Google Earth doesn’t cut it. My Facebook pictures don’t either. Neither Pinterest nor Tumblr can show it. Nope.

For a lot of people, seeing a picture is believing. And that’s enough for them. For me, that’s not quite how it works.  I just couldn’t grasp the magnitude of this place until I got here.

Before I left the minus 4 degrees of Minneapolis, I wasn’t sure just how sweet New Zealand would be. I had seen it on Google Earth a million times: Arthur’s Pass, Akaroa, Mt. Cook. Still, I wasn’t convinced.

Culture shock in Australia, yes it exists! One can actually experience such a feeling in Sydney. I have lots of friends who chose to study abroad in Spain, Italy, France and many more places. I knew they would experience an obvious shock once they got to these places. Mainly, they wouldn’t be speaking English as a primary language. That’s a huge shock within itself. I thought since I’d be speaking English that I wouldn’t be shocked as much. Like with a lot of things, I was wrong.

After going to college halfway across the country for 2.5 years and going to summer camp since age ten, you’d think I was a great packer. Wrong. Packing is overwhelming no matter how many times you do it.

Here I am, week 7 in London, and I have survived midterms already! My, how the time flies. The exams and essays passed pretty painlessly, and now I am just scrambling to get ready for my midterm break trip to Scotland on Thursday!

This past week, I’ve had my boyfriend from back home here to visit me, and it’s been fun playing the local and knowing what I’m talking about as I show him around. It reminds me just how far I’ve come since the beginning of January, how comfortable I am by now with this city. And how lucky I am to be here.

Learning Dutch is an experience.

The language sounds harsh. Angry, even, although two friends laughing over a drink quickly dispels the idea of a brawl breaking out. While related to English (each sharing Germanic roots) and often having cognates, it’s sounds are what makes it difficult.

This time tomorrow I will be about to board the first of my flights on my long journey to Auckland New Zealand.

The last two months of my life have been a whirlwind. When my last semester ended in December, I didn’t know what I was going to do during this wonderful break. But like always, these months have flown by.