KIA ORA!

Hellooooooooooo!!

Hope everyone is well. I said in my last blog entry that i have been in Dunedin now for around 3 weeks, which is true, so i thought i should really start recording all the shannagans that have happened in those 3 weeks. I shall start from where i left off...

Landed about 4.30pm (round an hour late due to a good awful flight, the disappearance of a passanger and having trouble with the exit bridge) and was met at the gate by Richelle who is my mentor like person. She's the head of the boarding house and therefore, my boss. She was lovely and very friendly. Particularly as it was then we sadly left the other GAPpers and went our own ways. Jumped in the car and zoomed off the Columba College. OH MY!!! THEY DID NOT EXAGGERATE WHEN THEY SAID THAT DUNEDIN WAS HILLY! The school is placed on top of a hill, the town is at the bottom (can you see the problems we face when on a night out?) Its a nice walk down, but a mission to walk back all the way up the hill. The views are AMAZING!! Living on top of a giant hill has its positives. The view i get from my flat is awesome! It looks straight over the town, over the harbour and out over the sea. I could never get bored of the views. At night, it's even better. The whole town seems to light up dramatically and sparkle at night. It's kind of magic i guess (avoiding the cheese obviously).

The staff and girls here are lovely! They were all so welcoming and obviously interested in me greatly due to being fresh blood i guess. Several times i have had to explained that No, i am not related to any of the cast of Harry Potter and nor have I met the Queen. There are some really characters here. You can tell straight away who the big characters are, you have to watch out for and who are the girls that tend to blend into the background. The boarding house is heavily populated with international girls mainly from Thailand, Japan and Hong Kong. Then you have the Kiwi girls making up the rest of the population.

My duties vary in shifts. I can be put on morning shifts which last from 6.45 - 3pm or I can work afternoons from 3-11pm. These involve the same similiar activites of waking/putting the girls to bed, help with prep, sort out breakfact/lunch and the typical office duties.

I've explored the town (met some right characters on a saturday night out), heard about the Undie 500 (a contraversial student event), had an arguement with Vodafone and even battled Balwin Streets "The steepest hill in the world". I really haven't had that much time to greatly explore due to working and getting used to the Columba way off life. One of the first things i did was take a group of girls to a dance show which was interesting. Stop off at Maccy Ds on the way back... brillant.

I've got the "Mid winters dinner" coming up with the girls which is their christmas dinner and farewell dinner to the year 13s (who are older than me! DEPRESSING!). Its a formal occasion so i have to wear a dress. Hmmm... now, if you know me well you should be aware that many of my dresses arent the longest.... so we shall how they go down tonight! Its a full out 3 course dinner followed by a show put on by the boarding house girls. They've all been practising hard for the past couple of weeks on their items that range from singing to dancing to acting! I;ve also got to attend the Year 10s formal dance on tuesday on the 21st which shall be interesting. I shall report back on these shannagans.

So far so good for Dunedin!

Homesickness is slowly going.

I dont miss home, just miss certain peoples.

Love to all

Me

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