Amongst the Kiwis: An American PhD Student in New Zealand

• Revisiting Rotorua 2 years ago It's been a year since I last published an update - going so long without a vacation/break was not good! Since the New Zealand borders were finally opening up to certain countries, we ended up having our first US visitor for many years. We got a suitcase full of good stuff from the US - things you...
• Trip to Taranaki 3 years ago One of the last big areas we hadn't been to in New Zealand was Taranaki, known for its dairy industry, oil and gas deposits, and the iconic and majestic volcano named Mount Taranaki. So we picked that as the destination for the long Easter weekend and decided to bring our cat along since we haven't...
• Hamilton Gardens and Weta Workshop Unleashed 3 years ago Rather than taking a trip somewhere on the North Island, in the new year we went on an easier-to-do day trip to Hamilton, which is about an hour and a half south of Auckland. I’d heard good things about the Hamilton Gardens but no one really explained that they were much more than the typical...
• Safe Harbor 3 years ago Reflecting on 2020, I know how fortunate it was that I ended up being in one of the safest countries during the Covid-19 pandemic. For all of its issues, New Zealand turns out to have been quite a good place to move to a few years back. I had no idea how all of the world politics would play out...
• Life in Lockdown 4 years ago It turned out to be a good thing I went up to Waitangi in early February, since traveling has been off the table during the pandemic. I feel very fortunate to be relatively safe in New Zealand - being an island nation certainly has its benefits - though I worry about those whose fates rest in the...

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