Meet my room and my Mentor!

Welcome to my room!

My Canadian Pride

Book/Shoe shelf

Closet (no doors)

My mentor Iurant and I

In this week's post, you can take a look into where I am living and also meet my International mentor, Iurant. The pictures of my room pretty much speak for themself. It's a small cozy room with character and student spunk. It has the mandatory prison cell-like walls that all student dorms have. However, with some scotch tape and friendly pictures, the walls warm right up. The plus side of my room is that I have heating. Many of the flats and halls around the university do not. Dunedin is not a cold place, but none of the buildings are built with any insulation (only on rare occasions), thus the nights can get pretty chilly. Sometimes the interior of a house is colder than the outside. Many students end up buying box heaters or have to dish out the big bucks to pay for their heating bills. The great thing about living in a hall is that utilities are all-inclusive, so I haven't had to worry about using heat sparingly. Also, my room is the only room on the ground floor in my flat, therefore, they have given me 2 heaters which really helps.

Now, onto my mentor. Iurant is a wicked cool guy. For all those back home at Western, he is essentially like a soph to me. He was one of the first people I met. He does not live in my residence, but nearby the university. Iurant helped orient me to the school and city and he basically told me everything I needed to know and more about being a foreigner in New Zealand. You see, he too is an International student. He is from Brazil finishing his Political science degree in New Zealand. Since we are in the same program, he has been really helpful in telling me what courses I should and should not take. He has introduced me to professors and other prominent figureheads at the University. I feel very lucky because without his help, I would have been totally lost on certain things. He has also told me the best places to travel to in New Zealand since he has been everywhere. Iurant is also a mentor to one of my other friends at Toroa, Desmond. Every Sunday evening we all try and get together and play poker. This past Sunday though, we watched "The Aristocrats". One ridiculous movie. Enough said.