I love alliteration, but seriously... Wellington is very windy. I’d been warned about this fact but I don’t think I truly understood it until today. I was walking with two of the slighter Fulbrights (Julie and Amanda) and I seriously wondered if they were going to be able to remain standing. We went over to the Pasifika festival, a big outdoor festival celebrating Pacific culture, only to find out that the event had been “blown out.” That was a new one for me. We then wandered over to the waterfront for lunch at this cute café Julie (one of the other Wellington Fulbrights) discovered upon first coming here. A note about Wellington and money: most things are quite expensive but the prices that are listed include tax and there is no tip. It’s nice not to have to do the mental math to figure out how much you’re going to pay. Also, usually you pay at the bar, which initially led to some awkwardly long periods waiting for the check.
Perhaps the most exciting thing I did today was move some of my stuff into my flat. I finally got a hold of the guy. :) I’m still in the hotel through the weekend b/c I couldn’t cancel it on short notice. Also I don’t have a bed in my flat yet. Something to work on… I have a sleeping bag though, so Monday I’ll be in there for good. Wish me luck. Having never lived outside of my parents’ house or a Harvard dorm, it should be interesting.
We spent the rest of the evening kind of bumming around. I met up with Julie and Amanda in the rose garden of the Wellington Botanical Gardens. (I entered the botanical garden on a hill and walked to the top only to find a sign informing me that the rose garden was at the end of the path I had just come up. Logically.) Amanda and I then walked back to our hotel, stopping to do a bit of window shopping on the way. Now we’re sitting in our hotel room watching “The Avengers” on a Saturday night. Yup. We’re that cool. Actually, we’re going on an all day tour of the southern part of the island tomorrow, so we’re resting up. Yup. That’s our excuse.
Summary:
- Wellington is windy enough to cause event cancellations. Yikes. Hopefully I won’t blow off the hill.
- I’ve partially moved into my flat! (But I still don’t have a bed. Yay for sleeping bags!)
- Apparently I’m just as lame in the Southern hemisphere as the Northern.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Orientation
Whew! What a week. I’m going to apologize in advance because this is going to be a long post. I guess I’ll just go day by day. You totally have my permission to skip straight to the summary. I’m at a hotel that charges internet usage by the megabyte so I’ll upload pics at a different time.
Sunday: You guessed it… Flat hunting! My calves are going to be so strong by the end of this year. Guess if Hannah won’t go to the gym, the gym will come to her. I looked at 3 places. I really liked one of them but it was farther away than I wanted to live. Also met a really nice guy at the third flat that I saw (also nice but so much interest there was no way I was going to get it). He teaches salsa on Tuesday nights and I got his information. I’m making friends! (And hopefully will become a more competent salsa dancer.) I decided to go with a flat that I saw on Friday and I’m going to move in. (The people have been very bad about communicating with me about my proposed move in day, which as you probably guessed is driving me nuts. All part of the experience, I guess. We were told to savor the exhilarating and frustrating as part of the experience.)
Monday: Today we met all the different Fulbright fellows (me and 11 other grad student types ranging from ’09 college grads to PhD students to a girl who just passed the NY bar – Yay Julie! – to someone who’s been working at an international bank for the past few years), Fulbright senior scholars (profs visiting to work and teach) and Axford fellows (public policy fellows). They’ve all been great. I’m currently rooming with one of the Auckland based fellows and it’s been a blast. Monday we were greeted by the Fulbright staff where Mele, the director of Fulbright NZ gave us the sage advice to savor everything. She also told us to break out of our thoroughly American habit of checking email every 5 minutes. I did say I wanted to come here to relax. Let’s see if I can do it.
We also had a lecture by a man about the Maori language, pronunciation and Maori customs. It was fascinating. I can now (at least in theory) correctly pronounce most Maori words. (Including the word “Maori” itself which I’m ashamed to say I’d mispronounced for a while. I am not going to attempt to explain here.) It also made me a lot more comfortable with looking at the Maori words which will come in handy here in Aotearoa (New Zealand).
We then went to the Waiwhetu marae, a Maori cultural and spiritual center of sorts. There we went through powhiri (a traditional Maori welcome ceremony). It started with karanga, a woman calling to welcome us, followed by tangi, the remembrance of the dead. I was incredibly impressed with how much Maori culture (and many other cultures of the Pacific) remember, revere, connect with and identify themselves with relation to their ancestors. As someone with relatively little knowledge of my family beyond my great grandparents’ generation it was amazing to hear about and from people who could trace their families back generations upon generations. The ceremony then proceeded with the hangi, a handshake and pressing of the noses. When we practiced it at Fulbright it was incredibly awkward (and way more intimate than I was used to – talk about personal space bubble invasions). Somehow in the context of the marae, though, it wasn’t awkward at all. It felt very appropriate and, for lack of a better word, sweet. (Despite the fact that I managed to do more of a forehead bump than a nose press with the first man and the fact that I most certainly butchered the formal greeting, tena koe.) Both groups then gave speeches and sang songs. (I had no idea what the Maori meant but it’s very pretty to listen to.) The new US ambassador to NZ and Samoa gave one of the speeches for our group. Finally after all the more formal elements, we eat kai, food. This is an integral part of the powhiri because as newcomers to the marae we have “tapu,” a sacredness that separates us from the rest of the marae members, which is removed by eating cooked food. It was really interesting to be part of the ceremony.
We were at the marae until Tuesday afternoon. We went to the surrounding facilities and saw their medical center and a gallery of some Maori art. There were two huge canoes with these really beautiful elaborately carved paddles. I’ll post photos later. There’s also a lot of beautiful jade jewelry mostly symbolizing new life (the koru, a fern around here), eternal friendship (a loop) or strength (a fish hook). Also the wharenui or meeting house, in which we stayed is covered in carvings and paintings evoking the ancestors of the iwi (basically the particular Maori group) and sea respectively. We also saw some beautiful cloaks woven from flax (a 6’x 8’ swath takes a person 8 months working full time!) and a woman who had gotten a Fulbright a few years ago to go to the US showed us how she makes the material. It was really cool! We also heard from one of the leaders of the community there who talked about his ancestors’ role in peaceful resistance movements in NZ. Also a talk from a Maori man about the Treaty of Waitangi, the 1840 treaty between the Maori and British which was largely ignored between 1860 (when the British got stronger than the Maori) and 1980. It was very interesting to get his perspective.
Tuesday: After the marae, we went to Te Papa, the national museum. Among other things, the museum houses the first European artifact left in NZ, an anchor that broke off a French ship in the late 1760s. They also have specimens of a bunch of native animals along with exhibits on their conservation. They also have the most intact example of a giant squid. Its mantle was probably 15 ft long and it’s not even one of the largest out there (they can tell by beak size). The museum also has a variety of Maori artifacts, exhibits on the European migration to NZ and items from other Pacific cultures. If you’re ever in Wellington, I’d recommend going.
That night a bunch of the other Fulbright fellows (grad students) went out to dinner at this restaurant near our hotel. It happened to be trivia night. You’d think that 9 well educated, intelligent people with interests in many fields would be good at such a thing. Turns out we don’t know that much about NZ geography, NZ sports or much of anything other than cartoon characters, animals, television and music.
Wednesday: More talks, this time about NZ’s flora and fauna and the peopling of the Pacific. Turns out that most people think NZ was colonized from the East by people originally from southeast Asia who then swept across the Pacific all the way to Easter Island and South America before getting back to NZ. The Maori didn’t even arrive in NZ until around 800 CE. It was interesting to hear different origin stories from different cultures. In Maori legend, the sky father and earth mother were joined together and their son pushed them apart to make way for the light.
We also went to Otari-Wilton’s bush, a piece of land that was saved as a reserve by the original owner back when the New Zealand company was selling 100 hectare plots to settlers. They have a lot of interesting New Zealand plants and it’s interesting to see what NZ would have looked like when the Maori came here (or even when the British came here). It’s gorgeous but a lot more wooded than I had thought it would be. Not exactly the rolling pastures up to mountains that you see in the Lord of the Rings movies. (I’ll post pics shortly.)
Finally, all the Fulbright people had dinner at a local restaurant. It was a lot of fun to see everyone in a non-lecture context. Again, we stumbled onto a competition, this time giant jenga. I’m embarrassed to say that I lost the game for our team. However, everyone said it was a miracle I was able to get the piece out. (I toppled the tower trying to put the block on top.)
Thursday: Last day of orientation. We started the morning with a lecture on NZ’s culture and politics which gave a good overview of the Maori’s arrival here, the European settlement and the transition of NZ from a land of rugged, warrior men to a peaceful, progressive state. (The first to give women the right to vote in 1893!) We also went to parliament where we heard a bit about NZ’s political system. They have a unicameral house and the have two types of members of Parliament (MPs), ones who are elected to represent a district and ones that come off a party list. The number of list members from a given party is proportional to the percentage of the total votes that were for that party as long as that party gets >5% vote. (i.e. if 40% of the people want the National party to rule, then 40% of the list MPs are from the National party.) That’s how NZ is able to have 7 political parties. Also the Prime Minister and the cabinet are derived from within the Parliament. We actually met an MP who told us about his daily life and then we went on a tour. Parliament has a ton of art that has been given to it by various people and it was fun to see some of it.
Friday: Orientation was over and it was back to trying to figure out my daily life here in Wellington. I finally met Nicky, my adviser! We discussed my project a bit and then she gave me a ton of references to look through and find relevant papers, my assignment for next week when she’s in the field. I won’t have a problem filling time. I’ll let you guys know when my project is firmed up (for those of you who care).
In the mean time, I’m moving in to my flat today (if I can get a hold of this guy). Grr… Amanda, an Auckland based Fulbright, Julie (another Wellington Fulbright) and I might go to this Pasifika festival celebrating cultures from across the Pacific islands if the rain holds off. I thought by arriving in summer I’d get at least a few weeks of good weather. Guess not. J
Thanks for bearing with me. And the summary…
Summary:
- Flat hunting is over. Yet the minor frustrations continue. All part of the experience.
- I now know so much more about Maori culture than I ever thought I would. I suck at nose pressing.
- I also know a lot more about the Pacific and NZ than I thought I ever would and I think it’ll be useful as I run around here. If only we had had a lecture on the meanings of myriad kiwi phrases (sweet as, basically “all good”; good value – as in “He’s good value”; heaps meaning “a lot”, this doesn’t necessarily have to refer to a physical thing or anything that can be heaped; you can have “heaps of work”)
- Fulbrighters suck at bar games. Like really suck.
- If you need to reach me, I’ll be sitting in front of my computer all next week reading as much as I can about tuatara.
Sunday: You guessed it… Flat hunting! My calves are going to be so strong by the end of this year. Guess if Hannah won’t go to the gym, the gym will come to her. I looked at 3 places. I really liked one of them but it was farther away than I wanted to live. Also met a really nice guy at the third flat that I saw (also nice but so much interest there was no way I was going to get it). He teaches salsa on Tuesday nights and I got his information. I’m making friends! (And hopefully will become a more competent salsa dancer.) I decided to go with a flat that I saw on Friday and I’m going to move in. (The people have been very bad about communicating with me about my proposed move in day, which as you probably guessed is driving me nuts. All part of the experience, I guess. We were told to savor the exhilarating and frustrating as part of the experience.)
Monday: Today we met all the different Fulbright fellows (me and 11 other grad student types ranging from ’09 college grads to PhD students to a girl who just passed the NY bar – Yay Julie! – to someone who’s been working at an international bank for the past few years), Fulbright senior scholars (profs visiting to work and teach) and Axford fellows (public policy fellows). They’ve all been great. I’m currently rooming with one of the Auckland based fellows and it’s been a blast. Monday we were greeted by the Fulbright staff where Mele, the director of Fulbright NZ gave us the sage advice to savor everything. She also told us to break out of our thoroughly American habit of checking email every 5 minutes. I did say I wanted to come here to relax. Let’s see if I can do it.
We also had a lecture by a man about the Maori language, pronunciation and Maori customs. It was fascinating. I can now (at least in theory) correctly pronounce most Maori words. (Including the word “Maori” itself which I’m ashamed to say I’d mispronounced for a while. I am not going to attempt to explain here.) It also made me a lot more comfortable with looking at the Maori words which will come in handy here in Aotearoa (New Zealand).
We then went to the Waiwhetu marae, a Maori cultural and spiritual center of sorts. There we went through powhiri (a traditional Maori welcome ceremony). It started with karanga, a woman calling to welcome us, followed by tangi, the remembrance of the dead. I was incredibly impressed with how much Maori culture (and many other cultures of the Pacific) remember, revere, connect with and identify themselves with relation to their ancestors. As someone with relatively little knowledge of my family beyond my great grandparents’ generation it was amazing to hear about and from people who could trace their families back generations upon generations. The ceremony then proceeded with the hangi, a handshake and pressing of the noses. When we practiced it at Fulbright it was incredibly awkward (and way more intimate than I was used to – talk about personal space bubble invasions). Somehow in the context of the marae, though, it wasn’t awkward at all. It felt very appropriate and, for lack of a better word, sweet. (Despite the fact that I managed to do more of a forehead bump than a nose press with the first man and the fact that I most certainly butchered the formal greeting, tena koe.) Both groups then gave speeches and sang songs. (I had no idea what the Maori meant but it’s very pretty to listen to.) The new US ambassador to NZ and Samoa gave one of the speeches for our group. Finally after all the more formal elements, we eat kai, food. This is an integral part of the powhiri because as newcomers to the marae we have “tapu,” a sacredness that separates us from the rest of the marae members, which is removed by eating cooked food. It was really interesting to be part of the ceremony.
We were at the marae until Tuesday afternoon. We went to the surrounding facilities and saw their medical center and a gallery of some Maori art. There were two huge canoes with these really beautiful elaborately carved paddles. I’ll post photos later. There’s also a lot of beautiful jade jewelry mostly symbolizing new life (the koru, a fern around here), eternal friendship (a loop) or strength (a fish hook). Also the wharenui or meeting house, in which we stayed is covered in carvings and paintings evoking the ancestors of the iwi (basically the particular Maori group) and sea respectively. We also saw some beautiful cloaks woven from flax (a 6’x 8’ swath takes a person 8 months working full time!) and a woman who had gotten a Fulbright a few years ago to go to the US showed us how she makes the material. It was really cool! We also heard from one of the leaders of the community there who talked about his ancestors’ role in peaceful resistance movements in NZ. Also a talk from a Maori man about the Treaty of Waitangi, the 1840 treaty between the Maori and British which was largely ignored between 1860 (when the British got stronger than the Maori) and 1980. It was very interesting to get his perspective.
Tuesday: After the marae, we went to Te Papa, the national museum. Among other things, the museum houses the first European artifact left in NZ, an anchor that broke off a French ship in the late 1760s. They also have specimens of a bunch of native animals along with exhibits on their conservation. They also have the most intact example of a giant squid. Its mantle was probably 15 ft long and it’s not even one of the largest out there (they can tell by beak size). The museum also has a variety of Maori artifacts, exhibits on the European migration to NZ and items from other Pacific cultures. If you’re ever in Wellington, I’d recommend going.
That night a bunch of the other Fulbright fellows (grad students) went out to dinner at this restaurant near our hotel. It happened to be trivia night. You’d think that 9 well educated, intelligent people with interests in many fields would be good at such a thing. Turns out we don’t know that much about NZ geography, NZ sports or much of anything other than cartoon characters, animals, television and music.
Wednesday: More talks, this time about NZ’s flora and fauna and the peopling of the Pacific. Turns out that most people think NZ was colonized from the East by people originally from southeast Asia who then swept across the Pacific all the way to Easter Island and South America before getting back to NZ. The Maori didn’t even arrive in NZ until around 800 CE. It was interesting to hear different origin stories from different cultures. In Maori legend, the sky father and earth mother were joined together and their son pushed them apart to make way for the light.
We also went to Otari-Wilton’s bush, a piece of land that was saved as a reserve by the original owner back when the New Zealand company was selling 100 hectare plots to settlers. They have a lot of interesting New Zealand plants and it’s interesting to see what NZ would have looked like when the Maori came here (or even when the British came here). It’s gorgeous but a lot more wooded than I had thought it would be. Not exactly the rolling pastures up to mountains that you see in the Lord of the Rings movies. (I’ll post pics shortly.)
Finally, all the Fulbright people had dinner at a local restaurant. It was a lot of fun to see everyone in a non-lecture context. Again, we stumbled onto a competition, this time giant jenga. I’m embarrassed to say that I lost the game for our team. However, everyone said it was a miracle I was able to get the piece out. (I toppled the tower trying to put the block on top.)
Thursday: Last day of orientation. We started the morning with a lecture on NZ’s culture and politics which gave a good overview of the Maori’s arrival here, the European settlement and the transition of NZ from a land of rugged, warrior men to a peaceful, progressive state. (The first to give women the right to vote in 1893!) We also went to parliament where we heard a bit about NZ’s political system. They have a unicameral house and the have two types of members of Parliament (MPs), ones who are elected to represent a district and ones that come off a party list. The number of list members from a given party is proportional to the percentage of the total votes that were for that party as long as that party gets >5% vote. (i.e. if 40% of the people want the National party to rule, then 40% of the list MPs are from the National party.) That’s how NZ is able to have 7 political parties. Also the Prime Minister and the cabinet are derived from within the Parliament. We actually met an MP who told us about his daily life and then we went on a tour. Parliament has a ton of art that has been given to it by various people and it was fun to see some of it.
Friday: Orientation was over and it was back to trying to figure out my daily life here in Wellington. I finally met Nicky, my adviser! We discussed my project a bit and then she gave me a ton of references to look through and find relevant papers, my assignment for next week when she’s in the field. I won’t have a problem filling time. I’ll let you guys know when my project is firmed up (for those of you who care).
In the mean time, I’m moving in to my flat today (if I can get a hold of this guy). Grr… Amanda, an Auckland based Fulbright, Julie (another Wellington Fulbright) and I might go to this Pasifika festival celebrating cultures from across the Pacific islands if the rain holds off. I thought by arriving in summer I’d get at least a few weeks of good weather. Guess not. J
Thanks for bearing with me. And the summary…
Summary:
- Flat hunting is over. Yet the minor frustrations continue. All part of the experience.
- I now know so much more about Maori culture than I ever thought I would. I suck at nose pressing.
- I also know a lot more about the Pacific and NZ than I thought I ever would and I think it’ll be useful as I run around here. If only we had had a lecture on the meanings of myriad kiwi phrases (sweet as, basically “all good”; good value – as in “He’s good value”; heaps meaning “a lot”, this doesn’t necessarily have to refer to a physical thing or anything that can be heaped; you can have “heaps of work”)
- Fulbrighters suck at bar games. Like really suck.
- If you need to reach me, I’ll be sitting in front of my computer all next week reading as much as I can about tuatara.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Just some pics of crazy sevens costumes
Men in orange halter tops, jesters and Romans watching smurfs jump into the harbor (not pictured).
Another view of the crowd watching the swimming smurfs. The red guys are priests, behind them are some oompa loompas, etc.
Daisies!
Fruits and veggies, and a calendar tile?For more pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/hannah.kim.frank/EarlyWellington?authkey=Gv1sRgCPPSyoXQnbztjQE#
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Getting my bearings
Whew! It has been a long couple days in Wellington. Mostly my calves are killing me from walking up and down all the hills. This is what I get for never exercising, well, ever. Most of the walking has been a part of flat hunting. This is a perplexing and somewhat daunting endeavor. I have spent many hours scouring a number of flatmate listing websites and I've sent dozens of emails. (Yes, I know, I'm not a Kiwi. I'm saying "flat" not apartment because that's what everyone here calls it.) There seems to be some pressure to decide very quickly whether one likes the flat or not. I liked a flat today and found out 6 hours after I left that they'd given it to someone else. I'm seeing two more flats tomorrow and hopefully the one I liked yesterday will still be available. Fulbright won't let me be homeless, right?
Other than the mad flat search, I've been doing a fair amount of meeting people and exploring. I met with Anne, one of my advisers, yesterday. (I didn't know she'd be my adviser until yesterday but she seems lovely.) She's an immunologist. It seems like whatever I work on with Nicky, my original adviser, will be tied to the work of a graduate student working on salmonella infections in tuatara. (She invited me to collect samples on Monday but I'm in stupid Fulbright orientation.) The project seems like it could be very cool ... as soon as I/we figure out what it will be exactly. I need to do a ton of reading about tuatara but right now my brain is so fried from exhaustion and flat hunting, it's amazing I'm typing complete sentences. (Assuming I am.) Perhaps more exciting than meeting Anne, I saw my very first live tuatara!!! It was in an exhibit in one of the university buildings, but I was pretty excited. (pic at the top)
I'm also getting a crash course in Kiwi vocabulary and slang. After being perplexed for a day I finally figured out that "sweet as" is the complete phrase and I stopped waiting for the noun to follow "as." (It means something to the effect of "it's all good" or "no worries.") I also found out that "capsicum" is a bell pepper, "aubergine" an eggplant, a "paper" is a university course and that I just graduated from "uni" and not "college" which they use to mean high school. Although I'm beginning to master these phrases, I am still completely baffled by the Maori words that are frequently used in newspaper and magazine articles, usually without definition. I think we learn a bit of Maori at the Fulbright orientation; maybe that will help.
Perhaps the biggest event going on right now in Wellington is the 7s tournament. This is a tournament for the Rugby Sevens in which 7 member rugby teams play 14 minute long games. (Don't ask me anything else about the game. I know nothing.) Teams are here from all over the world (including the USA). Why is this relevant to a girl who knows nothing about rugby or sports in general? Because the entirety of Wellington has been overrun by drunken people in costumes. (Apparently it's a huge tradition to dress up in costumes for the 7s, especially in groups.) In my flat hunting and various other runnings about town I have passed: 20 men in black hotpants, tights, orange tank tops and orange wigs; all of the power rangers; Thomas the tank engine and friends; assorted fruits and vegetables -- inexplicably accompanied by a calendar; daisies; assorted men in drag; 4 people dressed in MC Hammer toting a boombox which played "Can't touch this"; a number of native Americans; priests; nuns (men and women) and my personal favorite: 5 grown men dressed as the spice girls. I still feel bad for the guy who had to be Ginger Spice (... though he really did rock the Union Jack dress). I was spared an event of last year: a picture in the paper of a man in a Borat mankini after 12 hours of partying. Other famous costumes include the 101 dalmations (there actually are 101 people moving in a pack all dressed as numbered dalmations) and the Marilyns (a herd of men dressed as Marilyn Monroe who attend every year or pass down their costume when they cannot attend). I was also escorted to a flat viewing by 3 drunk guys (one soldier and two martial artists) who discovered I was American. It's been fun. (Also, to my roommates or anyone who saw our costume Halloween 2008, I saw 4 guys dressed as the ninja turtles wearing nothing but painted tighty whiteys and body paint. I think we've been beaten.)
Other than that, I've met the other Fulbrighters in Wellington now. They all seem very nice and interesting. It's also nice to have someone to talk to/ not have to sit at a restaurant by yourself. More about them later. Wellington continues to be exceedingly beautiful. I wandered around the botanical gardens today and stumbled upon a small hillside completely covered by hydrangeas of all colors in full bloom. It was gorgeous.
Summary:
- My calves are about to revolt any second now. Hopefully I'll have an apartment to show for it.
- After 18 months of talking about them, I have finally seen my first real live tuatara!!!! (It didn't move and it was behind glass, but I'm taking it!) And I also have provided photographic evidence that they are really cute!
- Wellington is overrun with drunk people. Turns out it has something to do with this rugby tournament. And here I was thinking that people usually wear extensive body paint, dress up as characters from avatar, Alices in Wonderland, crayons and lollipops. At least I know that Secret Santa is not a fluke; men everywhere love drag.
- Oh yeah, it's still really pretty. And summer.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Kia ora!
That means roughly "hi" in Maori.
I'm in New Zealand! It's kind of hard to believe, but I made it! The flight from LAX to Auckland was actually quite painless. Air New Zealand is an amazing airline -- lots of great movies, tv and music to entertain you (and the free wine doesn't hurt either -- until you realize air travel is already dehydrating). I was incredibly grateful that the baby sitting 2 rows ahead of me was quiet the entire flight.
A note about New Zealand security -- they care deeply about whether you've declared the trail mix in your bag and how clean your boots are, not so much about liquids, what's in your shoes or how much access you've had to your bags. I was delayed for 15 minutes as the "biosafety" department cleaned my hiking boots. This made me late enough that I had to take my checked baggage the 900m to the domestic terminal myself with 40 minutes until my flight took off. I made it in time but I was glowing when I got there.
Ok, you guys aren't hear to read about my adventures on my uneventful flights. The good stuff: Wellington is GORGEOUS. There are trees everywhere so it kind of looks like someone sprinkled houses along the hills surrounding the harbor. The harbor itself is spectacular. Today was an absolutely beautiful day -- a slight breeze but nothing like the wind that gives the city its nickname as the "windy city." (Unlike Chicago, this has nothing to do with politics and everything to do with the Southerlies from Antarctica which can knock you sideways. ) There's a walkway that runs along the harbor connecting the national museum, Te Papa, the civic square (which has a museum whose front has been covered in polka dots for a current exhibit), rock climbing gyms and tons of public art.
I arrived in Wellington at 8am and was met by a lovely woman from Fulbright. We took my bags to the hotel I'm staying at and then she gave me a walking tour of the city as we went to the Fulbright office. I got to use their internet and had morning tea with all the people in the office. Must be that famous Kiwi friendliness.
The city center is very small and very walkable. After my computer battery died, I walked the city for a couple of hours waiting until check in time. There are tons of cafes here everywhere and they're all adorable. Also, it turns out strangers really are friendlier here: I was looking at a map and a girl walked right up to me to give me directions.
Of course, the day was not without its minor hiccups: I managed to make my converter emit smoke, which I'm pretty sure means it's dead. Turns out you shouldn't use a converter for your computer, just an adaptor. (Which I got at a nearby store -- yay walkable cities.) I also managed to, in my sleep deprivation, fall prey to an internet scam which necessitated my canceling one of my two credit cards. Oy vey. At least all my bags made it. Everything is better with clean underwear.
Now the task of the day is finding an apartment. I've spent the better part of 4 hours on the functional equivalent of craigslist emailing people about flats. I suspect this will get easier once I have a phone. (Side note: Skype is a brilliant brilliant invention and if any of you would like to talk to me on said brilliant invention, I'd love to hear from you.)
For now it's off to bed. At 9:38pm it is finally dark. At 8pm I would've sworn it was late afternoon. It's summer here and we're pretty far south (41 degrees S), but it was still a shock. I hope all of you are well. I'll post a pic tomorrow.
Summary:
- I'm in New Zealand!
- It's absolutely gorgeous here: trees, lots of water, friendly people.
- Still there is much to do (apartment hunting, sleep).
- I cannot be trusted with things that plug in or connect to the internet. This does not bode well for my future.
- At least I have clean underwear.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Getting ready to leave!
Six days until my flight takes off for New Zealand! I'm pretty excited and also pretty nervous. It finally hit me last night that I am about to go to the opposite side of the world where I know no one and have no place to live. I'm excited about the prospect of being a real person but after 22 years of living with my parents or in a dorm with an unlimited meal plan things should be interesting. At any rate my first attempts at cooking should be interesting. (I'm predicting a lot of pasta and scrambled eggs.)
Other than the nerves, preparations are going well. I stopped working at the vet's office on Jan 8 and spent the week after that in Baja California with my family. It was gorgeous and warm and I had a great time hanging out (despite my GRE studying). I saw a number of lizards which is always exciting. (Didn't catch any at the request, er, begging, of my family.) Mexico also has some amazing hummingbirds. (These too freak my brother out.)
I have spent the last few days running around collecting pieces of papers from various locations (international driving permit, immunization records, etc.) and notifying credit card companies that I'll be in New Zealand. So much to do. Logically I'd leave it all to the last moment. Anyway, I should start packing. If anyone wants a postcard, email me your mailing address: hannah.kim.frank@gmail.com
Summary:
- New Zealand's coming up soon!
- No more dogs and cats. Bring on the reptiles!
- When moving to a foreign country for the year, start preparing more than a week in advance
- postcards!
Other than the nerves, preparations are going well. I stopped working at the vet's office on Jan 8 and spent the week after that in Baja California with my family. It was gorgeous and warm and I had a great time hanging out (despite my GRE studying). I saw a number of lizards which is always exciting. (Didn't catch any at the request, er, begging, of my family.) Mexico also has some amazing hummingbirds. (These too freak my brother out.)
I have spent the last few days running around collecting pieces of papers from various locations (international driving permit, immunization records, etc.) and notifying credit card companies that I'll be in New Zealand. So much to do. Logically I'd leave it all to the last moment. Anyway, I should start packing. If anyone wants a postcard, email me your mailing address: hannah.kim.frank@gmail.com
Summary:
- New Zealand's coming up soon!
- No more dogs and cats. Bring on the reptiles!
- When moving to a foreign country for the year, start preparing more than a week in advance
- postcards!
Monday, December 7, 2009
Adventures in animal land
Apologies for the lag in posting. It's harder to figure out what to write when I'm not in a jungle constantly seeing cool things. I promise to pick up the pace once I hit New Zealand.
New Zealand preparations are underway. I have my student visa in hand. And I now officially have my plane ticket booked (February 1st!). I arrive just in time for the Sevens rugby tournament. (That made finding a hotel for the first weekend kind of challenging.) I still do not have the slightest clue where I will be living. My plan is to go on the NZ equivalent of Craigslist and spend the first couple weeks I'm there looking for an apartment. Those of you who know me well (or have lived with me) know that I am not a relaxed person. I'm kind of nervous about this whole "moving to the opposite side of the globe to a place where I don't know anyone nor do I have a place to stay." I'm trying not to think about it. But mostly as the time draws near I'm getting excited. If anyone has any "can't miss" NZ destinations, please tell me.
Work at the veterinary hospital has been a lot of fun. The doctors and my fellow technicians are lovely and incredibly willing to teach me new things. I, in turn, have been teaching them new things somewhat unintentionally, mostly esoteric facts about reptiles. (Not unlike the insights I share on this blog.) At the very least, I keep everyone laughing at what a huge nerd I am. Among my new skills include the ability to draw blood from dogs and cats, insert IVs, monitor patients under anesthesia during surgery and do dental cleanings. I also do a fair amount of cleaning up after the patients and things like nail trims and vaccines. It feels a little like a throwback to when barbers were also the surgeons and the dentists. (Don't worry, they don't actually let me do surgery.)
I unfortunately do not have as many funny stories as I thought I would. Certainly there are funny moments -- trying to lift an obese golden retriever onto an x-ray table with a girl who weighted less than the dog, subduing a dog who wouldn't stop urinating, clients who complain that their dog's toenails "just keep growing," animals whose nails have been polished by well-intentioned little kids, and people who name their pets after their breed, for lack of anything better to do (a bichon frise named "Bichoni", a tortoiseshell cat named "Tortie"). I also am now so scratched up that if I didn't know better, I'd think I was cutting myself in my sleep. Still, it's really wonderful when you see a really sick animal get better. And where else do you get paid to play with puppies and kittens?
Things at the zoo are going well. I've gotten faster at fish prep and yesterday I got to go in with the harbor seals and help the keepers. I pretended to give a seal a vaccine (to get it used to being touched when it actually does get a vaccine) and then I got to pet it. It gave me a huge, wet, fishy "kiss". I was so happy all day. (My roommates are reading this and shaking their heads knowingly.)
Happy holidays to all. I'll post again if anything notable comes up.
Summary:
- New Zealand is coming up fast and things are falling into place. Now if I only had a place to live...
- Vet work is fun and dirty. Sometimes people are the funniest part of working with animals.
- If your best idea for a pet name is adding a vowel to the part of the breed name, you shouldn't have a pet. Or at least you should know that the vet techs are laughing at you behind your back.
- I got kissed by a harbor seal!
- Pasadena, CA = less exciting than a Panamanian jungle. Shocking.
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