I'm getting cranky because my bike has yet to arrive. I've called Air New Zealand half a dozen times the last couple days but cannot get a hold of a real person. I have two missed calls from them tonight however, so that might be promising.
Sunday was a decent orientation day. I met 4 other students living with me in Carrington--Josh, Lori, Nicole, and Emily, all from Australia except the latter. We toured the town, walked through a mall that was dominated by Kmart, drooled at the Cadbury's factory and promised ourselves to take the tour at some point, and played frisbee golf in the bushes in front of an old rail station. In the morning I spent about two hours in the grocery store making sure I was familiar with that, and then in the afternoon we went back there, so no I'm a NZ shopping expert. A few terms are different (capsicum=bell pepper, manchester=linens), but they have all the same stuff. In the evening we had a "birthday party" and played pin the tail on the donkey.
This morning was rainy and chilly. A microbiology post-doc came to pick us up and take us to the labs. I met up with Sigurd, and we spent a while going over safety and I attempted but failed to get my ID card, but should be able to get it tomorrow. I ran to the bank to set up an account, got a mediocre lunch at a campus restaurant, and headed back to the lab where we talked about the plan for the next couple weeks. I got a tour of the lab and then started making some plates and streaking out bacteria. It felt suprisingly good to be back in the lab, even if I wasn't doing anything too exciting. Before I knew it, it was 7 o'clock and I had pulled a 10 hr day.
This evening I decided to walk over to the Dunedin Botanical Garden, which most closely resembles the Arb in Ann Arbor except a lot more flowers. I walked up one of the hills behind the gardens and got a fabulous view. I could see the ocean and the peninsula and finally figured out where the heck I am. At the top of the hill I also met my first NZ sheep.
It's funny, but part of me expected New Zealand to lie somewhere on a continuum between the U.S. and Tanzania/Malawi in terms of culture, economy, and such. From what I've experienced so far, I'd say that New Zealand is basically the same as the U.S. There's McDonald's, Subway, Dominoes, Pizza Hut. Cars everywhere, big middle class homes with manicured yards and gardens. I was sort of hoping to be "roughing it" in the lab, pipetting by mouth and streaking bacteria with my pinky, that sort of thing. But except for an autoclave from medieval times, all the lab equipment is modern and familiar. Everyone speaks English, and I haven't been too impressed with the NZ accent. And everyone looks like me! I yearn for the mama kubwas (big ladies) serving up hot rice and beans and chappati, the dala dala vans with people hanging out the door, people walking in disgusting muddy roads with spotless clothing, the hip hop blasting from the hair salon, the squat toilets, the 10 cent doughnuts, and even the kids screaming as we rode past. I miss being the white man superstar. I miss being Jesus's sidekick. The only similarity I can think of between Tanzania/Malawi and NZ as opposed to the US is that they drive on the left.
I've already seen a tiny piece of the landscape NZ has to offer, and there's obviously a lot more to see, but in terms of cultural enlightenment I don't think this experience will live up to what I was hoping for.
2 comments:
I hope your bike comes soon!
Where is Emily from?
I'd just like to state the obvious and note that "capsicum" and "manchester" are very different words from their American counterparts. The Internet says that capsicum is actually the generic name for the family (genus?) of peppers, so I can see where that comes from. Manchester, on the other hand, seems to be just Australian slang, which is mildly disappointing.
Maybe once you have a chance to really explore the place (different from merely getting oriented to a new place!), you'll notice more of the subtle differences between American and New Zealand cultures. The fact that you're in a university setting doing research probably doesn't help to make you feel the novelty right away, but I'm sure you'll find unexpected quirks to the culture there. I don't think it's possible to live in a new place without learning something new about yourself or others or the world, so give it time. :)
I'm glad you are settling in and meeting other fellows, etc. there. It sounds like your mentor has done a good job of planning for your visit.
So, would you say your difficulties in retrieving your bike are closer to the U.S. or African experience??? Hopefully, it will come soon. I have to say that the similarities you find aren't too surprising to me. I've seen some top-notch researchers from that university so, I assume that they have decent equipment, resources, etc. They certainly have ADHD kids there. Maybe more bungee jumping there? I know Howard and Sue went bungee jumping in N.Z. and wasn't that where it came from? So, maybe a little bit more risk-taking in the individuals there?
How much is the Maori culture integrated into the community? I imagine, that the Maori community differs the most from what we have here in the U.S.
Are people as worried there about the economy as we are in the U.S.? It's a constant on the news, meetings at work, etc.
Alex checked out the airport you landed at on his flight simulator. Quite small!
Something tells me that you'll be back to visit Africa sometime soon.
Julie
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