Monday January 29th
2018
I celebrated my 31st birthday last Friday. I
treated myself to brunch downtown at a café called, “Therapy.” I had French
toast, iced coffee and a flat white. I am drinking a lot of iced coffee here as
it’s very hot out and I’m constantly walking places.
French Toast from Therapy
Flat White from Therapy
I returned to campus from downtown at 3pm because Mike the
CanTeach advisor wanted us to socialize with the off residence students. Mike
brought New Zealand apple cider for everyone to enjoy and chicken flavoured
chips. I must say the chips are very tasty despite it being an odd flavour of potato
chips. The social was great because I met more students who are in the Primary
teaching program with me, Thus far, I had just met students in the Secondary
teaching program and I won’t have any classes with them. There was also a Primary
and Secondary graduate of the program there to answer any questions we had. I spent
some time talking to the Primary graduate and she only had good things to say
about the University of Canterbury education program. She said it took her
awhile during placement to get use the New Zealand classroom because you have
four teachers working together to teach one class. However, I have also heard
that some New Zealand schools do just have one teacher so; this is not the case
for all classrooms.
Chicken-Flavoured Potato Chips
My roommates threw me a party in the residence common room.
I invited a German Phd student to my party and she brought a huge zucchini
(grown in the Christchurch community garden) wrapped in toilet paper bow. So, I’m
hoping to make zucchini lasagna this week. We had a potluck with corn on the
cob, mashed potatoes, fish, kiwi fruit salad, sausages, chocolate cake and Pavlova
cake. One of the Canadian’s students is dating an Australian and he suggested
they get me a Pavlova cake because it is the dessert Australians eat on Australia
day which is the same day as my birthday.
It is a meringue cake topped with whipped cream raspberries and
strawberries. It was delicious! The party went on late into the night. I
learned how to play pool and got to know more of my fellow students.
On Saturday, a couple of Canadians and I went to a farmer’s market near the Westfield mall. The market is primarily food based. It’s near a river with ducks so you can buy snacks and sit and relax by the water. The prices were very reasonable and I want to go back next weekend to get some organic broccoli and cherries. They were selling vegan chocolate, posh oatmeal, olive oil, cheese, salt, vegetables and fruit. I didn’t see any vegetables or fruit that we don’t have back home. I got a Nuremberg sausage with sauerkraut on a freshly baked bun for my lunch. Then my friends and I went on short hike in the Riccarton Bush. Riccarton Bush is a predator free area. This means they are very careful who goes into the bush for a hike because they do not want predatory animals such as cats, rats, mice, hedgehogs and possums entering because they will kill the native wildlife that they are trying to preserve. There is a big fence around the area and to get in you open one door and you have to wait till that first door is shut to open the door into the bush. One of my friends said that the locked door procedure reminded her of what it’s like when she visits her grandfather. The walk was very nice and there are many interesting trees to look at and they provide a nice canopy for walking under.
Then we went to see the movie, The Greatest Showman starring Hugh Jackman. I highly recommend this film if you’re feeling down because it’s good for lifting your spirits. When you buy your ticket they ask you if you want to sit in the front, middle, back or side. Then they assign you a seat number and you have to sit in that specific seat.
Jane and I with Birthday Zucchini
Riccarton Farmer's Market
Sign's outside Riccarton Bush
Riccarton Bush
Tree in Riccarton Bush
More of Riccarton Bush
Mighty Kahikatea Tree
Friends walking in Riccarton Bush
Sign about Perserving the Native Kahikatea trees
On Sunday, I couldn’t find anyone to go to the beach with so
I went by myself. I arrived at Sumner beach at 2pm and had a late lunch at a
restaurant. Then I set up my new Kmart $10.00 NZ umbrella and stuck it in the
ground and then watched the wind take it away and it tumble half way down the
beach. A nice Kiwi lady caught it and returned it to me. I took a shell and dug
a hole in the sand and that made the umbrella stick in the ground and stay. I
went in for a swim and noticed parents don’t seem to care too much about their
children being alone and swimming on their own. I was standing near two eight
year old girls and when a wave crashed into them and they were knocked down, they
resurfaced from the water and one girl said, “I’m still here!” I notice the
locals will swim a bit and then stand up in the water and jump with the wave
into the air and then swim again and repeat. Here lies a good metaphor for life,
don’t fight everything, go with the flow. I swam, jumped and swallowed salt
water for a good 45 minutes then decided to hike along the beach. I talked to a
couple who was walking a Border Collie puppy and they let me play with him for
a bit. The poor dog was terrified of the water and just wanted to stay on land
and have his belly rubbed. The further I
walked down the beach the more dog owners I a saw playing fetch with their
dogs. Eventually, I walked back to my umbrella and relaxed for a while before
leaving to catch my bus back to residence.
Umbrella on the Beach
Today, I had an appointment on campus in the University’s
library. One of the University staff member’s was asking how I liked
Christchurch and I told her I really enjoyed it here. She told me how the
downtown used to be so much better before the earthquake and that the downtown
right after the earthquake was on lock down and was called the red zone. They
had the army in and helicopters around all the time after the quake. She said
it was a very strange time and that she felt it would have been a similar
experience to people who lived in a war zone.
After my appointment I went to a bank appointment then to my
favourite café the Black and White Coffee Cartel. I worked on this blog, ordered
lunch and two flat whites. I went downtown and took one last look at the
container mall because they are tearing it down at the end of this month. The
container mall was only put up as a temporary solution after the earthquake hit
the downtown. I bought pork dumplings
and a ginger beer from a food truck near the container mall and sat eating and
drinking it by the Avon River.
Pork Dumplings and Ginger Beer
Sitting along the Avon
Keep shining bright,
Nora:)
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