A very belated first reaction to Auckland

This was written several weeks ago, when I first arrived.  I could have sworn I posted it, so if it looks familiar, then don't worry about it.

After sad goodbyes with the Waikato kids, we went on to the big city of Auckland. It’s clean and beautiful. You can tell that progress is continuing (some of the locals are surprised to see any bums at all) so I think I have managed to see the city at its most beautiful. My dorm is lovely – room to myself with a locking door, with a shared kitchen/ living room. Did I mention the kitchen/living room is mostly glass? Floor to ceiling windows. I think anywhere else I go now, I’ll feel claustrophobic. I’m on the 7^th floor – it’s like flying. We can see mostly other apartment buildings, but also a good chunk of the water. People-watching is always a fun activity. The first day or so all the AustraLearn kids grouped together- all 10 of us. Once we went to Waiheke Island, though, we broke off into smaller groups.

There’s a free bus in the city, which is awesome. Queen Street is sort of the “Times Square of New Zealand” but everything is pretty cheap, especially with the exchange rate. Still, I’m spending a boatload of money on trips and necessities like sheets and food.

K Rd is the “dodgy” part of town – very “artsy” but also very much into drag queens and prostitutes. At our request, Liam gave Rachael and I a tour around K Rd in the middle of the day; I still felt a bit sketched out, and was glad to have a guy there. It’s unfair, because there were some cute dresses for sale, and cheap pizza. But I don’t think I’ll be going out there for dinner any time soon. Liam said don’t worry about the prostitutes, they’re mostly guys in drag anyway. How that was supposed to comfort us, I’m not sure. It did make us laugh, so I guess it helped relieve the tension anyway.