Submitted by Devin O’Doherty on the 2019 winter session study abroad program in Australia and New Zealand sponsored by the Department of Business Administration…
This past week, my group traveled to Rotorua, New Zealand. While we were there, I got to experience the culture first hand in a setting outside of the Auckland city area. Our first night there was one of my favorite nights of the whole program so far. There was a night market going on in the town that they have every Thursday night. I was so excited that we made it for that because it was such a great way to see the culture and try new foods. They had over 30 food trucks, two stages with live music going on and so many tents selling homemade crafts, jewelry and art. I love seeing live music so it was really cool to be able to watch it in New Zealand and learn about the band. I also loved walking around to all the tents and looking at the handmade jewelry. This is the type of stuff I love to do when I’m in a new place because it immerses you in the culture much more than doing tourist activities. I liked talking to the artists and hearing their stories about where they are from, life in New Zealand and learning about the items they were selling. I learned about the Pounamu Rock that is native to New Zealand, specifically the South Island. The Maori word for it is, “Te Wahi Pounamu”, which means “The Place of Greenstone”. I though this was really interesting and loved hearing about it from a local artist. I bought myself a Pounamu bracelet to remind me of this and to always have something natively found in New Zealand.