iep orientation

We went through BUNAC USA to get our work visas, and BUNAC's NZ partner is International Exchange Programs (IEP). We had a mandatory 2-hour orientation at the IEP office this morning - it was pretty helpful, if a little too long. We filled out our tax ID number forms, left copies of our passports for safekeeping, learned about all the different regions of NZ, got info on how to open a bank account, and saw pictures and heard stories about the 1,001 ways to spend lots of money on an adrenalin rush here (in addition to bungy jumping and skydiving: zorbing, abseiling, skyjump, swooping, canyon gliding, paragliding and hole-in-the-rock jet-boating, to name a few). They also gave us delicious chocolate and L&P (lemon and paeroa soda, or rather 'fizzy drink' as it's known here), which accidentally ended up becoming our lunch.

The IEP office is right across the street from our hotel, and they have free internet (20-minute limit), phones without calling card surcharges, job listings, a travel agency, comfy couches, and pretty much anything else a job-seeking backpacker could want.

We met a couple of fun people in the orientation - Lisa, an American who's looking for a 'real' job to make use of her MBA, Kori, a ski instructor and the other American, and bunch of Germans. There was also a guy from the UK and a girl from the Netherlands.