July 18, 2010

Sorry for the long interval between postings. My bad.

We lie in the grip of midwinter here in Christchurch. Fortunately, the grip of a NZ winter is rather weak. The weather here has been relatively mild, with daytime temperatures around 10C and nighttime lows around 0C. Many of the plants here clearly do not being frozen, though, and our garden looks a little wilted.

Shelley has begun her research project on bumblebees. She is looking at how pollinators (in this case, bumblebees) respond to changes in flower shape and nectar that result when climate changes. She has colonies of bumblebees in big cages. Aya and I went to help Shelley when she was setting the cages up, and one of the bumblebees promptly escaped and stung Aya on the temple. Aya was upset, to say the least.

Shelley says the queen bumblebees (wild ones, not her experimental ones) have emerged and are flying around. Apparently, this means spring cannot be far away.

I am working on manuscripts based on data collected over the last three years of post-doctoral research. My current paper describes some critical food processes in streams, namely those related to the processes that create spatial distributions of organic matter, which is the most important food resource for forest stream ecosystems. I work in the library at the University of Canterbury, which is not the most stimulating environment I’ve ever had to write in. I used to share an office with my good friend Laurie – whom I now miss terribly as she was an excellent (and intellectually-stimulating) colleague and collaborator. Though it was easier to write when I shared an office with Laurie, I am nonetheless making good progress on my current project. With a little luck I’ll have a first draft done in a couple of weeks.

We went for a hike last weekend in the Port Hills. Not much of a hike, really, just a half-hour walk. Still, it was a really beautiful day, and we all had a great time. I saw (I think) another endemic bird on our walk – a Grey Warbler (Maori = Riroriro). The trail we walked was largely frozen, so we had to be careful in spots not to plunge off the precipice into the shrubs below.

Rowan and Aya continue to enjoy themselves here in ChCh. They REALLY love the preschool they are attending, especially Rowan. They have lots of friends, and seem to get on really well. Aya can write her name now, an accomplishment that we are very proud of. Rowan knows all the alphabet (upper and lowercase), all the numbers, and can spell his name, though not write it, of course. I think we are going to go to the beach today, to walk around in the dunes. Should be a fun time.

Rowan is now 2, and has been for a month or so. So far, he shows no signs of the ‘terrible twos’, and continues to be the unbelievably friendly, happy, easygoing, inquisitive boy he has been to date.

In October a showing of Ron Mueck sculptures is coming to the Christchurch Art Gallery. We are tremendously excited, especially since there are 13 pieces in the show. I consider Ron Mueck to be one of the greatest sculptors of our time, and creates life-like sculptures of people (often much larger or smaller than life size). For those who think the visual arts are dead, Ron Mueck will change your mind. His work is simultaneously beautiful, philosophically interesting, and emotionally provocative. ChCh is the only city in NZ that the showing is coming to, so we feel doubly fortunate. [Note: Colin D., come visit us. You can take a sabbatical here. We have a studio for you.]

We wish people would come and visit us. So far, only Shelley’s friends Julie and James have visited us in ChCh. They were a TON of fun, we had a great time visiting with them when they passed though the city.

Shelley and I have made a list of the things that we find to be especially positive and negative about New Zealand (PRO and CON in the list below).

PRO

1) There are lots of open-air markets that run every weekend year-round. Handcrafted things are very inexpensive compared to Canada (or the U.S.), and tend to be beautifully made. Pottery, jewelry, art, clothing; all can be had at a good price.

2) Seasonal vegetables and fruit are very cheap here, and of very (!) good quality, probably as much of it is grown here in NZ. However, produce is expensive when it is out of season. Most of the year, though, there’s a good inexpensive variety of produce available for sale. The carrots and cabbage here are super! And the persimmons are unbelievably good! Huzzah!

3) Likewise, cheese is very cheap compared to Canada. This may be, however, because cheese is incredibly expensive in Canada. Still, there are MANY types of cheese (mostly cow cheese, but goat and sheep cheeses are also available) to be had, including a great selection of soft cheeses (camembert and brie especially).

4) Electric Blankets. Nothing makes a brutally cold bedroom as bearable as a toasty bed to jump into! Houses are VERY cold here in the winter, so we’ve decided that electric blankets are a very good thing. Settings go from ‘barely warm’ to ‘oven’.

5) Low Population. The south island of NZ is basically unpopulated. Sure, there are a few cities, and a scattering of small towns, but there is a LOT of unpeopled open space here. It makes it easy to get away for the afternoon, go for a walk in the hills, and enjoy the sunshine and birds without sharing the landscape with dozens of other people.

6) Weetbix. In Canada, we call this breakfast cereal Weetabix, but it’s basically the same thing. Two thirds of Kiwis eat Weetbix for breakfast, apparently.

7) Chocolate. Grocery stores stock great big bars of fairly good chocolate made by Whittaker’s, a NZ company. Needless to say we have indulged thoroughly.

8) Car Insurance is a small fraction of what we paid in Canada. Insurance here is about 75% CHEAPER than Canada, and we have the full package. Strangely, people still complain a bit about the cost. This may be because car insurance is not required by law, although virtually all people have it.

9) The scenery is amazing. Much like Canada, in many places, but the almost complete lack of trees ensures that you can see a lot more. Dramatic landscapes abound.

10) Public museums and art galleries here are very good, and very cheap (or free). ChCh has two large good galleries, and a great museum, downtown. Canada should take note.

11) People are friendly. Much friendlier than Vancouver, but not nearly as friendly as rural Alberta or northern BC, which have the friendliest people I have yet to encounter on earth.

12) Wine is cheap (and very good) here, if you are into that sort of thing. I find wine incredibly bitter, so I am unable to enjoy that aspect of the culture here. I now suspect that this is because I am a so-called ‘Super-Taster’ (and have a genetic predisposition to tasting things, especially bitter things, very strongly). I don’t have any evidence, beyond the purely anecdotal, that I am a ‘super-taster’. I’m just speculating.

13) Castle Hill. One of the “Big 6”, the Castle Hill basin is one of the greatest single bouldering areas on earth. Amazing sculptures erupt from the grassy plateau, creating endlessly interesting climbing opportunities. Sadly, my ongoing neck/nervous system problems are preventing me from climbing there. Sigh.

CON

1) The complete lack of wild animals larger than a chicken. In Canada, I always found it somehow reassuring that if you went out in the forest, there was always the off-chance that some large predator would entertain the notion that you looked particularly edible. Not in NZ. Feel free to stroll through any forest or mountain landscape; the songbirds aren’t particularly intimidating. Seems somehow… sanitized.

2) NO crossword puzzles in the Newspapers. Yes, they have cryptic crosswords, but they are hardly a replacement for the NY Times Crossword. The lack of crossword puzzles have impacted my quality of life, as I derive an enormous (!) amount of pleasure from sitting down at a café, doing a crossword puzzle over a café au lait (ahem… a flat white to those from NZ, or a cappuccino to those from Canada).

3) Manufactured things are expensive, especially luxury goods like toys. Much (almost all?) of the merchandise here is cheaply made in China.

4) Houses are COLD. It is a shock, coming from a cold climate, that anyone in their right minds would construct houses like they do here, with no insulation and single pane windows. In the mornings, it is about 7C in our house, and only gets up to about 13C or so (until we light a fire in the evening, then our living room gets nice and toasty for a few hours).

5) Journalism. “Investigative journalism” is a misnomer here. Articles in the newspaper (or on TV) are poorly researched. Perhaps it is because there is little government corruption here?

6) Clothes driers are vented INTO the house. Bizarre. This practice leads to problems with moldy curtains and clothes. Luckily, we cannot afford a drier, and dry our clothes outside.

7) Drivers pay very little attention to pedestrians. “Walk with Care” is a good motto to follow. I think this is because very few people walk here.

8) Electricity is expensive. Electricity bills for many people can top $800 per month, especially if they try to keep their house warm. Our monthly bill is about $150, because we really try to keep our costs down.

Things both PRO and CON

1) Redheads. There is an amazing profusion of beautiful redheaded women here in ChCh. In Canada, redheads are something of a rarity, but here they are commonplace. However, as Shelley points out, this means there are many redheaded men, a physical feature that she finds unattractive. Thus, the abundant ‘redhead’ genes in the ChCH population are both a Pro and a Con.

2) No Ikea. It would be nice to head down the nearest Ikea to pick up cheap household goods. However, there are no Ikea stores in NZ (so far, they have been disallowed). It is easy to see why – Ikea would brutalize the multitudes of small, made-in-NZ stores and chains that exist here, replacing them with an endless supply of cheap, generic, made-in-China goods. As such, I think having no Ikea is a good thing for NZ.

So… the PROs have it. NZ is a good place to be.

Miss you all! Take care,

Trent.