The Homecoming

It may not have felt good physically to be back in America since I had only slept a couple hours and my feet were swollen, it sure did feel comfortable to be once again among my countrymen, non-slanted outlets, familiar accents (or lack there of), and seeing the word organized spelled with a 'z' instead of an 's'.  Immediately though, I did notice things were different than my adopted college country.  It didn't seem just like the same old same old but more like somewhere with an identity.  A few initial observations about people in America's airports:
- People, particularly strangers grasping for something to talk about, talk A LOT about their occupations.  I feel it definitely comes up in conversation in NZ but I never heard anyone carry a 30 minute conversation about, "oh what do you do there?", "we were involved in a great project", "we're looking to expand".  Maybe my views will change once I'm in the work force but I think the kiwis might be on to something when they talk more about life outside of the office.
-Busy people.  Where do people have to be and why do they have to be there so gosh darn quick?  When I worked at the nursery and there was nothing to do, me and my co-workers would often walk around doing nothing in particular but always walking quickly and with a busy face on.  We did this to avoid getting sent home for lack of things to do.  People I saw in America right off the bat were wearing their busy faces in full force that extra long Thursday and were wearing them seriously.
-"Why isn't this up to the standards I think I deserve?"  On numerous occasions, people didn't think the service they received was up to snuff and let someone know about it.  One lady waited around and confronted the pilot about a joke he had made on the intercom. Another lady made the person at a restaurant kiosk remove the lettuce she didn't order from her burger.  Take off your own damn lettuce! People make mistakes.  Several people were terse, frustrated, or downright angry at the people representing the airlines for check-in and checking bags.   Anyway, a lot of people expect things to be perfect for them. What does the world owe you, my friend?  And what have you done for it lately?
-Diversity.  I mean this in the most appreciative way possible, but it was great to see black people again. NZ's isolation doesn't exactly create the most racially and culturally diverse environment.  Sure I'll miss the kiwis and the maori, but I think the airports in America really showcase the different backgrounds, lifestyles, and ideas you get depending on where you go in the country.  This makes for fantastic people watching.
-Sarcasm at its finest.  There's just this certain sense of humor I found time an time again with the people in on the plane, selling food, or working security that verges on cynical but I just find it so funny sometimes.
-Mexican food.  Hard to come by in NZ.
-Cute girls in sun dresses.  Gotta love summer.  A welcome sight to my winter wearied eyes.
-There was definitely a lot more chatter on the planes in New Zealand.  Not sure why but it was kindof nice.  Although the young lad in front of me had his ear talked off by some crazy man all the way from Dunedin to Auckland.   Not always a good thing.
-Friendly mid-westerners.

Now some favorite things about home:
-Family
-Friends
-A warm house
-Good smelling towels.
-A stocked pantry
-Front yards and back yards.
-Baseball
-Reuniting with my blanky.
-Cereal and Cheez-its (not necessarily together).
-Beautiful fields.  I really enjoyed my drive from Omaha to Ames last saturday.  Maybe I've taken these amber waves of grain for granted.
-Barbeques and corn on the cob and root beer.
-Playing drums again.
-Riding my bike.
-Did I mention friends and family?

It's safe to say I'm really really enjoying being home.  More than I thought I would.  I don't think that speaks of the inferiority of New Zealand, it's a beautiful place with beautiful people, but rather to how great the things I have going for me are here.  In the coming days and months I'm bound to see things I appreciate more and see other things where I would like to introduce something I learned in NZ.  Why do we do things this way?  I do think I am a different person.  Different because I believe I've learned things about myself.  Ideally the end of each day would be a death of the person I was before and my awakening the birth of a new person closer to the better person I someday hope to be.  This process I believe is just easier to see in a 4 month span in a foreign place with new experiences.  However as my friend Pete told me, I have only really found myself in my New Zealand setting.  How my trip will affect who I will become at home has yet to be discovered.  This might call for another blog, we'll see.  For now, I'll be signing of from the witty, Pulitzer deserving New Land, New Zeal.   While this blog has been mainly about me, the beautiful thing about me being home is that we can now communicate face to face and you can tell me about what's been going on in your life for the last four months*.  I would love to tell you about my experiences but I would also love to hear about yours.  So lets shake the dust of this crummy little blog and get together.  We have so much more to share than stories.  Thanks for reading and I love you all.

--Daniel --


*Thanks again Peter.

The Departure

1:30 am Omaha time and my body is still telling me it's a sleepy 6:30 pm.  Tomorrow when it's time to get up I'll be about as lively as a tranquilized polar bear in the heat of the equator.  For those of you have have not hugged hello or goodbye, I have now left New Zealand and have arrived safe and sweaty in Omaha.  When did 78 degrees (roughly 25 for you Centigrade users) get to feel so hot?  Maybe it was when I shivered my self to sleep in my bed in NZ.  My departure was bitter and my arrival was sweet.  Only in that manner was my leaving New Zealand bitter-sweet.  It didn't really hit me at the time of the goodbyes how large the distance and time between me and my new friends might grow but locking my room for the last time sure nailed it in to me.  If that didn't work the sight of the hills around Dunedin growing smaller and smaller as the plane climbed did.  I probably wasn't as ready to come home on June 23rd as I was on May 4th.  Fresh off my trip to Australia with two papers staring me in the face and two cold and wet months of Dunedin ahead of me, I was starting to realize how long four months can seem.   June had me reminded me how short four months can be when surrounded by the right people.  Special shout out to the flat next door (numba 6) for occupying my time, lending me power for my laptop, and donating prime real estate for our study fort.  I think May and June went by faster than any previous month in NZ because of how much closer I felt to the people I met there.  I'm not going to get all wishy washy so things aren't awkward next time I talk to one of these people who's mention is implied, but I really enjoyed getting to know these people.  If you are one of "these people" you really mean a lot to me. Some people were very different from friends I have in Omaha or Ames, and some people would blend right into my usual crowd.  But I cherish everyone and they all taught me as much as they've made me laugh. Which was a lot.   I believe we have a reunion already planned in Brazil at some point.  Pinky promised it so you know it's real.

Fortnights and Final Finals

Omaha wakes up as Dunedin settles down to sleep.  I don't have anything in particular to write tonight.  I think I will begin studying tomorrow for my final final.  The exam is on Monday and is 40% of my grade.  I'm not worried.  Although it is a little disappointing that I'm still taking finals in the teens of June.  This is what I get for frolicking around Colombia and learning to cross country ski in January.  These last few days have been reminiscent of January, not because I was traveling over dirt roads through the Colombian countryside but because of the excess time on my hands.  We made a fort in my neighbor's flat a week ago which was easily one of the more fun things I've done this month.  Even with a whole country to explore the best fun is sometimes puttsing around the living room figuring out how to position a hockey stick so it holds up a sheet without falling down.  Although Elise and I tend to get wayyyy too in to these kind of things also, maybe it shouldn't have been that fun.  Now, it is time for another fun activity.  Sleep! Tomorrow I hope to wake up and go to this bakery that is only open on fridays and get some wicked Almond Croissants. Love ya. 

P.S. This post reminds me that New Zealanders often use the word "fortnight", as in 2 weeks.  Not often actually but compared to the near extinction from the American English vocabulary it's used quite often.   Anyway, thought I'd share.  Be home in a half-fortnight if there is such a thing.  Maybe half a fortnight is just a tentnight or housenight or something.  Bad jokes...bye! 

Participatory Painting

1:05 am on the 14th of June and I swear just a few hours ago it was 1:05 on the 13th.  The days are dropping from the pages of my calendar as if they weren't even bound in the first place.  I set sail for the states 10 days from now.  I'm excited for home but I feel my departure will feel like a treadmill that suddenly stops in the middle of your workout.  I'm weary to brace myself or slow down before the stop because I don't want to miss any minute of the last week.  I'd rather hit the flight home full stride; there is much still to see and do.  Sunday afternoon I went with some friends up to Mt. Cargill, I think one of the highest "peaks" in the Dunedin area.  About 760 meters or so. A substantial elevation gain when you consider the neighboring Pacific Ocean.  Over the last trip with Usch and Charlotte we did some tracks that never really summited, we had some cool views but we never reached the top of anything.  They were nice walks but this trip to Cargill reminded me what is so special about climbing peaks:  the unique opportunity to see the world in symphony.  I could see the fields, hills, trees, rivers, peninsula, bay, wind, birds, and ocean all as a part of beautiful and natural composition.  Everything had a place, it was truly remarkable.  The hills were not just another plot of land that sat alone in there importance but were a part of a larger more important picture.  Take out one of the hills and it would be like taking out one of Mona Lisa's eyes.  It's easy to forget about all the things that are dependent on that hill or call it home.  The birds live in the tree that takes root in the hill that guides the river that flows to the ocean that provides the clouds that make the rain that the birds and trees get their nourishment from.  To me it seems the Painter of this picture did not put one brush stroke out of place.  I think the sciences-- biology, chemistry, physics, etc.-- are all just separate disciplines examining a small part of the perfection of the world.  So here I sat on a rock on a mountain, observing the incredible cyclical beauty and I started to think of where my place was in all this.  The most impactful part of the experience was what I felt- the mountain supporting my weight, the grass against my skin, and my body creating an obstacle for the cold wind.  I have never felt so connected with the Earth.  We are not just observers of the masterpiece but are also an interacting part of the picture.  And we have the ability I think to still add our own brush strokes, for better or for worse.  This moment was an awakening of sorts for me to keep asking myself if my brush strokes make sense in the big scheme of things or are they working on a different picture.  We can't have two pictures within the same painting and have it look good.  Our only choice is to accept the painting in progress before us and try to coordinate our hands and brushes accordingly.  Love you all!  See some of you soon!

Daydreams of Summer

Back from an extended weekend with a couple good friends out in Fiordland National Park.  As you may know, winter is quickly approaching here.  Although between switching on another cycle of my heater and taking a sip of hot tea, I click through facebook pictures of barefoot friends in green grass and read statuses of barbeques, frisbee, and laying out in the sun.  Even the calendar seems to suggest that it is, in fact, summer time.  I've been having a hard time visualizing summer recently.  I keep expecting Thanksgiving to be on its way and found myself getting giddy for Christmas after seeing the year round lights on the leafless trees downtown. And frankly, laying out in the sun and going for a swim doesn't sound all that appealing to me right now.  For a moment during one of our hikes this weekend, I felt I was on summer vacation.  The academic cloud that hovers above a student with approaching finals lifted and I could picture myself enjoying my time in the wilderness but soon returning to an Omaha summer.  Then a turn in the trail snapped me out of my daydream and back into the dense moss and fern covered forests of New Zealand and just like that, I struggled to remember what summer feels like again.  I don't have the tingly anticipation that I usually get in late April and Early May as days get longer and warmer and the end of school draws nearer and nearer.    My transition period this year will consist of the 3 seconds it takes to pass through the revolving doors at the airport entrance.  I'll let you know if it tingles.  I'm sure I'll find my summer spirit soon after returning.  I'm hoping that during the drive home from the airport, the lush trees, warm air, and tan little sister will remind me what summer is all about.  So enjoy the season my friends; keep the grills hot, the sprinklers spraying,  the laughter plentiful, and the clothes minimal.  I will be joining you shortly.

Early March near Franz Josef Glacier

Summer in the Dunedin Botanic Gardens

St. Clair Beach in February

The Queens Gardens a few days after arriving in Dunedin

Skipping Rocks in Hokitika in early March

Love to you all.