Kiwi'd

February 19th

Feb 19

The only thing worse than just jet lag is suffering from sleep deprivation and jet lag. I was told that the best way to handle this, however, was to get out and about and make sure you were exposed to the sun. Something about seeing the sun outside is supposed to trigger your body into a normal cycle or something.

So to that extent, I decided to go shopping for some necessary items. Such as a good pillow. Linens were provided by the school, but the pillow I got was so lumpy I'm vaguely concerned that there's something nesting in it. My flat is located right near Great King St North, which is just one street over from George Street, which is the main street in Dunedin. I followed that street, and discovered that I was not too far away from some American store chains. Like Pizza Hut, Blockbuster, and Kmart. The Kmart is in the largest mall in the area, which consists of about 15 different stores...well, probably not, but the mall is small. Got myself a pillow, sunglasses, some bowls, etc.

But before I made it to Kmart, I had a little bit of culture shock. There I was, standing in a stationary store at some planners (or rather, 'diaries') when I happened to look at the bloke standing beside me. He was short (about my height), dressed like a surfer (as almost everyone in this city is), but that wasn't what got my attention.

He wasn't wearing any shoes. And let me tell you, hobbit feet do exist in New Zealand.

I began to notice that many of the men didn't wear shoes. It seemed to mostly be the 18-25 age set, and all of them looked like surfers. But it's not just the white-ethnicity; I have also seen Asian and Pacific Islander Kiwis going down the street not wearing shoes. Next time I'll have to snap a picture. Is this part of their expression that summer is still here, or is it a 'surfer' or 'athletic' thing? Or just them being lazy?

It's definitely very casual down here.

Around noon, headed home after consuming a chicken and butter and mayo sammich, and a jaffa milk shake. Not sure what a jaffa is exactly beyond being a candy, but it was definitely sweet. It's interesting...but all of the sammichs here seem to have butter on them.

After that, went out with my German (Ruth) for a while. She seems homesick; she's been here I think a day longer than I am. What's interesting about our interactions is that, obviously, she's forced to speak in English since I don't speak any German. This means that not only is she jetlagged, but also having to think in a foreign language most of the time. But my reaction is also very interesting. Instead of speaking as I normally would, I've noticed that I'm trying to keep my phrases short, and very simple, almost miming the way she talks. I'm not doing it consciously, either, it's just something I've noticed myself doing.

We went to town to Blockbuster (rented 'Scrubs, the First Season' and 'Bride and Prejudice'), shoe stores, and the cellphone companies. Thinking about getting the vodafone deal. Dinner was catonese? I’m not sure. Big bowl of soup. There are lots of Asian-based stores in the area, particularly noodle shops and Thai places. There are also a few curry shops. All of these are on George Street, and they're all clustered together. You'd think that'd be bad for business...

To end my rather dull and boring day, I went to bed early once again to the sound (again) of people partying a few flats over. It’s almost midnight, and they kept me up for a while until I whipped out the book on New Zealand history that I purchased today at the bookstore.

posted by Hoot @ 10:19 AM