Day 5: First day of class.

Day 5: Monday: 1-3-05 Class. Boo.

TO HELL WITH UV: My sunburn really hurts. Oof. I couldn’t sleep on my side or stomach like I prefer. And I think I managed to burn my scalp. I definitely learned my lesson. Sunscreen will become part of the morning routine.

TO HELL WITH CLASS: We got to meet our professors today. First stop, Managerial Economics. I didn’t really want to take this class, but it’s the only one that fits into my schedule. The teacher seems pretty straightforward, armed with a nice list of credentials. The class is rather disappointed with her intent to take the class seriously, as none of us really traveled 10,000 miles to study economics seriously. Still, it seems like it will be useful in the long run, provided I can stay motivated and actually keep up with the work. I have a feeling that my status as “lame duck” student will impede my progress in this class.

We break for lunch, then go to our next class, Biogeography. The professor is a witty faculty member from the local university at which we’re studying. He starts off class, amused by the batch of sunburned faces sitting in his class, and points out that New Zealand has some of the highest levels of UV radiation in the world. It has to do with the proximity to the ozone hole over the South Pole. We are not very surprised to learn this. Apparently, you can burn in 10 minutes here. Or 6 hours, as we found out first hand.

This class seems very interesting, especially considering we’re going on a field trip to study some of the things we learn in class, including volcanoes and thermal pools Everyone’s excited.

DEM SHOES: After class, I wander downtown to go find a pair of sandals. I check out a few of the stores, find some sales, and finally settle on a pair of Neckermans, a sandal similar to Birkenstocks. At $80NZ, these are a steal ($60US), and are of comparable quality to $120US Birkenstocks. I am beginning to enjoy this conversion rate. I buy the sandals, walk around for a bit, and realize they’re too small for my feet. Fortunately, they swap them out for the next size, and they feel great.

INTERESTING NZ THINGS, PART 2:

NO SMOKING!: That’s right, no smoking in bars or restaurants here. Gone are the days of “Smoking or Non?” and having to wash your clothes immediately after a night on the town. I feel bad for the two people who smoke on our trip, but inside I’m happy.

DAYLIGHT: There is a whole lot of it here. The sun sets at 9:30PM, and rises around 6AM. That’s almost 18 hours of light a day. It’s great. I still don’t feel tired during the day, I suspect it’s some combination of the excitement of being in a new country, jet lag, and caffeine. I usually wake up before my alarm goes off, a first for me. I suspect this will wear off in a few days.

STICK SHIFT: Everyone and their mom drives stick shift here. Busses, taxis, trucks, cars, they’re all stick shift. I think the high oil prices ($1.11/liter ~ $4.50 a gallon) play into this, and perhaps high import prices for vehicles in general. Noting the hilly nature of Wellington, I suddenly get the urge to open a clutch repair shop.

WEATHER: It’s been rainy, clouy, and cool a good bit of the time here. The locals complain it about it commonly. It’s not hard to start a conversation down here, “You have a funny accent!” and it usually turns to the crappy weather at some point. According to our Geography professor, this is one of the effects of global warming. Counterintuitive, but I accept the explanation.

FOOD AND CULTURE: So far, I am rather disappointed with the New Zealand culture and food, in terms of uniqueness. It seems to borrow a lot from others, and hasn’t developed much into its own. Several factors probably play into this, including the relatively young age of the country as an industrialized nation, large colonial influences from the British, and the small population. The language borrows heavily from Australia and Britian, the food seems to be a mixture of British (fish and chips, meat pies), Indian (curry), Malaysian, and American (McDonalds), except lamb seems to be more readily available. Sheep outnumber humans 14:1 here, so this is no surprise.

Regardless, we still are in love with Kebobs and we are thrilled to find a nice variety of local restaurants and diners to dine at when we get tired of the dorm food. This afternoon, Kebob #3 falls victim to my stomach. These things are addictive.

LEFT AGAIN: I finally figured out why I was bumping into so many people in the city. Apparently you walk to the left side here as well. Figures. Now I know how to spot those damn tourists: simply look for the idiots walking on the right-hand side of the road. I feel like a local now.

HOLIDAY: In New Zealand, you don’t go on vacation, you’re “On Holiday”. From what we’re told, this city won’t really be inhabited again until the 5^th or so. Most of the local shops and restaurants are closed, leaving us to pick from chains and larger places. I start to get the feeling NZ is one of those semi-socialist countries.

TOILETS: Before I left for the Pacific, I made note of which way American toilets flushed, so I could test the age-old notion that Australian (and presumably New Zealand) toilets would be able to flush the other way. Unfortunately, at this time, I must say my results are inconclusive. The main reason is that they prefer a type of toilet here that flushes straight down. They all use a tank that’s always higher than the bowl itself, and most of them have two buttons on them, for a full flush and for a half flush. Very cool. The actual design of the toilet looks like it is very difficult to clog, which makes me think New Zealanders don’t like plunging toilets or their plumbers union isn’t very effective.

SUNK: Another things that really annoys is the New Zealand sink. Most of them have separate faucets for hot and cold water. I can’t figure out the logic behind this. To get warm water, you have to plug the sink and mix some water together to wash your face or something. I need to ask a local about this.

--P