Monday
Today I met my supervisor David, everyone is on first name basis, even the lecturers and the students. David is really nice and very helpful. He showed me my plan and it turned out, that some of the papers (subjects) that I chose are only available in Semester 1. Especially the advanced papers. And instead of telling me that during my application when I was still back home in Germany, they just put me into the introduction (basic) papers. I was a little bit disappointed about that but David told me, that I could still change papers and maybe even chose one from another school. Idea School for example which is for art and design. I will have 2 more weeks to decide which paper I want to stay in and which I want to change.
Also today started the first of two orientation weeks where they provided some tips & tricks for living and studying and some lunch. This time we had some yummy Sushi 🙂
Tuesday
At the Orientation Rally last Thursday one stop was at the ATM (automated teller machine) on campus. There were two staff from ANZ (the biggest bank in New Zealand). They told us about a free bank account we could create and because I already planned to have a New Zealand bank account, I made an appointment for that same day.
So I went to Taradale on Sandra’s bike and opened a bank account. I had to ride back to get my passport.
Wednesday
Not a lot happened on this day. But the EIT Student Association provided some free burgers in the lunch break 🙂
And because I had a little cold (it must be the New Zealand winter) I decided to bring a lot of tea and inhale some salt water in the evening 🙂
Thursday
And the morning after the inhalation, my cold had blown away. It worked really well and I felt a lot better!
As part of the two orientation weeks for international students, we attended a presentation about how to cook on a budget. That presentation was pretty poor to be honest. Pasta, nachos and a lot of cheese. Nothing really healthy or nutritious.
After class we attempted our first hike (which Sandra wouldn’t call a hike :P). It took us to the hills of Otatara Pa. About 1.5km from the student village. There you walk on meadows where sheep graze and lamps drink milk from their mothers. We had to cross several fences until we reached the top of the hills. From there we had a great view over Taradale, Napier and the pacific ocean and whole Hawke’s Bay in the other direction.
Weekend
Coming tomorrow in a separate post!
