Missitude

Less than two weeks to go! So in a last ditch effort to make use of this space I am going to try to post something every day for my remaining time in NZ ! Feel free to mock me endlessly when I don’t!

Things I miss: family/friends, snow, insulation/double paned windows, being warm when its winter, thunderstorms, squirrels, loons, frogs, MN vegetation in general (maple, oak, pine), piano!!!, people with which to sing, reliable internet, being treated like I’m a long term member of the community

Things I don’t miss: “first past the post” induced party politics and American mainstream media, flatness, humid heat, uncritical use of the concept of patriotism, requiring a car to do day to day activities, ticks

Things I will miss: the hills of Dunedin especially as viewed from the top of the hill in the Botanic Garden and knowing that I could literally walk out of town and be on top of a huge ridge with views of the mountains and oceans simultaneously, walking to the Octagon, tree ferns, the southern cross and galaxies, cricket as a legitimate sport, young, dynamic, and easily accessible geologic outcrops, having a detailed knowledge of the environmental framework of the country I’m living in (going to have to work on fixing that), NZ currency (it might look like play money but its sooo pretty), recognition and incorporation of Maori vocabulary/concepts at a national level, clocktower and Leith, the ocean (surf, jellyfish, crazy seaweed, vastness), tussock, accidentally scaring up kerukeru (NZ wood pigeon), funny sounding tui, rata trees in bloom,

Things I won’t miss: possums, people going barefoot (or even with crappy jandels) in glass strewn streets, no turn on left