So two things I didn't mention since the last blog post earlier this morning.
1. Cricket games are really long, even the 20Twenty ones. The stadium sells tons of booze over the course of three hours, and the fans can get a little bit out of hand. Two guys got escorted out of the stadium from my section, but one of Olivia's friends said their section had over ten people get kicked out. One of them from my section was leading cheers like "There's a wanker, there's a wanker" and "you F***ed up, you F***ed up" about whichever Indian fielder was closest to us. He also smelled really bad and broke two chairs. When he got escorted out by security, the entire section erupted into, "THERE'S A WANKER, THERE'S A WANKER" and "YOU F***ED UP, YOU F***ED UP!" as he was led out. But you know, a lot of those people were the same ones who were yelling at the poor Indian player... Whatever.
2. I'm writing this blog post from my room because Devon rocks socks. Devon 2, electronic demons that try to make Lisa sad zero! For those of you who have not been following the saga of my internet connectivity (everyone except for three), it's been really frustrating, but now I am super psyched, like when Clay, Giselle, and I were the first group to make the stupid ball float with the wire around it.
And now, it is a nice day, so I'm going to go buy me some avocados (five for a dollar at Farmers Direct, whoo!).
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Wicket! Wicket! Wicket!
So, classes have started! But this post is going to be mostly about non-academic adventures.
First, last Sunday, the day before classes started, a group of us went and wandered around in the Port Hills. They don't seem very high, but New Zealanders are apparently not in for the switchbacks approach and go more for the straight up the side of a mountain style. So, not very tall, but incredibly steep. Also, it was hot out in the open sun, which was not a problem once we got into the forested part of the trail, but at the very beginning, we were just out in the grasses.
We saw a World War II Anti-aircraft battery at the top of one of the hills. From there, we could see the ocean on both sides, Sumner, Lyttelton, and an unknown third town. Having just come from Lyttelton and knowing it was a pretty full hike going back, we decided to continue down to Sumner. The hike took more or less the whole day, but ended in ice cream and the beach (Sumner Beach is pretty amazing). It's a nice hike that I would recommend, although do it with people who have the same hiking values as you (meaning we are not hiking this together, Ben). The gondola also goes up, so you could also take the gondola, but that takes money and isn't nearly as fun or strenuous.
The next day, classes started. My classes all seem fine, except that I'm going to have to switch in and out of some, especially linguistics. Also, I had my first Earth Materials (mineralogy and petrology) lab yesterday, and it was basically learning how to use the optical microscope. The exercise was to come up with some characteristics one might use to differentiate minerals. So basically optical properties. One of the tutors (since recitations are called tutorials, all TAs are called tutors) came 'round and saw my paper and saw that I was using the actual terminology and had nearly identified all the minerals (except for one... I always get pyroxene and olivine confused), so he told me I could leave whenever I felt like it. I finished up the exercise and left early (but not first! Many other people left before me. I was trying to figure out what rock it came from, but then I realized it said it on the next page...).
Also yesterday, I WENT TO A CRICKET GAME!! For the first half hour or so, I was sitting there just going, what is going on? But after that, I moved over to by Tamar, who was having a nice Kiwi boy explain it all to her. I'm pretty sure this bloke was just sort of in to Tamar, but he was also very helpful. So they were playing 20Twenty cricket against India, which means each team gets twenty overs (an over is six balls/pitches/bowls). Each bowler can pitch for four overs (or maybe six? I forget now). Anyway, the bowler can only bowl for so many. Each batter (two up at a time, on opposite sides) goes until he gets out (he either gets a wicket or his hit is caught). A wicket is when the ball hits one of three posts behind the batter. Oh, or he can get out by "blocking with wicket." Because it's if the ball hits the wicket at all, not just as a result of a hit. If the bowler pitches and the batsman doesn't hit the ball and the ball flies into the wicket, that's still a wicket. So if the batter is considered to be blocking the wickets with his body to keep that from happening, he gets out. Anyway, so he gets out, and then he's done.
Batters can get points for hitting a home run, hitting the end of the field, or running back and forth between the wickets (like running the bases in baseball).
So, the inning ends after 10 outs, or twenty overs, or an hour and twenty minutes transpires, whichever comes first. In our case, both teams batted to twenty overs. Well, New Zealand only batted to eighteen overs, but I'll get to that :D
Basically, India went first, and they racked up 163 points in their twenty overs. Pretty good, I think, since India is supposed to be super fab at cricket. So then New Zealand went, and the first two guys went out on blocking the wicket. But, they batted for a long time before they went out. I think New Zealand only went through three batters.
They had twelve points left to go (to hit 163) and twelve balls left (so two overs), and then they had like, one and part of an over left and three points to go, and everyone was yelling home run home run home run! and I was like, if you put all that pressure on him, he's going to get out! but he hit a home run! I couldn't believe it. I mean, he could have just hit the side of the field, and that would have been four points and they would have won, but everyone wanted a home run (six points), and he did it.
That was probably way more than you wanted to know about cricket, but that's how it went, and it was super exciting because we won, and now I'm going to be late to class! I'll let you know how the rugby game goes on Friday! The Canterbury Crusaders are playing.
Bye!
First, last Sunday, the day before classes started, a group of us went and wandered around in the Port Hills. They don't seem very high, but New Zealanders are apparently not in for the switchbacks approach and go more for the straight up the side of a mountain style. So, not very tall, but incredibly steep. Also, it was hot out in the open sun, which was not a problem once we got into the forested part of the trail, but at the very beginning, we were just out in the grasses.
We saw a World War II Anti-aircraft battery at the top of one of the hills. From there, we could see the ocean on both sides, Sumner, Lyttelton, and an unknown third town. Having just come from Lyttelton and knowing it was a pretty full hike going back, we decided to continue down to Sumner. The hike took more or less the whole day, but ended in ice cream and the beach (Sumner Beach is pretty amazing). It's a nice hike that I would recommend, although do it with people who have the same hiking values as you (meaning we are not hiking this together, Ben). The gondola also goes up, so you could also take the gondola, but that takes money and isn't nearly as fun or strenuous.
The next day, classes started. My classes all seem fine, except that I'm going to have to switch in and out of some, especially linguistics. Also, I had my first Earth Materials (mineralogy and petrology) lab yesterday, and it was basically learning how to use the optical microscope. The exercise was to come up with some characteristics one might use to differentiate minerals. So basically optical properties. One of the tutors (since recitations are called tutorials, all TAs are called tutors) came 'round and saw my paper and saw that I was using the actual terminology and had nearly identified all the minerals (except for one... I always get pyroxene and olivine confused), so he told me I could leave whenever I felt like it. I finished up the exercise and left early (but not first! Many other people left before me. I was trying to figure out what rock it came from, but then I realized it said it on the next page...).
Also yesterday, I WENT TO A CRICKET GAME!! For the first half hour or so, I was sitting there just going, what is going on? But after that, I moved over to by Tamar, who was having a nice Kiwi boy explain it all to her. I'm pretty sure this bloke was just sort of in to Tamar, but he was also very helpful. So they were playing 20Twenty cricket against India, which means each team gets twenty overs (an over is six balls/pitches/bowls). Each bowler can pitch for four overs (or maybe six? I forget now). Anyway, the bowler can only bowl for so many. Each batter (two up at a time, on opposite sides) goes until he gets out (he either gets a wicket or his hit is caught). A wicket is when the ball hits one of three posts behind the batter. Oh, or he can get out by "blocking with wicket." Because it's if the ball hits the wicket at all, not just as a result of a hit. If the bowler pitches and the batsman doesn't hit the ball and the ball flies into the wicket, that's still a wicket. So if the batter is considered to be blocking the wickets with his body to keep that from happening, he gets out. Anyway, so he gets out, and then he's done.
Batters can get points for hitting a home run, hitting the end of the field, or running back and forth between the wickets (like running the bases in baseball).
So, the inning ends after 10 outs, or twenty overs, or an hour and twenty minutes transpires, whichever comes first. In our case, both teams batted to twenty overs. Well, New Zealand only batted to eighteen overs, but I'll get to that :D
Basically, India went first, and they racked up 163 points in their twenty overs. Pretty good, I think, since India is supposed to be super fab at cricket. So then New Zealand went, and the first two guys went out on blocking the wicket. But, they batted for a long time before they went out. I think New Zealand only went through three batters.
They had twelve points left to go (to hit 163) and twelve balls left (so two overs), and then they had like, one and part of an over left and three points to go, and everyone was yelling home run home run home run! and I was like, if you put all that pressure on him, he's going to get out! but he hit a home run! I couldn't believe it. I mean, he could have just hit the side of the field, and that would have been four points and they would have won, but everyone wanted a home run (six points), and he did it.
That was probably way more than you wanted to know about cricket, but that's how it went, and it was super exciting because we won, and now I'm going to be late to class! I'll let you know how the rugby game goes on Friday! The Canterbury Crusaders are playing.
Bye!
Saturday, February 21, 2009
NZ ways
So, yes, in New Zealand, you drive on the left side of the road. It’s such a simple statement, and it seems so easy to remember. But it changes everything. If you run into someone on the sidewalk, you move to the left. You board the bus on the left. When crossing the street, you look to the right first. Sometimes a car moves to turn while I’m still in the road, and I think they’re going to run over me, but then I realize that I’ve already cleared that part of the road needed by the car to turn. Or I just glance up and see a two-handed texting teenager driving, and then realize she’s the passenger. And so on.
- The light switches switch down to turn on.
- The outlets have switches, too, just like the lights. It’s to conserve energy, I think.
- The toilets have half flush and whole flush. Sometimes it’s two buttons, sometimes it’s not. If it’s not obvious which is which, the half flush is usually on the left.
- I have yet to see a sink that has the style of plug that you pull up on the rod and it plugs the sink. They mostly have separate plugs on chains, but the one in my bathroom is a metal circle that spins in the drain, so if the circle is vertical, the sink drains. If the circle is horizontal, it plugs the sink.
- Cellphone calls are extremely expensive here, so everyone texts. There are only two cellphone providers, Vodaphone and Telecom. Under certain plans, texts to same provider is free or included, so some people have two cellphones, one Vodafone and one Telecom. IT’S HAPPENING. THE TWO CELLPHONE ERA IS HAPPENING. It’s only a matter of time before the machine gun phone comes out, I know it.
- There is a poster at the bank that shows a father showing his young daughter how to bat. She’s holding the bat, and he’s kneeling behind her holding her hands to show her how to do it. But, it’s not a baseball bat, it’s a cricket bat.
- There are no pennies or nickels. They use Swedish Rounding if you use cash and the cost is not in ten cent increments. There are one dollar and two dollar coins, though. The one dollar coin has a kiwi on it! Also, there is tax, but it’s included in all the prices, so what you see is what you get.
- The crosswalk lights will not go on until someone presses the button. So both lights will be dark until you press the button, and then the red No Walk Man lights up. When the green Walk Man lights up, there is also a persistent beeping sound telling you that you may now cross.
- French fries are chips and chips are crisps.
More to come!
- The light switches switch down to turn on.
- The outlets have switches, too, just like the lights. It’s to conserve energy, I think.
- The toilets have half flush and whole flush. Sometimes it’s two buttons, sometimes it’s not. If it’s not obvious which is which, the half flush is usually on the left.
- I have yet to see a sink that has the style of plug that you pull up on the rod and it plugs the sink. They mostly have separate plugs on chains, but the one in my bathroom is a metal circle that spins in the drain, so if the circle is vertical, the sink drains. If the circle is horizontal, it plugs the sink.
- Cellphone calls are extremely expensive here, so everyone texts. There are only two cellphone providers, Vodaphone and Telecom. Under certain plans, texts to same provider is free or included, so some people have two cellphones, one Vodafone and one Telecom. IT’S HAPPENING. THE TWO CELLPHONE ERA IS HAPPENING. It’s only a matter of time before the machine gun phone comes out, I know it.
- There is a poster at the bank that shows a father showing his young daughter how to bat. She’s holding the bat, and he’s kneeling behind her holding her hands to show her how to do it. But, it’s not a baseball bat, it’s a cricket bat.
- There are no pennies or nickels. They use Swedish Rounding if you use cash and the cost is not in ten cent increments. There are one dollar and two dollar coins, though. The one dollar coin has a kiwi on it! Also, there is tax, but it’s included in all the prices, so what you see is what you get.
- The crosswalk lights will not go on until someone presses the button. So both lights will be dark until you press the button, and then the red No Walk Man lights up. When the green Walk Man lights up, there is also a persistent beeping sound telling you that you may now cross.
- French fries are chips and chips are crisps.
More to come!
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Hi New Zealand!
A post! To let you know I am
1. alive
2. well
3. exhausted from running around the Port Hills all day.
Caution: this is a very long blog post. The next one is shorter and more interesting.
2/20/09
A blog post! What?? I’ve been inspired by the downpour to write my very first New Zealand blog update. It’s been just about a week now, so I’ll try to go light on the details and only do highlights, but most of you know how good I am at summarizing…
In my mind, the week has been divided into three parts:
While Kate was here!
When IES went to Springfield.
Post-Springfield.
So let’s start from the top! Those of you who know Kate will be so jealous! I’m hoping that you will be so jealous that your only option is to come to New Zealand to hunt me down and take revenge. Then, once you get here, you’ll see Kate for yourself, your jealous rage will abate, and you can hang out with us. See, I’ve got it all planned out here, eh?
Kate met me at the airport. I was late, which was great, because the taxi driver seemed like he wouldn’t have waited very long for Kate (he was sent special from IES, so he really only had a responsibility for me, and I was already late, so he was less than happy with me). I had to go through biosecurity because my shoes had red dirt on them. Note to people coming to visit me: no fresh food (especially fruit and nuts), you have to declare all food (they won’t take it away from you, but you might have to go through biosecurity anyway), no camping gear, etc. If you’re going through Kauai, clean your shoes as best you can, especially the soles. They cleaned my shoes for me, which was nice, except that those were the ones I was wearing, so my feet got a little soggy. The only person I’ve talked to who actually got something taken away is Melissa (IES, from Bellevue!). She had some juggling balls and they took them away and burned them.
I got really lucky about my flights and everything, though. Alyssa (IES – goes to UR, actually) was told to get their bags in Auckland, which is ridiculous, because there is like an hour and twenty minute layover between the Auckland flight and the Christchurch flight. The airlines have it set up so that if you have that close connection, you do all your stuff in Christchurch. So they left to go collect their bags, and their bags never showed up (because they had been checked through to Christchurch). So then they not only had to rush through security again, but they had to figure out what had happened to their bags. I’m impressed she made her flight, even with an airline worker expediting them to the front of the security line.
Wow, so already failure with the skipping of details. Sorry. On to Christchurch!
The first couple of days, it was pretty overcast. Kate can attest to this. It was like 30 degrees until the day we got to Christchurch, and then it dropped to probably fifteen. Of course, it was roasting up in Taupo, so Kate was a little cold coming from there to here. The first day involved
Getting lost in Chch repeatedly (but not in a bad way).
An epic search for pizza.
An Irish B-movie with Minnie Driver and Alan Cummings in it.
A constant struggle to stay awake.
Kate did a good job of making me stay awake until 8:30. Otherwise, I would have gone to sleep at like five and been completely messed up for the first few days. At 8:30, full of yummy pizza, I crashed.
The YHA is right off Cathedral Square, which is very pretty. They have some nice shop stalls (I’m pretty sure they are for tourists, but whatever… for the first month, I’m allowed to be a tourist. I bought a fun bag for like US$6, so yeah), a giant chess board (Wizard’s Chess :p but you don’t actually get to be a piece, unfortunately. And you don’t get to hit people, even more unfortunately), and of course the cathedral.
The next morning, we got breakfast at a cute little place across the street from the hostel. Then we got lost looking for the bus stop, and then we went to the uni! MY FLAT!!! Kate can be my witness, my flat is awesome. It is a new Ilam flat, so it is nice and clean and beautiful and well lit and spacious and comes with dishes and such!
My flatmates are all cool so far. We all sort of run on different tracks, and honestly, when we do run in to each other, it seems to be in the kitchen, which means we are all in each other’s ways. But they are really friendly, and last night, Nana even ate dinner with the dinner group (getting there). Unfortunately, I don’t know how to spell any of their names except for Nana’s. So, I’m going to guess, and I apologize if their names are misspelled. Nana and I share a bathroom and Misuyu and Wawa have a similar two room one bathroom set up on the opposite side of the kitchen. To be honest, I am probably the least tidy, so I am constantly checking and myself to make sure I haven’t left a mess somewhere out in the common areas of the flat.
I met Kate in the evening after walking to the city center with IES. It was sad, because we had to get to the airport for her flight, but we went to a sushi place first, and they made Kate’s veggie roll with mayonnaise. So there was some sort of miscommunication after that, and basically we left without Kate getting any sushi :( We nearly missed the airport bus because the stop is in a strange place. If it hadn’t been for some random kiwi guy, we probably would have missed it. But he overheard us talking to Wawa, whom we saw at the bus exchange, and he pointed us in the right direction. Then Kate left :( but she’s coming back (I hope!)!
So that’s Part 1.
Part 2 was Springfield, which I actually will try to keep short. In a nutshell: I got to feed sheep and a goat, see a sheep shearing (which is actually sort of petrifying), go jetboating, ride a horse (also petrifying), and see Narnia twice. On the jetboat, a hornet ran into my neck. I can’t put into words quite how that hurt. There was definitely a stinging sensation, but also a feeling of that side of my neck tightening up. Then it sort of felt like it was burning, and then it just got sore. Strange… Oh, and I played pool for the first time! I’m unbelievably bad.
We stayed at a HI hostel that was run by our bus driver/tour guide named Colin and his Japanese wife Keiko. Colin reprimanded me (in a friendly way) for not knowing Japanese. He has three kids, and the family speaks in both English and Japanese at home. The hostel was amazing. Three of us were in the Narnia Room. Colin gave everyone else instructions to their rooms, but to the Narnia Room folks, he just said, take a look around and see if you can find it. If you go through the kitchen, there is a closet door next to the fireplace. But, if you open the closet door, it leads to a staircase, and if you go up the staircase, you’re in the Narnia Room! We took up the entire hostel. Keiko made an amazing dinner for us, and all in all, Springfield was very pleasant. It was probably 25 degrees while we were there; it was fantastic.
We also went to Castle Hill, which is a vast, rolling, yellow grass field with huge pieces of limestone jutting up out of it. It is right near where the final battle scene in the first Narnia movie was filmed. It looks pretty much just like that, too, only far cooler in person (but without a talking lion).
So that’s Part 2.
I did much better there, see? I just condensed two days of constant activity into three paragraphs! On to Part 3!
Since we’ve been back from Springfield, we’ve mostly just registered. We’re no longer booked all day every day by IES (which wasn’t bad, it was just non-stop), so we have our own time. A group of us have developed a dinner group. We all decide on a dish and each bring ingredients to contribute and then usually two people cook (we max out on cutting boards, knives, and counter space at around three, so two is usually a good number), and then two people are on KP (do you know what that means? Apparently none of them had heard it before. It’s Kitchen Patrol, which means clean-up, in case you hadn’t either). So far, we’ve had falafel pitas (Melissa as head cook), tacos (Alyssa as head cook), and curry (I was head cook for that one). But Greg and Tamar also cook, too. Olivia came to tacos and Kate came to falafel, but we’re the core group. Nana came and ate for curry, and Morgan (Melissa’s kiwi roommate) came for tacos. Morgan said that she would lead a dish soon. She wants to make Moroccan chicken, which I have no objection to. After dinner, we usually watch a movie or play a game or something.
I have been on a wild goose chase for a means to get internet. Sadly, my Ethernet port has finally decided to die for realsies. So I am trying to find a USB to Ethernet port, but that apparently is hard to come by. I’ve been to the main electronics chain, the lesser electronics chain, the little closet computer store, all over. I was so close today, and I was so happy, but then I saw that it was only for Windows/Linux/Vista. That was such a huge disappointment, I got so upset, and then I got homesick just because I was already upset, but now I’m feeling much better. Melissa, Alyssa, and Greg climbed through my window and cheered me up (I’m on the ground floor and the windows are huge and there are no screens. Just so you’re not super creeped out on my behalf, I was sitting here, at my desk, watching them do it, so it’s not like they snuck in while I wasn’t paying attention (the window was locked anyway, so they couldn’t have.)).
Earlier today, I made a shoe rack out of one of those earth friendly reusable shopping bags. It wasn’t the greatest job I’ve ever done, but it holds three pairs of shoes, which is all I need.
Sunday night, right when we got back from Springfield, a big group of us went to the lantern festival in Victoria Square. I guess it was for Chinese New Year’s? The lanterns were amazing, though. I’ll have pictures for you at some point, but internet costs a bit much for me to go throwing them all over my blog, sorry.
Tonight is pasta night, so I have to go get my stuff together and head over to Alyssa’s flat. Classes start on Monday, so hopefully I will meet some more people (not that I don’t like Melissa, Alyssa, Greg, and Tamar, but I didn’t come all the way to New Zealand to hang out with a bunch of Americans all the time), and also I will fall into some sort of routine.
I am taking a mineralogy/petrology course, a structures course, a field studies course, a linguistics course, and a Maori studies course. Three lab classes, and not one day that I start before ten, so I am in for some long days, but I think it will be okay. Most days I start at noon or later, which some of you may know is something I have tried to avoid all throughout college. But, with the lecture halls being large and few, they only offer one section (sometimes two sections) for each course, so scheduling options are pretty much nil. Some people have arranged to have no class on Fridays so they can leave for tramping or outing or whatever on Thursday, but my Friday is from one PM to six PM, so no such luck there.
This was a long one, and I apologize. Next time I won’t wait so long and it’ll be shorter. It’s not as cool as DanRose’s, but I guess that’s the price you pay for having a brothel-free week!
1. alive
2. well
3. exhausted from running around the Port Hills all day.
Caution: this is a very long blog post. The next one is shorter and more interesting.
2/20/09
A blog post! What?? I’ve been inspired by the downpour to write my very first New Zealand blog update. It’s been just about a week now, so I’ll try to go light on the details and only do highlights, but most of you know how good I am at summarizing…
In my mind, the week has been divided into three parts:
While Kate was here!
When IES went to Springfield.
Post-Springfield.
So let’s start from the top! Those of you who know Kate will be so jealous! I’m hoping that you will be so jealous that your only option is to come to New Zealand to hunt me down and take revenge. Then, once you get here, you’ll see Kate for yourself, your jealous rage will abate, and you can hang out with us. See, I’ve got it all planned out here, eh?
Kate met me at the airport. I was late, which was great, because the taxi driver seemed like he wouldn’t have waited very long for Kate (he was sent special from IES, so he really only had a responsibility for me, and I was already late, so he was less than happy with me). I had to go through biosecurity because my shoes had red dirt on them. Note to people coming to visit me: no fresh food (especially fruit and nuts), you have to declare all food (they won’t take it away from you, but you might have to go through biosecurity anyway), no camping gear, etc. If you’re going through Kauai, clean your shoes as best you can, especially the soles. They cleaned my shoes for me, which was nice, except that those were the ones I was wearing, so my feet got a little soggy. The only person I’ve talked to who actually got something taken away is Melissa (IES, from Bellevue!). She had some juggling balls and they took them away and burned them.
I got really lucky about my flights and everything, though. Alyssa (IES – goes to UR, actually) was told to get their bags in Auckland, which is ridiculous, because there is like an hour and twenty minute layover between the Auckland flight and the Christchurch flight. The airlines have it set up so that if you have that close connection, you do all your stuff in Christchurch. So they left to go collect their bags, and their bags never showed up (because they had been checked through to Christchurch). So then they not only had to rush through security again, but they had to figure out what had happened to their bags. I’m impressed she made her flight, even with an airline worker expediting them to the front of the security line.
Wow, so already failure with the skipping of details. Sorry. On to Christchurch!
The first couple of days, it was pretty overcast. Kate can attest to this. It was like 30 degrees until the day we got to Christchurch, and then it dropped to probably fifteen. Of course, it was roasting up in Taupo, so Kate was a little cold coming from there to here. The first day involved
Getting lost in Chch repeatedly (but not in a bad way).
An epic search for pizza.
An Irish B-movie with Minnie Driver and Alan Cummings in it.
A constant struggle to stay awake.
Kate did a good job of making me stay awake until 8:30. Otherwise, I would have gone to sleep at like five and been completely messed up for the first few days. At 8:30, full of yummy pizza, I crashed.
The YHA is right off Cathedral Square, which is very pretty. They have some nice shop stalls (I’m pretty sure they are for tourists, but whatever… for the first month, I’m allowed to be a tourist. I bought a fun bag for like US$6, so yeah), a giant chess board (Wizard’s Chess :p but you don’t actually get to be a piece, unfortunately. And you don’t get to hit people, even more unfortunately), and of course the cathedral.
The next morning, we got breakfast at a cute little place across the street from the hostel. Then we got lost looking for the bus stop, and then we went to the uni! MY FLAT!!! Kate can be my witness, my flat is awesome. It is a new Ilam flat, so it is nice and clean and beautiful and well lit and spacious and comes with dishes and such!
My flatmates are all cool so far. We all sort of run on different tracks, and honestly, when we do run in to each other, it seems to be in the kitchen, which means we are all in each other’s ways. But they are really friendly, and last night, Nana even ate dinner with the dinner group (getting there). Unfortunately, I don’t know how to spell any of their names except for Nana’s. So, I’m going to guess, and I apologize if their names are misspelled. Nana and I share a bathroom and Misuyu and Wawa have a similar two room one bathroom set up on the opposite side of the kitchen. To be honest, I am probably the least tidy, so I am constantly checking and myself to make sure I haven’t left a mess somewhere out in the common areas of the flat.
I met Kate in the evening after walking to the city center with IES. It was sad, because we had to get to the airport for her flight, but we went to a sushi place first, and they made Kate’s veggie roll with mayonnaise. So there was some sort of miscommunication after that, and basically we left without Kate getting any sushi :( We nearly missed the airport bus because the stop is in a strange place. If it hadn’t been for some random kiwi guy, we probably would have missed it. But he overheard us talking to Wawa, whom we saw at the bus exchange, and he pointed us in the right direction. Then Kate left :( but she’s coming back (I hope!)!
So that’s Part 1.
Part 2 was Springfield, which I actually will try to keep short. In a nutshell: I got to feed sheep and a goat, see a sheep shearing (which is actually sort of petrifying), go jetboating, ride a horse (also petrifying), and see Narnia twice. On the jetboat, a hornet ran into my neck. I can’t put into words quite how that hurt. There was definitely a stinging sensation, but also a feeling of that side of my neck tightening up. Then it sort of felt like it was burning, and then it just got sore. Strange… Oh, and I played pool for the first time! I’m unbelievably bad.
We stayed at a HI hostel that was run by our bus driver/tour guide named Colin and his Japanese wife Keiko. Colin reprimanded me (in a friendly way) for not knowing Japanese. He has three kids, and the family speaks in both English and Japanese at home. The hostel was amazing. Three of us were in the Narnia Room. Colin gave everyone else instructions to their rooms, but to the Narnia Room folks, he just said, take a look around and see if you can find it. If you go through the kitchen, there is a closet door next to the fireplace. But, if you open the closet door, it leads to a staircase, and if you go up the staircase, you’re in the Narnia Room! We took up the entire hostel. Keiko made an amazing dinner for us, and all in all, Springfield was very pleasant. It was probably 25 degrees while we were there; it was fantastic.
We also went to Castle Hill, which is a vast, rolling, yellow grass field with huge pieces of limestone jutting up out of it. It is right near where the final battle scene in the first Narnia movie was filmed. It looks pretty much just like that, too, only far cooler in person (but without a talking lion).
So that’s Part 2.
I did much better there, see? I just condensed two days of constant activity into three paragraphs! On to Part 3!
Since we’ve been back from Springfield, we’ve mostly just registered. We’re no longer booked all day every day by IES (which wasn’t bad, it was just non-stop), so we have our own time. A group of us have developed a dinner group. We all decide on a dish and each bring ingredients to contribute and then usually two people cook (we max out on cutting boards, knives, and counter space at around three, so two is usually a good number), and then two people are on KP (do you know what that means? Apparently none of them had heard it before. It’s Kitchen Patrol, which means clean-up, in case you hadn’t either). So far, we’ve had falafel pitas (Melissa as head cook), tacos (Alyssa as head cook), and curry (I was head cook for that one). But Greg and Tamar also cook, too. Olivia came to tacos and Kate came to falafel, but we’re the core group. Nana came and ate for curry, and Morgan (Melissa’s kiwi roommate) came for tacos. Morgan said that she would lead a dish soon. She wants to make Moroccan chicken, which I have no objection to. After dinner, we usually watch a movie or play a game or something.
I have been on a wild goose chase for a means to get internet. Sadly, my Ethernet port has finally decided to die for realsies. So I am trying to find a USB to Ethernet port, but that apparently is hard to come by. I’ve been to the main electronics chain, the lesser electronics chain, the little closet computer store, all over. I was so close today, and I was so happy, but then I saw that it was only for Windows/Linux/Vista. That was such a huge disappointment, I got so upset, and then I got homesick just because I was already upset, but now I’m feeling much better. Melissa, Alyssa, and Greg climbed through my window and cheered me up (I’m on the ground floor and the windows are huge and there are no screens. Just so you’re not super creeped out on my behalf, I was sitting here, at my desk, watching them do it, so it’s not like they snuck in while I wasn’t paying attention (the window was locked anyway, so they couldn’t have.)).
Earlier today, I made a shoe rack out of one of those earth friendly reusable shopping bags. It wasn’t the greatest job I’ve ever done, but it holds three pairs of shoes, which is all I need.
Sunday night, right when we got back from Springfield, a big group of us went to the lantern festival in Victoria Square. I guess it was for Chinese New Year’s? The lanterns were amazing, though. I’ll have pictures for you at some point, but internet costs a bit much for me to go throwing them all over my blog, sorry.
Tonight is pasta night, so I have to go get my stuff together and head over to Alyssa’s flat. Classes start on Monday, so hopefully I will meet some more people (not that I don’t like Melissa, Alyssa, Greg, and Tamar, but I didn’t come all the way to New Zealand to hang out with a bunch of Americans all the time), and also I will fall into some sort of routine.
I am taking a mineralogy/petrology course, a structures course, a field studies course, a linguistics course, and a Maori studies course. Three lab classes, and not one day that I start before ten, so I am in for some long days, but I think it will be okay. Most days I start at noon or later, which some of you may know is something I have tried to avoid all throughout college. But, with the lecture halls being large and few, they only offer one section (sometimes two sections) for each course, so scheduling options are pretty much nil. Some people have arranged to have no class on Fridays so they can leave for tramping or outing or whatever on Thursday, but my Friday is from one PM to six PM, so no such luck there.
This was a long one, and I apologize. Next time I won’t wait so long and it’ll be shorter. It’s not as cool as DanRose’s, but I guess that’s the price you pay for having a brothel-free week!
Friday, February 6, 2009
Hawaii
Hi fun people (and the un-fun ones, too, I guess...),
So, t-3 days and counting until I leave beautiful Kauai for beautiful New Zealand! Sorry contact has been sparse; I only have internet when I am here at my uncle's.
A few comments about Kauai.
I am in this sort of visitor limbo in that I am not a tourist, but I'm not a local either. You can tell I'm not a local girl because I'm too pale :)
All the dirt here is red because of high iron content and a lot of precipitation. On the west side, where my grandparents live, it's dryer, but Kauai hosts the wettest place in the world over on the other side. Everything is stained red from the dirt. Houses, cars, horses, sidewalks, everything. It sort of makes it look like a third world country.
Since people here never have to drive in snow, they drive right up your tail pipe, especially if you're going the speed limit. There are a few select places to pass, but for the most part, it's one lane in each direction on the highway. So if you're going slow, you slowly collect a long line of cars behind you, all riding up each other's tail pipes.
The road system is essentially one long highway with towns spaced along it, right off the highway, so every few miles, the speed limit drops to 35 and 25 miles per hour. This makes driving especially fun.
During Hurricane Iniki, a bunch of chickens got loose, and now there are chickens all over Kauai. They are out in the streets running around. Also, especially near Salt Pond, there are a bunch of stray cats.
The stores here carry things to remind you that you're in Hawaii :) The Costco sells Hawaiian shirts, the grocery store has ika (squid) and tako (octopus) in the meats section, and the drug stores have "Sanrio" aisles (I tried to find something Pom Pom Purin for Ben, but to no avail. Sanrio cycles through their characters relatively quickly, keeping only a handful long term (the more common and well-known being Hello Kitty, of course). Right now, the big players are a panda whose name I forget, Choco Cat, and a devil Hello Kitty. Oh, and in some stores, Hello Kitty is Hawaiian, tan like the color of cafe au lait).
Well, on Monday, I take off for New Zealand, leaving my grandparents and uncle to meet Shalom's friends and SEE KATE!!! Unless something remarkable happens in the next three days, my next post should be from New Zealand!
Oh, and people were saying that they couldn't post here, which puzzled me, but I found the setting that controls posting, and it should now be open to comments. Sorry about that!
So, t-3 days and counting until I leave beautiful Kauai for beautiful New Zealand! Sorry contact has been sparse; I only have internet when I am here at my uncle's.
A few comments about Kauai.
I am in this sort of visitor limbo in that I am not a tourist, but I'm not a local either. You can tell I'm not a local girl because I'm too pale :)
All the dirt here is red because of high iron content and a lot of precipitation. On the west side, where my grandparents live, it's dryer, but Kauai hosts the wettest place in the world over on the other side. Everything is stained red from the dirt. Houses, cars, horses, sidewalks, everything. It sort of makes it look like a third world country.
Since people here never have to drive in snow, they drive right up your tail pipe, especially if you're going the speed limit. There are a few select places to pass, but for the most part, it's one lane in each direction on the highway. So if you're going slow, you slowly collect a long line of cars behind you, all riding up each other's tail pipes.
The road system is essentially one long highway with towns spaced along it, right off the highway, so every few miles, the speed limit drops to 35 and 25 miles per hour. This makes driving especially fun.
During Hurricane Iniki, a bunch of chickens got loose, and now there are chickens all over Kauai. They are out in the streets running around. Also, especially near Salt Pond, there are a bunch of stray cats.
The stores here carry things to remind you that you're in Hawaii :) The Costco sells Hawaiian shirts, the grocery store has ika (squid) and tako (octopus) in the meats section, and the drug stores have "Sanrio" aisles (I tried to find something Pom Pom Purin for Ben, but to no avail. Sanrio cycles through their characters relatively quickly, keeping only a handful long term (the more common and well-known being Hello Kitty, of course). Right now, the big players are a panda whose name I forget, Choco Cat, and a devil Hello Kitty. Oh, and in some stores, Hello Kitty is Hawaiian, tan like the color of cafe au lait).
Well, on Monday, I take off for New Zealand, leaving my grandparents and uncle to meet Shalom's friends and SEE KATE!!! Unless something remarkable happens in the next three days, my next post should be from New Zealand!
Oh, and people were saying that they couldn't post here, which puzzled me, but I found the setting that controls posting, and it should now be open to comments. Sorry about that!
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