adventures in dunners

Chicks at Arc - Emma's Mom, Emma, and Petra

Started reading "Memoirs of a Geisha" by Arthur Golden that night, and finished it just before going to the ballet on Friday the 5th to see Swan Lake, again courtesy of Emma's Mom. That weekend I checked out at the Lord of the Rings website to check out filming locations - Hobbitton is set in the Waikato (Maureen and I drove through here just before arriving in Auckland), Rivendell and Lothlorien were filmed near Queenstown and Paradise (the location of my very first tramping trip), and the rugged volcano scenes after the hobbits leave elfin lands were set in Tongariro National Park (where Maureen and I spent two glorious days doing the Northern Circuit). Spent a heinous amount of time starting applications for MD and PhD programmes for September 2003. My flatmate Steve announced that he and his girlfriend Carmen have gotten engaged - congrats! Started school again Monday the 8th. On Wednesday the 10th the five of us Scholars plus Jo, Beccy's flatmate, had a brilliant dinner and catch-up night at Beccy's flat - Cate brought her yummy baked brie with apricots, and Jo and Beccy made us an incredible three-course Italian meal. During and afterward we did the Myers-Briggs personality test. The results as I remember them: Christine (ISTJ), Cate (ESFP?), Maureen (incomplete), Beccy (ENFP), Courtenay (ESTJ), and Jo (INFP). Thursday the 11th had a brilliant time at the Robbie because I was simply in a fabulous mood. Finally had our flat-warming Saturday the 13th. Had heaps of people there and could finally put some faces to names. Heaps of fun too. Unfortunately a bunch of my friends and tramping acquaintances were out of town for the weekend...tramping and skiing...and while I can't blame them (well, actually I can...) for taking advantage of the snow it would have been great to have them there. There's also the location of our flat - up in the north end of the city at the top of a steep hill. And since it was drizzling on Saturday night not a nice walk. BUT the best part for me was putting on the Day For Night CD by The Hip. Someone had brought along a Canadian girl from Victoria BC, and when she heard it, she came out of the kitchen and just looked at me appreciatively with a big grin on her face. Those first few opening chords...ah the memories! And to hear it unexpectedly when you're in a foreign country, maybe a bit homesick now and then... Sooo sweet to see the Kiwis take in the music. Sooo glad that, yes, other people like Canadian music! We're not just dull, peace-loving, passive, goody-two-shoes Canadians! Is there any country that *doesn't* have some kind of chip on their shoulders, even if they won't admit to it?
 
 

Some friends at the flat-warming - Courtenay, Maureen, Pauline, and Steve

At the moment I'm incredibly tired (maybe just a bit partied-out), and disillusioned with humanity in general (perhaps the two are related?), and could do with another vacation or at least a hug, a good meal, and a good night's sleep. PLUS my heater is broken so I now freeze by bum off at night. BUT I have a crazy and exciting week ahead of me. Angela, Hunter, and her fiance Ricky are visiting Dunedin for the next few days so the five of us Scholars are putting them up and showing them around a bit. A big chunk of my dissertation due on Tuesday 16th. Have a block course (three full days of class) for my Maori health paper from Wednesday the 17th, to Friday the 19th held on the Rapaki marae (Maori meeting house) on the Banks Peninsula just outside Christchurch. Am pretty psyched about this because we will be eating, studying, and sleeping on the marae, and participating in some traditional stuff like the powhiri or ritual of encounter. Wanted to meet up with Kerry Quin who had just moved there just over a week earlier, but won't get a chance to since we will spend all our time on the marae. Am heading to Bushball for the weekend - an annual tramping club event where wwe all dress up in costumes and do a not-so-difficult hike, then party all night (if I can stay awake after this week...!). Will be heading out tramping for my birthday - either climbing a mountain, going skiing, or both - and am looking for people to go with. Am also psyched about doing a snowcraft course August 10th to 11th up around Fox Glacier - will finally learn how to use ice axes and crampons and can then do some alpine trips. In between will been doing lots of work on my dissertation, lots of work on my med school applications, and having lots of fun with friends.

FYI as I write this, I am listening to a compilation CD. The song that's playing at the moment is Boom-Shak-A-Lak by Apache Indian. What have I become?

If something is neat, you can say...cool bananas, or just cool nannas. If you're disappointed, you can say...wees and poos. A flat is an apartment. A plaster is a bandaid. Lollies are candies, and biccies are cookies. A lift is an elevator. A torch is a flashlight. Petrol is gasoline that you put in the car. A flannel is a washcloth. Whiteware means household appliances. To scull is to drink your glass of beer (or other spirits) really quickly (to chug in Canada). To shift is to move house. Someone who's just done something great is a legend. Trundlers are shopping carts. A lorry is a truck. Speaking of lorries. If by any stroke of luck any of my friends from Surama are reading this, they have Bedford trucks here too! I realise it's a British thing and nothing to get too carried away with, but haven't seen one since Guyana, and was duly impressed, although it was just a wee thing compared to the Ultimate Warrior. In addition to having two taps - one for hot and one for cold water -- there are also two faucets. This means you can either wash your hands in scalding hot or freezing cold water. Yes, they have Ricki Lake and Oprah here. There are lots of roundabouts on the roads, and because of driving around on the North Island I've had more than my share of dealing with these crazy things. Have read "A Good Keen Man" by Barry Crump and "Once Were Warriors" by Alan Duff - this last one a bit of a controversiiaal book about M?ori which has now been turned into a film. Kiwis pride themselveson being laid-back - much appreciated by the likes of myself. Fashions are definitely distinct, though if asked to describe why I wouldn't have a clue where to start. Light switches and doorknobs are much higher than in Canada. Radio is supposed to be good but I don't have one; TV is supposed to be bad but we have one; and journalism is supposed to be awful (The Listener is left-wing, North and South is outside Auckland, Metro is inside Auckland, Critic / Te Arohi is the Otago student newspaper, Fink is the local zine).

Way back during orientation week in February, a professor lectured us on ten key themes to be aware of in New Zealand history and contemporary society. I stumbled over the notes the other day and thought some of you might be interested in reading them. These are a bit disjointed, perhaps, and don't always make sense. Remember I had been in New Zealand for a very short while and didn't really understand what I was be lectured about...

Smallness and Isolation. NZ was once part of the old continent of Gondwanaland. NZ broke from Australia about 80 million years ago and the two countries are now about 1200 miles apart (a three hour flight). It is a long and skinny country with mountains and volcanoes, surrounded on all sides by ocean. It has a maritime climate that is strongly influenced by El Niño / La Niña.

Newness / Regionalism. Civilization is fairly new. The Maori arrived from eastern Polynesia and have been in NZ 1000 years or less. Originally NZ was made up of 80% rainforest and was dominated by birds. There were only two mammals, both fruit-eating bats. There were also moa (enormous birds about three metres tall) and the giant eagle, both of which are now extinct. Also the kakapo, another bird.

Part of an Empire. NZ is not a wealthy country. There is no iron ore or heavy industry, in contrast to Australia which has gold, diamond, and iron resources. The major resources in NZ came from farms - meat, dairy, and wool. This meant that NZ was forced to either trade or die. NZ is one of the most literate societies. Lots of people read foreign newspapers. Since the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, the beginning of NZ as a British colony, the British Empire provided a trading partner and defense.

Cultural Demographics. The NZ population is made of 75% Anglo-Celtic people, 20% Polynesians, and 5% Asians. There have been major shifts in demographics in recent years. By 2040 it is estimated that Anglo-Celtic people will make up < 50%, M?ori will make up about 25%, Polynesians about 10%, and Asians about15%. Dunedin (or perhaps the South Island in general) is the last major white settlement in New Zealand. Most migrants came from Britain - 55% were British, 21% Scotish, 18% Irish, 2% Welsh, and 4% miscellaneous (German, Danish, Lebanese, and Chinese). The Chinese came to work in the gold mining industry, and only recently has there been an apology for the British treatment of Chinese people in the 1800s. Other settlers were Dalmatian, Croatian, and Jewish. Recently there have been Indians from Fiji.

Giant Farm. Nz used to be a huge rainforest. Now it's a huge farm.

Environmental Transformation. Swamps were valued by Maori for food, but Pakeha drained the swamps. About 85% of the wetlands were drained therefore NZ is one of the most modern landscapes. Sheep have a huge impact - they are destructive - they eat grass right down to ground. Today there are about 45 million sheep. Maori removed about 50% of the forests and Pakeha another 25%. While only 10% of the forests were actually cut down, the remainder were burned, mainly to flush out the moa which were then killed for food and other reasons. The moa became extinct by about 1500. There are good trees in southwest NZ (Fiordland). Most grasses come from England. Now NZ has many large commercial dairy farms, which also have an enormous environmental impact since they produce lots of organic waste and methane. The big ozone hole is due to 10 million farting dairy cows. Genetic engineering is a major lobbying issue. Two competing sentiments - can we afford not to be organic versus trade or die. Dropped lots of bird fertilizers. Change in farming in 1920s and 1950s (use of fertilizers) increased grass growth which increased sheep numbers. However, the fertilizers also filtered into rivers producing weed growth through nitrification. Trees are required to prevent erosion. Trees grow fast, which is good for industry, but growing pines replaces native trees. Possums and rabbits are problematic since they destroy the landscape at a vicious rate. A virus was introduced against international biohazard laws to control rabbits biohazard. The use of chemicals such as 1080 kills these small animals so that recently we start seeing old flowers again. Stouts and weasels were introduced to eat rabbits, but the native birds were slower and were therefore eaten instead. The Green Party has a seat in Parliament - one of the famous MPs is Nandor Tanczos - a hippy guy with long dreads. There is a "green and clean" active movement.

Urbanisation. NZ is slowly urbanising and modernising from farms. Today it numbers 23rd in the OECD. Because of the gold rush Otago University is the oldest university in NZ. The original immigrants wanted land therefore today you still see hedges or fences at front of house to delineate property. NZers are tge world's biggest travellers, and this has improved the availability of good food.

Gender Relations. NZ is male-dominated but the family is important. Male culture includes All Blacks rugby, racing, and beer. During the war 17,000 men either went to war or were lost, out of a country of about 1 million people. In 1893 women got the vote, earlier than any other country in the world. There was a second wave of feminism in the 1970s.

Secular. NZ is secular.

Complex Race Relations. Chinese were poorly treated. Maori and Pakeha are the two cultures in this bicultural society. The Pakeha thought that the Maori were superior to other coloured people, therefore there was lots of intermarriage. The Maori dominated to the 1850s. The Maori had a strong connection to the land. Pakeha numbers gradually increased. Then came the Land Wars. There were no wounded men. The Pakeha had more supplies and therefore won. There was passive resistance. In the 1960s the Maori moved to cities over the course of one generation. This led to more complications because the two cultures were now living side by side.

Here are the lyrics to one of my favorite Tracy Chapman songs, The Promise. Everyone wanders at some point in their life, whether literally or metaphorically. Without movement we become stagnant, but without constancy we become homeless. When we move on, for better or for worse we leave behind people, places, and things. When others move on, we are the ones left behind. Sometimes there are reunions, some joyful and some disappointing. Being a seasoned traveller this song really strikes a chord. Enjoy.

Love Christine