one day (in kiwi lingo)

Last fall, while considering where to study abroad, I made an extensive list of criteria in my mind of all the things that mattered to me. Among the most important criteria were that the place be a smaller city, with a culture distinctly different from that of the U.S., and have an English-speaking population. When I finally eliminated all countries other than New Zealand, I thought I’d made a great choice: a different culture with the same language! Perfect, right? Well, not quite.

After a month of living here in Christchurch, I’ve found some big gaps in my perfect plan. For one, Christchurch IS, as I had imagined, a small city; however, unlike the small city of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, almost every business closes at 5:00 pm. In addition, because of its location on the South Island, Christchurch attracts people who desire to spend most of their time outdoors, doing ______ (fill in the blank with a dangerous adventure sport) every weekend. This fact also means that these people are of the type that prefer tents over beds—a preference I’ve not yet begun to understand. Finally, English—the part of this adventure that wasn’t supposed to be difficult—is most definitely not the same here. To show the extent of my confusion, I’ll describe a regular day here:

Around 8:00 am, I wake up to my watch alarm clock and fix myself a cup (of instant coffee) to get energized for the day. I might fix myself some kiwi pancakes (crepes) or some muesli (uncooked granola) for breakfast. Then, I’ll dress, put on my (sun) block and runners (sneakers) and head to over to the uni (versity). At the beginning of class, the lecturer will run through the attendance, and I, like the others, will say “yes” (not “here”) when my name is called. Some of the students choose to respond to their names with a surly “yeah” as well.

After lecture (class), I might go look for some coffee, which entails standing in a queue (line) for ages (a long time; often used due to frequent inefficiencies). I’ll order a flat white (coffee with steamed milk) with trim (skim) milk for takeaway and head on to my next destination. Perhaps I’ll go to the library, where I’ll check out a book for a three-hour loan. I’ll read in the library, despite the presence of talking computers and lunching people. I’ll return the book within my time limit to avoid the steep fine of 5 cents per minute. After that, I might use the public toilets (restroom) around the uni. While there, I’ll have to make a decision about which button to press (there are usually two, with different symbols to mean different things).

Later on, I could bus (a verb) to the supermarket (grocery store). After I shop and pay, I load everything up in my backpack, so at least I don’t have to put my trolley back in the trolley bay. If I bus back, and I’m out of money, I’ll top up (add value to) my card. When I return to my flat, I’ll have to decide what to cook or prepare (a.k.a. microwave). If I do cook, I’ll have to convert grams to cups, Fahrenheit to Celsius and kilojoules to calories (divide by 4.2). On the other hand, if I’m lucky enough to go out to eat, I’ll go with mates to an ethnic restaurant, and I might see people eating chicken feet. Or, I could go to a barbeque (sausages wrapped in white bread) for some kind of event, but then I’d end up only eating potato salad (default dish for veggies).

If I’m at another flat, I might be offered some hokey pokey (an ice cream with small specs of hokey pokeys*). After tea (supper), I’ll do some work, which usually involves reading some of my course reader (rather large and expensive booklet of copied articles, the procuring of which involves a queue). After taking a shower, I’ll head to my bed and try to block out the noise from my flat mates (the people with whom I share this apartment-ish living establishment).

And that’s only one day . . .

*The hokey pokey remains a mystery.

If you like ice cream (Kristie?) and want to find out more:

http://www.nzicecream.org.nz/industry.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hokey_pokey_(ice_cream)

(Click the link to the New Zealand Herald Article - it's worth it!)

In other news, I am now the "Flat Rep" for flat 42, which means I have the duties of serving as the fire warden, calling flat meetings, and communicating with the Ilam Village office.

Sadly, my Latin lecturer informed our class today that the final exam for our paper (class) is on June 28. It must be this way, she told us, because according to this timetable (schedule, which is 2 weeks long), no exams overlap. Even though papers end June 7, I'll have to stick around for a "reading week" and the better part of the two-week exam period. Did I mention that some things in New Zealand are inefficient?