Submitted by Parker Chan on the 2019 winter session study abroad program in New Zealand sponsored by the Department of Kinesiology and Applied Physiology…
This first week in New Zealand has been interesting to say the least. For one, everything that I am currently used to back at home is completely wrong. For example, since you drive in the left lane rather than right lane, you also walk on the left side of the sidewalk compared to the right. To be honest, this took a while to adjust to. Even some smaller things like the way doorknobs turn or how one would lock doors took a while to adjust to, although by now, I’d like to think that I’ve gotten used to everything. So, throughout this first week we’ve been extremely active. During just this week, we’ve done two separate hikes followed by a 70 km bike ride. Throughout all of those activities, I noticed that every single person that we passed was super friendly. They said “hi” or nodded at us like it was customary compared to home where you might get those greetings once in a blue moon. Overall, it’s been a great start to this program and I can’t wait to see what comes next.
