A post!

Wow, my last post was September 9th--I lost my momentum early!  But here's a quick update on what's going on with me now (I just copied and pasted from an email... :P).  I definitely have more free time this week than I've had for ages, so there will be more posts--both on NZ and the past weeks in AU--soon!

NZ feels very different from AU.  Much quieter and less busy--you can tell the population is smaller.  We were in Auckland yesterday and today, and the city just feels so empty compared to Australian cities.  The countryside, what we've seen of it, is beautiful--the shoreline is cliffs, and there are lots of rivers and sand flats.  So it's a nice place, and I hope we get to see more of it.  The area where we've mainly been--we have classes at the church where most of the host families go--is kind of ugly, all developed with stores everywhere.  And the suburb where I'm staying is just packed with houses; you look out the window and just see tons of them, as if they're piled on top of each other (it's really hilly here, so it's kind of a funny perspective.  Driving in Auckland was scary because the hills were so steep).

We went to the Auckland Art Gallery on Monday and the Natural History Museum today.  Who knows what we'll do tomorrow!