But What Did I Even Do Over There?

Just kidding I’m back because we can still write blog posts and I didn’t realize that. Anyway.

I’m sure you’re wondering what I actually did over in Auckland, since I was only able to write one post while I was there and it was about a weekend trip. Well, the wait is over, because I will now divulge the juicy details of my day-to-day life while I was abroad. 

Three days a week, I had a class at 9am. At my home university, this is fine for me since I would only need to get up at 8:40 to make it in time. But while I was abroad, a 9am class meant I had to get up at the lovely hour of 7:30. I stayed with a host family (I will talk about them later) who lived a forty minute bus ride from downtown Auckland. Since the buses left at seemingly random times (maybe there was a pattern but I never tried to figure it out), I had to be ready at like 7:45 and then leave the house when a bus was coming.

Now I’m going to take some time to shout out the Auckland Transport app. You just put in your destination and it would show you the nearest bus stops and what buses were arriving at them and when. I could just use the app to see when a bus to the stop by university was going to arrive and leave the house when I needed to. I’ve never used public transport on like a daily basis before but it was super easy to get around Auckland thanks to the app. So yeah I’d leave the house whenever and once I got on the bus I just chilled and listened to TMG podcast or something until my stop. 

A lot of people skipped class often, since all of the lectures are recorded, but I usually went since it’s easier for me to keep up with work and pay attention if I’m physically there (oof to that). I usually had a class before lunch and then a few hours off until 3 or 5 depending on the day (yes I had a class at 5pm and no I don’t recommend it). I typically bought lunch, either from the munchie mart, which had like hot chili buns or butter chicken for pretty cheap, or an actual establishment that made food. Usually one establishment in particular.

Her name was Sumthin’ Dumplin’, and she deserves all of my love and praise. Now I am planning a food post, but Sumthin’ Dumplin’ deserves to be talked about at least a little here. They had 5 varieties of dumplings that came in groups of either 6 or 10, and you could get one of the 5 sauces with them. I usually got 6 of the original dumplings, stuffed with pork and cabbage, with whatever sauce I felt like that day (sauce rankings will be discussed in the food post). They were so good that one friend and I got them multiple days in a row for lunch and the workers recognized us eventually, so we had that going for us. In all honesty, a typical day included the ‘plings for lunch.

In my free time between classes, I usually chilled in the library or the science center. I didn’t always have a lot of work to do so I watched a lot of Brooklyn 99 (it’s on NZ Netflix and I’ve never seen it before, okay). Obviously I would’ve done more fun things if I had known I would only be there for a month but that’s just how it is. I did do things some days though. One day we went to the art museum that’s right by campus, and another day I walked around the cemetery for an hour. There were a lot of times that I’d hang out with friends in a coffee shop as well, so it wasn’t ALL me watching things on my computer. And I did have homework to work on sometimes.

After my last class got out (which was at 6pm 3 days a week -_-), I usually went straight home (via bus) and chilled in my room until about 7, which is when my host sister started making dinner. I tried to help her but most days I ended up just talking with her while she cooked. Her name is Ashley, and she’s just starting her first year at the university. Both her and her mom love dance, and it’s my host mom’s return from work at the dance academy that meant it was time to eat dinner. My host dad works at the airport and had kinda weird hours, so he wasn’t always home for dinner. We watched TV while we ate, usually some weird reality TV show to make fun of, or the news about what was going on in the US, also to make fun of.

After cleaning up from dinner everyone just kinda chilled until bedtime, so I either hung out in my room or played with the cat (her name is Aela and I love her dearly) for a bit. And yeah that was my usual day which I thought not a lot happened during but this post is very long so I guess things happen. I did hang out with my friends some nights though I did not just Vibe every day, just so we’re clear. Anyway that’s it I’ll be back with a food post next time.