March 18: Dorm life, people I know, things that I read, classes I take.

Week three of classes has begun, and surprise of surprises, this school is hard. I've scheduled out my reading for my four classes (lit. and the contemporary, politics and the media, Maori politics and public policy, and New Zealand lit.) and I've got anywhere between 150 and 250 pages of reading to do in a day. Luckily, I didn't factor in weekends, so I can spread it out there. Most of my papers--sorry, essays--are due all in the same week (the day Sarah gets into town, actually) so I've had to get started on those pretty quickly. 

This leaves me pretty stressed about writing for the magazine. I tried my hand at one editorial and after realizing it had little to no relevance to a NZ audience, moral dropped and I went back to homework. There are other ideas for books reviews that can be done at my own pace. There's another idea a girl on staff and I came up with, where we assume the voices of other authors critiquing other works, which I'd like to get around to. Just a time thing. I'm considering talking with a girl I know who works for the radio station to see whether or not they have jobs with timetables, as I wouldn't mind coming in to do a shifts' worth of work and learn a few things. 

Since that's all very boring, though, I thought I'd introduce you guys to some of the people that I've been hanging out with, in my dorm and otherwise. Here are some of my favorite people in Auckland:

Theora:

A very cool biology student from Berkley, Theora's a gorgeous pacific islander who I think looks pretty Maori, but I've been reprimanded for this comment so I take it back. The first time I talked to Theora, one of us mentioned how much we miss hip hop, and since then we've updated each other on the various rumors we sometimes hear about where Auckland's elusive hip hop scene resides. She loves American football and used to think she would grow up to be a linebacker for the 49ers. I gave her a football I found at an sports store while looking for an ultimate disc (which I never did). I figured I needed to throw something, and that it was high time I learned how to throw a pigskin. 

Leandre:

Leandre's name is pronounced like the names Leon and Andre fused together. He's from South Africa. I've heard some Kiwi's complain about his thick Afrikaans accent, but I can't hear a thing, and he speaks English pretty well. I like calling him Leon. When I had to ask for a third time what his name was, I decided that if I called him "Leon," that would be close enough to whatever it really was. Leon's an RA for the fifth floor, and is pretty good friends with Kimi, my RA. Leon has a car and likes organizing trips to the beach with me, Theora, Kimi and Spencer. We've gone to Orewa and Piha beach so far. Leon's in his last year at uni and says that's the most times he's ever been to the beach during the semester. Leon helped me steal a sofa from my common room and put it my dorm room.

Corey:

Corey was the first friend I made at the dorms. Born in New Plymouth, NZ and grew up in Michigan, he looks and and acts like a walking, talking slice of all-American apple pie. I haven't seen much of him since he's a pre-med student and I read like a lot, but we've got each other's backs. When a certain young man living in my dorm wouldn't stop making passes at me, Corey twice threatened to beat him up. "Doesn't he know you and your boyfriend are in love? you are in love AND THAT IS SPECIAL!" It's nice when someone

s got your back. 

Bryony:

Bryony is the 8th floor RA and the girl Corey currently has a major crush on. Their torrid love affair is, I believe, the hot rot that's on everybody's minds in the common room. Or maybe by now it's passe. Whatever, she's still an amazingly funny young lady. She is preparing for law school when she graduates from undergrad. She sings like an angel, and is whipsmart. She's lived in India, Indonesia, Khazakstan and London. She taught me how to say the phrase "Y'alright darlin'?" like a randy Pikey. She likes to play Squash. 

Sarin:

Sarin is the only Anthropology student I've ever met who I like. She's from Montreal and graduating this semester, and doesn't yet know whether she'll stay or move back to Canada. She has pink hair and hazel eyes and is very cute. We both want to go see Henry Rollins, but tickets cost $50 bucks. Upon learning this, Sarin sent me a text message that read "I feel like punching him in the face, and yelling 'GENTRIFY THIS!'"Sarin lives in a house with three roommates in Ponsonby. The bedrooms are heeeyuge: 5-meter ceilings, with fireplaces in each. The neighborhood looks like Winetka Hieghts in Dallas, all the houses with scaffolding and dogrun porches. 

Scott:

I don't see much of Scott these days, but he was the young lad I saw Broken Social Scene with. A funny guy with similar enough music tastes, we get along well when we run into each other. 

Anthony:

Anthony moved to Auckland with his family from China four years ago. He is eccentric, excitable, and talks way, way to fast. Despite knowing this, it's hard for him to slow down. He loves the friends that he's made at uni. This is what Anthony wrote on my birthday card: "U know what, I have a dream. I hope I can become a cowboy in Dallas, I hope I can watch basketball. (NBA) in Houston. And driving a viper through Texas to Mexico. And I hope u have a dream. Playing bungy jump in Auckland. Watching glowworms in Waitomos. Of course being crazy. Go to my house to learn some traditional NZ family experience (Hahaha!!!)." And on the reverse side: "Hey Emily, Happy Birthday. A year older. Friends 4ever. Luv u All. Anthony." I don't think I can think highly enough of the guy.

Jordan:

I get J names confused, so i call Jordan "Jason" a lot. He is a nice chap from Seattle living in the dorms and attending Auckland Institute of Technology. He introduced me to one of my favorite Auckland bars, the Shakespeare pub, which I have frequented frequently. 

Trent and Lia:

Trent and Lia work at the Shakespeare, and now have dubbed me a regular. This is a mixed blessing, because now I'm privy to all the seedy little details that go on behind the bar. If you thought dorm gossip was juicy, you've never met a bartender. 

Gabby:

Gabby is a Filipino first year student. I run into her in the kitchen constantly, and that is where our friendship prefers to grow. She has a funny way of pronouncing "chives" (like "cheevs") which I love. Sometimes we let each other borrow our cookery. She is going to podiatry school.

Spencer: 

Spencer is from UT Arlington and lives on the 5th floor with Leon, who, like I said, likes to take us out to the beach. We like to talk about breakfast burritos and guacamole. He likes to teach me how to skateboard, and I like not falling down.

Aaron:

Aaron is a friend of Natasha's, from Hamilton. When I left my shoe's at Tash's place, Aaron picked them up and brought them with him to Auckland and delivered them to me there, which were quite nice of him. Aaron is a photographer, and sometimes he lets me play with his cameras. He had a shoot with Pizza Hut today, and gave me a bunch of cold pizza for which to distribute amongst my dormmates. "Do you know anyone who wants some free pizza?" "Uh, I only know of about 200 underfed undergrads who want some free pizza," I said. 

reeeeeaaading:

Despite the metric ton of reading I have to do, I got to say that I'm enjoying it all, for the most part. It could be my professor talking, but the texts for my NZ lit class seem to be perfect representatives for the era they were written in: FE Manning's "Old New Zealand" is one of the best, most engaging Victorian works I've read; Katherine Mansfield's shorts are some of the most accessible examples of modernism, which is weird when you think of how much clout James Joyce and TS Elliot and Virginia Woolf have been granted. Guess it's that outsider's Islander identity. Lit. and the Contemporary is as much fun. We finished reading "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" and starting "Vince and June," a chick-lit piece that I suppose is serving as a foil for some example set by ELIC. Maori policy and public politics is hard, because race relations is still an uncomfortable topic in NZ. And as bad as we complain about it in the states, it's no where near as awkward as it is in NZ. Politics in the media is difficult to stay awake during, but the tutorial's are pretty good. 

Well. That was fun. Time to stay up a little later and get some work done. 

Lovelovelove,

Ems. 

March 3: First day of class, The Sisters Aberg plan a trip, When’s my birthday?

I guess I haven’t written for a while because I feel like I’ve landed. I feel like I came home. I have a bed, a mini fridge, a bookshelf and the internet; I have a map on the wall outlining my adventure and there’s mad amounts of brochures, tickets and paper that I’ve tacked up to the wall inviting me to various orientations, information that I need to know before class, textbook lists, timetables, bus schedules, concert lists, take-out menus, campus maps. These are the things I would be doing if I were home: buying groceries, working out, meeting friends. I have a normal, every day life, I’ve got some routines, and when you have routines you don’t think about writing them down.

That’s not to say there aren’t a few important things to note that have happened this week. Or last week. Today, for example, was the first day of classes. More importantly, it’s also my birthday, but more on that later.

“Uni”:

Note: a ‘class’ as it’s called in the states, which refers to a whole bunch of people being taught by somebody in a classroom, is not called that in NZed. What we call ‘class’ they call ‘paper,’ so when I refer to how many paper’s I’m taking, I’m not talking about how many assignments I have to write for the next semester. They also don’t use quotation marks properly, opting instead for the up-and-down apostrophe to denote a quote: ‘like this.’

The four papers I’m taking this semester are Media studies, New Zealand literature, Maori politics and public policy, and Politics and the media. Media studies is the only class that won’t go towards the credits I need to earn back home to get the degree, but I figured it might be worth it. What smarts is that I have to take an Academic English proficiency test to take it. Shoot.

I also visited the student magazine office and introduced myself to the editor-in-chief, Dan, the books review editor, Sam, and one of the writers, Natalie. A good group of people. Dan sent me home with a box full of all of last years issues, and some from other years that he quite liked. The articles are fun enough to read, but the best thing about them is surely the cover art. With no set design for the front page layout, they’re free to design it however they want; some issues look like art-house fare, others look like comic book covers, some look like the front of the economist, others look exactly like guide books, others look like girlie mags.

Tripsville:

My sister sarah and I are in the middle of planning her trip over her in April. It turns out that she’ll be able to come visit me then, and I’m looking up trips and planning itineraries for a smaller trip around the south island. We thought she wouldn’t be able to make it, but we worked our schedules out such that she’ll be able to visit. And I can’t wait.

Birfday:

So a New Zealand March 3rd is an American March 2nd, right? So, isn’t my birthday in New Zealand going to be March 4th?

“Who the hell cares,” said Leandre. “We’re taking you out for pizza and beer.”

“Word,” I said.

So a group of about 7 people took me out for some good ol’ good times. We enjoyed ourselves heartily, and then went home at a reasonable hour, it being a Monday night. Thanks to M&D by the way for sending that pink cake recipe. I promise, I’ll let you know as soon as I make it...Heck, as soon as I figure out a way to make it.

I did get a few things for myself: a lambskin rug, which everyone should own, a cute brown dress, and some new kicks. Thanks everybody for the uber thoughtful e-mails and facebook and myspace message. And Matty, thanks again so much for the wonderful present. (This guy! I just love this guy!)

Much love to you guys. And I’ll be better about posting more often. I’ll work it into the routine.

Ems.