Yes, I have had to repeatedly tell people, to their amazement and disbelief, that I am 20 years old, not 23, 24, or 25. I'm rather hoping that this process will reverse itself in ten years, and people will be mistaking me for 24, 25- I have hope.
In response to the increasing demand for pictures, I have taken some, but I must forewarn you that my photography skills are somewhat lacking. I'll take a few more over the next couple days and then post the collage, and hopefully they will give you a sense of Wellington and my adventures thus far.
Now, to update you. Nothing of great significance has really happened since my last post; I have been attending dance practices everyday in the hopes of improving. And, well, it's a work in progress. I visited one of the big museums here, "Te Papa" (pronounced, I have been repeatedly told, not as "tay pa-pa", but as 'teu papa')- the 'te' kinda sounds like the French 'le', but with a 't'. Apparently my Canadian accent is giving me some trouble with pronunciation, so I'll have to work on that. Anyways, about the museum. It was super cool, for the biology nerd in me, to see the world's first and only giant squid that has been caught (accidentally in a fishing net- so don't worry, no improper animal treatment) and dissected by researchers. It was on display there, and I'd learned about squids and such in one of my bio classes back at Dal, so it was really neat to see it- in the flesh as it were.
I also had this amazing gluten free organic venison burger for lunch, and because all of the tables were full, I got to share a table with Tony. Tony is a business consultant from the States who didn't deal with cold well, since the entire time we were eating breakfast in the 20°C weather (though in the shade) he had on a fairly heavy black jacket. Whereas I was perfectly comfortable, and a little warm, in jeans and a tank top- my Canadian roots, eh?
All of the hall's residents moved in today and so I spent as much of the day as I could OUT of the hall and mayhem. Apparently the average age of the newbies is 17-18 years old. That feels like a long time ago, and I wouldn't be surprised if I adopted some 'grandma' nicknames, especially if the average age estimate is 24.
Ah well, deal with it as it comes.
This week is their Orientation Week, so I might pop in and out of that, but it's sort of a 'been there, done that' kinda thing, and I'm not really tooo keen to go through all that again.
Okey dokey, well I'll take more pictures and post another update in a few more days.
Peace.
Sunday, 26 February 2012
Wednesday, 22 February 2012
And on the fourth day...
Hello hello!
It is the 22nd of February and absolutely pouring rain outside. But it's still quite warm around 20°C out, so I'm definitely not complaining. I have to confess that I haven't really been taking that many pictures- I've resolved to get better at that, but for now, my apologies.
The past few days have mainly consisted of me going into the city to walk around and attempt at productivity. On the 20th, after moving in (but not really doing any unpacking at allll), I went down to the harbour and walked around for a few hours, stopping occasionally to read in shady, grassy areas. I also picked up some sunscreen and aloe vera gel, since I'd gotten quite sunburned in Sydney in the few hours I was there...
The geography of Wellington is such that Victoria University is split into 3 different campuses- I live in the main one; Kelburn. This also happens to be located at the top of a rather gigantic hill (but definitely leaning towards the mountain-size for sure). And to get to the harbour, one must walk downn about 3 kilometers. This is generally no problem, easy peasy going down. But, it's a bit of a different story going back uppp. Suffice it to say that if I am not in extremely good shape by the time I come home, I'll be at a loss as to why.
At any rate, yesterday morning I went for a run (I guess I was feeling particularly ambitious). The run ended up being just over 5km- not very far at all, some might say. Wellll, let me tell you that it is an entirely different story a) in the humidity and b) when you are running up and down mountains. I felt fantastic afterwards- though truth be told I had quite a bit of difficulty making it up that last monstrous hill. I've decided that I had better get some hill workouts in before I go for my next run, so that my body is a bit more prepared. Once I got cleaned up and ate lunch, I opened a back account at the New Zealand National Bank- and I should be getting a debit (aka eftpos) card this week or early next week. Having been somewhat productive, I went into town again and went on a tour of the Parliament buildings and learned a bit about the democratic political system here. I found it pretty amazing that anyone (and I stress anyone, citizen or no) can send in letters about specific bills and each letter must be read (uncensored) in front of the House. Andddd in addition, anyone can also request to speak in person with subsets of the House regarding a specific bill- and all must be allowed to do so. Brilliant.
Also yesterday, I met some dancers just fooling around on this rubber pad that seemed to be installed just for that purpose. I introduced myself and one dancer, Ahmed, offered to show me some things (break dancing). I couldn't stay long, but I got to meet up with him, and a few other people today (Feb. 22nd) and learn a few more things as well. I loved it, and I'm super excited to practice this stuff on my own time as well. Funny side note- I'm still getting the hang of the kiwi accent, I've got to admit that I sometimes find it difficult to understand. Anyways, so I was introduced to this other dancer today, who told me his name, and I heard "pink". So I said "pink?" just to be sure and then he said "no, peak" and mimed the point of a mountain. I felt like an idiot, but I'm sure they sometimes find me difficult to understand as well...
Today was pretty much more of the same- I bought a "Snapper" card, which is sort of like a debit/bus card. I didn't get a chance to use it today, cuz I missed the bus I was hoping to get on, but hopefully I'll get the hang of the transit system and find it much easier to get into, and out of, downtown. I bought a chai latte from this cafe that I'd eaten at on my first day in Wellington (Plum) and I think that place might just become a new haunt for me, as I'm falling in love with their chai lattes, music (they played the Beatles the whole time I was there) and it's a great atmosphere to read as well. Oh, and I also, finally, bought a cell phone. I've been trying to learn how to use it, but as with all things technological, it will probably take me some time.
The walk back home was very... wet. It was drizzling earlier, but that turned into pretty much pouring rain by the time I was walking home. I didn't really mind though, since I'd just come from the mini dance session.
Kiwi word of the day: Capsicum (meaning bell peppers)
Well, that's pretty much all for my update so far. Cheers.
It is the 22nd of February and absolutely pouring rain outside. But it's still quite warm around 20°C out, so I'm definitely not complaining. I have to confess that I haven't really been taking that many pictures- I've resolved to get better at that, but for now, my apologies.
The past few days have mainly consisted of me going into the city to walk around and attempt at productivity. On the 20th, after moving in (but not really doing any unpacking at allll), I went down to the harbour and walked around for a few hours, stopping occasionally to read in shady, grassy areas. I also picked up some sunscreen and aloe vera gel, since I'd gotten quite sunburned in Sydney in the few hours I was there...
The geography of Wellington is such that Victoria University is split into 3 different campuses- I live in the main one; Kelburn. This also happens to be located at the top of a rather gigantic hill (but definitely leaning towards the mountain-size for sure). And to get to the harbour, one must walk downn about 3 kilometers. This is generally no problem, easy peasy going down. But, it's a bit of a different story going back uppp. Suffice it to say that if I am not in extremely good shape by the time I come home, I'll be at a loss as to why.
At any rate, yesterday morning I went for a run (I guess I was feeling particularly ambitious). The run ended up being just over 5km- not very far at all, some might say. Wellll, let me tell you that it is an entirely different story a) in the humidity and b) when you are running up and down mountains. I felt fantastic afterwards- though truth be told I had quite a bit of difficulty making it up that last monstrous hill. I've decided that I had better get some hill workouts in before I go for my next run, so that my body is a bit more prepared. Once I got cleaned up and ate lunch, I opened a back account at the New Zealand National Bank- and I should be getting a debit (aka eftpos) card this week or early next week. Having been somewhat productive, I went into town again and went on a tour of the Parliament buildings and learned a bit about the democratic political system here. I found it pretty amazing that anyone (and I stress anyone, citizen or no) can send in letters about specific bills and each letter must be read (uncensored) in front of the House. Andddd in addition, anyone can also request to speak in person with subsets of the House regarding a specific bill- and all must be allowed to do so. Brilliant.
Also yesterday, I met some dancers just fooling around on this rubber pad that seemed to be installed just for that purpose. I introduced myself and one dancer, Ahmed, offered to show me some things (break dancing). I couldn't stay long, but I got to meet up with him, and a few other people today (Feb. 22nd) and learn a few more things as well. I loved it, and I'm super excited to practice this stuff on my own time as well. Funny side note- I'm still getting the hang of the kiwi accent, I've got to admit that I sometimes find it difficult to understand. Anyways, so I was introduced to this other dancer today, who told me his name, and I heard "pink". So I said "pink?" just to be sure and then he said "no, peak" and mimed the point of a mountain. I felt like an idiot, but I'm sure they sometimes find me difficult to understand as well...
Today was pretty much more of the same- I bought a "Snapper" card, which is sort of like a debit/bus card. I didn't get a chance to use it today, cuz I missed the bus I was hoping to get on, but hopefully I'll get the hang of the transit system and find it much easier to get into, and out of, downtown. I bought a chai latte from this cafe that I'd eaten at on my first day in Wellington (Plum) and I think that place might just become a new haunt for me, as I'm falling in love with their chai lattes, music (they played the Beatles the whole time I was there) and it's a great atmosphere to read as well. Oh, and I also, finally, bought a cell phone. I've been trying to learn how to use it, but as with all things technological, it will probably take me some time.
The walk back home was very... wet. It was drizzling earlier, but that turned into pretty much pouring rain by the time I was walking home. I didn't really mind though, since I'd just come from the mini dance session.
Kiwi word of the day: Capsicum (meaning bell peppers)
Well, that's pretty much all for my update so far. Cheers.
Monday, 20 February 2012
Made It!!!
Hello all, I've been getting some e-mails requesting an update, so here you are. The trip to Wellington went quite smoothly, I met some great people on my flights who helped the time pass without too much trouble. I'll start from the beginning (I hope I won't bore you with the details!).
So my mom and dad kindly drove me to the Ottawa airport on the 16th, and we found out that the bag weight restriction was not 25kg as we had thought, but 23kg (my bag weighed 25kg). I was torn and was going to take out the bottle of maple syrup I wanted to bring from home, but the nice Air Canada lady let me have the extra 2kg free of charge. I made it through security fairly smoothly, though the security guy had to rummage through my bag for "something pointy" which ended up being a book in the bottom of my bag. All things considered, stage one went quite well.
The flight to Vancouver was great- I got to watch a few decent movies free of charge (one of the perks of flying with Air Canada, though they made you pay for food on that flight- so I brought and ate my own food for that one). I sat beside a business journalist whose name, I believe (sorry if I'm wrong!), was Elisabeth. Great conversations at the beginning and end of the flight.
In Vancouver I also had the privilege of meeting some lovely people who helped me find a place to eat that might offer me something wheat free. Though I can't remember his name, the elderly, spunky Scottish gentleman was particularly helpful. I stopped at the bar and had a ridiculously over-priced Bud Light Lime (thanks Nan!) with a none-too-helpful bartender. I met someone there who graduated from Dal a few years ago, so we chatted for a bit about Halifax and such- and such as my memory is, I can't remember his name either.
The flight from Vancouver to Sydney was... longggg. I had somehow got stuck in the middle row of seats on the plane, so I had to peer awkwardly over people's shoulders to look out the window. I was sitting beside a man from Calgary named Rick (the only reason I remember his name, if I'm being honest, is because I had to ask him twice within a 5 minute time span, because I hadn't listened the first time he told me... I know I'm awful). He worked for an oil and gas drilling company and was looking to expand the business on Australia. I, with difficulty, contained myself about asking him environmental impact questions, and kept the conversation in the neutral zone. Sitting between us was an elderly Indian gentlemen named Mike. We got talking near the end of the flight and I wish we would have had more time- he was one of those people who has a lot of interesting stories to tell. So, between Rick, Mike, free movie central and exhaustion I made it through the 15 and a half hour flight as good as could have been expected. Though I would have killed for decent food- normal airplane food is bad enough, the gluten free version is even worse.
Moving on... So, I got to Sydney around 10:30AM, with 8 hours to kill before my next flight. Fortunately for me, I had explained my situation to the good Air Canada folk in Vancouver and they paid for an Australian visitor's visa for me. I went through customs and talked to someone at the info desk who told me to take the airport train to 'Circular Quay' to visit the harbour and opera house. Following his advice, I got on the train without incident and went into the city. It was pure dumb luck that I got on the right train the first time- as I would later find out.
I spent a few hours walking around the Sydney harbour, in the beautiful sunlight (it had to be 25°C out). I saw the famed opera house and spent most of my time in the botanical gardens around the harbour. I'll post some pictures a little later. When it came time to head back to the airport, I went to the train station and got on a train. Yep, all was well. And then as I was riding the train I started noticing that the train stops were not taking me back to the airport. So I asked the girl behind me, and sure enough I'd gotten on the wrong train. She told me which stop to get off on, and I got to see the... less scenic parts of Sydney. At the next stop I got directions from an amazingly helpful worker and managed to get back on the right track (pun not intended).
So that was a nice little adventure to wake me up out of my jet lag stupour. I made it through security and such without incident and the plane ended up being a little late anyways. The Air New Zealand flight was super empty (I had a row of three seats all to myself), and the flight attendants were unbelievably friendly. The food, surprisingly, was reasonably edible and I discovered these fantastic Sudoku-like number puzzles in the newspaper called "Kenken"- which I would highly recommend if you enjoy Sudoku puzzles and number problems. I would fly with Air New Zealand again in a heart beat.
When I made it to Wellington, I was barely conscious or coherent. It was around midnight, Wellington time, and despite my rather unstable condition, I managed to catch a shuttle to my hotel without fault. By the time I had checked in and gotten up into my room, it was around 1:30AM. It didn't take me long to fall asleep.
So that ^^^ takes us to Saturday, February 19th. On that day (which was yesterday) I got up around 11 and kind of stumbled around my room, took a shower and tried to regain my humanity a bit. I got directions to Cuba Street, which was bustling with shops and cafes, and had eggs on toast and a Chai latte at a nice little cafe called "Plum". My waiter was actually from Texas, and his name was Chris. I've come to find that if I can't remember a guy's name in New Zealand, it's probably Chris. After lunch, I went down to the harbour front and was 'volunteered' to partake in a busker's street act, where he got two guys from the crowd to chain him up in a big sac and I padlocked it together and he managed to escape. He had vibrant pink hair and made me somewhat of a celebrity when the act finished, because people in the crowd all knew my name. Ah well.
I wandered about the city centre, read my book and just took my time (I was still very tired from the trip). I decided to make a hike over to the university to check things out. It was there, when I was sort of aimlessly walking on some road whose name I can't actually remember when I ran into Jayne. Jayne was on exchange to Dal last year and I'd met her through Dal Dance. I joined her and her friend Dane for dinner at one of the meal halls (they are both Residence Assistants) and met a few other RA's there. I ended up spending several hours with that group of people, and had a great time. Apparently I say 'out' funny, and I have a feeling my Canadian accent was somewhat amusing to my new Kiwi friends. Around 9pm though, I was ready to fall asleep, so I headed out and went back to my hotel to catch some z's.
This morning I packed up, checked out and took a cab over to my new home- Te Puni Village, Edge. And now, here I sit. Time for some food, and unpacking.
If you've made it this far through my novel- bravo! The movie I was quoting (incorrectly, I noticed a typo after I posted it) was Finding Nemo. So if you managed to figure that out, with the typo- congrats are in order!
I'll post some pictures here soon, I'm still trying to get my bearings straight.
XO
So my mom and dad kindly drove me to the Ottawa airport on the 16th, and we found out that the bag weight restriction was not 25kg as we had thought, but 23kg (my bag weighed 25kg). I was torn and was going to take out the bottle of maple syrup I wanted to bring from home, but the nice Air Canada lady let me have the extra 2kg free of charge. I made it through security fairly smoothly, though the security guy had to rummage through my bag for "something pointy" which ended up being a book in the bottom of my bag. All things considered, stage one went quite well.
The flight to Vancouver was great- I got to watch a few decent movies free of charge (one of the perks of flying with Air Canada, though they made you pay for food on that flight- so I brought and ate my own food for that one). I sat beside a business journalist whose name, I believe (sorry if I'm wrong!), was Elisabeth. Great conversations at the beginning and end of the flight.
In Vancouver I also had the privilege of meeting some lovely people who helped me find a place to eat that might offer me something wheat free. Though I can't remember his name, the elderly, spunky Scottish gentleman was particularly helpful. I stopped at the bar and had a ridiculously over-priced Bud Light Lime (thanks Nan!) with a none-too-helpful bartender. I met someone there who graduated from Dal a few years ago, so we chatted for a bit about Halifax and such- and such as my memory is, I can't remember his name either.
The flight from Vancouver to Sydney was... longggg. I had somehow got stuck in the middle row of seats on the plane, so I had to peer awkwardly over people's shoulders to look out the window. I was sitting beside a man from Calgary named Rick (the only reason I remember his name, if I'm being honest, is because I had to ask him twice within a 5 minute time span, because I hadn't listened the first time he told me... I know I'm awful). He worked for an oil and gas drilling company and was looking to expand the business on Australia. I, with difficulty, contained myself about asking him environmental impact questions, and kept the conversation in the neutral zone. Sitting between us was an elderly Indian gentlemen named Mike. We got talking near the end of the flight and I wish we would have had more time- he was one of those people who has a lot of interesting stories to tell. So, between Rick, Mike, free movie central and exhaustion I made it through the 15 and a half hour flight as good as could have been expected. Though I would have killed for decent food- normal airplane food is bad enough, the gluten free version is even worse.
Moving on... So, I got to Sydney around 10:30AM, with 8 hours to kill before my next flight. Fortunately for me, I had explained my situation to the good Air Canada folk in Vancouver and they paid for an Australian visitor's visa for me. I went through customs and talked to someone at the info desk who told me to take the airport train to 'Circular Quay' to visit the harbour and opera house. Following his advice, I got on the train without incident and went into the city. It was pure dumb luck that I got on the right train the first time- as I would later find out.
I spent a few hours walking around the Sydney harbour, in the beautiful sunlight (it had to be 25°C out). I saw the famed opera house and spent most of my time in the botanical gardens around the harbour. I'll post some pictures a little later. When it came time to head back to the airport, I went to the train station and got on a train. Yep, all was well. And then as I was riding the train I started noticing that the train stops were not taking me back to the airport. So I asked the girl behind me, and sure enough I'd gotten on the wrong train. She told me which stop to get off on, and I got to see the... less scenic parts of Sydney. At the next stop I got directions from an amazingly helpful worker and managed to get back on the right track (pun not intended).
So that was a nice little adventure to wake me up out of my jet lag stupour. I made it through security and such without incident and the plane ended up being a little late anyways. The Air New Zealand flight was super empty (I had a row of three seats all to myself), and the flight attendants were unbelievably friendly. The food, surprisingly, was reasonably edible and I discovered these fantastic Sudoku-like number puzzles in the newspaper called "Kenken"- which I would highly recommend if you enjoy Sudoku puzzles and number problems. I would fly with Air New Zealand again in a heart beat.
When I made it to Wellington, I was barely conscious or coherent. It was around midnight, Wellington time, and despite my rather unstable condition, I managed to catch a shuttle to my hotel without fault. By the time I had checked in and gotten up into my room, it was around 1:30AM. It didn't take me long to fall asleep.
So that ^^^ takes us to Saturday, February 19th. On that day (which was yesterday) I got up around 11 and kind of stumbled around my room, took a shower and tried to regain my humanity a bit. I got directions to Cuba Street, which was bustling with shops and cafes, and had eggs on toast and a Chai latte at a nice little cafe called "Plum". My waiter was actually from Texas, and his name was Chris. I've come to find that if I can't remember a guy's name in New Zealand, it's probably Chris. After lunch, I went down to the harbour front and was 'volunteered' to partake in a busker's street act, where he got two guys from the crowd to chain him up in a big sac and I padlocked it together and he managed to escape. He had vibrant pink hair and made me somewhat of a celebrity when the act finished, because people in the crowd all knew my name. Ah well.
I wandered about the city centre, read my book and just took my time (I was still very tired from the trip). I decided to make a hike over to the university to check things out. It was there, when I was sort of aimlessly walking on some road whose name I can't actually remember when I ran into Jayne. Jayne was on exchange to Dal last year and I'd met her through Dal Dance. I joined her and her friend Dane for dinner at one of the meal halls (they are both Residence Assistants) and met a few other RA's there. I ended up spending several hours with that group of people, and had a great time. Apparently I say 'out' funny, and I have a feeling my Canadian accent was somewhat amusing to my new Kiwi friends. Around 9pm though, I was ready to fall asleep, so I headed out and went back to my hotel to catch some z's.
This morning I packed up, checked out and took a cab over to my new home- Te Puni Village, Edge. And now, here I sit. Time for some food, and unpacking.
If you've made it this far through my novel- bravo! The movie I was quoting (incorrectly, I noticed a typo after I posted it) was Finding Nemo. So if you managed to figure that out, with the typo- congrats are in order!
I'll post some pictures here soon, I'm still trying to get my bearings straight.
XO
Friday, 17 February 2012
Today's the day- the sun is shining, the tank is clean and we are getting out of h-... the tank is clean!!!
So today is the day I take off to the other side of the world- it seems very surreal right now, but I'm sure things will become very real, very quickly, once I get into the Ottawa airport. Thank you all for your words of support, I really appreciate it- and you.
I'll make a more extensive post of my flight adventures once I land and feel partway human again.
Here's to hoping my bag is not over-weight- cheers.
P.S. Please tell me you know what movie I'm quoting in the post title- first right answer in the comments section gets a big hug when I get back (though you'd probably already be getting one anyways..) !
Friday, 3 February 2012
Getting ready for New Zealand!
The flight is booked, the visa is in, the fees are (mostly) paid, andddd I leave Canada on February the 16th. Flying from Ottawa to Vancouver, Vancouver to Sydney, Australia, and then on to my final destination, Wellington, New Zealand. The total travel time from departure to arrival is.... 36 hours. The flight from Vancouver to Sydney alone is 15 hours. Now please don't think I'm complaining, I'm simply concerned with my own welfare (and that of the passengers around me). Because if any of you have ever spent any time around me, you know that I don't take being still, quiet and contained very well. And, perhaps more to the point, if you have also met my father, you know the reason why (love you dad!). But, alas, I will persevere and perhaps get to see Sydney for a few hours between flights.
It is in beautiful New Zealand where I will spend the next ~4 and a half months of my life studying Maori Studies at Victoria University of Wellington. No, I have never been there before, making this all the more fun, exciting and warranting my 'big boots' for the adventure to come.
More to follow when the day draws near!
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