kiwi chronicles

30+ days in purgatory

so, it’s not hell but it ain’t heaven. It doesn’t suck but I’m not overwhelmed with awesomeness. The best I can do is say “new zealand’s cool, I guess”. But maybe get back to me in summertime when I’m not struggling through technicolor rainy days. I think I like it here as much as I could like any place in the winter. Today was the first full day without rain in about 10 days.

Do I sound too bitter betty? How about this: yes, new zealand is absolutely beautiful. And yes, the people are nice and friendly. Almost every house on the hillside around the harbour has a view that anywhere else you’d probably have to pay millions of dollars for. When the sun shines it’s easy for me to imagine loving being here. But that happens so infrequently that all I can muster is a lukewarm regard for this place. Despite it’s hobbit-ness.

I really like my flatmates: alex, french girl, and andrea (there’s an accent in there somewhere), italian guy. We’re chummy but give each other enough space in order to make sharing such a small flat tolerable. Sometimes we’ll eat dinner together or have afternoon tea/coffee. I wonder what they think of me though: constantly eating ice cream, waking up at random times throughout the day, the sound of the simpsons playing non-stop, and the never-ending parade of my colorful cast of friends. I suppose every flat needs one of me.

now I want to talk about something really serious. The scourge of my existence here is something that I brought upon myself: I am constantly covered in bright blue fuzz from my blanket. It is everywhere and on everything. Compounded by the fact that I nap in my clothes, it has infiltrated my entire wardrobe. Just get rid of the blanket, you say? Oh, if only it were that easy. It’s too cold here for me to sleep without it at night. Buy a new blanket? Now you’re just not being sensible.

Anyway, take pity on me and send me stuff! (please) Suggestions below:

• anything made of felt
• candy (nerds, peanus m&ms, reese’s pieces, smarties, kit kat, twix, swedish fish, bubbleyum)
• cereal (cinn toast crunch, lucky charms)
• chapstick (flavoured)
• kool aid
• pens (fine point)
• art supplies
• ***burned dvd’s (I can’t play the dvd’s here) (there are also bandwidth limits in my residence hall, so I can’t stream television shows and movies – yea, it’s fucked up)
• pictures!
• anything pink or green
• prayer flags
• sparkly things

kthxbai!!!!!! xoxo

4th of July in NZ

it’s already July 4th here, but of course no fireworks, no bbq’s, no sweet sweet liberty. :-(  all is not lost however! any true freedom-lover knows that no matter where in the world you are, freedom lives in you (me) and cannot be deterred. now i’m going to take a moment to sing the star-spangled banner and shed a single tear in the name of liberty.

so i’ve been in wellington a little bit less than a week now and the only thing that sucks so far is the fact that cheese is so expensive. i’m serious, a wheel of cheese costs like $18NZD! that’s ridiculous! don’t sheep give milk? cheese, wool, lamb and all things sheep should be practically, nay, completely free.

I’ve been spending most of my days wandering around the city, going to orientation, meeting with faculty and making friends with the other international students. i haven’t had a chance to meet many kiwis yet because they’re on between-term holiday. school starts on monday, so they should be showing up soon. yesterday (thursday) me and zie germans (i made a bunch of german friends) visited the waterfront and we went to the top of mt. cook in the cable car. it was pretty sweet. i will put the pictures up on flickr. there was also a botanical garden up there.

i’m going to take some time out before naptime to address some burning questions that you probably have. first of all, the water in the toilet does not go the other way, darn it! it just goes straight down. sorry guys. secondly, the young people around here all dress like they’re in a band. more specifically, a band that would start with “the” for its name. i’m talking faux hawks, skinny jeans, weirdly printed hoodies, etc. i left my skinny jeans at home (i.e. at the store) so I guess I look out of place. I’d buy a pair, but you know, then i’d be wearing skinny jeans. plus the “cool” clothes here are so fucking expensive! I need to find kiwi-Target and fast.

lastly, here are the classes i’m signed up for this semester. I only have one class on monday and thursday, which is sweet. those will be rock climbing/sleeping days. oops, I mean “study” days, mom! :)

• Environmental Policy - The analysis of environmental policy and natural resources problems and policy which draws on the interface between the natural sciences, economics, law, ethics, and politics.
• Environment and Resources: New Zealand Perspectives - Principles and issues in resource management and human interaction with the biophysical environment. The course focuses on environmental and resource management issues which are of particular concern in contemporary New Zealand.
• Advanced Environment and Resources: Global Issues - Advanced study of issues in resource management and human interaction with the biophysical environment. The course focuses on global environmental issues, particularly those which are relevant to NZ and the Southwest Pacific.

ok, it’s naptime! and ps. if you’re not on skype yet, you damn well should be!

ouch