They actually have class here?

Hello all! I have been busy recently enjoying this beautiful country, so here's an update!

I spent last weekend in the Bay of Islands, a section of coastline about three hours north of Auckland famous for its snorkeling, fishing, and water sports. It poured Friday night, but by the time we woke up Saturday the weather had cleared and we were able to do an 8km hike (they call it tramping here) from the hostel (known affectionately as the Pickled Parrot) along a river up to Haruru Falls, which was swollen with water from the previous day's storm. We were exhausted, but stayed up to stargaze on the beach and saw the Southern Cross, Orion (who was upside down), and the Milky Way, among others. Sunday morning we rose early to catch the sun rise through the fog over the Pacific, then rented kayaks and paddled to a few of the islands out in the bay. We found our own private cove and pulled up the kayaks for lunch and a quick swim. We left before any sharks could get us (that's what you get when you hang out people from Minnesota, Tennessee, and Nepal), and paddled around a mangrove forrest before we headed back to shore and caught the bus back to Auckland.

After two weeks in New Zealand, my classes have finally started (whether this is a good or bad thing is up for debate). This semester will be a welcomed change from my WM schedule that is full of labs, exams, work, and internships, as I am not working and I am only taking four classes. Three days a week I have only one class, and my earliest class is at 1pm (yeah, its pretty sweet). Here is a quick description of my classes:

Half a Billion Years on the Edge: A Geologic History of New Zealand (that's a mouthful), is taught by a tattoo-clad geologist who talks about a million miles an hour, has a handlebar mustache, and wears hiking boots and a Hawaiian shirt to every class. I hope to learn a lot from this class (mostly so I can answer everybody's questions back at the WM geology department), and the field trip we have to the beach!

My intro to Marine Science class is team taught with professors from almost every discipline, and I think it will be a fun and interesting class. It is amazing how much they reference research and programs done in the US at Scripps and Woods Hole!

Ecological Restoration and Management is taught by one of the most idealistic hippies I have ever met- he literally spent the first two lectures doing a PowerPoint about dreams, achieving harmony, and planting trees. I have two field trips for this class, both to preserves in the Auckland area- I hope they don't include demonstrations on how to hug trees.

My last class is called Kapa Haka, which is a native Maori dance you may have seen the All Blacks rugby team perform before games. I will be learning some of the Maori language and how to perform the dances and songs of the Maori tradition. For all of you laughing at the thought of me on stage dancing and singing in the Maori language, I have two performances scheduled: one in late April, and one the first week of June.

After the shock and exhaustion of classes, I needed a break so I hit the beach on Wednesday, celebrated my roommate Erin's 22nd birthday on Friday, and beach barbecued yesterday before catching a Blues vs. Sharks rugby game last night. It's a tough life isn't it?