November 2, 2009

BU Abroad: A Tale of Two New Zealands

From sculptures to sharks, Auckland internships involve more than work

By Devin Hahn. Text by Benjamin Hall

In the video above, Susan Green (CAS’10) and Ben Beard (CAS’09) reveal two sides of interning in New Zealand.

“Make sure people don’t touch the dogs with the bouncing heads,” was one of many guidelines Ben Beard laid out for his volunteer corps.

As part of his time on the Auckland Internship Program, Beard (CAS’09) was a coordinator of volunteers for the Auckland Art Fair. His job was to round up volunteers, instruct them in their duties, and make sure everything went smoothly during the exhibition. Beard had to invent the position as he went along, and he says that really forced him to take the initiative to make the job work.

He didn’t spend all his New Zealand time in galleries, however. He was able to get away and enjoy the country’s natural wonders, some that reminded him of Boston.

“Every day I woke up with some sense of adventure and desire to explore because New Zealand is so accessible,” Beard says. “There are camping and hiking trails absolutely everywhere, and it was easier to get to some of them than it was to get to class at BU from Harvard Avenue in the middle of winter.”

Devin Hahn can be reached at dhahn@bu.edu.

Next week, another foreign visit. Read more at BU Abroad.

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