Arrival and settling in to Orc-Land

Well eh bru here I am in Auckland or as some call it (Orc-land), which was actually named before the Lord of the Rings made New Zealand popular.

I'll be studing a Masters of Communications at AUT (Auckland University of Technology) and perhaps doing some work here and there. My other focus is to run activities at the centre of Opus Dei in Auckland - Glenrowan Study Centre.

I am starting to see that several Aussie terms should not be used, and they are replaced as follows:

Aussie Term

• Thongs
  

New Zealand Term

• Jandals

Why not to use Aussie term

• As in other countries, Thongs refer to a certain piece of scanty underwear

Aussie Term

• Esky

New Zealand Term

• Chilli-Bin

Why not to use Aussie term

• You will just be laughed at

Aussie Term

• stuffed, screwed, broken

New Zealand Term

• Munted

Why not to use Aussie term

• Munted covers everything
  

I'm sure there will be more to add to that list as time goes on....

Well, the photo above is from the Tongariro Crossing, which we did about a month ago, with the boys' club called "Endeavour", which is a great name as it has many meanings and I like ships. Pretty soon I'll upload some photos from our day of fishing out on the Harbour. It was an awesome start to my stay in Auckland.

Yesterday I attended a Mass for someone being received into the Catholic Church. It was also a great way to start things off here. Very nice guy, also a lawyer and teaching at the uni that I will be doing my Masters at - Auckland University of Technology. I am set for copping heaps for going to the second-best uni in Auckland, behind Auckland Uni, but hey what can you do if the best uni doesn't even have a Journalism or Communications department. Pretty slack if you ask me!

As I said, I am living in a centre called Glenrowan Study Centre. As at yesterday, there were just three Aussies living here, so it was fitting that the place is named after a location in Victoria, Australia (where Ned Kelly was finally taken by the authorities). But uni residents are moving in, so the NZ-Aussie ratio is tipping back the other way. Hopefully within the week we will be outnumbered and I can get back to learning more about the interesting Kiwi accent. "Interesting" is actually an interesing word to say in a Kiwi accent eh?

Well, stay tuned for more photos, which I will also Facebook, and for more news from this awesome part of the world.

Cheers eh bru!