nomads is bckpackers, so people just come & go…There are 2days where they put a guy in our dorm, the 1st guy was ok but the 2nd guy was annoying…he was from States and he is kinda big size compared to me..haha..I am small in size,cant deny that…muahaha…So whenevr he moved when he is slping at the upper level of the double decker bed, u could feel the whole bed shaked & it was very noisy…Maggie from Germany(she is also in a medium statue) who slept at the lower deck get so annoyed and she was afraid that the whole bed collapsed and he will fall on her…luckily it dint happen..What irritated me most is that there is one day he threw his wet towel on my bed after his bath.By the time I came back, I found out that his dirty towel lied horizontally on my bed…*yuks* His shirts were threw all over the place…so messy & irritating..

Things were getting better after a few days at Nomads…We started to explore around the city…We went to quite a number of places --> New World supermarkets for foods & groceries, Briscoes & Warehouse for relatively cheap necessities & house appliances, Yan's Supermarket for Asian & oriental foods…We also explored around Lambton Quay,Railway station,Oriental Bay Beach, the Wellington Cable Car, Courteney place,Cuba Street, went to our Kelburn Campus which is situated uphill, Pipitea Campus & Te Aro Campus…but still v haven got the chance to go Botanic garden..

During orientation, we went to a number of tours…1st we attended Powhiri. It is a traditional Moari welcome ceremony. Maori were the first people of New Zealand, today they make up over 14% of the population & over 10% of Victoria’s student population, so their language & culture has major impact on NZ life. Through this ceremony, we could observe that Maori has a unique tradition for welcoming guests. It is held on a Te Herenga Waka Marae- its like a hall where it has its unique carving on it. Powhiri begins with a wero. A warrior from the tangata whenua(hosts) will challenge the manuhiri (guests). Manuhiri needs to show that they come in peace and not for war purposes. After giving speeches of welcome(which is in Maori language), evy audience sung waiata (songs). Then the guests are supposed to present a gift to the hosts and greet the hosts with o hongi- the ceremony of touching nose. After the powhiri, kai (food) is shared.

2nd highlight was the Nightlife tour! It’s a way to check out Wellington’s lively night scene. We visited Irish Pub & try some of the beers- tui & export gold…V get a little bit drunk at the end of the day…ha…we still managed to find our way back to Nomads.. The next day, we went for Wellington Bus tour. Through this tour, we have the chance to see around the sites of Wellington such as the Beehive- Parliaments, St. Paul church etc. We also stop at Mt Victoria – a perfect view of Wellington City but its freezing cold up there!

Currently, I have moved into a new place called Te Kotahinga.Te Kotahinga is the Maori name given to the self catering house. It also means bringing people together. I am now sharing a room with Wyne…so happy that we are still roommates afterall..hehe.. There are altogether 8 rooms including my room which fits 2 residence…it is pretty nice here where its like some kind of house where we share the kitchen, dining hall, bathrooms & laundry areas. Besides, I am able to enjoy a nice view of the city from my room! Check out more photos from my multiply site : www.gibberyc.multiply.com. All of our hsemates are from different countries including Africa, Philippines, Cambodia, Thailand & China. It only takes 5minutes to reach my campus - Kelburn yet it’s quite tiring as Kelburn campus is situated at hilly side.