Well, this week went well. I submitted my paper for Anthropology and was able to relax a bit after Monday. It's strange how little work there is here. A professor assigns one or two writing assignments per semester and places a ton of emphasis on them, and it turns out the assignments are only about 2,000 words each. The hard part is actually getting oneself to sit down and write because you're not in the academic mindset. Hmph, such are the trials and tribulations of college. Poor me (pouty face).
Anywho, I was able to go out on the town with Karlee, whom I hadn't seen for at least a week, on Thursday night. We grabbed burgers and ended up at Danny Doolan's, a pub in the Viaduct area down by the harbor. They have great live music, outdoor seating with heat lamps, and on this particular night, the English Air Force rugby team, which was a fine representation of British belligerence. A very entertaining night.
On Friday, I researched a bit and then went to the gym then went to celebrate a birthday downtown that night. It was a pretty run of the mill Friday, but on Saturday I woke up and just felt on top of the world. I grabbed coffee from the best cafe ever, went to the gym early in the morning (1 pm), read some of my book and then got ready for a rugby union game: Auckland Blues vs. Canterbury Crusaders. The Blues lost but it was a pretty cool game and afterwards we hit up an amazing burger place called Burger Fuel. They serve fries with Aioli sauce, which is basically mayo and garlic I believe? But I prefer to call it heaven.
Today (Sunday), I woke up, grabbed another coffee with my neighbor Rachel from the Philippines at the best coffee place, and was then whisked away to a Rugby League game, which is actually considered a different sport from regular Rugby because certain rules are different. It was a very exciting match between the Auckland Warriors and the Cowboys from somewhere in Australia. Again, Auckland lost, but it was worth sitting outside in what would be mid-November weather back home in the pouring rain in basically summer clothes because when I walked outside this morning it was boiling out. Stupid me....they ALWAYS say Auckland gets 4 seasons in one day and I should know this by now. Oh well, I hadn't showered this morning, so the rain was good for something.
After the game, five of us Loyola kids and our kiwi friend went for pub fair and coffee downtown and that leads me to my present position. I'm currently staring down my book, daring it to make me read. I think it will succeed, but just....one........more......sentence.............
Ah, I've babbled on enough.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Autumn in Auckland
Well, since we returned from the South Island, we went on a mandatory Loyola trip to Taupo and Rotorua, which I think I'm going to let slip through the cracks...
Well, okay. I'll give you a teaser:
Waitomo glow-worm caves, buffet, dinner, buffet, thermal valley walk, Rotorua, buffet, Department of Conservation presentation, buffet, activity of some sort, buffet, I'm sure, Sheep Show, Zorbing (rolling down a hill in a huge inflatable plastic ball with a little water in it that affords one a slippery journey), huuummm, oh- buffet, a tour of a wildlife reserve/ natural spring?, a trip to mud geysers and geysers at a Maori sacred ground, buffet, buffet, luging, and a buffet. And I'm not exagerating about the amount of buffets...
So after I rolled myself back into my dorm room, it was back to work. Huia Residence felt a little boring right after I got back from 2 and a half weeks of travel. I was actually worried that I'd get bored, but luckily this isn't France in that I actually have WORK to get done while I'm in Auckland. And work I have. I tried to argue the concept of rights from a deontic standpoint versus a consequentialist standpoint in a case where an innocent man can be thrown in jail to spare town riots breaking out. If you can decipher what I mean by all this, I'd love to know.
I'm currently working on an Anthropology paper that expores whether or not globalization is contributing to the homogenization of cultures worldwide. I'm to discuss this point based on an ehtnographic study that I'm to conduct on the Yanomami tribe in the Amazon, whose land is under threat by others who would choose to exploit the land for more lucrative purposes. Wow, I missed academic writing. Feels good to work again and I'm slowly getting back into the habit of concentrating- it's tough though, believe me.
Hm what else? OH! I found out that I was chosen as president for the Belles for next year. We have a lot on our plate, but I'm so looking forward to organization and extracurricular activities to keep me on track. This is coming out as such a nerdy posting...
My residence hall had a "formal" dinner last Friday, which was at Skycity complex. If you've never seen photos of Auckland, there is a skytower here that is comparable to the Seattle Space Needle, or whatever they have in Toronto. Below the tower is a complex with hotels, casinos, bars, and this random restaurant that we expected to be quite posh. We all walked in, some wearing floor-length formal gowns, and were met by the stares of Asian tourists dressed in t-shirts, eating tons of fried and finger food that would eventually be our dinner as well. No, no scraps, but it was pretty funny to walk into this place decked out only to have an entire restaurant in plain everyday clothing stare at you like you're nuts. That's when I started telling people that we were a travelling bell choir whose members were recruited all over the world to come perform at the speed boat racing championships that were taking place in the harbor the next day. Ha, not.
What else about Auckland, and New Zealand life in general? My new favorite coffee is a Flat White. It seems to be the caffienated beverage of choice: a double shot of espresso, I believe, with that whipped milk. NZ is like France in that all their coffee is only espresso based. Starbucks is the only place I have been able to find filter coffee. And there is no creamer here, only regular and non-fat milk. But at least the portions are larger (Hm, I sound American..) None of those thimble-sized take-away cups for a sip-sized "coffee" like in France... I suppose coffee is one thing about which I remain particular whilst traveling.
Also, New Zealanders say "quite" a lot. "Keen" as well. These are fun words to throw into the mix. "Biscuits" are small cookies. And so on...
I'm running to an inter-floor debate right now to watch my friends compete...the first question to be argued was whether or not Marge Simpson is a good role model. This next question should be good.
Well, okay. I'll give you a teaser:
Waitomo glow-worm caves, buffet, dinner, buffet, thermal valley walk, Rotorua, buffet, Department of Conservation presentation, buffet, activity of some sort, buffet, I'm sure, Sheep Show, Zorbing (rolling down a hill in a huge inflatable plastic ball with a little water in it that affords one a slippery journey), huuummm, oh- buffet, a tour of a wildlife reserve/ natural spring?, a trip to mud geysers and geysers at a Maori sacred ground, buffet, buffet, luging, and a buffet. And I'm not exagerating about the amount of buffets...
So after I rolled myself back into my dorm room, it was back to work. Huia Residence felt a little boring right after I got back from 2 and a half weeks of travel. I was actually worried that I'd get bored, but luckily this isn't France in that I actually have WORK to get done while I'm in Auckland. And work I have. I tried to argue the concept of rights from a deontic standpoint versus a consequentialist standpoint in a case where an innocent man can be thrown in jail to spare town riots breaking out. If you can decipher what I mean by all this, I'd love to know.
I'm currently working on an Anthropology paper that expores whether or not globalization is contributing to the homogenization of cultures worldwide. I'm to discuss this point based on an ehtnographic study that I'm to conduct on the Yanomami tribe in the Amazon, whose land is under threat by others who would choose to exploit the land for more lucrative purposes. Wow, I missed academic writing. Feels good to work again and I'm slowly getting back into the habit of concentrating- it's tough though, believe me.
Hm what else? OH! I found out that I was chosen as president for the Belles for next year. We have a lot on our plate, but I'm so looking forward to organization and extracurricular activities to keep me on track. This is coming out as such a nerdy posting...
My residence hall had a "formal" dinner last Friday, which was at Skycity complex. If you've never seen photos of Auckland, there is a skytower here that is comparable to the Seattle Space Needle, or whatever they have in Toronto. Below the tower is a complex with hotels, casinos, bars, and this random restaurant that we expected to be quite posh. We all walked in, some wearing floor-length formal gowns, and were met by the stares of Asian tourists dressed in t-shirts, eating tons of fried and finger food that would eventually be our dinner as well. No, no scraps, but it was pretty funny to walk into this place decked out only to have an entire restaurant in plain everyday clothing stare at you like you're nuts. That's when I started telling people that we were a travelling bell choir whose members were recruited all over the world to come perform at the speed boat racing championships that were taking place in the harbor the next day. Ha, not.
What else about Auckland, and New Zealand life in general? My new favorite coffee is a Flat White. It seems to be the caffienated beverage of choice: a double shot of espresso, I believe, with that whipped milk. NZ is like France in that all their coffee is only espresso based. Starbucks is the only place I have been able to find filter coffee. And there is no creamer here, only regular and non-fat milk. But at least the portions are larger (Hm, I sound American..) None of those thimble-sized take-away cups for a sip-sized "coffee" like in France... I suppose coffee is one thing about which I remain particular whilst traveling.
Also, New Zealanders say "quite" a lot. "Keen" as well. These are fun words to throw into the mix. "Biscuits" are small cookies. And so on...
I'm running to an inter-floor debate right now to watch my friends compete...the first question to be argued was whether or not Marge Simpson is a good role model. This next question should be good.
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