Every day was an adventure! I met absolutely amazing people that still play huge parts in my life now, two years later. Loved the ecology courses that I took! Be prepared for the houses to be a bit cold, and to make memories that last a lifetime.

On one of the many weekend getaways, some friends and I heard about a beached whale near Invercargill. Naturally, we wanted to see it. After a quick burger stop, we set out with warmth and sub both in abundance. As we got closer to the beach, the sun gradually started to disappear. And the wind was picking up. We never made it to the beach; the beach literally came to us. The road was soon covered in sand and visibility was limited to 10 meters. As far as we could see, there was no one else on the road and a friend proposed backing up to prevent sand from flying into the engine. So I turned the car around and realized that I couldn't see behind me (a combination of a trunk full of gear and a few heads were in the way, in addition to the sandstorm.) I didn't want to drive into anything, so I open my door to peak behind me and... WHAM! CRACK! SNAP! My door had just been blown off the hinges and hit the hood of my car yet was somehow still attached. A few seconds after I realized what at happened, I grab the door and pull. But nothing happens. My friend in the passenger seat leans over and together we are able to pull the door into its rightful position. But it won't close...the door is out of alignment. So the guy in the passenger seat holds the door in place, leaning across my lap to do so, while I slowly drive us out of the sandstorm. At this point a cold rain had started to fall so water and sand were flying into the car through the crack between the frame and the door. We pull into a gas station and try to pry the door back into place with tension and several pocket knives but to no avail. We were here on a Sunday and by this point it was past 5 o'clock, meaning most mechanics were probably at home. Eventually the sailor of the group pulls out some parachute cord, cracks the window, and ties the door to the car. As we drive home the rain eventually stops, which delights me because I am no longer getting rained on. It's quite funny that I had the best car of all my friends; the engine didn't make funny sounds, everything worked, and it got great gas mileage. And half of all other international student card had already broken down. Yet on our last weekend outing, my car finally needed repairs. Everyone else was apologetic about what had happened. But I was smiling, knowing very well that the events of the day would one day make a great story.

If you love the outdoors, love partying, and love learning, this is the place for you! Great location to outdoor activities (hiking, beaches, and more) along with a great business program. Would recommend.

U of Otago was a great time. I learned a lot about myself by going to new country and I felt that New Zealand was a good choice because it is not too different rom what I have experienced at home in the United States. Dunedin is a great little city and I felt very safe there. It was also a good location to try and go see the sights of New Zealand from. Overall a really enriching experience and I would recommend U of Otago to anyone.

When I traveled abroad to New Zealand one of the best experiences I had was seeing the glow worms at night. Just a short walk from my flat in Dunedin down a little path in the woods you could see what seemed like thousads of glow worms. The glow worms hang from trees and in the dark they look like a bunch of little stars all around you. My friends and I hung out there for a while and enjoyed the view. This was one of the coolest experiences I had while in New Zealand, although there is a lot to see!

While studying in Dunedin at the University of Otago, I travelled to the peninsula just outside the city, where I saw a variety of spectacular wildlife. There were a colony of Albatross, several sights where penguins came on shore, huge sea lions on the beach, and beautiful scenery to boot. We even ended up finding and helping to rescue an injured penguin!

I studied abroad at the University of Otago, but the real study abroad experience was being on the South Island of New Zealand. We went on backpacking trips nearly every weekend. Each new place that I was lucky enough to visit, I thought for sure I was seeing the most beautiful place I have ever seen in my life... And then I would round the next bend on the tramp and I had the same thoughts again. If you relish in being outdoors and love the challenge of summiting a mountain or completing a Great Walk, then New Zealand is the place for you, because no where else are you able to get the incredible diversity you can find on one relatively small island. I could not have chosen a better place to study abroad, and I am so thankful for the opportunity that the University of Otago gave me.

When I did a semester abroad in Summer/Fall of 2012 at Otago, I was unsure of what to expect as New Zealand is a westernized nation and there was no language barrier to overcome. However, it turned out to be the greatest 5 months of my entire life. Although I arrived in the middle of winter and had to adjust to no central heating, it was everything I could have imagined. Dunedin was the perfect home base as it was a city with plenty to do for fun in within the city limits, and it was a perfect jumping-off point for all of the incredible adventures the South Island of New Zealand has to offer. In terms of day-to-day activities, we would explore the various mountains around the Dunedin area (both during the day and under the moonlight!). The city is host to the World's Steepest Street in the world that although is a strange boast to lay claim to, was quite a sight to see and even greater of a challenge to climb. The city had a plethora of restaurants and bars to stop at and a beautiful Botanic Gardens to walk through a few blocks from our flats. My friends and I played a couple rounds of golf on a beautiful public course overlooking the pacific ocean, and we also ventured to the beach to test our limits of staying in the frigid water for longer than a few seconds. The weekend adventures truly highlighted my experience, however. I took several trips to Queenstown (the adventure sports capital of world according to Kiwi's), partaking in hiking, biking, skiing, and even bungee jumping. I also went on two, life-changing backpack trips during my time. Our first trip spanned 9 days throughout the northern part of the island. We had to utilize crampons and ice-axes to traverse several alpine passes which led to breathtaking views and a true experience of what natural New Zealand was all about. My second backpack trip also lasted 9 days on the remote Stewart Island, just south of the South Island. A friend and I hitchhiked to Invercargill before ferrying over to the island. The track was difficult to follow with the immense amount of vegetation and tested us mentally with heavy rains for two of the days. We only saw 4 other people the entire trek and I could not have asked for a more perfect way to end my experience. With all of the solitude we had, it allowed me to reflect on my experience on a whole and cherish every moment I had in that beautiful country. Anyone who is interested in beautiful scenery, wonderfully nice people, and has an itch for adventure absolutely must go to New Zealand, because the country is quite literally your oyster.