Love from NZ

Lichen Forster | Geology major - Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand

One of my favorite memories in Aotearoa is a day I went to a waterfall with some friends. We were spending a break from school road tripping around the North Island, and on this day, we found a waterfall just off the highway. Even though it was still spring and freezing, my friend Julia and I peeled off our clothes and dove into the water for as long as we could manage (seconds.) I love swimming in waterfalls and my favorite spot on Big Island is the Honoli'i river (a very cold body of water) so this gave me divine, childlike joy. In the photo I've submitted, my friend Julia waves in the center of the picture, next to the water. Maggie, to her left, basks in the sunshine, after taking our pictures and begging us to be careful. To the right, if you look really hard, you can see the hoodie of my friend Martin. He and Judith had climbed the waterfall while Julia and I swam, to look down at us all from above. I took this photo while lying on my stomach and feeling a lot of peace. I love that it includes all of my friends, and even though you can't really see Martin and Judith they're still very much part of the picture and story of that day.

My friends at Owaharoa Falls, North Island

The other favorite memory I have is of seeing Rex Orange County, one of my first concerts ever. I went alone, after the end of a hard week at school. Hearing songs I'd loved as a 15-year-old live made me tear up several times, and I left feeling so moved. I bought a crepe from a nearby stand stuck into a wall on a Wellington street, then took a walk and enjoyed the various street music on. Around 11:30 pm, I caught a bus back home. It was a beautiful night that I experienced all alone, full of music and hope, which was precisely what I had been hoping for out of my exchange. As you can see from the submitted photo, the venue Alex played was gorgeous and the lights that night were spectacular!