One year abroad at UoA

I am one of the few lucky students, who get to stay at UoA for a whole year, from March until November 2017 in my case. Applying for the exchange program, getting my student visa, enrolling in courses and getting advice on admin stuff and housing was super easy and I didn't really go through any of the usual crazy uni bureaucracy.
A place in one of the uni accomodations was guaranteed and I took a place in Huia residence. However, if you arrive in NZ a week or two before the semester starts, I would recommend to go flat hunting, since you'd probably find something cheaper and with more space than the average uni rooms or flats.
During the first week of the semester you'll find a great offer of clubs: Outdoor stuff like the Tramping, Climbing, Canoe, Surfing, Underwater, etc. clubs, plenty of church clubs, or just fun stuff like the Meat Club with their shirts "Make Rump Great Again!". The SASS ("Study Abroad Student's Society") offers events specifically for exchange students. You'll easily meet new people in all of these clubs and shouldn't worry about making new friends before you come over.
The academic level (I'm studying Mathematics) was a lot lower than in Germany, however that left me with plenty of spare time to enjoy the NZ nature, pretty much the main reason why I came over anyways :) My lecturers were amazingly helpful without any exceptions, even when it came to finding someone who could supervise me during three exams from my home uni, which I had to take from NZ at 8pm local time.
Personally, during my stay in Auckland I found out that I'm not a city person at all and even though Auckland doesn't feel like a 1.5mio city, it stressed me out quite a few times. But of course that has nothing to do with the university itself. Overall I can recommend UoA for a semester or year abroad. If you will be having a good time over here depends on you in the end, but I can confidently say that the international office and the lecturers would do their best to help you with that!