Welly-world

DSCF3828, originally uploaded by ponyshow.

Hey. This will be my last post for a couple of days. Sorry I haven't been doing current updates. We have been in Wellington at Massey University since the 9th. In general, the weather has been in the 60s or so, with the past couple days getting into the 70 range. And the city is on the water, so it's perpetually windy.

Classes have been fine, if not too easy. I've got Folklore and Folklife, for which we've been discussing The Whale Rider and our projects (some presentations and a paper). My project is on birds and how they fit into New Zealand - particularly Maori - culture. So we'll see about that. And then, for my Independent Study, I'll have to write a 15 page paper on Keri Hulme's The Bone People and selected pieces from her collection Stonefish. Exhilarating, I know.

So, highlights from Wellington? There was the National Tattoo Museum on the 10th, which was a tiny hole-in-the-wall type place with some wooden sculptures and paintings, but mostly photographs and a moldy aroma in the air. Everyone was really excited beforehand, but, needless to say, the experience was underwhelming.

A bunch of us visited the Parliament buildings and took a tour. That was really cool and informative. The art and architecture inside is really amazing, but we weren't allowed to take pictures. Fun facts: There are 8 political parties and only 1 house in the NZ Parliament. And there's Georgiana, the first transexual member of Parliament. Awesome.

Another of Wellington's gems is the Te Papa, a gorgeous, sprawling, free museum packed with great exhibits. I've been there three times so far and will probably go again today. 5 stars. Would visit again.

On Tuesday the whole group was forced to go to Katherine Mansfield's birthplace. The house was small and quite hot inside, especially because we had to pack like sardines into one room at a time. Not having read Mansfield and not being horribly interested in 5 kinds of Victorian chamber pots, I found it rather agonizing. The place might be a alright to breeze through with one or two people, but I wouldn't have paid for a $5 tour. Not recommended.

Tuesday night I saw Andrew Bird at a little place called the San Francisco Bathhouse. I couldn't convince anyone to go with me, regretably. I waited 40 minutes before the doors opened to buy a ticket and was first in line. Luckily the show was seated and I got a nice little spot on the side on a couch. There couldn't have been more than about 250 people there. So it was a nice atmosphere. And the music? Glorious. Breathtaking. Wonderful. Bird played solo, not with a band, but he managed well. He had a bunch of pedals and would record riffs on the violin (bowing or picking) and then set them to repeat while he sang and played guitar. And the man has the most fabulous whistle I've heard in my life. 8 million stars. Would be mesmerized again.

Wednesday night everyone went to see A Renaissance Man, a contemporary play about John Donne, at an experimental theatre called BATS. It was a really good play, reminding me once again that I LOVE theatre. Smart, action-packed, and funny. The stage was on the floor, not elevated and there were six doors for entrances and exits - three on the floor and three on a top level. Really neat. A bunch of people were surprised at how very sexual the whole thing was. But considering what a rake (read as: perv) Donne was, one has to expect it.

Yesterday (Thursday), I was feeling quite blue and sleepy, so I slept most of the day away after class, then went to the Te Papa to do some research for my folklore project.

So we've got today and tomorrow left in Wellington. I don't have many plans at this point, except for catching up on research. Sunday morning we are leaving our apartments and heading down to catch a ferry to Kaikoura on the South Island. Monday we are going on a whale watch and Wednesday we will get to Lincoln University outside of Christchurch.

I'll again direct you to my billions of pictures on Flickr, so you can see what I've been seeing. You can click the picture on the top of this post, or the link on the right side.

Oh! Also, anyone who reads this can comment. You don't have to have an account... just leave a note as Anonymous but make sure you sign it so I know who you are.

I'll see you, internet, in a few days.