June 8

          When I first got off the plane things were a little unreal to me so I couldn't take too much in.  But after traveling for so long things started to kick in.  As Alec's voice went on, I realized that I was in New Zealand and how awesome it was.  I started to view more of the scenery and I was getting more and more pumped.  As this happened I started waking up and making more Lord of the Rings jokes. To start off the day we went to a town and had our first taste of a pot pie.  After that we went to this mountain that you rode little cars down, they called this luging.  It was lots of fun, then we went back to the hotel and settled in. All in all my first day in New Zealand was awesome and I cannot wait for the next.  My biggest culture shock was the people.  I thought everyone disliked Americans.  But I started conversations today with 2 ladies that worked at a sports store.  We discussed New Zealand and United States sports.  She told us that the hardest things to sell in her store were the American footballs.  I also had a conversation with a lady that we asked about lunch, and a man on the airplane.  My 2nd biggest culture shock was how New Zealand people used their energy.  They have no nuclear plants which I believe is because they have so many earthquakes.  And in Rotorua they use the geothermal heat for a decent amount of energy.  You also gotta love that beautiful smell of the geothermal heat rising from the ground.  My 3rd culture shock is the geography of this country.  In Illinois we have many suburban areas, and a few amount of farms, but in New Zealand they have a ton of farmland and a bunch of big cities but no little cities.  What I am looking forward the most to tomorrow would easily be, hands down, the Agrodome.  We did our power point in class about it so it is gonna be really cool to actually see it in real life.  It will also be fun to go ogoing.  I am also looking forward to see how they shear sheep and what they use the wool for and how it benefits New Zealand.  All in all the show is gonna be a blast.