March 12th, 2008 Back home from New Zealand!

UPDATE: (4/5/08) I‘ve just refreshed all of the video clips in this post with bigger and clearer versions. Check out all my my hard work from the past two weeks!

I finally got back home from New Zealand on Monday, March 10th. It was a very smooth journey, and I can’t speak highly enough about Singapore Airlines. The planes were modern and comfortable, and the built-in video on demand system made the time fly by. We left Christchurch at noon on Sunday, then flew nearly 10 hours to Singapore. I measured time in movies and TV shows… “Okay, only two movies left…” This really helped! I would get up and walk around between shows, and I really enjoyed catching up on some films I hadn’t seen. While at Changi Airport I managed to get in a workout and a shower at a gym there. What a huge place that airport is! It’s a massive shopping mall. At 1 am we boarded our flight to Osaka. This was the hardest part of the trip because for us it was really 5 am! We had pulled an all-nighter, so once we got on the plane, everyone fell instantly to sleep. From Osaka to Toyama was a six hour bus ride, so by the time we got back at 3pm, it was the culmination of a 36 hour journey! Smooth and long… I took the next day off (yesterday) and got some rest.

Overall the trip was a great success. We had only a couple of minor problems, and they were dealt with quickly before they became bigger trouble. A couple of students didn’t get on quite well with their homestays, but that is par for the course. After a tough first week, my health improved a lot, and I started to really enjoy my time. I think I made the best of it, but I also spent too much money eating out. I couldn’t resist, as there were so many great restaurants to choose from.

During the mornings I worked on getting an article ready for (hopeful) publication in a language journal here in Japan, in addition editing videos of our afternoon activities. I still have a few more of those to go, but for now I’ll just post four of them. I don’t really appear much in them, but if you are interested in what I was up to, give them a look. They are not long and have been edited with short attention spans in mind:

Activity 2: Christchurch gondola
This was a very nice thing to do early on in our trip, as it gave everyone on our group a great overview of the entire area. Christchurch is on a plain that is right next to the Banks Peninsula, an area of land formed six million years ago by volcanic eruptions. After a short ride up a 500 meter hill, you can see the entire area. Very nice!

Activity 3: The Maori experience
One thing we learned on this trip was that New Zealand is a very young country, as countries go. It was settled in 1850 by folks from England. Of course they weren’t the first people on that land, the Maori were. At the Willowbank Wildlife Centre, on the outskirts of Christchurch, we could experience a bit of Maori culture by taking part in an interactive tour through a old-style village inhabited by Maori actors. They really brought the experience to life! We learned a lot, for sure.

Activity 4: Antarctic Centre
Did you know that Christchurch is considered the “gateway to Antarctica?” It’s true. Next to the airport they have this massive complex of offices where countries that have bases down there (USA, NZ, Italy, Japan, etc) work to prepare expeditions. Planes loaded with supplies and scientists take off from there all the time. To involve the public, they created this fascinating visitor’s center that is an excellent example of “edu-tainment.” It’s part academic lecture and part theme-park thrill ride. And there are penguins- lot’s of penguins! Very interesting, and lots of fun!

Activity 5: Horseback riding
This was a simple and relaxing activity- getting out into the countryside nearby Christchurch on the back of a horse. Personally I found the experience a bit boring, as I have ridden a horse before and wanted a bit more freedom to move where I wanted. However, almost all of our students had NEVER ridden before, so I was glad for the highly controlled (and safe) way the trek was handled.

Okay, so that’s it for now. I’m currently working on some more video clips, and I’ll get those posted when I’m done.

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