Submitted by Kevin Jones on the 2017 winter session program in New Zealand sponsored by the Department of Computer and Information Sciences…
About a month ago, I was talking with my roommates about the recycling and what we can actually put in there. Mind you, we have been recycling for several months, but after finally discussing what we each know, we found many things we had been doing wrong all this time. Although it was surprising to find that my knowledge on recycling was so limited, I thought about how odd it was that we all had gaps in our understanding. What is the reason that we, and I am sure many other students at the University of Delaware (or people across the country), have been recycling incorrectly for such a long time?
Now, what does all of this talk about recycling have to do with studying abroad in New Zealand? New Zealand is absolutely the most beautiful place I have ever been, and places don’t look this stunning without a whole lot of care. One of the biggest differences between my first few days here and my 22 years living in Delaware is that from my first steps into the Auckland International Airport it was clear that the people of New Zealand really care about the beauty of their country. One of the reasons all of the places we have visited have looked green and clean might simply be because the people are educated on how to dispose of waste (which is probably a bit of an extrapolation based on the very informative waste bins I see all over Christchurch). There are many other signs that show how people care about New Zealand, from the wildlife reserves to the bio-security screening at the airport, and I am very interested in learning more.
My friends and I have joked about finding ways to acquire jobs here after our studying is over because of how amazing the first few days have been. However, I think a more realistic goal is continuing to learn more about the New Zealand way of life and finding ways to incorporate that back home. How can we integrate our study and what we have learned about the culture to come up with new ideas that will improve our own country? This will be one of my main focuses for my month here in Christchurch.
