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The Independent Student Newspaper at Boston University

The Daily Free Press

The Independent Student Newspaper at Boston University.

The Daily Free Press

The Daily Free Press

RILEY: Saying Goodbye to Aotearoa

RILEY: Saying Goodbye to Aotearoa

Rachel Riley April 29, 2015

For the Māori people native to New Zealand, cultural practices and history of the land is riddled with fantastical myths. According to legend, the Polynesian demigod Maui is credited with the creation...

RILEY: A Weekend in Wellington

RILEY: A Weekend in Wellington

Rachel Riley April 24, 2015

Atop a hill by the Wellington International Airport sits a sign for the city reminiscent of Hollywood’s iconic landmark, with enormous white block letters spelling out the name of the metropolis in a...

RILEY: The Waitomo Glowworm Caves

RILEY: The Waitomo Glowworm Caves

Rachel Riley April 8, 2015

The caves of Waitomo, an extensive network of 80 different caverns located under a small town on New Zealand’s North Island, were first explored in 1887 by a tribal chief of Maori peoples native to the...

RILEY: Turning 21 Abroad

RILEY: Turning 21 Abroad

Rachel Riley April 1, 2015

I have dreamed of walking through those glass doors since I was a freshman at BU — to see the superstore in all its glory from the inside and gaze across the shelves and shelves of glass bottles advertised...

RILEY: 100% Pure New Zealand

RILEY: 100% Pure New Zealand

Rachel Riley March 27, 2015

While I was gearing up for my study abroad experience back in the States, I was told again and again by friends and family what to expect. “New Zealand is to Australia as Canada is to the United States.” “Ooh,...

RILEY: Interning Abroad

RILEY: Interning Abroad

Rachel Riley March 19, 2015

For college students, the word “intern” comes along with a host of connotations. The interns get the coffee. They answer the phone. They are assigned the menial tasks that tenured members of a company...

RILEY: North and South

RILEY: North and South

Rachel Riley March 4, 2015

Before starting my freshman year at Boston University, I had to make the most immense move of my life: leaving a rural college town in the South, smack dab in the middle of the Bible Belt, for a small,...

RILEY: The City of Christchurch

RILEY: The City of Christchurch

Rachel Riley February 27, 2015

The people of Christchurch, a renowned city on New Zealand’s South Island, commemorated a somber anniversary Sunday. Sunday marked the passage of four years since the 2011 Canterbury Earthquake, one...

Riley: The Good Old Days

Riley: The Good Old Days

Rachel Riley February 12, 2015

It was the last place I expected to find solace while I was living in Auckland. But as the waitress approached our table smiling politely and placed the laminated menus before us, I felt relief. American-style...

RILEY: The Golden Weather

RILEY: The Golden Weather

Rachel Riley February 4, 2015

“Are we in Narnia?” I wondered aloud to myself as I gazed out into the turquoise waters of Cathedral Cove. “Actually, part of The Chronicles of Narnia was filmed here,” I heard a fellow study...

RILEY: Stepping Out Of My Comfort Zone

RILEY: Stepping Out Of My Comfort Zone

Rachel Riley January 27, 2015

It took exactly two weeks. I knew from the beginning that it was coming, but when it would strike was a mystery to me considering the euphoric state I had been in since my arrival in New Zealand. And...

RILEY: New to New Zealand

RILEY: New to New Zealand

Rachel Riley January 20, 2015

The native Māori people of New Zealand traditionally introduce themselves in their native language of Te Reo by first describing the geographical features of their home environment, such as a mountain...

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Rachel Riley