Live Laugh Love and Long Life Milk: Culture Shock and Moving In

 Spring in September

Hi!!!!! Little condensed life update: 

I moved into my new apartment in the beach suburb of Aranui. These past few days have consisted of me getting settled, developing connections with the people in my new home and exploring the city. I went to the grocery store, a fish and chips stand, the beach, a cherry blossom fest, a museum and Taylor's mistake! Christchurch has around 382,000 people living in the city so there's quite a bit to explore! I've also had some of the best Indian food EVER. 

Here's little updates from the past view days: 

14/09/23 

The first thing that I was really captivated by upon my arrival was the ease and reliability of the Christchurch bus system. I was both impressed and amazed by how efficient and inexpensive it was to get around the city without a car. With the success of the bus system, I don't feel the need to learn how to drive on the other side of the road (which also saves me the purchase of a car). My first day of being here I was able to get from the airport side of the city all the way to Aranui in under an hour; it has been a great way to get a good look at the city without worrying about the terrors of driving in a new place with new rules. 

When I got to my new house, I immediately felt welcome. I am in a house with two kiwis and two other working holiday visa folks. The lease process was so easy and now I have a nice FULLY FURNISHED room with large windows and kitchen access. It is way bigger than my old apartment. It is a dream!

On move-in day, I unpacked my overweight luggage and headed to the grocery store. Now, I don't know what I was expecting out of a New Zealand supermarket but I think this was the first true culture shock I experienced. Firstly, capsicums = bell pepper. Next, courgettes = zucchini? Fresh vegetables were quite expensive but fresh fish cost near nothing. Nuts were $3 NZD? My concept of grocery shopping was totally flipped upside down but I had a blast trying to figure out what certain words and vegetables were and why teriyaki chicken was in almost all of the sushi. I still have no idea what the kohlrabi-esque looking vegetable called a swede is. I was strangely comforted by the rare occurrence of an American looking box. OH ALSO EVERYTHING IS IN LITERS OR GRAMS. Here a a few fun photos from my grocery store excursion. 

15/09/23 

On Friday, I gave myself a slow day to recoup and get things adjusted in my room. By this point, my phone was still not working with the new SIM from OneNZ so I had a long phone call with Verizon to figure out what the issue was. I am lucky there is wifi all throughout the city so I was able to make calls through my google voice number and whatsapp. I also experienced some fish and chips and was almost eaten by seagulls (these ones are specifically Silver Gulls for the birders on board and they are evil). 

16/09/23

Saturday I got to hang out with the housemates and go on my very first NZ hike! We went up to the beautiful reserve called Taylor's Mistake (LOL!) and the views were jaw dropping. Driving up the windy road up the mountain I couldn't help but wonder if it was even real. The silver gulls were soaring and welcome swallows swarmed the hills. It was a wonder to be in this place and I felt very lucky to have my housemates invite me on the excursion! Peep the cute lambs on the hills and the stunning ocean. 

Afterwards, we went to Utopia Ice Cream. I got a black current and coconut ice cream cone, MJ got  lemon curd, Kahpoh secured a dark chocolate, and Fumi enjoyed a vanilla.

It was delightful. 

17/09/23

Today was the day of the cherry blossom festival and a day of new birds! Kahpoh and I woke up a bit early and headed to the stunning Halswell Quarry. The blossom festival was stunning. I had never seen so many cherry blossoms in one place. I tried a matcha treat and sat in the grass to watch the kapo performance. The beginning performance was a sweet little girl who did a beautiful serenade. After, the music teachers had their own performance that was mesmerizing. Truly nothing like listening to music while being surrounded by cherry blossoms! 

After the festival, we walked through the gardens of Hagley Park and I saw my first European Goldfinch and Common Chaffinch. In addition, I had some Eurasian Blackbirds and New Zealand Pigeons on my list. NZ pigeons have NO RIGHT to be so pretty!

After the trip to the Quarry, we went to the NZ Air Force Museum and checked out all of the beautiful planes and the military history of kiwis. I was particularly captivated by the story of Gordon Woodroofe who was captured in Germany and then finessed his way out of prison by gambling. Quite the impressive lad. It was also interesting how POW groups would be assigned to bird watch?? Fun fact of the day!

After the museum, I was quite tired and headed back to take a quick nap. Now that the adrenaline of being in a new place has worn off, jet lag has been slowly creeping in. Around 5, I woke up and went to the New Brighton pier which is about a 40 min walk (20 min bus ride) from my house. On Sundays, the bus only runs on 30 minute intervals so I decided to walk to the pier so I could make it before sunset. AND OH BOY I'M GLAD I DID. I was so lucky I bring my binos literally everywhere. 

About half way through my walk (I was jamming out to Olivia Rodrigo's new album), I noticed a distinct squeaking noise. That's when I saw the legs. Two pied stilts were right in a drainage pond as the sun was setting. Now, at this point I was losing my mind because I LOVE stilts and shorebirds. I walked a bit closer and then noticed a female paradise shelduck a little ways away. These are common birds of New Zealand but I was THRILLED to catch them at such a prime time. Here are the photos of the beautiful birds and the sunset I got to catch at the end of the pier later in the evening. 

Today, I am going on a hike with Ian who was my roommate in the hostel and will be headed to Huntsbury. Hopefully, we find more fun birds! 

Thanks for reading!! 

PS: I am also now making this blog public so you should be able to share it with whoever you would like or if someone gets locked out. I know there has been some trouble logging in so I hope this makes it easier! This should also allow you to subscribe to this blog so you will get notifications as opposed to having to regularly check :)