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Published: October 31st 2007
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I wrote this yesterday but didn’t have time to send it.
I made it to Christ church today. I landed around 2:30 and was in my hostel by 3:00. I noticed the weather first thing. It is perfect. Right around 65 degrees. This came as a nice relief compared to the 80 + I experienced in Sydney. I also noticed how small Christchurch is. According to the driver of the shuttle it’s about 400,000 people making it the 3rd largest city in New Zealand. But it feels very small absolutely no high rises and really feels like a big village as opposed to an actual city.
After locking my stuff under my bed I jumped out to go exploring. In the center of the town is the cathedral which gives the town it’s name. A very romantic neo-gothic structure. There was a service in process, I popped in and heard a choir singing in Latin.
I went searching for a camera and found one. It’s basically like my old one but black so it matches my mac and ipod (btw…have you seen the new touch screen ipods yet? I saw them in the airport and it’s impressive.)
Okay so in normal fashion I just took off to find out what this city is all about. I walked in one direction to the closest mountain range thinking I could get there and back but I made it about half way and had to turn around.
I met some people in the hostel but didn’t really connect with anyone. I over heard this one girl ask who sang Free Falling and I just instinctly chimed in “Tom Petty” They had no idea and told me I should have been there for trivia night. I said you should be embarrassed to not know that and that ended the conversation. (Now that I think about it, they were from Ireland so maybe Tom Petty’s not as popular there) However American music is extremely popular across the world. Last night I watched Monday night football streamed from the U.S. and listened to the band cover “Sweet Home Alabama” while the crowed sang along. Very bizarre. I chatted with another guy, but the music was too loud and it was hard to carry on conversation, he said they should just play rap cause no one likes rock anymore. I left the bar after that.
A trend I’ve picked up on is most people at these backpacker hostels are trying to live there. It’s very easy to find work and the hostels actually help you. It seems like the people have fled their home country to start a new life somewhere else. Most have come from Europe or England, Scotland, Ireland, or Wales. Not sure if they just want to explore the world or if their life is just really bad back home or if it’s just the culture to get out and find yourself. But they seriously have no plan of going back, and really had no plan before they left. I don’t think American’s understand this concept. I have met very few Americans and the ones I met are just here for a short time doing study abroad. And the people I have met are very surprised that I’m an American that travels. They say they don’t meet many Americans and we have this stereotype that we don’t travel. Some quote me a statistic that less than 20% of us have passports. (Not sure if its true, but I don’t know many people that travel overseas.) Maybe a few will do a two week trip to Europe but probably won’t interact with locals. I really think this has lead to our poor perception. The rest of the world thinks we live in a bubble and don’t care about life outside of it. And to be honest I think if one of my friends told me they were leaving the country with out a plan of coming back I’m pretty sure I would tell them they’re crazy and making a big mistake. Of course that’s before I started this trip.
I think Americans see world travel is something you do when you are retired and have lots of money and time to waste. But I’m not convinced this is the best approach. I rode on a plane with 40 American seniors that are on a trip exploring Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji. Now, nothing against senior citizens I’m glad they are getting out there. I just wish we would be more accepting for people of all ages to travel and the younger the better (as long as you don’t raise a spoiled brat and pay for extravagant vacations). I think the hostel life is an incredible way to test yourself and see what you are made of. Maybe that’s too extreme and doesn’t fit into your 5 year plan but maybe you should reconsider your 5 year plan. Maybe the career councilors and professors at our Universities should reconsider the life structure we have established. I understand not everyone wants, is able, or should travel but if we could change our view and be more open to idea, I think it would help us learn more about the world and help the world learn more about the U.S.
Besides that it’d be an interesting way to live…
Another random thing that I was exposed to was co-ed bathrooms. There is a girls only bath/shower and then a co-ed bath/shower that’s the only option. Not really complaining just never seen that before.
I start my real journey tomorrow and should get some good shots, on the way to Queenstown. It’s an 8.5 hour drive but should be incredible landscape the whole way there.
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