June 16- Top Ten

Top Ten-

1.) Great Barrier Reef- This is something I can and probably will never experience again. I loved it so much, its such a different experience being able to swim in the natural habitat of all those gorgeous fish and the coral. The fish were not even scared to be close to humans.

2.) Zorbing/Ogo - At first I thought I wasn't going to like this or want to try this but after I did it i fell in love, I absolutely loved it and I wish america had something like this because I had the time of my life. I dont think I have ever laughed so hard before doing this.

3.) Rangitoto College- This was awesome meeting new students, people my age. I liked learning about their culture and especially watching the kids perform the haka dance. The students were all so nice and were excited to learn things about America and they were thrilled to show us americans around their school. It was really nice of them to allow us to come to their school on a Friday night.
4.)Luge Track- Going down a mountain in a little go kart kind of thing did not seem to excite me at first, I was really timid about trying this for the first time especially by myself. But I do not regret trying it at all, it was definately something I would love to do again, I wish the states would get something like this.
5.) Bridge Climb- The bridge climb was by far one of the best things I have ever experienced. I keep thinking to myself I am a 17 year old teenager who climbed the bridge in sydney australia. I climbed one of the icons of Sydney. While on top of the bridge I took in everything, and I finally felt fufilled with my trip.
6.) The rocks- Not only did it have historical reference but it also was a shopping center. I liked seeing the different things that the rocks sold. some of the stuff was very entertaining to see. It was even a good place to people watch.
7.) The town of Whaka- I enjoyed seeing all the thermal vents, it was really cool to see how people still rely on them in order to cook food. I also liked trying the corn that they cooked in the thermal vents, it was delicous.
8.) Visiting the Sydney opera house- I liked this because its a monument and what sydney is known for. it was also cool to see the light show on the opera house.
9.) Walking around Cains- I liked being able to explore the area on my own time and experience the different things and get my own image of things rather then a tour guide telling me what to think of things.

10.) Kuranda Rainforest- I thought the gondala ride over the forest was amazing, I just would of liked to enjoy it more by exploring the rainforest and walking around it rather then taking a train and gondala ride.

June 15- Great Barrier Reef

     Today was the day that we experienced something amazing. We visited one of the places many people wish to visit. On our way out to the reef we took a boat and it was very choppy. There were a lot of people getting sick over the edge of the boat. If we were on that boat for another 15 minutes I would of been blowing chunks to. Once we reached the reef we grabbed our scubba gear and hopped in. Literally right off the diving platform there was a school of fish, I could stick my hand out and grab one if I wanted to. The water was kind of chilly at first but your body definately got adjusted to it. At first I thought the coral was going to bleached like it was when I went snokeling in Hawaii, but it was the complete opposite. I was literally swimming and the coral was right under my stomach, if I made one wrong move I could of gotten a pretty bad scrape on my legs. Some people had this happen to them, you would see people coming out of the ocean with blood running down their legs. I kind of got freaked out when I was swimming cause I was so close to the coral that I did not know what was hiding in it and I didnt want a fish to bite me or something. I was not worried at all about jelly fish or sharks, I was kind of hoping to see a shark swimming around. The teachers were making jokes about how a fish was going to come and eat my belly button ring, I found it very amusing. After I was in the reef for a bit I got out and had some lunch. The lunch was buffet style but It was not buffet food at all. The food was so good especially the fruit. I had basically a whole pineapple to myself.  It was really cold once you got out of the water because of the wind. After lunch a low tide came through and it was really strange because some of the coral I was swimming on top of was sticking out of the water.So I decided to tan next to Miss Tomasello. The sun in australia is really strong compared to the sun in Chicago. It felt so nice to just layout and relax after such a crazy week or so. I then went on a glass bottom boat tour. I was not really fond of the tour because I felt like I could see the fish and coral better when I was in the water rather then through a glass boat. I think the purpose of the boat is to allow people who don't like swimming to try and experience the same thing I was able to. Overall the great barrier reef is something in life that I would love to do again. It is beautiful and it needs to be preserved and taken care of.

June 13- Traveling alone

    To be able to travel alone takes a lot of experience and navigation skills. To be a good traveler one must understand the idea of not letting technology take over the experience. Allowing the body to embrace and take in the beauty is what creates a good memory. A picture just helps recreate the memory that was produced. True travelers explore areas that not many tourist would go to. In my opinion there is a difference between a vacation and traveling. A vacation is something you sit on a beach and tan, traveling is the thrill of learning new things about a country or area that you have never been to. I would not be able to travel to Australia and New Zealand on my own. It takes a person who has traveled out of the country more then once a person who understands how the country works. Teenagers have a harder time to travel and go site seeing because they plan on staying up late and waking up late. While in Australia and new Zealand if i were to stay up late i would be screwed in the morning because we were awake before the sun was in the sky on some days. The reason we were all capable of doing this is because we had a tour guide pushing us and telling us that we only had so many days to do everything we are planning on doing. Technology really changes the way a person travels, now that I look back on the trip I am glad I didn't have my phone because I might of missed out on something really cool. I had to rely on a watch to tell me what time it was rather then looking at my phone every five minutes. It was also cool cause to navigate my way around instead of using a GPS I had to either get a map or really pay attention to where I was going too.

Today we visited an opal factory, everything was gorgeous and I got my mom and me a necklace to share. Then we visited the wildlife centre. I had higher expectations for this zoo but it was not that bad.

June 12- Overall experience of the Trip

     Overall my opinion of this trip is I'm speechless, I can't even describe or even take in all the beauty of these past two countries have to offer. New Zealand is a country that is filled with a lot of greenery, cows and sheep. Also New Zealand has creative ways to have fun, for example ogo-ing and luging. Australia seems to be more of the city life. My favorite part about Australia is the shopping scene. I know it sounds cliche but I really enjoy observing the different styles they have there. It inspires me to bring back home new ideas. What they were wearing now is going to be our fashion for next winter. This idea of fashion is something I am taking home and I can definitely relate to it. Rather then taking pictures of the outfits I am taking mental pictures. Three things that I find most intriguing about both countries is the fat that they respect their environment . Every toilet  I have used supplies two buttons one for liquid and one for waste. This idea allows them to conserve water. Also both countries are into high end fashion. Walking through Sydney is like walking down a rich avenue on your right side you might find a gucci store but on the other you find a burberry store. The third thing i am amazed by is the architecture of the building. The designers took the time to create a building that not only catches the eye of a tourist but allows the building to be functional for the company that owns it. I think the United States should take note on the improvements these countries have not only are their streets clean but their pollution levels are low as well.

June 11- Compare Sydney to Chicago

     This was one of the earliest days I have had to wake up in a long time. I was up at 4:30 because we were flying to Sydney. Sydney has a two hour time zone difference. This two hour difference is going to affect us because were going to be hungry at 10am in Australia because our body thinks its around 12. Sydney reminds me a lot of Chicago. When walking around the town on each and every corner was a homeless person holding out a cup hoping for some spare change, and then up and down the streets was your popular shopping areas. Chicago has all of these same things. Also Sydney has a building like the sears tower where you can go to the top and look down at all of Sydney. In Sydney there is park that we walked through and inside the park were different forms of fountains and scenery like that. It was really interesting to look in the fountains and see different birds then what I am use to seeing in Chicago. Also Sydney has different groups performing on the side of the rode.One group was a jump rope group, they did not seem that good at all. But it was still cool cause chicago has things like that. When we went up into the sky tower in Sydney we saw the opera house and the bridge. When I was up there I was really getting nervous about climbing the bridge. Also, I sent my parents a postcard. I sent it from the highest working postal service in the southern hemisphere. I dont think my parents have got that postcard yet... but hopefully it comes soon!

June 10- Meeting the Students at Rangitoto

      This morning was really rough for me. It pushed my level of comfort. The first thing that really bothered me it was pouring rain and we were outside walking in it at 6:30 am. Second thing we had to take public transportation and we had no idea where to go to catch the bus. Third thing our group was split up into two groups because the bus was so small. On the bus I was talking to two students who were on their way to college. One of the kids was from finland. They kept asking us about the smell of Rotorua and what we thought about it.The plan for the morning was to go hiking in the red wood forest. The forest would of been much more gorgeous if I actually was able to enjoy it. I was not able to look around because I was so focused on slipping and falling in the mud. The forest was literally like a mud pool. After that we sat on a bus for a long time to go to Auckland, New Zealand. Once their we brought our bags to the hotel and began driving to the school called Rangitoto. When we first arrived they wern't ready for us so we hung out in the library with a couple of the students, after that we went into this big room and we had one of our students Steven give a welcoming speech to the kids. Then they had their students perform a dance known as the haka. The haka is a dance from the ancestors of the maori people, it is performed before any major event and its suppose to intimidate the opponent. After that we sang the national anthem for them.. It was god AWFUL.  None of us were prepared for that and we all suck at singing, it was so embarrassing. Then we ate dinner. The students grilled out for us and brought in salads and pastas. It was very delicious. I ate a lamb burger while I was there too. The students of Rangitoto were thrilled to meet all of us, and show us around their school. The main thing that was different is they walk to their classes outside. It's just like college. They tried our candy and really enjoyed it. Im really glad I had the opportunity to go to a different school out of the country to see what it was like.

Day 3&4 - Cultural differences

      Today was the second day for us exploreres to be pondering around the town of Rotorua. Rotorua is a geothermic town and has many geysures and steam holes. The air smells like sulfer and gets really foggy at times. On days when there are a lot of clouds in the sky the air tends to smell worse then usual. At first this smell made kids feel very nauseous. Some of the kids who were more immature liked to make jokes like "Who cut the cheese" or "Warn me next time before you let one go!". At first it was kind of funny but then it just became really obnoxtious. This morning I went to Mcdonalds to call my parents, it did not work for some reason. After we went on a duck tour. What was cool about the duck tour is the fact that we were actually able to go out onto the lakes. The bad part was it was especially foggy in the morning and it was freezing! The ducks are known for being used in WWII to transfer  war supplies, many were sunk because they do not operate at high intense levels of speed. After we froze the death on the duck tour we then went to a town called Whaka. That is the shortened name of the town. The real name has 36 letters in it, and the Maori language only has 14. What was ironic is the town was very small for having such a long name. One would think it would be the biggest town in all of New Zealand. The town was known for preserving the Maori way of life and using the steam vents in order to live. The vents and hot water pools were used for many different things.The main thing the vents were used for was cooking food. The Maori people would place wooden boxes over the vent and put their food inside of it. It took about 30 minutes for the food to cook depending on what it was. Also the steam is suposively healthy for your skin . The town has a geysure right in the middle of it, The geysure was pretty sweet. Also they cannot bury their people underground because their is to much volcanic activity. They also have hot pools. They use the pools as a way of bathing and sometimes cooking their food. To cook corn they just throw a sack into the boiling hot water and come get it in a half hour or so. They also have a hot mud pool. the mud is believed to help with cancer and artritus. The people of this town are very smart and use their surroundings to their best of ability. The people that live in this town are very passionate about their past and are more then willing to share their stories about their ancestors.

Day 1&2 - 3 cultural differences

      These past couple of days have been one of the most mixed emotion filled days. Between the laughter, the panic, the crankyness, the sweating and the smelling it has been a good and eventful time. The first flight was from chicago to LAX. Originally when we got to ohare it took 3 hours to get our tickets for the plane because the system kept rebooting. After that we were frantic and rushing to go board the plane. Right when it was our time to board the plane they made an announcement that they holders about everyones seats were to full and we did not have enough room to bring our luggage on board, so some students had to check their luggage.Luckily, I was one of the students that did not have to check my luggage. My friend Kelsy was someone who had to check her bags, and she was so panicked because this meant it was being checked internationally. We were boarding 2 different planes just to get to Auckland. When we first landed in Auckland the view was gorgeous. Every where I looked their were mountains. I was in awe. The first thing we did once we landed was visited a town called hobbiton. This town was where Lord Of The Rings was filmed. This is really sweet becase my dad and I use to was these movies together.We had lunch in this little town and I tried my first meal that was different. In New Zealand they eat alot of pies. I was in a little cafe, and I wanted to try a "pizza pie", The first bite I took I realized that this was not a pizza pie. Inside the crust was egg and ham. I was literally so confused. It was not terrible but deffinately not what I had expected. After this town we went to a place that had a gondala ride and that had a thing called luging. Luging is when you take a go-kart kind of thing down a massive track/hill.At first I thought this was going to scary but once I got to the top I new I had to try it.. I mean you only live once. I really wish America would invest in getting a luge track. After spending time up on the mountain we then took the gondala back down and hoped on our coach bus. We took the coach bus into a town called Rotorua. Rotorua is known for the hot springs all throughout the city. The air constantly smells like sulfer. We went to the jade factory in Rotorua and watched how the men made the jade go from a rock into a piece of jewelry. It was very facinating. This day was very long and tiring, the whole day I felt dirty because as soon as I got off a 18 hour flight I was going into the day of events our tour guide had planned.

Three major things different from America to New Zealand -

1.) Pedestrians have the right away in America, and in New Zealand it does not seem that way. A person could tell we were americans by the way we crossed the street.

2.) In  America we call lettuce, lettuce, and in New Zealand they say salad

3.)The toilets flush very differently in New Zealand rather then the water being sucked down and then more water coming in from around the upper part of the toilet, a big stream of water comes from the front half of the toilet. All the toilets also have the one flush two flush things to conserve water.

Food & Cuisine

1.) In New Zealand the people that reside in that country have different ideas of a barbeque. In the United States when one says barbeque the average american man thinks of hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, watermelon and so fourth. In New Zealand when one says barbeque they think crayfish, lamb, cervana and shell fish. In order to get the true experience of trying new zealand food, one might try the maori hangi. Hangi is cooked underground in a a hole lined with red-hot stones and covered with vegetation. Other vegetables are placed on top like, potatoes ,and kumara. In United States in order to have a real american taste, one might try a hamberger with cheese and some salty chips. The way new zealand differs from the United States is they prepare their meals in a hole in the ground. This is part of their culture, but by me being american it deffinately seems strange.

2.) When traveling I am most worried/excited about trying all the different kinds of fish, I have only tried salmon before and I was not a fan of it, at first it seemed good, and then it began tasting a bit fishy. My Goal is to atleast try eating some fish while im there, especially since its going to be very fresh.