New Zealand Like Scotland Only Further

I just realized that in the post so far, I have not said much or any on the city of Dunedin or the where I am living. I thought this title, taken from a Flight of the Concord's poster, is quite appropriate.

Dunedin was originally settled by the Scots. In fact, Thomas Burns (nephew of the poet Robert Burns) founded the city with the intent on naming it Edinburgh, after its sister city in Scotland. However, this was foreseen to bring problems and it was renamed "Down from Eden" or Dunedin. Of course, the natives, known as the Maori, lived here long before the European arrived, but I will not go into that history.

Dunedin, located on the coast, is the second largest city on the Southland and was originally quite Presbyterian/ Anglican with a economic focus on sea trade and agriculture. However, after the Gold Rush, there seemed to be a rise in secularism, which continues and grows today. Otago was the first university in New Zealand, founded 140 years ago. It is also one of the best for medical/ scientific pursuits -- basically where all the doctors come from. The school is pretty much the center of the city, economically and geographically. Since over one-third of the population here are students, most everything revolves around students. A cop asked/said to me once that students seem to be able to do whatever they want here. Drinking is often out of control, with couch burnings and random crowds of guys walking down the street with no underwear on, though that is not a normal occurrence.

The first thing people will ask you if you say you live in Dunedin is what street you live on. Castle and Leith are well-known throughout the country for their partying. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, I live far away from the partying (though not that far) on Dundas street. I am also quite lucky to be living in a manageable flat. Walking past other students' flats (flats = apartment), I am amazed that a person can live in there. The phrase that comes to mind is when the x-file team walks into Moe's on the Simpsons and says, "Man alive there are.... men alive in here". Essentially all flats have no central heating and follow the way of other buildings in New Zealand with no insulation and single paned windows. A local said to me that if it dropped to -10ºC in the winter, the government would have to institute different building codes because many people would die. Obviously, that has not happened. However, it does get quite cold here. Space heaters are common but I lose track counting the electrical units in my head (i.e. electricity is quite expensive and space heaters literally suck the ions from the outlet).

Despite the cold, the flat is quite nice. I live with two other girls, one a kiwi and the other an exchange student from England. Both are nice, barring the more than occasional leaving of unclean dishes in the sink. I think that I am blessed to be living girls though because they are not load, slightly more clean, and do not like my food so there is no threat of it being eaten. Although I feel as though we have ended the "honeymoon period". Some head butting is starting to occur.

As for culture, it is much the same as America, except for a few differences. Everyone has their faux pas but apparently it is the cool thing for guys to show more than a little leg, wearing sandals or jandals, and a ratty shirt. The more leg, the more manly for braving the cold. For the ladies, showing a little more leg is necessary but considering it is really cold, you wear stockings, almost always black. Then you must wear a black, Kathmandu downjacket. Everyone either wears converse or those really old toms. Scarves are popular for both genders. Haircuts vary but guys usually have mullets, rattails, mullet+rattails, mohawk, and countless variations. The food is much the same except there are more lamb dishes and different kinds of fish. There are the occasional British relics, like the mince pies. The music seems a bit outdated. Often I hear '80-like music. "Friends" still airs on the TV, etc. The final thing I will mention is the phone. DSL internet is a new thing here still and texting/ cell phones are also a recent addition. No one calls each other but everyone texts, which becomes frustrating when you have more to say than you feel like typing. I believe this is mostly due to the high phone rates here and the cheaper texting options. Still, it is a marked difference from the states. Literally everyone texts. Even the old people!!!

That is a little taste of this part of the world. They laugh at us Americans, yet they try to emulate us (in some respects).