The first few days in New Zealand...

It is beautiful here... and warm! It's hard to believe that it is January and it is summertime. Yesterday we went to the beach. We didn't stay too long, though. Everyone has been warning us of the danger of sunburns. Apparently, they often announce the "burn time" when they are telling the weather for the day. Yesterday's burn time was 12 minutes. So, since I wanted to avoid my tomato-burn experience from the Outer Banks this past summer, I applied SPF 30 three different times. I think I was a little too cautious... because I hardly got any sun at all. But, that will change within a short amount of time. I'd rather be too careful than get another bad burn like that. Aloe costs $17 here. That's a little ridiculous if you ask me.

Yesterday morning, Brent started off devotions with Psalm 63.
"Because your love is better than life my lips will glorify you."
It's so true!

We also did a little bit of shopping yesterday in the Henderson area of Auckland. Brent showed us the cheaper places to shop, which was fun. I didn't buy anything, but just did some window-shopping, looking for a purse (had to leave mine in Beijing) and people-watching.

In the evening, we went to an extinct volcano/mountain to watch the sun set. We had a nice time. Unfortunately, the clouds covered a good part of the sun, but I was able to get a few nice snapshots... [I was going to try to upload some photos, but it's taking too long... maybe later]

Today was mostly a study day. We started the morning with breakfast, devotions, our first class (Issues in International Work), and then had some homework time. I am taking the following classes this semester:
Introduction to World Civilization (a history class that is a TON of busywork)
Area Study (examining history, geography, culture, etc. of the countries we are visiting)
Issues in International Work (the class I'm MOST excited about)
Chinese I & II
1/2 P.E. credit (I just have to log my hours)
It's looking like I'm actually going to have more homework than I thought this semester. But I think I'll be okay... as long as I stick to my little daily plan. :) I'm kind of looking forward to working independently. I think it will be a nice way to end my college career.

I also got to skype with my lovely familia today, which was fun... even though we got interrupted a million times by the shaky internet. It was nice to see them again.