{"id":11320,"date":"2018-06-27T15:35:14","date_gmt":"2018-06-27T19:35:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/social.rollins.edu\/wpsites\/letters\/?p=11320"},"modified":"2019-07-09T16:13:55","modified_gmt":"2019-07-09T16:13:55","slug":"before-new-zealand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/2018\/06\/27\/before-new-zealand\/","title":{"rendered":"Before New Zealand"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kia ora!*<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s only a few days until I depart for New Zealand and I cannot express my excitement enough! I have been out of the county before, to Costa Rica and France, but this will be the longest flight I\u2019ve been on (19 hours total!) and the farthest I\u2019ve traveled. It will also be the longest I will be gone (four and a half months), not only from the country, but from my family as well.<\/p>\n

There are a few goals I\u2019ve set for myself for this experience so I don\u2019t get too caught up or overwhelmed with my new surroundings.<\/p>\n

1. Learn.<\/strong> One of my main focuses while studying abroad in New Zealand is to study and learn not only during my \u201cpapers,\u201d or courses, but also while learning to live in a new country. Technology, cultural norms, and the local vernacular may all be different than I am accustomed to.<\/p>\n

2. Explore.<\/strong> I have never seen snow and do not do many outdoor activities, partially due to the heat in Florida. I do love to walk and swim and discover new things though, so I\u2019m excited to see as much of New Zealand as possible, from the ocean to the lakes, to the mountains and more!<\/p>\n

3. Engage with locals.<\/strong> I would love to get to know the people from New Zealand (also known as New Zealanders or Kiwis) and build a connection with them not just to know where to go and the best places to eat, but to also gain a better understanding of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand, and its people.<\/p>\n

4. Immerse myself in a different culture.<\/strong> I would love to learn more about the history of New Zealand, its people, and its native language. I would also love to figure out their social norms and how they compare to mine in addition to just knowing more about New Zealand in general.<\/p>\n

I understand that different cultures have a strong effect on people\u2019s identities and I am looking forward to navigating different interactions with people that may have a vastly different sense of identity than myself.<\/p>\n

*<\/strong>An informal hi or hello in the Maori language. The Maori are New Zealand natives whose ancestors lived on the islands before European settlers arrived.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kia ora!* It\u2019s only a few days until I depart for New Zealand and I cannot express my excitement enough! I have been out of the county before, to Costa Rica and France, but this will be the longest flight I\u2019ve been on (19 hours total!) and the farthest I\u2019ve traveled. It will also be…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":90,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[249,273],"class_list":["post-11320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-otago","tag-new-zealand","tag-pre-departure"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/90"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11320"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11320\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13847,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11320\/revisions\/13847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/letters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}