Third Time's a Charm: New Zealand

If you had asked me in April of 2013 if I would ever travel to New Zealand, I would have told you that would be a once in a lifetime opportunity and I hope to make it there someday!!! Well evidently someday is now, and once in a lifetime has become three times in 9 months!!! I guess this is the secret benefit of having a long distance relationship in New Zealand. After my time in Seoul for the conference I flew down to New Zealand to celebrate my birthday week in some of the most memorable ways possible!

I landed in Auckland around 4pm in the afternoon of my birthday and from the moment I landed it was non stop action for the whole week...wouldn't have it any other way! There were three main highlights from the trip. A 12 hour race against time road trip, a 35km overnight trek on the Routeburn, and two full day road trips to Hobbiton and Cathedral Cove. After landing in Auckland, Kristal and I celebrated my birthday but needed to head home early because less than 24 hours after I landed we were back on a plane to the South Island for the first highlight of the trip...ROAD TRIP!!!

After our 8am flight from Auckland to Christchurch Kristal and I got in a car to drive to Queenstown. Now road trips have very much become one of our things, and in our first NZ trip we also drove from Christchurch to Queenstown. In the interest of keeping things interesting we decided to opt for the "scenic" route this time, although twice as long, would offer breathtaking views. Originally we thought this would be an 8-10 hour drive, later to find out it would be closer to 12. And not only that, there was a pass on this trip that closed each night at 6pm. If you didn't make it through the pass you had to drive the next morning when it opened at 7:30am. This was not an option for us. So halfway through our trip we entered a full on race against time to make it through Haas Pass before it closed for the day. Luckily we made it to the pass right at 6pm but were then told we needed to drive through it before 7pm before it closed on the other side!!! Remember that scenic route? Not so scenic when the only photos you can snap are from the car. In the end we crossed the end of the pass right in time and made it to Queenstown just over 12 hours after leaving Christchurch. 12 hours in a car sound rough to you? We loved every second of it as what might seem like a punishment was refreshing to sit and just spend time together.

After finally making it to Queenstown, we had a quick sleep before waking up to get on the Routeburn Track. The Routeburn is one of New Zealand's great walks and is a 35km (21 mile) trek across the most breath taking scenery you will find. Most people take 3-4 days to complete the track, but in true Evan and Kristal fashion we did it in 2. This was my first overnight trek and first time hiking with a full pack. The pack I had weighed around 40 pounds (18 kg) and on the first day we hiked 15 of the 21 miles. Needless to say I was SPENT by the end but Kristal could have kept walking without any issue. Keep in mind Kristal's pack was bigger than she is, weighed as much as mine, and 10 hours into our hike she was still ready to go! This girl amazes me. We really lucked out on our hike because our first day was perfect sunshine even though the Routeburn is in a rainforest, receiving rain 245 days a year. It was so refreshing to get outside and experience being alone in the wild. We spent the night at a hut on the trail with other hikers. There was an amazing sense of community among those on the trail and in many ways I wish trail life took place in real life. During day two of the trail we had some rain and a short hike. We strolled out in the afternoon feeling accomplished, tired, and wet!!! We spent one more night on the South Island before heading back to Auckland.

 

Once back in Auckland, Kristal had to work for two days so she rented me a car as a birthday present so I could go off exploring. I lucked out that my friend from Doha, Neassa, has just moved to NZ with her friends Ali and Aine. The four of us did two full day road trips that took us to Hobbiton, where they filmed Lord of the Rings, and Cathedral Cove. I am not the biggest Lord of the Rings fan but Hobbiton was AMAZING!!! It is in pristine condition and you are able to walk through the entire set and even get to visit the Green Dragon at the end of the tour. The films were shot in over 150 locations throughout NZ but it was neat to see the Shire live in person. And having traveled three times this year to NZ it would have been inexcusable to not check it out! And our final spot was in the Cormandel Peninsula on the Day 2 road trip. We went to two different beaches, Hot Water Beach and Cathedral Cove. At Hot Water Beach you got to dig your own hot tub during low tide as thermal pools were just under the sand. You had to choose wisely as some areas were too hot to handle but when you found the right temperature you had your own spa on the beach. After that we went to Cathedral Cove which was one of the most stunning beaches I have ever visited. Yet another example of New Zealand's stunning beauty!!!

As you can imagine I feel incredibly lucky to have had the chance to visit this amazing country. This trip was special in a lot of ways. One, I had the chance to reconnect with a lot of Kristal's friends who I met in June but have only had virtual contact with since. Second, the trip felt incredibly natural. Kristal and I both felt right at home and had a bit of a routine together even in the midst of how crazy of a trip it was. And finally I feel like I have done NZ some justice. There is SO much to do and every square inch is worth exploring. But having this latest visit I feel like I can put NZ on the shelf for a while and focus to some new adventures.

Speaking of new adventures, up next...U S A!!! The one and only Erin Lavey will be tying the knot with Mr. Kyle Andrews on April 26th. I will be in attendance with two other of the world's best Bridesmen, Shea Kelly and Brennan Biddle. On the way I will spend some time in NY of the front and back end of the wedding so I hope to see a lot of people while I am stateside. That is all for now and can't wait to hear from all of you! Thanks for keeping up.

A Bit of Seoul...

As the whirlwind that has been the last few months continues, I found myself in Seoul, Korea during mid-march for the annual Asia Pacific Association of International Education (APAIE). This conference served as my professional development for this year as I expanded my views on the field of international education. While there not only did I learn about that field, but also had an incredible cultural experience. Here's a few rambling thoughts on the experience.

Before attending this conference I was unaware, probably obliviously, about the business of international education. The APAIE conference felt more like a trade fair meets business meeting as global representatives from Universities and agencies from around the world were wheeling and dealing to spread the study experiences of our students. This culture of the conference made me a bit uncomfortable as it seemed that the professionals there were solely concerned with boosting international student numbers, MOUs with more campuses, and their "international" image. There were few conversations about quality, institutional enhancement, and the student experience. After my initial shock of the "business" nature of the conference I was able to find a lot of really interesting professionals and conversations about the experiences of students who study internationally. I had too many take away lessons to bore you here, but if you want some materials or food for thought just say the word!


In addition to the whole conference, I got to experience Seoul! This was my first time in Eastern Asia and once again I would use the adage "it's a different world"! My time in Seoul got off to an auspicious start as my ATM card from Qatar would not allow me to take out cash in Korea and my USA credit card was not accepted by any Korea banks. This left me with 0 cash (if Sarah Marr was with me she surely would have had cash to exchange...) and a week in country. Luckily, my hosts of my Air BnB room were able to charge my credit card and give me cash at a cool transaction fee of 15%...the things you do during desperate travel times. Once money was squared away my exploration began.

Before leaving for Seoul a friend, Katie Hyon, graciously gave me three full pages of things to do in Seoul. This ended up being my go to source of information and I was able to knock off nearly every site she recommend. I walked the streets of the traditional hanok village, I dined with the locals in Gwangjang Market, attempted to hike the fortress wall, experienced historic palaces at Gyeongbokgung, sang Karaoke, ate Korean BBQ, and much more. Anyone visiting Seoul, please ask for recommendations. One of my favorite parts was simply being part of a real and fully functioning city. There was life all around, rich history, deep traditions, a bustling public transportation system, and a language other than English. Speaking of transportation, after growing up learning how to navigate NYC (thank you Mr. Kearney...), navigating Seoul was a BLAST!!! SO many buses, metros, cabs, etc all in a foreign and indecipherable language was quite the challenge. But by the end of the week I had mastered it with the best of em.



As a final story I will leave you with this...as I have traveled I have tried my best to be an adventurous eater. Now this isn't just eating street foods or whatever the local cuisine is, that goes without saying. I mean eating the things you won't get anywhere else. This has included sheep brains in the majilis, fried scorpions in Bangkok, and everyone's favorite story...Ox Balls in Nairobi. In Seoul I ventured into eating a large sausage looking coil filled with a strange form of rice. Tons of locals were eating it, you can see it in the picture below. I had about two pieces of it and just couldn't do any more. The speculation of not knowing what was in it was too much. I come to later find out it is called Soon Dae and is a mixture of rice and animal blood. Not for the faint of heart...but when in Seoul!!!

 

That about covers it for this session. After Seoul I jumped down to New Zealand to see Kristal (my third time there in 9 months...) for a week of adventure, the great outdoors, and Hobbits. Stay tuned!!!