Greetings from Dunedin

A quick list of interesting things I did during the program introduction this past week –
1) went caving at Waitomo (abseiled 60 meters, admired some damn fine speleothems (aka. cave formations), and ziplined across a cavern with all lights off),
2) ate kumara and lamb,
3) went for a walk in a very unique redwood forest,



4) learned the words and actions for the haka, and
5)was made uncomfortable by the romaticization and simplification of Maori creation myths at an “authentic” hangi feast at the Tamaki Village. Other parts though were amazing - the traditional songs and the atmosphere of the meal. Very not sure how I feel about that evening. How does tourism affect the preservation and presentation of Maori culture?

The New Zealand countryside on the North Island reminds me of a lot of things all at once. If you don’t look too closely at the trees, they seem vaguely the shape and thickness of Northern Minnesotan forests. But if you look slightly closer you realize that the underbrush includes a plant with leaves like a palm tree and that none of the trees look completely “right” It also looks like the Scottish countryside with patches of pasture and sheep, except that in that part of NZ there are more cows than sheep making it feel a bit like rural MN, except that the cows and pastures are set on very hilly topography and ridges. When you put this together with the driving on the left side of the road and the jet lag, it is surprisingly disconcerting.

After the Australearn orientation, we flew to Christchurch, then Dunedin. In contrast to the Auckland international airport which featured cute beagle airport security dogs smelling for fresh fruit and meats and a small army of people opening luggage to check any camping equipment for dirt, the Rotorua airport had no security. Having never flown domestically in any country besides the US, it was pretty weird.

We were greeted in Dunedin by one of the people working for the International Student office and brought directly to our flats. My current home away from home is a lot bigger than I expected. I share the third floor with two girls: a music major from Denmark and an economics major from Germany. Each of us has our own room and we share a bathroom. Below us is a floor of boys – two american boys and one kiwi fellow. On the ground floor, there is the kitchen, laundry, and living room. My flatmates are generally nice though we have yet to have a meeting to discuss cleaning tasks, groceries, etc. I am not sure I can distinguish Dave from the friends he always has over….

I registered for classes today – a process made absolutely mental by the number of students and lack of electronic registration. Lots of standing in queues. The timing of many of the classes I wanted to take conflicted. Right now I am enrolled in Human Geography, Geography of the South Pacific, Environmental Politics, and Maori Society…but I might try to switch things up during the first week.

Mostly, I’m still getting settled in. There are heaps of little connections to your surrounding community that you forget about until you move somewhere new and suddenly formerly familiar activities take twice as long to do. Acquiring public library cards, opening a bank account, finding the nearest and cheapest grocery store, buying shampoo and bulky warm $4 sweatshirts from second-hand shops, etc Exciting mundane little things.

Tomorrow I am going taking the Taieri Gorge Train into the foothills surrounding the Otago Peninsula.

Random tip (offered by a lady at the bank): when the sidewalk is particularly icy, wear socks over your shoes.

Currently excited about: the possibility of playing in a gamelan ensemble, learning how to find south based on the available constellations, the Dunedin botanical gardens, the geology museum, the Cadbury chocolate festival, classes starting up.


My snail mail address is:
16/783 Great King St.
Dunedin, New Zealand 9016

The mailbox is not especially protected from the elements so I don’t recommend sending anything valuable.

My Otago email account is: kerme352[at]student.otago.ac.nz
But again, I still check my old email address as well.