I loved my time in New Zealand. It is truly a beautiful country and so easy to travel in since it is so small in size. I loved all the natural features of the country — beaches, glaciers, waterfalls, mountains, thermal pools. There is so much diversity there. The people were incredibly kind and open as well. Local people talked to me everywhere I went. The accent was crazy to get used to– they pronounce their ‘e’s as ‘i’s and their ‘a’s as ‘e’s. It was much more challenging than I expected it to be. I had a friend from Germany who told me a story about meeting someone who introduced her to a young son, telling her his name was Bin. She was so confused, because in Europe, the bin is the trash can! She wondered, why would anyone name their son Bin? Then she realized the kid’s name was actually Ben! After a while I was able to understand people really clearly and sometimes helped to ‘translate’ for other travlers who were having trouble communicating. I found this fun little article about the New Zealand accent — check it out if you aren’t familiar with it. 

New Zealand kind of felt like the United States from 20-30 years ago. Things seemed more, I don’t know, relaxed? But not in a beachy, chill kind of way. Just in a less stressed out, more common sense kind of way. For example, kids still go places by themselves there. It is common to see kids as young as maybe 8 or 10 out on their own, heading to or from school or just hanging out. They ride bikes around and take the busses. I loved seeing this. I had forgotten that it used to be like that in the US too. In my opinion it is a huge loss that kids can’t do this anymore. Doing things on their own (in an age appropriate way) is so important for building independence and life skills. I think now even if parents would like to allow their kids to do this, they feel like they can’t because someone might report them to the authorities for negligence. Another example is that you see kids in bare feet. Even out in town, walking around with their parents. Customer service in shops is better too, like how I remember from years ago. There are more people around to help you. People bring dogs into shops and restaurants. It just seemed like they have less of the regulations and safety type rules or norms that we have developed in the US. One negative thing was that the wifi was TERRIBLE. It was usually limited — you’d get a password that would allow you to use some ridiculously low amount of data (50MB??). Not that we had wifi 30 years ago, but you know what I mean. It was kind of like going back in time, being there. I liked it (even with the bad wifi).

If I am going to be totally honest, I wasn’t the biggest fan of traveling in Australia. I think it was just too similar to the US for me to really feel like I was having a new experience. I also think maybe I didn’t go to the right places. I stuck mainly to the big cities and didn’t get out in nature very much, which, as my sister rightly pointed out, is what I tend to really enjoy when I’m traveling. I liked the laid back vibe, though it was strange to me to see adults walking around in bare feet and all the midriff shirts and beach wear! The people were very friendly in Australia too, though I didn’t meet as many locals there as I did in New Zealand. The Australian accent was easier for me to understand (but I still had some communication breakdowns of course). Aussies really love to shorten words and make them cuter by adding an ‘ie’ at the end…mozzie for mosquito, brekkie for breakfast, chrissie for christmas, footie for football, schoolie for high-school graduates. They even do this to place names, like Brissie for Brisbane and Tassie for Tasmania… and of course, Aussie for Australian. Actually, I’m not sure if this is an Aussie thing or a Brittish English thing. Does anyone know if they do this in the UK? 

I actually really liked hearing the British English in both New Zealand and Australia. I’m not sure why, but the British spelling of curb — kerb — totally made my day when I learned it. I know some people think the two accents sound the same, but I can definitely tell them apart now!

As much as I enjoyed my time in New Zealand, now that I’m in Asia (I’ve been in Singapore for the last three days), I’m wishing I had more time to spend here. I have decided to go home sooner than I was planning, so I’m cutting my time in Asia short, at least for now. I’m going to go to Florida for Christmas and more than likely I’ll be staying in the US while I look for a job for the 2017 school year. I’m still sorting out exactly what I want to do, but I’m defintely excited to be headed home to see my family.