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Published: February 10th 2008
Hello. I'm writing from the internet cafe at Auckland Central Backpackers in Downtown Auckland. The last 24 hours have been a real whirlwind. My math might be wrong, but 24 hours ago, I think I was at Pier 39 on Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, but I don't believe it. That memory really feels like it was a week or two ago.
San Francisco is a pretty sweet city. It's age combined with the numerous cultures that have all become part of it has really given it the character that some other large cities just don't have. I only had one day in San Francisco, so only did two things: I went to Fisherman's Wharf, and from there I walked the mile or two through Chinatown. The bay in San Francisco is unbelievable. It is a panorama of deep blue water and tree filled, hilly islands that really is beautiful. Unfortunately, I didn't take my camera for the day, but the bay ranks second behind that mountain in Utah so far on this trip. We'll see if that changes with some of the things here in New Zealand. The walk was mostly uphill and pretty tiring, so I stopped about halfway at a little park in a residential neighborhood called Washington Square. It was a beautiful day and I became so relaxed I nearly took a nap. I then walked the back way into Chinatown (not through the gates) and that was an interesting experience to say the least. I wasn't in the really tourist visited parts of the neighborhood, and I swear there were times when I was the only non-Asian on the packed streets. It at least felt that way. I stopped in Chinatown and bought a couple oranges, and ate them as I walked back to the hostel to pick up my stuff and wait around for the shuttle that was going to take me to the airport.
The airport was pretty uneventful, but the plane was a different story. I rode on Air New Zealand, and they offered interactive movies, games, and television programs to get through the 13 hour flight. They also gave us two meals, and free alcohol, which I declined. I watched a rugby match from 2005 between the NZ rugby team, which they call the All Blacks, and South Africa. I then watched a really good movie (with some subpar parts) about the modern state of the native NZ population, the Maori. It was called
Once Were Warriors and gives amazing insight into how thier lives are, which, in my opinion, mirrors the state of Native Americans in the States. There were a couple powerful scenes in the movie which really touched me emotionally, and I recommend to everyone to see it if you can. After that, I watched some movie about a train in India starring Owen Wilson, and that was OK.
We got into Auckland around 5 AM monday, and it took about an hour to get through customs and all that. I actually had this dialogue with one of the customs official who had a pretty strong accent:
Him (looking at my working visa): Your on weekin' holiday, eh?
Me: No, I'm gonna be here longer than a weekend.
Him: Ok. But a weekin holiday is good for a year, right, mate?
Me: (confused) Uh.. yeah.
(Pause)
Me: Oh, yeah, a WORKING holiday. Yeah, I'm on one of those.
Despite that little scene, the accents are pretty cool, I hope I get one for when I come back. To sum up what I've seen of the accents, here are how they work:
They don't use post-vocalic R's. (Think Boston)
They change O sounds (like in Orange) to an E or A sound (like Dear or Dare)... so.. think somewhere in between Erange and Arange.
The take all A's and turn them into A's. This sounds stupid, but father becomes 'Faythe'
When there are alot of consonants, they get rid of all the seperating vowels, and seem to roll the consonants into each other.
Right now, it's almost 9 o'clock, and I've just been killiing time until my meeting with an organization called IEP at 10. From there, hopefully, I'll know more about what I'm doing for a job, a place to live, and a phone. Hopefully.
In other news, over the last 120 hours, I have spend exactly 6 in a bed, and have taken one shower. There's something to be proud of. I'll probably take a shower after meeting, but I'm gonna put off going to bed until tonight so that I can get my biological clock even with the way things are down here.
A couple notes about New Zealand and Auckland:
They drive on the opposite side of the road down here. A couple times on the shuttle ride from the airport to the city, I would watch our driver turn onto a street and then get afraid because I thought he wasn't going to make the right lane in time. My fears were quelled everytime when he went into the left lane, safely.
So far, after a quick overview, Auckland reminds me of Pittsburgh. It has a downtown area that is decent, is extremely hilly, and seems to just have a lot of blue collar neighborhoods, as well as big suburbs on its outskirts.
Finally, I ate my first meal in New Zealand, and it was.....
McDonald's. Boo.
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The Babcocks
non-member comment
Mcdonalds
No boo to this one Jeremy. You are doing research for Mr. Babcock! Keep your receipt and we will see if he can turn it in as product tasting. Sounds like you are having a great time so far. We are looking forward to reading more blogs. What a great way to keep everyone updated on what you are doing.