10 things to get used to in NZ:

1. Rattails - boys love their rattails here, and it's kind of gross.
2. Shopping for groceries for one - I've already over stocked on things and had to throw them out because I didn't eat them fast enough. It's extremely frustrating
3. Passing right to right instead of left to left - Walking down the street I've gotten better about just moving over to the left instead of the right, but I still accidentally walk on the right side on stairs or passing through doorways. It makes me think about the horse riding etiquette here. In the states, when you're riding you pass the same way you do when driving, left shoulder to left shoulder. So it must follow that here you would pass right to right. But then what do riders do at international events? I'm assuming that there must be some big rule book that states the directional rules of the arena.
4. Always being sweaty before class - Kelburn campus (where I have all my classes at Vic) is up a steep steep hill. The walk itself is only 15 to 20 minutes, but no matter how windy or how cold it is outside I always find myself sweaty when I get to my classes. This is something I typically like to avoid at Mt.Holyoke, purposely giving myself ample time to get to class so I'm not rushed. Unfortunately, no matter how slowly I walk (which I hate doing anyway) I always get sweaty. My plan is just to show up a couple minutes early to give myself some cool down time, but I know as the semester progresses I won't really be motivated enough to get up there with some spare time.
5. Jaywalking, is it a crime? - I am the kind of person who doesn't like to wait. If I see an opportunity to cross the road, I take it. However, it seems like a lot of Kiwis like to wait for the lights to change. I have experienced some other fellow jaywalkers, but for the most part I'm astounded at the amount of people who will wait at a light that has no cars passing through it.
6. Being stylish - At Mt.Holyoke I think that I would consider myself one of the more stylish girls in class. Most girls dress in sweats and t-shirts. I always feel overdressed if I wear a skirt or a dress to class. Here, all the girls seem to be made of money and are super models. Not only are these girls looking high fashion, but they all seem to be incredibly pretty and thin. This does nothing for my confidence and my plan is to just meet them at their level. This requires me to wear clothes that I normally would consider appropriate for a night on the town, to class. When in Rome, I suppose.
7. Conserving energy - EVERYTHING is about conserving energy in my flat. All the outlets have switches to stop the flow of electricity if you're not using it, the stove top has a switch you hit before you even turn it out, as does the washing machine and dishwasher. Although I wholly support this sort of thing, it is something that is taking a bit of getting used to. I am slowly starting to realize how wasteful I have been back home and have been consistently careful to opt for sitting in poor lighting rather than turning on the overhead lights. Furthermore, at my flat, we're charged by the bandwidth of internet usage. This has made me restrict myself even more, realizing just how many useless things there are that I am willing to look at on the internet.
8. Wind - Although I think I've mentioned it several times, the wind here is absolutely ridiculous. I have yet to experience a day in which it is not windy here. On some days the wind is so strong you have to lean against it to walk. Vince, a friend of Stephens, told us that it only gets worse as the year gets closer to winter. A Kiwi named Sean told me and Chris that once he was walking across an overpass to get to Kelburn and a gust literally threw him into the street. This does not inspire confidence due to the fact that Sean is a fairly sturdy looking guy. At night, the wind howls past my windows and actually shudders my building which is only 13 stories high. It takes some getting used to because the sound of wind like that forecasts, to me, a strong storm or bad weather conditions. Here, strong wind is an everday thing and it could be rainy or sunny.
9. Alcohol consumption - Kiwis like their drink, a stereotype I was aware of before I came here but had to experience it first hand to really be intimidated by it. I've seen people passed out in the middle of the sidewalk because they were so drunk. I guess something like that might occur at a university in the states, but it is certainly new to me. It also seems like there is always a reason to drink. Fortunately for me I feel like I have a fairly good grasp on what's an appropriate level of alcohol to consume, but I do not feel the same way about some of my american counterparts who try to keep up with the hardy Kiwis.
10. Slang - Cheers, sweet as, jandals, and papers. Cheers is a familiar one only because of it's use in England and the greater European area. Sweet as means something along the lines of "cool" or "awesome." I can not find the courage to use these two terms because I feel so silly saying them. Henry and Stephen have taken to them quite nicely. Jandals mean sandals, and I like saying jandals and therefore use it all the time. Jandals are not allowed in bars, which is funny. Papers means classes. So I would say, "I'm taking 4 papers this semester." It doesn't make sense to me because a paper is like an essay in my mind so I get rather confused when I overhear people talking about papers and I get freaked out thinking I might have an assignment I didn't know about.

That's all for now. I had a rather uneventful day, went to class (got sweaty). Now I have to muster the motivation to walk to the grocery store and try to buy things in an economic fashion.