I have now spent just over one week away from home. I expected unexpectedness from this trip, but every single day I have encountered something that I never would have expected just one week ago! I’m going to share a few of my daily unexpected experiences with you below. Day 1: Upgrades Before we had…Continue Reading One Week Away!
It was finally the day that I had been anxiously dreading for four months, getting on a train in Mumbai! The travel from New Zealand to Mumbai had been interesting thus far, but the delayed planes and our ‘fun’ turbulence were nothing compared to how I felt about getting on a train. Movies showed packed…Continue Reading All Aboard!
Traffic and tribulations Arriving here in Mumbai has been such a whirlwind. My first impressions were heat and chaos and tropical scent…and I was completely overwhelmed by all the horn tooting in the confined airport multi-storey carpark! Turns out that drivers here are great friends with their horns. However, there is a kind of sense…Continue Reading Hello Mumbai!
The past couple of weeks have passed me by in a blur – hence my absence from writing these blog posts! Our sixth week of classes brought with it the first somewhat serious part of the course: the mid-semester examinations! Our course’s assessment is almost entirely composed of two exam periods – the mid-semester exam…Continue Reading Mid-semester exams and seeing more of Seoul!
Welcome back to another episode of Tea with Tia! I’m joined by Annelise Basham and Nic Ackland (be sure to check out their blogs as well aha). We discuss some hot takes on our time at an Ashram in Coimbatore, and then some holistic thoughts on mountains to round off 🙂…Continue Reading Willpower (and mountains!) – ep 2. Tea with Tia (ft Annelise & Nic)
Wow! It has been a journey to reach Mumbai: cancelled flights, running on 4 hours of sleep, navigating airports, and most importantly, sticking together as a group of 14 students! So let’s start from the beginning… it’s 10PM at Auckland airport. Waiting in the check-in line for our first leg of the journey to Kuala…Continue Reading A rollercoaster ride to Mumbai, India
There are an infinite amount of words to describe our first week in India, but one that comes to mind after exploring the streets of Pondicherry is colourful. From vibrant greens to rich golds and bright whites, we’ve been surrounded by every colour on the spectrum in our adventures in Pondicherry and Auroville. Pondicherry is…Continue Reading Senses of India- Colours of Pondicherry
The human mind is incredible in its ability to adapt. In the last two weeks I’ve made daily routines, discovered new definitions of normal, and somehow found myself feeling comfortable living life in a foreign country. That doesn’t mean everything is easy (I’m definitely still faced with challenges on a daily basis), I’ve just already…Continue Reading Life in Saigon
One of the things that I was missing out on so far during this trip was the chance to get out of Tainan. Tainan is a beautiful city, but there was still a lingering sense that there was a whole country to explore. Luckily, the end of my classes gave me a free day to…Continue Reading Tai gao in Kaohsiung
Namaste! Welcome to Mumbai, India! It has been nearly a week since we landed in the sunny state of Maharashtra, and began our journey of six weeks abroad. To say it has been a culture shock would be an understatement. In my first steps out of the airport, a wave of heat and smell hit…Continue Reading FOMO: The Fear of Missing Out