Chch

Tuesday, 24 February 9:16 pm

We’re in New Zealand. And it’s cold.

I mean really cold. Like, pants-fleece-hat cold. Like, 14 degrees (what is that, like 50 degrees Fahrenheit?) cold.

It’s nice though. We left Straddie Sunday morning, and as we drove to Dunwich and the ferry I was saying, “bye-bye ocean, bye-bye beach, bye-bye koala crossing sign,” etc. When we got to the mainland we drove to W and C’s house, where W was cooking a delicious seafood feast for lunch (fish and chips [mmm mmm mmm!], seafood salads, fancy oyster things, yum yum yummy). We then headed for the airport, hung out in the sophisticated, comfortable terminal until our flight boarded, then got on the plane. Once we were all on and ready to go, the inevitable hour of technical problems started. This time, however, being that we were flying on Air New Zealand, we had an ongoing commentary and explanation of what was happening in the captain (“Captain Pringle” was his name) in a sweet New Zealand accent. Luckily, the airplane had those amazing personal touch-screen “in flight entertainment” screens, so we could watch movies while we were waiting.

The flight was about three hours once we took off, which meant we got into Christchurch at one in the morning local time. The customs agent was amazingly cheerful, which sadly we could not match. We picked up a rental car, then drove to the house we’re staying in.

Where we are staying is connected to a hotel next door, which has played Monopoly with the surrounding property and rents them mostly to visiting professors. It’s right across the street from the University, and the house that was free is at the end of the long driveway where all the houses are. The house is humongous, a four-bedroom (at least), 3-bath, two story house with a big, private yard. It’s amazingly well packed in here, and nice that we got the house on the end hence the privacy and space. There are houses around us, but there are so many tall, thick trees between that we can’t even see the ones behind us. It’s very comfortable, a little weirdly arranged, but nice.

I miss Straddie already. I miss the heat (what I was looking forward to getting away from), the beach, the sun, and the simplicity of routine. I miss the small-town, but I’m also excited to be somewhere crisp and cool, with 100 times as many people as Straddie and large grocery stores. Everybody here seems to drive very fast, and there’s a lot of traffic around the university (the term started yesterday, so I think many people are still moving in), which makes driving (and crossing the street to get to the university) scary and stressful. The night we arrived there was no other car on the road—a stark contrast to what it’s like during the day.

My mom has a very nice, large office on the top floor of the building with a wonderful view of the university and surrounding burbs. I think I’m going to work there most of the time rather than at home. Campus is nice also, and I’m almost starting to get a sense of where things are—every time we try to walk somewhere my parents follow me, and despite not sure if we’re going in the right direction we always end up in the right place. There are a few places to eat on campus (we went to an Indian place today next to the bookstore with a 40-foot long line of students trying to buy textbooks. The food was okay, but like a lot of Indian food here it was bland because of the lack of spicy-ness. Do the Kiwis have no spice tolerance at all?), and many about a 20-minute walk away.

Every time I look outside into our backyard, I long for the trampoline in my imagination. Our back yard is perfect for one, with the perfect spot over mossy grass under tall trees. It’s unreal how much I want one. I’ve been looking online for used trampolines, but can’t find anything (Christchurch has a Craigslist!), and new tramps cost upward of $1000 NZ, which is way more than my mom is willing to spend for something we’d only have for a month (I don’t blame her). My mom’s main contact in the department is looking into finding somebody with a tramp they don’t use, which is amazingly nice of him, and shows how desperate I am. It seems silly to so long for something material, but oooohhhh I want one so much!

I do think we’re going to be very comfortable here. It’s cold, but I’ll get used to that in a few days. Today I was wearing three shirts (one of them flannel), thick jeans, and a raincoat for most of the day (Christchurch’s weather is similar to that of Eugene, especially in the precipitation-area), and was still freezing. Tomorrow I may break out the hat and gloves. The problem is we didn’t really pack for fall weather, so although we have a few warm clothes I think I’m going to be re-wearing the same outfit every other day. Like a good Eugenian I was wearing my chacos without socks (I miss my Berkies so much! Chacos are amazingly nice for most things, but the just don’t compare to Berks for walking around town. Especially around campus). I really like university campuses, and university towns, so it’s nice having campus at the end of our driveway. I think it would be fun to rent bikes for a few weeks while we’re here to get around, but because of the rain and that everything is reasonably walkable that may be irrational. It’d still be really fun, though.

I should go to bed, it’s almost 10. I feel much less stressed here, for I’m not sure what reason. I guess because it seems like I have a huge amount of time to work. My dad leaves for Florida on Thursday, which means after that my mom and I will be alone in this big house for awhile. It’s going to be fun, although I’m going to miss my dad.

I’m really going to bed now. Good night.