jandals and earthquakes

I have just emerged from my first class.. and I survived it! Really the survival is more social than academic. I won't say I am the OLDEST person here at u of Canterbury,  but I am   experiencing the visual phenomenon of freshmen looking like middle schoolers.    And the are a LOT of "freshers". (Pronounced: frehshahs)

The library at university of Canterbury.  It is 12 stories high! 

                                                             
When I awoke  this morning I felt no nerves about the first day of school.  Now,  immersed amongst the many munchkins I feel old and gnarled as the wicked witch of the west. And even more uncomfortably,  quite conscious of the fact that I am sensitive to, and caring about, how I am perceived. These are all feelings that didn't come up for a few years,  as the unm taos branch campus is 1) miniscule and 2) mostly inhabited by adult students.  So,  this is not what I was expecting (for whatever reason), yet I can't reason through it and be surprised.

Optimistic first day of school breakfast.

Slightly dejected after class lunch.

A few other cultural adjustments,  small and large:

-jandals.  They are also occasionally called thongs.  And they are not allowed in the physics lab.      
-quake danger.  We don't do fire drills;  we do earthquake drills.
-the mustache and only a mustache style is not "in" (favoured man styling is the man bun with short clipped undercut)


My schedule is rather full with about 3 one hr lectures per day and it seems that my excursions will soon be limited to  weekends.  Still,  I have my bike and the nearby parks are a great place for yoga and meditation.

Yoga schedule at the gym. 

Yesterday I went to Akaroa, this beautiful wild reserve,  for a hike.  My roommate and I split from the group of 30 for a 1.5hr hike down to the ocean.  Along the way we enjoyed the yarrow, waterfalls and blackberries.  As we got lower in elevation and closer to the sea we began to hike through herds of some of the cutest sheep in existence.

Yellow-forelocked sheep en route to the ocean. At this point we could hear sounds from both ocean and sheep.

Here the farmers mark their flocks by dyeing their forelocks different colors.  We saw the yellow and the green farmers.

Fern gullies abound

This tree has lived my lifespan more than 23 times over! 

Due to the locked Sim card on my phone and a wifi-less dorm life,  I am living a life significantly less attached to technology. This of course presents blessings and challenges.  Overall though,  I am spending more time doing fun things and less time blurred in a computer.  Henna, yoga, reading, cooking,  and meaningful (literal) face time getting to know my 4 female roommates are the best perks of putting down my phone.

Practicing henna on patient Nareh's shoulder

And I provide a very accessible canvas as well.

Ps the book I am reading is The Tiger's Wife, and I recommend it!

Peace friends!