Submitted by Amjed Hallak on the 2019 winter session study abroad program in New Zealand sponsored by the Department of Computer and Information Sciences…
New Zealand may seem rather small on the map, but it actually has about the same land area as Colorado. New Zealand is about 268,021 square kilometers, while Colorado is about 268,628 square kilometers. I’ve spent the last sector of my study abroad program exploring as many areas as possible during our free time. On the South Island, I’ve recently traveled to Queenstown, Milford Sound, Dunedin, and Nelson. For the North Island, I’ve only had the opportunity to explore Auckland. Upon discussion with many native citizens, each island has its own “culture” that differs from the other. The North Island, primarily Auckland, is faster paced, and people around Auckland tended to mind their own business a little more. As for the South Island, all the towns were substantially smaller, and the people were increasingly friendly toward strangers and unhesitating toward casual small talk. The contrast was rather interesting and quite apparent between the two islands.
As this program comes to an end, I realize how quickly this month has gone by. I certainly haven’t had the opportunity to explore everything I wanted to see due to the lack of time, but I definitely have no regrets about the ways I’ve spent my energy. Balancing classes, cultural learning, sightseeing, and traveling isn’t ever easy, especially when everything about the country is so overwhelmingly beautiful.