From Korea To Eid

Last weekend was a culture weekend for us.  We attended Korean Day put on by a Korean School.  The school rents the grounds of a local primary school every Saturday.  About 150 students attend to learn the Korean language, dance, songs and all things Korean.  Paul and a lot of kids made kites and Cindy took photos of the activities.

On Sunday we stopped by a Muslim Eid fest where we watched children perform, learned about Muslim beliefs and tried some foods.  We liked their poster:  Eid, Pray, Love.

Henna tattoo

Za'atar bread

The university held Eco Week this week.  We watched the documentary “Just Eat It” about food waste, featuring a couple who got all their food for six months through dumpster diving and getting culled food from groceries.  We’re glad that back in Eau Claire our friend Emily has done such a good job at rescuing excess food for Feed My People Food Bank so the food goes to people rather than to dumpsters.

The weather has not been the best this week – even the tramping group cancelled due to rain and wind.  Cherry trees are in full bloom though as you can see in Paul’s photos.

Christchurch still hasn’t decided whether to tear down or rebuild their cathedral, but other buildings damaged in the 2010-11 earthquakes continue to be torn down, including the student union at the University of Canterbury.

Christchurch cathedral - future still uncertain

The University of Canterbury Student Association building - new one to be built soon

At Willowbank Nature Reserve this week, Cindy got to peek in on the kiwi in their daytime wooden burrows to check on them.  All were doing well.

And speaking of animals – this ram was part of an advertising gimmick for icebreaker wool underwear.

Second Week in Christchurch

It’s warming up here in Christchurch as spring approaches.  Thousands of daffodils are blooming in Hagley Park and everyone is taking photos of the daffs and their kids in the daffs.

 

The Hagley Park trees are not leafing out yet, but are majestic with or without leaves.

We try to find community events so we get a better idea of local culture.  This week we stopped at the Riccarton Horticultural Society spring show - a lot smaller than the Minnesota State Fair, but still quite nice.

We also saw the Photographer of the Year 2016 photo exhibit organized by the New Zealand Geographic Society.  The photos were displayed in and around converted shipping containers temporarily set up near the damaged Christchurch Cathedral in the central business district (CBD).

The exhibit attendant was a little too laid back on his job

We attended a concert by Ravi Maisuira (playing tabla and drum kit) and his band Acoustic Taal at Orange Studio, a combination recording studio and live music venue.  The four musicians played across several music styles including classical Indian music, jazz, and world fusion.  We talked to the musicians afterward; they told us that they don't play together that often, and that this concert was meant more as an experimental jam to expand the boundaries of their music.  It was very enjoyable and quite interesting!  Paul also enjoyed the beer tap powered by a saxophone.

It not only dispenses beer, but flashes and plays a tune...

Tuesday we saw the University of Canterbury Music Society production of the musical Hair!  The student cast sang and danced their hearts out doing a good imitation of the U.S. in the 60’s hippie era.

Poster for Hair!

Cindy is back volunteering with the native species at Willowbank Nature Reserve where she feeds kiwis and cleans up after them.  She got her hair styled by one of the resident cheeky Kea (a native parrot) while another one tried to untie her shoe.

We both went tramping this week in the Port Hills with the XY Walkers group – lots of great views and fine people to hike with.  We heard and saw skylarks and saw a New Zealand kingfisher.  The grasses called tussock are everywhere in the hills.

A Sacred Kingfisher

We’ve been taking buses all over the city.  The Orbiter bus makes a huge loop around the city and connects to other buses.  One of our drivers this week was pleased to be driving a brand new Orbiter with plastic still on some seats.

First Week in Christchurch

Hello from Christchurch, New Zealand!  We are back in Christchurch for 3 months.  Paul was asked to teach the 2^nd half of a computer science course for a professor who was promoted to an Associate Dean position.

We traveled from Eau Claire to Christchurch, New Zealand, about a week ago now, traveling through Minneapolis/St. Paul, Los Angeles (LAX airport), Auckland, and finally, after about 27 hours of travel, to Christchurch.

Two story tall very realistic video screen at LAX airport

It's fun to take flight #1...

Because we were late additions to the university program, all campus house were already allocated, so the university rented a private flat (apartment) for us.  Our flat is very different from our Eau Claire house.  We are in a newer building above a hair salon, and are located behind a large shopping mall.  The flat is quite comfortable and sunny, and we have a nice landlord – we see him styling hair as we come and go.  He and his wife own some other properties including several buildings next door where six young doctors live.

Our flat is on the second floor of this building

Westfield Mall - half a block from our house

Paul’s class in database systems is going well, with the typical range of students (i.e. a few very active and interested students and others who are less engaged).  Paul is also observing student team meetings from a software engineering project course, and will be working with one of the course's faculty members back in Eau Claire in January.

Christchurch has a population of about 380,000 people.  It is the largest city on the South Island.  The city was severely damaged by a series of earthquakes in 2010-2011, but is making good strides toward recovery.

We’ve been back to the Farandol folk dancing group and attended a play called Guru of Chai in the new Piano Theatre with one actor playing all seventeen roles.

Cindy went tramping with the Tower Trampers group for four hours on Tuesday and got to overlook Lyttelton Harbour on the Crater Rim trail.

It’s still winter here, but flowering trees bloom all year.

Everyone has been pleased with unusually warm winter weather and an early spring, with high temperatures some days around 70 degrees Fahrenheit.  However, we just had two days of a return to winter with gale force southwesterly winds (they come from Antarctica) taking the temperature down to below freezing, lots of rain and hail, and snow in the hills.  The weather report advises you on what to wear – for the first storm day, it was 4 layers plus a waterproof layer, and people were advised to secure their trampolines.  Apparently some people didn’t listen – today’s news reported car damage from downed trees and flying trampolines.  Unfortunately we don't have any photos or video of flying trampolines.

Hail on one of our patio chairs