Dunedin, finally

That's not at all to say I just got to Dunedin. I've been here for nearly a week, in fact. No, I'm just getting my act together and (hopefully) accurately summing up my time here so far.

Right here, just so you know, is the Dunedin Railway Station. For some reason I left this picture out of the last post, so here it is. I told you, gingerbread house. And in case you didn't know, Dunedin is the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh.

We got into Dunedin last Tuesday, and surprise surprise, it was raining! This tends to be a common theme here. That, and the cold. Now historically, the cold and I don't disagree. I, of course, grew up in a cold place - I would wear a sweatshirt to school in 20 degree weather. This wasn't merely because I wasn't outside much then, it was because when I was inside, I could expect to be reasonably warm.

This isn't how things work in New Zealand. No, this must be the only country in the world that doesn't have central heating in its homes, but also experiences cold winters. It's not often in the States that you walk into your house wearing your winter clothes and don't immediately take them off once you step foot inside. I can't say I'm surprised that the first person to climb Mt. Everest was a Kiwi.

At this point, I probably sound like I'm complaining, but I'm not really. I'm just trying to convey a feeling - that while it's cold outside, inside you feel colder, to the bone. That's all. You kinda get used to it. It's why space heaters were invented. That, electric blankets and polypropylene. It's amazing stuff, and they have it in the States too, but it's become something of a fashion statement here. It's not surprising, either, because stepping foot outside without long underwear and a polypro top is crazy. For an idea of the weather around here, it's usually been sunny and in the low 40s during the day, and in the mid 20s at night. I'm actually quite cozy in bed, but getting up in the morning is hell.

I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea though - my warmth indoors is a small sacrifice to pay for the awesomeness of being here. My Kiwi host, Simon, is totally cool and definitely has the Kiwi sense of humor that I had been told about before coming here. Not only is he funny, but he also happens to have this place wired for high-speed internet, along with a tv and stereo - quite a luxury in student flats. The flat itself has four bedrooms, two bathrooms and a big common room/kitchen area. The big room heats up nicely with the heater we have, so we spend most of our time in there. Pictures to come later.

My other flatmates are Ingrid and KC. Ingrid is from the Czech Republic, from a little town called Mikulov, which is in the southeast of the country, near Austria. She actually brought us some brochures (in English, thankfully) showing her town, which is really pretty. She goes to university in Prague.

KC, amazingly, is actually from Hanover, NH. Who would have thought that one of the people I'd flat with would live 15 minutes from me at home? She goes to Davidson, in North Carolina. She didn't come here through my study abroad program (Butler) but though Arcadia instead. Anyway, pretty awesome coincidence. We all share food and cooking duties when we can, and the other day we even had a group dinner at our flat with 10 or so friends from our study abroad programs. Tacos = great for group feeding.

So as I had figured out before from the map of Dunedin, our flat is right next to campus, and I'm no more than a 3 minute walk to any of my classes. The library (and therefore complete warmth) is a minute away. I'm a minute from the Otago Museum, 3 minutes from the nearest ATM, the post office and Poppa's Pizza, and 3 minutes from the nearest bar, The Captain Cook Tavern (or 'the Cook' as students call it). It's great for rugby matches. I'm in a pretty excellent location, since I know other kids who would have to tack on at least 10 minutes to all of those times from where they're living. The supermarket is about 4 blocks away, and the Octagon is a 10 minute walk. The best part of the city, though, is George St., which is full of shops, cafes, takeaways (takeout) and other cool student-oriented things. In case you're really bored (clearly I was) you can check this out. You can walk everywhere in the city really easily (as long as you're appropriately dressed, I suppose). Completely unrelated above, that's another picture of the harbor (from my walk in the last post - ironically not a place you would want to walk to).

Here are some goodies about Kiwis and Dunedin life; hopefully I can remember most of them:

• 'sweet as' = awesome
• everyone says 'no worries' and 'mate,' 'righto' is also popular
  
• not only do cars drive on the left (which I'm sure will get me killed as a pedestrian), but people walk on the left side of sidewalks (footpaths, they call them) and stairs - I've gotten some funny looks going on the 'wrong' side
• everyone seems to use ATMs here (they're everywhere, as are banks) but no one ever pays with cash - they use their EFTPOS (Electronic Fund Transfer - Point Of Sale) cards for everything, even at bars
• you'd think that not having pennies would eliminate change, but of course they have dollar and two dollar coins, and they're no Sacagawea's - these things are used everywhere because there aren't dollar bills either
  
• almost all of the SUVs here have an extra side view mirror near the front corner of the hood (they don't call it a hood, it's a bonnet) - apparently they tow a lot of things here

I'm sure I'll come up with more quirks and differences as time goes on, so be on the lookout. Anyway, look for pictures of my flat, as well as some cool stuff from the amazing Cadbury Chocolate Carnival - tomorrow they roll candy down the steepest street in the world.