Rubbish

After 5 days of near perfect weather, Mother Nature remembered its winter here and sent gale force winds and spitting rain. And so, on little sleep and no coffee (I'm still not sure how I'm able to survive that one...) I walked all the way to the Beehive for my first exploration into New Zealand's government. I was hoping to sit in the Defence committee's meeting which turned out to be in a completely different building. The woman described it as "the pink building" which I assumed would be easy to find. Turns out there are three pink buildings in sight of the Beehive. I got it right on the second try and got the necessary sticker that I need to prove to my professor that I attended. Finally found the right meeting room, just as all of the MP's were leaving. So far, a great start to my day.

Since I was already down in that section of town, I decided to wait until the general session of Parliament started that afternoon. I hunted for a decent place to eat and stumbled across this great little dive down an alley next to Parliament. I had my first Fish & Chips in New Zealand and found out that this place sells its entire left over stock for one dollar each. Daily. So when money starts to run out...

After lunch, I headed back to the Beehive for the Question period that opened the General Session of Parliament, receiving yet another sticker:

There was a short opening ceremony involving the Speaker of the House, a huge scepter and a prayer. Then questions began. Oh my god. If there is this much yelling and disorder in the US Congress, its obvious why nothing gets done. I expected some hostility between the government (National Party) and the opposition (Labour Party), but not nearly to the extent that it existed. There is a loose sense of order that only results in complete silence when the Speaker demands it. Quite often, members of the opposite party are mumbling about the "rubbish" that they are hearing. One MP read a newspaper and a book before leaving when the debate got too loud. There were plenty of times when I thought I was in a high school cafeteria, not the Gallery of the New Zealand Parliament. But such is politics.

My experience today in Parliament has left me anxious to see more. I'm definitely excited to head uptown again to see different aspects of the governing structure. However, it has also left me a bit confused since I know next to nothing about New Zealand government and an equal amount about the political history of this country. Google has been my friend this afternoon, helping me to learn a little more about the key players in this game as well as some of the recent history of politics. Hopefully next time, I'll be a little more clued into some of what the MP's were shouting about.

Bed now, but more again soon.

- Liam

Earthquakes, Swine Flu & Harry Potter

This week, an earthquake on the South Island that registered 7.8 on the richter scale and both of my american roommates came down with throat infections.

I, however, successfully survived the first week of class.

My classes are good so far and I think I'm going to enjoy them...with the exception of Pacific History. This was unfortunately not what I was hoping it would be and I have replaced it with World Religions. This class looks to be awesome since it has 6 professors teaching it. Each of these professors (or lecturers as they are called here) is an expert on a major religion so I think that this class will be very interesting and a lot easier than Pacific History looked like it was going to be. Speaking of religion, here's a sweet church I saw downtown last week.

New Zealand Politics is probably my favorite class so far. The professor is British and our biggest project for the semester is going to be actually going to Parliament to watch the action unfold. This should be pretty interesting...I hope :) Speaking of Parliament, here's a picture of the Beehive, which is the name of NZ's Parliament Building.

International Relations is great. The professor is an American from Boston who makes a ton of jokes about the States. This gives the class of mostly Kiwis a good laugh, but since most of them are true (albeit quite liberal), I usually laugh right along with them. Sometimes I think they don't think actually get the joke...but then I don't understand half of their slang so I guess its a fair tradeoff. I don't have a picture of anything related to this...so here's a picture of Victoria University's campus!

My education class is not what I expected it to be. Instead of a survey of different educational systems in the South Pacific, this class will focus on how education must be altered when dealing with students from impoverished or minority backgrounds. Definitely a class that will come in handy in the future (that is...if my hands-on experience in Newburgh fails me).

Of course, it's not just been class here. I saw a whole different side of town last week. The business/government district of Wellington have a much more "big city" feel than the downtown section I'm a little more familiar with. More chic shops and expensive restaurants as well as Mrs. Higgin's Cookies. Hopefully next time I visit this shop I'll have my camera. They make huge "American style" cookies. Most other cookies, or biscuits, are crunchy and I had been missing warm, melty cookies. I naturally got chocolate chip and also tried a local favorite, the ANZAC. ANZAC stands for the Australian-New Zealand Army Corp. who fought in Turkey in World War I. These soldiers are remembered by a Memorial Day and by this cookie, which was a popular way to feed the troops since they travelled well. The ANZAC Biscuit is a simple cookie similar to an oatmeal cookie, made with coconut. It was so good. Luckily, Mrs. Higgin's prices weren't too bad, since I don't think I'll be able to help myself when I make my weekly trips to Parliament.

I also passed by the railway station that I (apparently) came into almost two weeks ago. However, I was picked up right at the outdoor platform, so I never saw the building until a few days ago.

The train station also has a small dry cleaners inside known as Platform 9 3/4. With Harry Potter only a few days away, this really got me excited for the sixth film.

With that, I'll leave you with a link to more photos and a picture of a sweet bird I saw down at the harbour.

Cheers,

Liam

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=287318&id=713885494&l=577bfa7418

REAL Kiwifruit

I seriously cannot believe how slow time is going. It feels like so long ago that I was working crazy hours between Washingtonville and Torches and hoping that the sun would finally show its face! Only a week later, I'm still hoping the sun will come out. The weather here is very similar to what we've been experiencing in New York. I hope for all your sakes that the sun is shining a little more now than it was before I left. Somehow, the on and off rain is much more bearable when I'm overlooking the Wellington Harbour or watching the mist roll off of Mt. Victoria.

I think I've finally worked myself not only onto the correct sleep cycle but the more important eating cycle. Today was probably the first day when I was hungry at the right time of day. Food has been delicious so far. I've eaten at some places in town while exploring with the other internationals (although this will stop once classes start, to the great enjoyment of my wallet). Wellington has a huge mix of cuisine options, similar to the city. My two favorites are a Malaysian place that not only has good food, but CHEAP food & a crepe stand that makes both sweet and savory crepes. Shopping at the supermarket yesterday was eye-opening. Partially due to the exchange rate and partially due to getting used to what is cheaper here, I was a little surprised to see some of the prices. Staples like orange juice and yogurt were crazy expensive. However, the biggest bargain came when I found a bag of about 10 kiwifruit for $1.69 (and that's New Zealand Dollars!). Which reminds me, kiwifruit here is SO much better than in the states. Apparently, we eat kiwifruit mostly from Chile. The kiwifruit here is a much more vibrant green and a little more tart. And that's the rundown on kiwi food.

Classes start on Monday so I'm getting myself all setup for that. I am taking Introduction to International Relations, New Zealand Politics, Pacific History & Pacific Nations Education. The best part of my schedule is that I only have lecture on Monday & Tuesday. I will have tutorials too, which are like discussion sections in the states. Typically these are on the same day as the lecture so with any luck I'll keep all classes to the first three days of the week, leaving a 4-day weekend for exploration =).

Flat life is awesome, which makes me even more excited for HKLZ house in the spring (although the rates here are much cheaper...). My kiwimate, Natalie, is from Blenheim, which is on the South Island and basically the center of wine culture in New Zealand. She has already offered to drive us around to all the vineyards during the midsemester break in August. Hopefully then I'll be able to see more of the south island while using weekend getaways to explore up north. Kevin is from Maryland but goes to school at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee. Elizabeth is from Ohio and goes to school at Wooster University. Our flat is awesome and I know we're going to have a great trimester together. The best part about the housing is that we are surrounded by other international students from all over the world. I have met people from Italy, Germany, Denmark, Malaysia, Hong Kong, China, Vietnam, Great Britain and of course, the States. There are also Kiwis that live here, but most of them aren't here yet.

Victoria University is home to the New Zealand School of Music so I am hoping to get involved with something here since I won't have music classes, UDMB, MelUDees or Phi Mu Alpha to keep me busy over the next semester. Luckily, I have scored an audition with the Chief Executive of the New Zealand Symphony who directs Varsity Voices. It only meets once a week so it won't overwhelm my schedule, but still allow me to take advantage of performing.

Sorry for such a long one, but there's so much that's been happening. Email me your address for a postcard OR send me a letter =)

6A Landcross Street

Kelburn, Wellington, New Zealand 6201

More soon...

- Liam

Auckland Exploration

Its been almost 4 days since I left New York and yet it feels so much longer. I had a great flight to LAX sitting next to a Lebanese Business man who turned out to be a great seat partner. Layover in LA was full of expensive food and some good phone converstations. Finally, I boarded my 13-hour Air New Zealand Flight direct to Auckland. It. Was. So. Long.

I made it through customs successfully and took a shuttle to my hotel getting there just in time to make it to my harbour-side room for the sunrise. =)

Auckland is an incredible city, the "big" city of New Zealand (1.2 million people). I spent the morning on the waterfront before climbing to the top of the Auckland Harbour Bridge. I hate heights, but I had a blast. The view could only have been better if there was sunny. I was the only one on the walk/tour while everyone else there was bungy jumping, which simply terrifies me. After the bridge climb, I got a coupon for a restaurant on the harbour where I had a server from Galway, Ireland. She's on a work visa from the University of Galway and was excited to hear that I'll be travelling there in December. I explored all over the city until it began to rain.

Was it really necessary for NY's weather to follow me halfway around the world??

I went back to the hotel and watched the sunset. I then had dinner 190 metres above the city in the SkyTower, the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere. The food was INCREDIBLE and came with a paired glass of wine. Full, I headed back to the Hotel for a short night's sleep, watched the sunrise in the morning, and boarded my train by 7:30.

This train ride has been one of my best decisions so far. The seats were really comfortable and the views were incredible. Food was reasonably priced at the dining car and attached to the front of the train was an outdoor viewing car which was not that popular during the trip thanks to the rain and cold temperatures. I arrived in Wellington at 8:30 Sunday night and after checking in, headed down to the city with my roommates and some other Americans. The first place we went to didn't accept a NYS driver's license as an acceptable form of identification, so we had to leave. After we found another place, we hung out for a few hours, getting to know each other. I then had the best night's sleep I've had since Spring Break.

Today, I got a cell phone for my time here, had coffee in a cafe, explored Wellington's Harbour and visited the Te Papa National Museum. Which reminds me: there is no coffee as we know it hear. What am I going to do?! I'm trying to adjust to the Long Black, but its very heavy so we'll see. They also don't put cream in their coffee, only milk, which I'm also adjusting to. Wellington is my kind of city. It's not too big and not too small with a lot of variety. I could never move this far away from NY forever (don't worry mom) but know I will enjoy living here for the next five months.

That's all so far from New Zealand. Orientation tomorrow and enrolment on Wednesday so I'll update again later this week. I'm glad to be settled in a permanent place and look forward to exploring the area more.

Talk to you all soon,

Liam

Pictures from Auckland: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=281466&id=713885494&l=27d5385327

Pictures from the train and Wellington: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=282624&id=713885494&l=4148bc852f