Penguins, text messaging, holidays, rain, and Celsius.

**a quick note: thanks to Dad, I now know the postal code for my flat (they weren't "mandatory" in NZ until last year!) So here’s my real address:

Annie Murphy
Flat 42 Room 4
Ilam Village
PO Box 6362
Christchurch 8442
New Zealand

- really, this is just a shameless reminder about just how much I enjoy mail ;)

Before I came to NZ, Kate put me in touch with her aunt/godmother's friend who lives here in Christchurch. Kate's Aunt Patsy stayed here for a year with Brigid Simmons as an exchange student when she was younger, and the two have stayed in touch. Brigid invited me over to her house for dinner on Thursday, and I met her, her husband Murray, her daughter Hannah (who is also 21), a German student (who was an exchange student with them several years ago), and their terrier, Toddie. Brigid informed me that Toddie was of the same breed as Mr. Bush's dog (called Barney?)

I spent several hours over at their house, and I chatted with Hannah and Christoff (the German student) about cultural differences such as cell phones, alcohol, and holidays. The kiwis text each other rather than talk on their phones because it's cheaper (and quieter!). It's common to see young kids' fingers typing furiously on their cell phones to their friends. As for alcohol, we came to the consensus that the concept of binge drinking in college is universal - at least among New Zealanders, Germans, and Americans. About holidays, well, the kiwis take quite a few. As do the Germans. Christoff told us there were about 17 German public holidays in a year, and they're all on Thursday - so people take off work on Thursday and Friday. Clever, those Germans! In New Zealand, everything (except restaurants and pubs, and the occasional grocery store) closes at 5pm. The general attitude toward work is far more relaxed than in the States: working people want to be home with their families, so they leave their jobs at five to do so. People here aren't constantly trying to outdo their counterparts in work or school, so the environment is far more relaxed. College admission, Hannah explained, is a simple process. If you pass the state test, the university admits you. There are only eight or so universities, and while they specialize in different areas, they are not selective about admissions. Basically, life in Wonderland progresses at a slower pace than life in America.

Yesterday, it rained. Quite a lot. Several of my friends with the Butler program decided to go to the Antarctic Centre in Christchurch for the afternoon. I'm sorry to say it was a bit of a disappointment - but we did get to see penguins. In fact, several different kinds of penguins live around New Zealand, and Christchurch is one of the key places en route to Antarctic. If you go to Canterbury, you can even major in Antarctic Studies. We saw the Little Blue Penguins - although they are the smallest type of penguin, they are not blue. I'll post some pictures of them soon.

Back in flat 42, there has been quite a bit of drama and controversy. Suffice it to say that Mia, the RA, has been acting rather un-RA-like in a variety of ways that I will refrain from mentioning.

Last night (Friday) I was hanging out in my friend Michele’s flat, and we decided to bake some cookies. I suppose it was more Michele wanting to make cookies, and the rest of us were happy to help. Anyway, after several of us made the batter – a challenge in a new kitchen with foreign ingredients – we were ready to put the dough in the oven. But, we’d forgotten to preheat the oven, so Michele turned it on to 300 according to the recipe. So we waited. And waited. We wondered why the oven was taking so long to heat up. Finally, after some more waiting, the group pressured Michele to put the cookies in. She did, and when she came back a few minutes later to check on them, they were burned! We couldn’t figure it out! Then, one of Michele’s kiwi flatmates reminded her that the degrees on the oven were in Celsius – not Fahrenheit! (If you’re not familiar with the conversion, double the Celsius and add 30 to get an approximate number for Fahrenheit.) So it made sense that the cookies were burned – the oven was almost at 650 degrees Fahrenheit! After one batch of burned cookies, she turned down the oven and the rest of the batches came out well.

This afternoon I took a bus to a place called the Warehouse (similar to Wal-Mart) and Countdown (a supermarket) to buy some things for my room. While you (and I) might think shopping wouldn’t be that different here – it is. And it involves a lot of conversions: kilojoules to calories, NZ dollars to American dollars, etc. The cashiers at the supermarket sometimes make conversation, and they bag the groceries – carefully! They’ll arrange the food in the bags to save the most space, and they are careful to put light items on top of heavy items instead of the other way around! Buggies, or carts, are called trolleys, and there are trolley bays in the parking lot where people return their trolleys after loading their cars. I made a new discovery tonight at the Countdown that I feel is worth mentioning. I was a bit disappointed when I’d gone shopping earlier because I hadn’t found hot chocolate – a big bummer in a place that’s going to get very cold! But, I found some today – with the lovely brand name of Cadbury. So, no worries about hot chocolate anymore.

By no worries, I mean “it’s all good.” Instead of saying words such as “great” or “cool” or “thank you,” they say “no problem,” “not bad,” and “cheers.” At first I was a bit offended when I thanked people and they said, “it’s not a problem” because in the States people usually say that to mean that whatever they did for you was of some trouble to them but not too big of a deal. Over here, though, they are more subtle about compliments, so if something is “not bad,” it means it is actually quite good. One of their most popular phrases, “sweet as,” means “cool.” As an English major, I can’t stop wondering what the object of “as” is! Alas, it does not make sense – and in New Zealand a lot of things don’t make sense!