The Mayor sings opera, eggs and togas, my first couch fire and lessons from Hungary

Wow, its been quite a few days...

Ears of Steel!
so I am alive- I'm going to go all medical and whatnot now, its not that interesting so feel free to skip- I went to the health center and I did have an ear infection but by that time it was clearing up so he just gave me antibiotic drops. He also said that my ear drum had caved in a little, which freaked me out initially, but I was assured that this would go back to normal. He thinks that most of my ear issues came from the plane. Its evidently possible with the pressure of the plane, particularly if you have a cold or other sinus problems, for your ear drum to collapse in slightly and have a hard time returning to normal. I don't remember exactly what he said but something to the effect that once this happens it can mess with your Eustachian tube and your inner ear. Liquid can get trapped and bam you have an ear infection. So until my ear drum is totally right I keep having to periodically do that hold your nose and blow thing..weird. I feel much much better though so that's good.


O-WEEK!!!
For Frisbee players think Dis-o, times 10, for an entire week, and you have O-Week Otago style. There is a lot of craziness going on here with the new first years. Most of us international kids are kind of just sitting back observing the young Kiwis in their new habitat. So to give you some examples, yesterday all of the several thousand first years went marching through town down on the main street as tradition goes.Only it got a bit out of hand and they ended up on the news when onlookers (older students) threw eggs and bottles and grosser things i think from the flats above the stores ambushing the already intoxicated first years who then scattered and everything was crazy, shop windows were broken, big mess. I only just heard about it tonight on the news, but it was a big deal.
Another example, there is a bar that has some crazy all day be drunk fest that hundreds of people go to. I woke up this morning before my alarm because people were cheering outside, they had started drinking at oh 6 o'clock in the morning. All around town, close to campus there are people running around in who knows what, togas, no shoes, some guy just had Saran wrap and flip flops on today. Then tonight some of the people who were drunk all day set a couch on fire in the parking lot of our apartment complex. Which was actually pretty cool to watch. The whole atmosphere is intensely ridiculous and totally irresponsible but I must say I do admire their general stamina and creativity. No one seems to have gotten hurt yet so I mean if they want to get pissed and be crazy the week before school then alright~


Germans and Parisians and Kiwis oh my!
Last night I was feeling much better so I decided to partake in the festivities, minus the togas and eggs. Originally going out with my flatmates and neighbors I met up with a German friend of mine and she introduced me to some of her friends. At some point I ended up walking to another party with my neighbor Alex (the boy who can see directly into my window and me into his when the blinds are pulled back--we decided in such circumstances it would be best to become friends), a Parisian named Nicola, my German friend Charlotte and a really funny Kiwi guy, oh and we met an Italian guy briefly. For awhile at the time it seemed funny for us all to speak five different languages to each other which was pretty fun. Other than my closer Italian friends in Italy, it seems easier here to be friends with Europeans than when I was actually in Europe. Of course its because English is the common joining language this time. All in all it was good fun to hang out with them. I feel like American kids are everywhere so its kind of nice to escape that a little. Its almost boring when I introduce myself as another American, maybe I'll start pretending to be Italian...hmm..
Later I met some really cool Kiwi medical students. I talked to one guy for awhile who works in radiology, whether because of the music or the accent I thought he said he worked at a radio station for half the conversation. He found that funny luckily. I think he reminds me of Zach, a good friend of mine from high school. Its interesting how your brain automatically categorizes new people by characteristics of people you already know. I hung out with the Med students and an American girl who's going to be in my improv class the rest of the evening then they walked me home. Its funny here, I didn't really feel weird about spending time with people I had just met because I constantly have been meeting new people. I guess you just have to be in tune with the inner good people/bad people vibes. Not that there are too bad of people here for the most part.


Don't talk to Strangers
I remember before I left my mom caught herself warning me not to talk to strangers and then realized that seeing as how I know no one here everyone would therefore be strangers and I'd eventually be forced to talk to someone...I am feeling better about meeting people now though. I trust my judgement and that's about the best any of us can do in new situations. So many students are around and everyone for the most part wants to just have fun and go to school and make friends. Its exciting to be reminded all the time that every stranger you meet and talk to could actually become a great friend or influence in your life, or not. You never know is the thing, you have to just go with it. The constant meeting of people reminds me of how interconnected we all are. I like that. It makes me feel important and insignificant at the same time.


Opera Singing Mayor
This morning I went to orientation and we were serenaded by the Mayor who has a great voice it turns out and is an opera singer. He sang us a welcome song and then we got a lot of new student information. Its exciting to get ready to start things, I've felt like I'm in limbo a bit. I also met some more cool people. I really like this girl from Holland and I had lunch with my Polish friends and some Hungarians that we met. It was really interesting to listen to them compare politics. Evidently there is a lot of trouble in Hungary still. They explained it to me pretty simply I think. After WW2, Hungary's territory was sliced up and divided between other nations. However, Hungarians still live in those places, so does Hungary recognize those people who are still loyal to Hungary? And nationalists want it to be put back together again which probably won't happen, and the police in these Hungarian communities outside the border are the only non-Hungarians so there are problems. The Government is very divided and seem to just contradict each other rather than get anything done. Ha-sound familiar? He said that he actually admires the US government for being able to put away differences to at least a much higher degree than in Hungary and work for the interest of the country. It was interesting. I'd like to visit Budapest.

Hungarian Paris Hilton
Then they told me about all kinds of drinks they have and we talked about the US exporting the worst of our culture so often. I told them I felt bad about Paris Hilton and Brittany Spears being what they knew of America. They actually seemed to understand and made me feel better with stories of the outlandish Hungarian and Polish versions of Paris. I wish I could remember the name. It's Hungarian so I could barely pronounce it much less spell it. The girl did impressions of this Hungarian Paris with big lips an boobs, except this woman is a real "whore" they said and went for $2000 a night. The boys said it could be worth it. The Hungarian girl just made faces and proclaimed that she wouldn't touch this woman with a ten foot pole. The guy was like, "well she's very good looking, just kind of whoreish". Generally It was a great conversation. Both Hungarians are super super tall. I'm not sure if that's something common or what? They were very cool though, even if I do have to look up to see them.


Sorry for the length I know you all are busy. I'll try to be briefer next time. Its kind of funny though. I look at these e-mails differently now. When I was in Italy I felt so removed sometimes from the people and places that I knew. Then coming back home I realized how many people had kept up with me, even just skimming a few e-mails now and again. I had no idea some people were even getting my e-mails. But I of course realize now that even in Italy I wasn't there by myself at all. You were right there with me; and now you are with me again and I can't tell you how much that means to me. There's definitely a comfort in knowing that you care. I hope you all have a wonderful day. Wednesday was pretty good, you'll like it. Maybe you'll meet a cool stranger~