Monthly Archive for September, 2007

WOW

Published
by
antonyfoster
on September 30, 2007
in new zealand and wellington
. 0 Comments

tonight i went to annual wow - world of wearable art - awards show

[update - currently a 45 minute video of the highlights of this years show are available on-line]

the show was started by sculptor suzie moncrieff in 1987 to showcase the work of local nelson new zealand artisans. it has grown beyond what nelson can host and how sells out 2 weeks in wellington. it started with a vision of models wearing the art and has evolved into what they wear *is* the art.

no way i can give it justice but mentally combine a nyc fashion show, cirque du soleii, a moby concert & the ballet and you’re close. the show programme describes it as mardi gras meets haute coulture at a peter gabriel concert directed by salvador dali.

a year in advance the sections (categories) for the next year are announced. this year they were dreams (children’s section), south pacific, shades of white, man unleashed, illumination illusion, avant garde and open.

the show cast kicks off each section with a 5 to 10 minute performance by the show cast tied the section’s theme. these performance were worth the ticket but were just creating the mood for the main attractions. this would segue to the appearance best entries for that section. sort of like a fashion show in that they would come out one after another but they well integrated into the performance by cast. each section had the 20 best and some were amazing and some seemed to me to be trying to hard - but that’s art, right?

a bit more on the cast performances. they were all great but the one for the south pacific section was visually stunning and i admit a bit thought provoking. the lights come up a bit on the dark stage to see 10 maori men and women from the 1800s. in from the side slowly comes 10 settlers in the full victorian garb. you can immediately see the stark extremes of their worlds. the maori clearly frightened but being proud and brave. the settlers hesitantly entering a very foreign world, particularly in contrast to their ultra refined victorian manners and dress. it made me appreciate how extreme that was vs. what we’re doing. a much greater journey (3 months in a ship at sea - no in seat meal service), arriving in a strange work (they did not arrive on NZ1 at auckland international) without a sense of where their next meal would come from (no turkish takeways yet although probably a kfc…) and a unknown indigenous population. the scene had the settlers presenting the maori with gifts including a dress for the queen and suit for the king. one of the settlers then takes a photo of the maori king and queen using a camera and flash pan. the fantastic visual here was as the flash went off the stage went dark and the backdrop was replaced with the expected photographic image - but the image was of the real maori king and queen from the original settlement. during the rest of the south pacific section they displayed stunning images of maori from the early settlement days.

now on to the some of the entries.

Sheep Wow 326055
“rattle you dags” (left) from auckland won best in show, best new contributor and the south pacific section.
“prehistoric princess” from alaska won the weta (peter jackson’s creative studio is located here in wellington) award the avant garde section.

Wow 326038
“flowers of the sea” from australia won the illumination award

Wow 326064 Wow 326040
“shop til you drop” from nelson, was my choice for the shades of white section. made entirely from used plastic shopping bags
“grim furry tales” from auckland won the children’s section

excusez-moi ?

Published
by
antonyfoster
on September 27, 2007
in new zealand and wellington
. 0 Comments

last night i was walking up cuba street, passing the bucket fountain when i was forced to do a double take. there was a mother talking to her son in french. nothing odd there. the startling part was that his pants were down around his ankles, he was up on the ledge surrounding the fountain and he was peeing into the water.

quelle horreur! what made the mom think that that was ok?

well - now that i think of it one of more memorable disney moments was in the french section of epcot. no debate that they did a great job recreating the feel of a french street. and with the sights, the music and the smells i suppose you can suspend believe for a bit and fell that you’re there. so there i sit at one the tables in the photo below, enjoying my pastry from the patisserie when i notice the mum pulling down the pants of the toddler and trying in french to coax him to pee in the gutter - the fake gutter on the fake parisian street in the french section of epcot.

did she not understand that no matter how good a job they did, disney is just make believe and that you’re not really in france and french social customs do not apply?

and it’s not like this is an emergency and there aren’t clearly marked bathrooms toilettes every 100 feet.

or (i’m stepping in here for an unnamed boston-617 friend who has offered her own disney conspiracy stories) perhaps the mum and the kid were actually on the disney payroll and all part of the effort to create an authentic french experience?

Epfrancestreet Mid

banking circa 1957

Published
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antonyfoster
on September 22, 2007
in moving and new zealand
. 0 Comments

Journals Ohq 104.4 Images Meissner Fig03B

5 major bank chains here in nz - westpac, bank of new zealand, national bank, anz and kiwi bank. surprisingly only kiwi bank is nz owned - the rest are australian. my bank is westpac and so far it has been a great experience. when you walk into a branch you have the following options:

  • tellers for the basics
  • inquires desk for questions and simple stuff like reseting a pin.
  • bankers at desks for opening accounts, changing an address, etc.
  • migrant bankers specializing in helping new migrants get settled.
  • personal bankers for an ongoing contact point at the bank.

my personal banker is ilana. earlier this week i walked in to ask about getting a credit card.

(at the inquires desk) “hello, is ilana available?”
“if you can wait just a moment i’ll see if she is available”
(ilana approaching) “hello antony, having a good day?” (i’ve only met ilana twice before and she knows my name. i know her’s only since i’ve put her card in my wallet)
“great. i’d like to apply for a credit card”
“i can help you with that. let’s step back to my office and i can get you setup. what did you have in mind for a credit line?”
“no strong desire - i need it to be enough to cover an occasional trip back to the states for me and my partner”
“a gold card would be best for that since it provides free travel cover. is 10,000 acceptable? we can increase it if you later find the need.”
“10,000 should be fine”
“great - then if i can just get a few details on this application we’ll be done.”
the application is an oddly empty form that asks for name, birth date, mother’s maiden name and signature.
“sorry to ask, but can i see your your driver’s license. i need to tick that i’ve sighted some id. thanks. that’s it. i’ll get your card out to you by the end of the week.”

out the door in under 10 minutes.

the travel insurance coverage is actually what was driving me to get a nz credit card. nz coverage only provides limited emergency care when out of nz. using the credit card for travel purchases will provide full coverage when we’re on holiday (vacation).

news flash - i like it here

Published
by
antonyfoster
on September 21, 2007
in new zealand and wellington
. 0 Comments

another great day.

some highlights

  • fine weather with plenty of sunshine and warming temperatures. my foot is feeling better each day and the walk to work was easy. living and working in wellington (the humble 617 of new zealand) is great. my car moves out of its spot maybe one a week.
  • today was curry club. every two weeks a group of eds employees and alumni get together for lunch. they always go to “roti” - a great family run malaysian & indian cafe (that happens to almost straight across the street from my apartment). the owners know all of the regulars and have their drinks waiting for them by the time their coats are off.

Img 1995-2

  • on the walk home i stopped for a few staples at the grocery. “new world” is one of the national chains here (the only kiwi owned chain they will point out). until last week i had done all my shopping at a large (kiwi large) store of theirs down near the museum hotel - about a mile from my apartment. with my foot on the injured list i had to find something else. almost every block in the cbd has one or two small dairys/groceries/superettes but that didn’t seem like a good plan. i had noticed that new world had a tiny storefront just 2 blocks from my apartment but had always dismissed based on it’s size, assuming it must be more of a quickie mart. but since i wasn’t in a position to be choosy i stopped in. holy molly - behind the tiny storefront they have hidden a full sized grocery story. it had everything the bigger store had (although in smaller quantities) and no surprise it is bustling with the after work crowd. a great find.
  • the line must have been nearly 50 long when i joined but they have 10 checkouts and a dispatcher at the head of the line insuring that folks are quickly shuffled to the next available cashier. a small thing but the dispatcher has a bucket of candy (”sweets”) that she offers to you when while you wait for your turn. a nice touch that can’t cost the company even a penny but makes you feel like your business is appreciated and they care for their customers.

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  • after droping off the groceries i decided i was feeling good enough to walk around a bit. returned to a fantastic place i found several weeks ago called “vintage”. it’s hidden a bit down an alley near te papa. great atmosphere and decor. friendly staff and good music. when i sat down one of the bartenders says “budvar?” (that’s what i had when i was there last).

Vintage3-1 Vintage2-1

i’m enjoying my budvar, reading the day’s paper, and having a good chat with the 2 barkeeps. one of them is getting out some fresh mint. it smells so strong that i look up from my paper. “smells great, huh?” says the bartender? i mention that the mint reminded me how much i i like mojitos - but only if there made properly by a good bartender with great ingredients. it is one of the drinks - like margaritas - that can either be fantastic or horrible depending on how it is made. he asks if i have ever had a calpirinha - similar to a mojito but one that his likes much better. i admit that i’ve never heard of it, but that i trust his recommendation and it will give me something to look forward to for my next time back. he says he’s confident that if i try one i’ll come back for more, so he makes one and serves it up on the house. it was great and he’s right that i’ll ask for one next time i’m back.

How to Make the Perfect Caipirinha

  • after vintage i stopped at one of the many turkish kebab joints for some dinner. most of similar with a middle eastern decorated interior and bad turkish music videos playing. i got a lamb kebab and turkish bread to go (gigantic portions, NZ$7) and headed back to the apartment.
  • the streets on the way home are bustling with the full friday night crowd. goth kids. office workers out after work. two sets of street performers out on manners street. a punker with a pink mohawk twirling flaming batons while his friend plays speed metal on a guitar and amp. further on down the street a guy in his 40’s wearing muck books, retro pants, turtleneck and scarf playing on a tiny electronic keyboard while his mate was on a full set of drums. actually they were quite good. i stayed for a bit before heading home to eat my kebab.

iggs for brickfast

Published
by
antonyfoster
on September 20, 2007
in new zealand
. 0 Comments

actually did have eggs for breakfast but that’s really just a lead in to my experiences with language here in nz. overall i think the accent is much softer than the uk or australia, but there are two things that jump out to me - the short e has been replaced with the short i and the frequent use of rising inflection at the end of sentences (high rising terminal to lingo geeks).

Img 1507

the short e -> short i shows up all over in places like yes (yis), seven (siven) and eggs for breakfast (iggs for brickfast). easy to understand but it does catch the ear.

the agent at the auto insurance agency (aa) that was helping me through the process had an exaggerated rising inflection that trailed off at the end of each sentence.

  • “so i’ll need a note from your us insurance company stating that you’ve had insurance for over 5 years?…
  • and then when you get your nz drivers license you can just let me know and that will lower your deductible?…”

is she asking a question?

two other things that stand out are the frequent use of “cool” (kewhl) and “mate”.
cool is a used where “ok” might be otherwise be used - “i’ll have a flat white and an apple juice”, “cool”.
mate is often used in the first exchange between 2 males, even if they don’t know each other:

  • guy working the counter at the diary - “how you doin’ mate?”
  • me “just fine mate”

the language bit that i’m struggling with the most is actually the dates. nz like much of the world uses a DD/MM/YY format vs. the MM/DD/YY format used in the states. does seem like it is more consistent but i still have to do the translation in my mind each time. the kicker is when they verbalize a date. what would be “the 11th of october” or “october 11th” in the us is “the 11th of the 10th” here. that will take a bit to “take on board” (another common phrase here)

99.94% pure

Published
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antonyfoster
on September 19, 2007
in new zealand and wellington
. 0 Comments

ok - so maybe nz is not 100% pure.

wednesday night after work i had an appointment to see home for sale so i walked to my rented spot (about 5 blocks from my apartment) and off i went. on the way home i picked up some takeaway (food to go) and head back to my spot. turn the corner and - doh - someone is in my spot.

it’s 7:50, i’ve got hot food sitting in the car, there is no on street parking this time of night (my spot is right off of cuba street, the place the kool kats come to eat, drink and relax), and my foot still hurts so i’m not keen on walking the 5 blocks back to my apartment only to have to return before morning to move my car (into its hopefully then empty spot) before the meters take effect at 8 am.

what to do?

i’m hoping that whoever is in my spot will just be a few so after a bit of hunting i find a spot on the street and find a cafe to have a beer and read the paper. an hour later i walk back and unfortunately no change. time to call the tow truck.

after another 30 minutes the truck arrives. in the “what’s really the point of car door locks and alarms?” category the tow truck driver has unlocked and disabled the alarm on the car in under 30 seconds.

Images Carthief

a few minutes later and he’s off and i’m into my spot. dinner is now stone cold. i’ll get to try out that fancy toaster oven that i’ve got back at the apartment.

total time hit - 2:10.

i’m going with the assumption that it must have been a tourist - no wait - a non freedom loving evil doer set on harming your children that has taken refuge in we’re-afraid-of-nuclear-weapons nz.

the bigger the mess

Published
by
antonyfoster
on September 18, 2007
in new zealand
. 0 Comments

the nz police and land transport nz (their dept of transportation) are sponsoring a series of attention grabbing safety ads - all with a shocker at the end.

They Drink We Die 2-1

Seat Belt

high rise is my favourite - high-rise

in the lawyers-gone-wild category ford motor company has filed suit to take this one off the air - death-lurks-around-corner. they claim that depicting a ford in the ad gives the impression that the car is not safe. sigh. firstly i’m quite sure that most kiwis are able to understand that the ad is just an ad (and that land mines do not actually pop out of the road based on your driving speed as depicted in the ad). secondly i don’t expect that many viewers focused on that the car was a ford - but given all the hubbub, they will now. lastly nothing like a gigantic american company filing suit against the nz govt to block a public safety ad. idiots.

plenty more - a new one runs about every two weeks to keep it fresh. some other favs:

  • under-pressure (i can totally relate to this one. being late and putting my life at risk for something dump like a project status meeting)
  • mate
  • indicator (another one that hit home. how many times have you grown impatient waiting to turn and finally pulled out when there really wasn’t enough room?)
  • same-cop
  • lure

make a postie happy - give them mail to deliver

Published
by
antonyfoster
on September 18, 2007
in moving, new zealand and wellington
. 0 Comments

i was having a few issues getting mail delivered (all mail gets delivered to a sister hotel and they didn’t know who i was and were returning it), and realizing that i’m likely to have several addresses in the next year i decided it would be best to get a po box and have a stable address that was all mine. there is a post office half way between the apartment and work so it’s easy to stop off for a quick check. 5 minutes and $190 later i’ve got a new home for my mail.

my address:
antony foster
po box 11377
te aro, wellington 6142
new zealand

i haven’t yet seen any postal vehicles other than bicycles and motobikes. in upper hutt i saw these 2 posties - one having an ice cream with his family and another zooming by on their bike.

Img 0412

now to answer some questions / concerns on how much it costs to send something to nz. details from usps.com below but 1lb will cost between $10.10 and $55.00 depending on if you have some time or “absolutely positively need it there overnight” (can’t happen actually given the dateline - minimum is 2 days).

an important restriction to keep in mind to avoid customs duties is that any “gift” under NZ$100 is allowed duty free.

in the facts & figures category i can set the record straight on some other numbers i’ve heard:

  • flight from los angeles to auckland, new zealand is 12 hours and 45 minutes. the return journey (with the wind at your back) is under 12 hours. the flights between auckland and wellington are 45 minutes and take off every hour.
  • distance from los angeles to auckland is 6,499 miles
  • new zealand is part of the oceania, australasia, australia or zealandia continent depending on who you ask.

Us To Nz Postage-2

Us To Nz Postage 2

it’s a match!

Published
by
antonyfoster
on September 17, 2007
in new zealand
. 0 Comments

most daily financial transactions in nz are made by eftpos (electronic funds transfer at point of sale). very similar to a debit card that is tied to your bank account and has a pin. unlike a credit card you don’t sign and there is no minimum purchase - i’ve seen folks use them for under $1. i can’t think of the last time i saw someone other than a tourist use a credit card for a store purchase. when i first got here i vowed i would use cash for anything under $20 - using the eftpos just seemed lazy. my new limit is $5. haven’t used a credit card once.

when it is time to pay the cashier almost always says “eftpos?” when you say yes you then hand them the card that they swipe and then hand you a keypad for you to enter your pin. the display on the keypad says “processing” and then “accepted”.

Images Bs T Verifonevx510Big

*every* single time i see the display say “accepted” i think of the saturday night live sketch with the target (tuurget) cashier who is so excited when the customer’s signature matches the one on the card - “it’s a match!”. it takes all the restraint i can muster not to declare “accepted!” with the same enthusiasm.

Itsamatch-4
(click for video)

when i first arrived and signed up for my westpac “chequing” account i was surprised that they didn’t provide any cheques. they explained that for non retail transactions they are done electronically, usually with on-line banking. (a teller in a bank can do an electronic transaction for you if you can’t get on-line). so when i needed to pay for my parking space the company emailed me their bank details and i logged into my westpac account and sent them the cash.

westpac said they could provide me with cheques if i wanted and since i still expected that i would need them at some point so i asked for a box. they banker looked sideways a bit and said that cheques were issued 30 at a time. when i got my order i noticed that there is a government fee of $3 charged the first time a cheque is used to subsidize the old paper based system.

i’ve still got all 30.

“bonjour”, “ciao”, “HOWDY!”

Published
by
antonyfoster
on September 16, 2007
in new zealand and wellington
. 0 Comments

three immigrant encounters today.

first was a snack at a tiny french run crêperie on manners street - crêpes a go-go. french music playing, the family running the stand babbling en francais, and a tip jar that says “pretend you are in france and leave a tip” (tipping is very uncommon in nz). all very nice.

later in the day i stopped for a real italian pizza for dinner. plenty of good pizza in wellington, but some days i have exhausted my ability for new and welcome something well known and comfortable - like an italian pizza. pizza pomodoro is a tiny place that i had walked by almost every day and finally decided it was time to give it a try. the pizza, the owner (massimo) and his brother did not disappoint. a great italian oven fired with local nz wood. the highlight was just listening to the two guys chatting in italian and laughing as i waited for my pizza - they were having a great time. no idea the context but at one point i hear “mama mia!” i almost laughed out loud.

but all good things had to come to an end. walking home with my pizza i’m waiting at the light to cross when two guys walk up and join the wait. both in their late 20’s. one a kiwi in typical nz business attire - black shoes and pants, blue dress shirt. the other is an american dressed in a us financial analyst power suit and, drum roll…. cowboy hat. it probably is just what grabs your ear but it seemed like he was shouting. ugh.

Images Massforhome

6F306B28Bb458D71C36E Tr-Glen In Cowboy Hat North Dakota
(with apologies to the probably nice dude in the random picture that i selected)