day 1

It's 6:40pm on February 2 and the first day of my stay in Auckland, New Zealand.

The flight was relatively painless, pretty uncomfortable, but I was able to sleep through the majority of it.

Landed in Auckland and went to drop off my luggage for the week so I didn't have to haul it around and ... completely ridiculous mistake #1 -- left my wallet on the counter.

I didn't realize it until I got to the bus that took me to the city and couldn't pay the fee. It was glorious running back into the airport to find my wallet still sitting there, thank goodness...

and yes, I KNOW how ridiculous it is, you need not remind me...

took a bus from airport to the city. The ride from the airport went through a sort of ... middle-of-nowhere type area with big fields and storage buildings.. we passed construction workers wearing board shorts and stubbies (American male short-shorts haha)

The bus driver went off his route to drop me off closer to my hostel. I was extremely grateful because the shortened walk I had to take was still a hell of a walk...

I dropped my stuff off in my room and decided to just walk around Auckland. I walked down Queen St, which is the main drag for downtown Auckland. A bunch of nice boutiques, but overpriced (of course) and I carried on. I realized I was extremely hungry and started a search for fish & chips. Having reached the end of Queen st. at the waterfront, I found a Westfield mall which I entered and found a place for fish & chips. Ate alone and looked at the people passing by.

Walked back to my hostel through another route and it started to rain. I got kindof lost but found my way and once I got back to my hostel, I fell asleep in the common room. Upon waking up, there was a guy sitting in a chair adjacent to me. He then realized I had awoken and asked if he could turn on the television. We then chatted for a bit about his own immigration to NZ from India and etc, etc. I went back to sleep again and woke up to him and a Maori girl playing pool. I sat watching TV and she eventually sat down next to me. We then started chatting and played a few games of pool and it was all great. We walked around the city and got some groceries and then I came back and here I am.

Already some new friends and experiencing Auckland. The dorm is small but I like it.

The country feels familiar but so very different.. I'm trying to make it on my own so far and it feels like something else is running me while I watch from afar. I can't believe how much I've done in this day so far and maybe on paper it seems short but for me this is more than I could have ever imagined for 12 hours in a new country by myself.

Things I've noticed that are different:

Non-disposable items. When I ate at the mall, I was served on plates with metal spoons and a mug. no throwing that away. I stopped by an ice cream shop and asked for a sample of green tea ice cream -- I was handed a metal spoon which he took back after I tasted. I suppose they're way better at not throwing things away...

Well my laptop is going to die and I haven't been able to find an adapter so I'll be updating more soon! till then...