The top ten reasons why I love New Zealand.

1. Bare feet.

People will go all sorts of places with no shoes. I'm 97% sure the

"No shirt

 No shoes

No service"

 signs do not exist here.

Which is awesome because I love buying shoes but I don't always love to wear them.

Also there is no law that says you have to wear shoes while driving, which I always thought was a really stupid law anyway.

Side note: I hate my feet because my older brother, Chance, always says I have stubby toes. Which is true, but I don't need to hear it!

2. Water

It's everywhere I turn.

And it is gorgeous! Also, it provides a steady, refreshing breeze in these hot summer months.

3. Fish 'N chips. 

I won't elaborate except to say I'm going to need a gym membership here pretty quick. 

4. "Damn" is not a swear word. This makes me very happy because it's one of my favorite words ever. I like it because you can use it in every single sentence. But I don't do that because it'd be very annoying and it'd wear out. Like when you LOVE that new Rhianna song so you put it on repeat on your ipod and in 1-3 weeks time you're about to side with Chris Brown. Just kidding. That was a horrible thing to say. I do not like him one bit and Rhianna is one of my faves.

The funny thing, though, is that I made a goal to stop "swearing" completely a few months back and finally succeeded and then I get here and everyone is like "damnit!" "hell!" and I'm like, "oh no, can I say that now or would that be ruining my progress?"

The question is still being considered.

5. The words: "Oi! Eh? Ya man" and the accents in general.

Seriously, it's so much cooler than American slang. "That's sick!" Really? That's the best we can come up with? The sad part is, I say it. I'm switching.

6. Approximately 99% of the people I have met know where little 'ol St. George, Utah is. About 54% of those ask me if I know so-and-so, and about 42% have been to Utah personally. It's quite strange, but makes me feel not so far away from home.  When I first got here the conversation went something like this:

Person: "So where are you from?"

Me: "The states".

Person: "Cool, where in the states?"

Me: "Utah..." (You probably don't know where that is).

Person: "Oh ya, where in Utah?"

Me: "St. George..." (How could you possibly know where that is!)

Then they would say one of these sentences:

1. Awesome, do you know so-and-so?

2. Oh, right on, I went there a few years ago.

3. Ok, I've been to the Salt Lake, but never St. George.

4. I used to live in Bountiful.

5. Cool, I went to BYU.

So now when people ask where I'm from I just reply with "St. George, Utah". It cuts down on my oxygen usage.

7. Um, I live on an island.

8. Mail -or should i say postal- carriers ride bikes to deliver the post!

9. The simple fact that everything is new, exciting, and ridiculously different to me.

Just looking around here is even an event for me!

10. Ice cream. Best in the world!

11. The simplicity.

Coming here has made me realize how over the top Americans do everything.

12. The people. I saved the best for last.

(And yes, I know this is #12 and the title said 10 but really, I could go up to 100).

The people are amazing.

Genuine.

Accepting.

Funny.

Caring.

Exciting.

So so so nice.
I can't get over it.

In conclusion, I love it here. It's gorgeous, fun, new and exciting.

I have no idea where my life will take me next, and I have a few astounding options I really need to think over.

For right now, I am just breathing in the New Zealand air.