Manholes and Markets

The last couple days have been lovely, getting back into Wellington and settling into somewhat of a routine. I'm blogging from my bed right now, even though it's 4 in the afternoon. One must be proactive in remaining thawed. It is so cold here, like, I am ALWAYS cold. The winds come up from the South (where there is nothing but water and then Antarctica) and are so icy, they just cut through your clothes. Then you go inside and thanks to single paned windows, no insulation, and no central heating, you're just as cold as you were before. Showering is the most comfortable part of my day, but getting out of it in this freezing house is quite miserable. I have a feeling I'll be bitching about the weather for many months to come.

Here's a fun fact, the manhole covers here have pretty designs on them. I took a picture for you at the cost of my pride as all my friends started making fun of me for taking pictures of the ground, so I hope you enjoy it.


Today was my first day of school, which went very well. I was planning to be a super nerd and have my friend Liam from New York take a picture of me in my "first day" outfit in front of the school, but I forgot. None the less, here is my school, Victoria University:This is the Hunter building where i had my first class, POLS206: New Zealand Politics. This class has me sort of scared. It's a second level class and I have absolutely no knowledge of the New Zealand political system or background, turns out it's quite complicated. But the professor, Nigel Roberts is incredibly knowledgeable and has been Television New Zealand's election night commentator in past elections and he's friends with Gordon Brown and stuff, so I guess I can trust that he knows what he's talking about. He's British though, so no troubles understanding his accent. Actually, none of the lecturers are very difficult to understand because they're all educated at very high levels and annunciate well. For this class, however, we are required to attend meetings of Parliament (Wellington is the national capitol) rather than attend any outside of class labs, and after a semester long analysis of the New Zealand constitutional structure, our final assignment is to write our own cconstitution for New Zealand. So as long as I can survive this class, it should be interesting. It's actually one of those classes where you have a feeling you're about to learn an insane amount. I hope I retain most of it.
My second class was a Biology Conservation class which was alright, very basic things about biodiversity, but kind of boring. And it's 4 days a week. Sucks.

This is the view out of out window at night, it's simply stunning. I love to turn off all the lights and have some hot tea by the window.


On Saturday night I went to one of David's friends, Lau, birthday parties. It was a party for his 21st which in New Zealand is a huge deal (even though there is absolutely no legal tie to the age). His family had rented a venue and there was an open bar and caterers and everyone dressed up and people made "roast or toast" speeches about him. It was quite a reception. Here are some shots of his friends making fun of him and the finger food.


Then after the official party we went to a pool hall downtown which is completely beautiful called Hotel Bristol. We hung out there for a while and then I headed home about 2. On my way out (completely sober, if you're wondering) my boot gave out and I totally fell on the huge wooden staircase. My body has been hurting since. I have a huge contusion on the left side of my bum (that's a scary word for bruise that I learned) which I had anticipated, but what's odd is that I'm unable to lift my right leg very high off the ground. Putting on socks has become difficult. I may have pulled something, I don't know, I'll get it checked out if it doesn't go away. Luckily, only 2 people saw it and they were very sweet about helping me up, so humiliation was minimal. Which is good because I don't want to tarnish my reputation as a smooth operator. Here are David's lovely friends whom are quickly becoming my own:


Then the next morning I got up early and trekked (through the wind and rain) to the farmers market downtown. That was totally worth it because I got lots of fresh produce and it's all delicious and was so very cheap. Apparently Wellington is the farmer's last stop on a multi town tour for the week so it's the best deals. I got spinach, green beans, apples, oranges, onions, pears, bananas, and garlic. Then I went to the grocery store and stocked up on everything else I need for the week and I feel so much more established now that I'm able to make my own (healthy) meals at home.

Don't ask me what those are because I have no idea. But they were next to radishes so I'm going to guess some type of root?

Speaking of home, let me introduce you to two of my flatmates, Matt (left) and Steven (right) of Virginia.
They're great roommates and we all get along very well. Plus they're here if there's a bug to be killed, etc. Today is Matt's 21st birthday so there should be either a cake in the making or a dinner, I haven't decided which but I ought to do something. Either way there are people coming over tonight to hang out. I'm glad my birthday isn't on the first day of school, how rough.

David's family invited me over for dinner last night and I gratefully accepted, his parents made a lamb roast with delicious vegetables including pumpkin, which was unexpectedly fabulous in a roast, so I took note of that.

His parents live up in one of the suburbs outside of town and it's totally gorgeous. We went to this lookout point near his house and it was so pretty, but difficult to enjoy because of the gale force winds. Observe:



I'll leave you with fauna. I don't know what it is, but I'd name it a dooly. What would you?