Getting my bearings

Jun 25, 2010 by Daniel Ross-Jones

It’s amazing how time flies.  I feel like I just got off the plane 20 minutes ago, yet I’m in my third day here already.

Let me start off with a few brief observations:

1. Of the three days here, yesterday was the most miserable weather.  The other two have been delightful.  I could live with that ratio.  (You listening, Mother Nature?)
2. Even if I were live here the rest of my life, I still don’t think I will ever fully internalize, comprehend, or otherwise appreciate metric units of measurement.  I can convert, more or less, in my head on the fly as I need to.  I can even visualize a metre.  But don’t ask me about kilos and pounds, kms and miles, what 15C “feels” like, etc.  I won’t succeed.
3. People are genuinely more friendly here and will strike up small talk with you at almost any opportunity.  Likewise, if you are wandering around and look lost, chances are in short order someone will come up to you and ask if you need assistance.  I realize how much I have lost that type of connection with people having lived in the Chicago ratrace.
4. It is month, day, year.  Period.  The rest of the UK and European-influenced world is simply wrong on this one.

Last night I stopped at the grocery store (Foodtown) and picked up some basic essentials.  Both to control costs as well as general health, I am going to try to limit my take away and eating out just to those occasions I am with other people.  NZ isn’t really more expensive than Chicago in actual U.S. dollars — in fact, in some ways I end up ahead — but I still want to exercise a little more restraint on my spending.  I was interested in seeing how much less selection there was in the store versus Jewel, Dominick’s, Cub, Pick ‘n Save, etc, but that what was present was generally “healthier.”  I put that in quotes because I wasn’t really inspecting the labels all that much, just observing what was offered.  Less processed convenience food (though TV dinners are apparently universal), and even that which is present has more vegetables as sides, but so much more fruit!  I think I will grow to enjoy the fruit selection here.

Also on the food front: I found a Korean lunch buffet today for $10 NZD.  Delightful.

Of course, there are those reminders of U.S. globalization everywhere, especially in food and entertainment.  I feel that NZ has more U.S. food brands present than other countries I’ve been to: today alone I passed Starbucks, Burger King, McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Pita Pit, Subway, and Dunkin’ Donuts.  Also Borders bookstore and a Saks.  Someone yesterday told me that I must enjoy being able to go places and have those “comforts of home,” but that’s not true.  I want to go places and see and experience new things.  It’s one thing to be aware of this level of globalization, but it is something else entirely to feel like you’re searching out for things that you can’t find within five blocks of your apartment in Chicago.

That being said, I did have Subway yesterday for lunch, as that was where the minister was eating and I tagged along for good measure.  The menu is roughly the same, though with a wider vegetable and seafood selection.  I do hope I’m able to limit my exposure to U.S. brands while I’m here.

I’m starting to reset where I think traffic belongs, though I’m sure I look like a bobblehead crossing intersections looking back and forth repeatedly.  Driving on the other side really hasn’t been an issue at all.  Since I’m not used to a large vehicle, driving the minivan has been the bigger adjustment.

However, the biggest confusion has been the lack of central heating.  Growing up, we would make fun of Florida and other points south for their lack of central heating and then complaining when it was “cold.”  I’m eating those words now.  I’ve woken up in the middle of the night having to turn off the electric blanket and space heater for feeling like I was on fire, only to wake up again two hours later feeling like I moved further south into Antarctica and turn them back on.  I’m sure there’s a trick to the moderation, but it’s not taken yet.

Today I did a bit of exploring.  One of the church members dropped in this morning to say hello with her two young children, and I got a quick overview of the immediate neighborhood.  Then I jumped a train to Central Auckland and walked around a bit.  I stopped in a few shops, had a nice lunch at the Korean buffet mentioned earlier, walked through a couple parks and the University of Auckland (UoA) campus and the Auckland Domain — a giant natural preserve surrounding the Auckland Museum.  I walked a bit more, through Parnell and Newmarket areas before coming back home very sore.  Not just mentally, but physically, my body is adjusting to the hilly terrain!

I’ve been posting photos on my Facebook account, so if you’re friends with me on there have a look.  I’ll see about dropping photos onto my Picasa or just suck it up and pay for Flickr.

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