To me its just like any other rainy summer's day. It's probably low 60's or mid 50's (It's 15 in C. I can never really remember the Celcius conversion and have given up on trying to do it in my head...most of you know my math skills and lack of them lol). People back up in Vermont would be wearing shorts and flip flops (or jandals as they are called here...short for Japaneese Sandles non PC culture here lol). I will admit, I did put on a sweater and long pants today, but it is still strange to see people walking around in Parkers (parkas...I can never remember which is right....down jackets lol) and wool pea coats. Last night my flatmate was wearing gloves... AROUND THE HOUSE!! I thought that was a little extreme. If this is as cold as it gets here I will be happy, however, I believe we have a little bit more cooling off before "winter" comes.
One thing about living in a temperate climate like NZ, they don't really understand the concept of insulation. The houses here are very drafty. It's like living in the ol' wooden tent-- its always colder inside the house than it is outside. There have been a few times that I have walked outside wearing pants and gone right back in to put shorts on because it was so much warmer outside than in! So I am not looking forward
Another concept that New Zealanders haven't quite grasped yet is window screens. When I first got here and noticed that none of the windows had screens in them, I thought yes! no bugs. Boy was I ever wrong! They have plenty of bugs, mosquitoes being one of them!! And yet, not one window has a screen on it to keep the bugs OUT! I have mentioned this one or twice to my Kiwi friends, and they don't even have a clue as to what I am talking about. Why would we need those? Isn't that a funny idea, wire mesh in windows so bugs don't fly in...
All in all, life in NZ is a lot slower than back home. Everyone here is much more relaxed. Even in classes; In English, I asked one of the lecturers how we were to know what was compulsory to read for each lecture since it was not clearly outlined in the syllabus and she looked at me like I had two heads! "Oh, just read over a few of the poems in the class reader that look like they go with the lecture topic for the day", she said to me.
I thought I would be ready for this...I believe I am pretty laid back person; most of the time I go with the flow, unless I am managing the flow, then I tend to stress out a little if the flow is not going right, but MOST of the time I am pretty relaxed.I mean I go to school in Burlington, VT, that has to give me some points right? And yet, I do stress over the fact that to get a coffee in the morning (before class) I have to wait at least 10 minutes when I'm the first in line!!
Now I know from experience (well not actual making experience, just more waiting in line at Starbucks experience) that it does not take a whole 10 minutes to make a vanilla mocha, but of course the barista (Josh, he actually is a really nice guy) needs to find out how my weekend was and what class I'm on my way to, and he also needs to tell me about the goings on in his life. So the time from when I put in my order to the point where he actually hands over the cup is a decent amount of time-- time that I might not have planned for on the first day of class and arrive a minute or two late for my first lecture (whoops). The coffee is really good over here though.
So I am adapting: I do the reading for English after the lecture, and I leave a few minutes earlier if I want a coffee before class, and I try to drag my heals when I walk because people are always commenting on how fast I walk. I don't mind it really though, it is actually quite nice to have to force myself to slow down. Who knows, maybe I will learn to care less about the little things that always get me going...wouldn't that be nice!
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