| hoveround
July 31, 2011
9:29:29 AM
Entry #: 3773109
| It's been a while since my last update. As you can imagine, I've been pretty busy the last couple weeks.
Classes have been going well. I've been managing to get out of bed and make it to all but one of my classes so far. It's usually pretty easy to get up on time considering I don't have any morning classes at all. A great consequence to that is I've been getting some pretty good sleep (especially with all the walking we do here).
An interesting aspect to my classes is that there's really not that much homework or in-class exams. For a couple classes I have a short multiple choice exam that's worth only 10% of my grade. All my classes have me write a "long essay" for the semester, with a group project and short essay thrown into the mix among the four classes. The rest of my grades depend on the final exam, which is worth anywhere from 40-65% of my grade. On top of the gravity of the final exams, they're all pretty much multiple choice. This is good news to me I'm usually a pretty good test taker, but especially with multiple choice. Writing my essays won't be too hard either nothing I'm not used to at Etown. In fact, I have a short essay (1000 words max.) due in a few days, so this is the third day in a row I'm in the library catching up on notes and preparing for my essay. It's Sunday night now, and I'll likely be back in here Monday and Tuesday night. It's a really nice library, probably the biggest one I've ever been to. They have all kinds of different areas to sit and read/use your laptop. I find a nice, cozy spot on the second floor that I've come to often.
Good news from my Environment and Society class: we've stopped talking about rocks. The course material advanced to climate change and then water and its use. We're currently watching a movie on the world's water usage. Turns out there really is enough water to supply to the world's people it's just in the wrong areas. And on a side note: tap water is more regulated by the government than bottled water is. I for one am going to stop spending so much money on bottled water and just drink from the tap.
While I like my anthropology courses a lot, I'm not so sure that's the exact route I want to take in my career (sorry, Dr. Newell). I enjoy the material on different cultures, but haven't found much interest when we've shifted to apes and what humans have evolved from. Being in a different country is definitely a great opportunity to soak in new cultural aspects, but I find myself still focusing on individual interactions among people (regardless of culture). For now, looks like I'm still a sociology kind of guy. Who knows, I can see myself teaching at a university some day.
Speaking of culture, I went to the All Blacks game last weekend and I had a blast. I'm surprised rugby hasn't caught on more in the States. Then again, we have American football (hey, the NFL lockout is over!). But yeah, it was a great match. New Zealand crushed Fiji 60-14. Some Fiji supporters were in the section next to us and we having a great time. Looked like a fun group. My favorite part was when the stadium started doing the wave. It went around about six or seven times! Quite a sight to see. Also earlier in the week I went on a tour of Speight's Brewery Speight's is New Zealand's most famous beer. My friends and I had a fun time learning about the history of beer and the brewing company. Our tour guide, Keith, was a hoot and a half. Great guy. The best part was the taste testing at the end. Needless to say, I'm now a Speight's fan. Photos from the All Blacks match and the tour are on my Facebook page. Here's a link for those who I'm not "friends" with on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150262742729556.344310.854484555&l=d33187658e&type=1
Also located in that album are photos from the Jaffa Race. Jaffas are candies made by Cadbury (they have a factory in Dunedin. I'll be taking a tour eventually) they're pretty much chocolate with a crunchy shell - like a ball version of M&Ms. The race was part of the Cadbury Chocolate Carnival, which lasted all week. In the two races, each had 25,000 jaffas rolled down the steepest street in the world: Baldwin Street. Whoever had the winning number won some money and a lot of chocolate. Since I went to race, I skipped one lecture (hence I've only missed one class), but it was definitely worth it. The trek to the top of Baldwin Street was a tad tiring, but the view was excellent.
Last week at this time, Dunedin was getting a good bit of snow. It only accumulated up to about two or three inches, but it was enough to cancel all three of my classes. The Kiwis were very excited to see the snow, since Dunedin hardly ever gets any. What was interesting about this snow was that it wasn't like traditional snow it was more or less hail and sleet. It rained hail/sleet off and on for Sunday night/all day Monday and was a pretty extraordinary scene to see everything covered in white.
By coming to New Zealand, I was hoping to do some self-discovering. Surely enough I had a pretty big moment last week. Some friends and I rented a few movies to watch for the week and one of the ones picked out was Into the Wild. I've never been so moved by any other film to the extent that one did - so inspired I wrote what I feel is one of my best blog posts (http://mjaumen.blogspot.com/2011/07/adventurous-spirit.html). Long story short, I learned a lot of great lessons from the film. In fact, a couple days after watching it I bought "Walden" by Henry David Thoreau. As soon as I'm done this essay, I'll be reading it. I also bought the complete collection of Ralph Waldo Emerson's essays to read after I'm finished with "Walden." The nice thing about the easier course load in Dunedin is that I'll have more time to read as a hobby versus the lack of time to read I had back home during the school year.
Quite possibly the greatest highlight of my trip so far was my trek today through Nicols Creek. A couple friends and I hiked up a long creek, climbing over rocks and fallen trees. At one point we were literally rock climbing. We scaled a rock face about 30 meters high with the steepest grade at about 80°. The climb was exhilarating, not only from the prospect of venturing into new wilderness, but also from the danger involved since we didn't have any rope or harnesses. Once we reached the top, we climbed another 10 meters and then hiked about a half mile up the mountain (and climbed another rocked shield, though that one was much easier). In addition to the rock climbing, we advanced up the creek to reach the waterfall, where we stopped for lunch. The waterfall was gorgeous. After lunch, we took a VERY muddy trail (I got quite dirty) that led us a couple kilometers beyond the waterfall. We eventually came across the creek again, and decided to venture forth into uncharted territory. As the afternoon loomed on, we halted after coming across some challenging terrain. Though we could have conquered it, we decided to save it for another trip, as we needed to head back and were losing precious daylight. In all, the experience was unlike anything I've ever had. I plan on going back many times before I leave the country. Pictures can be seen here: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150270295529556.346888.854484555&l=f15a77d1b9&type=1
More photos from my trip can also be seen here: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150248756079556.340024.854484555&l=1cb0dee4fd&type=1
Also, if anybody would like to Skype, let me know. I get free internet at the library, so we can set up a time to do that.
Well that about rounds up my last two weeks in Dunedin. It won't be long until I start treking out further into the New Zealand wilderness. Perhaps I'll get lost, but eventually I'll find my way back, and maybe even find myself in the process.
Cheers,
Micah
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