Far away, boys. Far aways, boys. Away from you now.

So, this is my attempt to recollect what went on during my two day trip to Auckland.

I left Stavanger at 6pm and had a short flight to Copenhagen. I had quite a decent layover there and then boarded my plane to Bangkok. It was full of Scandinavians going to Thailand for vacation, I guess. Hardly any English spoken throughout the entire flight. I attempted to sleep, but the combination of my inability to sleep in moving vehicles and the man next to me stretching out to take over a quarter of my seat allowed me to only get maybe 30 minutes.

I arrived in Bangkok and it was so hot. It was kinda weird because before I left Copenhagen, they had to de-ice our plane. Quite a big turnaround there. I walked around to find a restaurant and only could find one near my gate. Unfortunately, they had no chicken curry, so I had to settle for spicy chicken. It was good, but I would have enjoyed it had I not been traveling. I lose my appetite when I travel and basically had to force myself to eat it because I could not afford to not eat for two days.

I really enjoyed Thai Airways. First off, they had a better movie selection. I watched a film called "Igor" on the SAS flight. I had to make myself only watch one movie on Thai Airways, which was hard. I decided upon "City of Ember" because I had just read the book a week or so ago. I liked it, but felt that it was rushed at times. Also, a few of the changes bothered me. Both SAS and Thai Airways had music available to listen to and, for some reason, had "Never Going to Give You Up" by Rick Astley as a possible selection on the radio. I'd like to imagine that someone just really wanted to Rick Roll an entire airplane. Thai also had quite a selection that Bethany would have enjoyed: Karelian Finnish music and Celine Dion.

I managed maybe another 30 minutes or so of sleep on the flight to Auckland. Throughout both attempts at sleeping, I had weird half-awake dreams focusing on the two things on my mind the most: my future roommates and the rumors beginning to arise concerning Kris being traded. All of my dreams had at some point Kris being traded and me freaking out/crying. However, I know these rumors are ridiculous and if the Pens trade Kris, I will lose all hope in the management. He is financially manageable and has shown considerable growth the past two seasons. I don't care who they would get in return in a trade; it would still be unwise to do.

Passport control/customs wasn't too bad. There were people from all over the world in line. Tons of Asians. And, in stereotypical fashion, a bunch of them were taking pictures of the queues. Haha.

I arrived in Auckland to be met by quite an attractive fellow UoA student helping out with getting people to their accomodation. He ended up driving me and a German student to our apartments. I almost had a heart attack constantly as we drove because I am still used to weird Norwegian right-of-way laws. Speaking of Norwegian laws, I have already almost gotten hit when crossing the street without looking. Ah.

My flat is ok. I have "high speed" internet as in it works fine when I am doing anything online but watching videos. Which resulted in me having to listen to the Pens/Caps game on the radio. I initially had an ok Russian stream going, but stupidly decided to refresh it and I never was able to regain it. The flat is more run-down than I expected. But I have to remind myself that Willkie isn't exactly normal university housing.

My roommates are from Malaysia, Holland, and Alaska. We get along well. However, when the past election was brought up and I said I didn't vote, I got the same bland reaction as always. But whatev. I've stopped expecting people to show any kind of understanding concerning at least my rationale. No one has to agree with me, but saying my beliefs are basically stupid and pointless is aggravating.

Today was the welcome lecture, which was eh. After lunch, we went on a city-wide scavenger hunt which was a lot of fun. My teammates were awesome. Finished off the night with quiz night at the school pub. Before that I met a Russian that doesn't drink at all. Quite sweet. Most people drink, but, although people are surprised when I say I don't, no one has been a dick about it. I think it was funny that I had to show my ID to get in and all I bought was pizza and Coke. At the pub in Germany I went to, I didn't have to show any ID and I don't remember anyone I was with showing theirs. Haha.

I'm skipping orientation stuff tomorrow to get myself situated better. I have no groceries and need hangers and a laundry basket. All I'm missing is just a general welcome lecture for all new students and lectures about "succeeding at uni." Not missing really anything.

On a random note, I get annoyed when people I have just met tell me they think I don't eat and they push me to eat when I'm full. Umm.. some people are naturally my size. Not a lot, but some. It's completely my genes and lately I've been getting pretty pissed off with this idea that I don't eat and am not a "real woman" because I don't fit the anti-Hollywood thin ideal that everyone pushes when they complain about thin women. I agree that that body type is not common or healthy for all women. But it does exist. We should focus more on all body types being portrayed instead of being hypocrites and calling certain body types "not real" because they don't fit whatever ideal we are pushing.

I'm out.