Robert (New Zealand) - Autumn

It's starting to feel like fall here in New Zealand. It's getting dark earlier, the days are starting to have that autumn feel, and some of the trees are starting to change (well the introduced European trees are changing, natives don't, but they're pretty much all gone here). We've also started to get rain more often and even a thunderstorm or two (It's been far too long).

We've been wrapping up our time in Christchurch. The last two weeks or so have been regular class schedule. We went on a few field trips to local businesses with positive environmental policies including a metalworking factory that's recycling water, a couple clothing manufacturers with sustainable practices (and got to meet the New Zealander of the Year who runs one of them), and a dairy farm that's using a 'digester' to generate power off the manure from its cows. Probably the most inspiring visit though was a newly started industrial waste reclamation plant that boasts the ability to reclaim for reuse or recycling, 80% of commercial or industrial waste that would otherwise go to landfill. The guy responsible for starting it is brilliant and ambitious. The plant has only been operational for two months and he's already looking into building two more. His ideas for changing how we deal with waste range from powering the plant off the waste it collects (with virtually no emissions), to using crushed glass to help wine grapes grow, to using algae to simultaneously treat waste water and create biofuel. As long as the landfill company doesn't overpower his business/strong-arm him out of the way (yay waste management mob-ties) you really get the sense that he could be on the forefront of completely changing how we think about consumption and waste. Even more interesting, none of it is really done out of environmental ethic, it's all about common sense and is quite profitable.

Over the weekend we finally went to a rugby game. The home team, the Canterbury Crusaders, are the best in their league. A large proportion of the team also plays for the national team, the All Blacks. The game was a lot of fun. Rugbys a beautifully brutal game and I like the flow of it. We did our part as cheering fans (or obnoxious tourists, take your pick), made a good share of semi-inappropriate crusade jokes, and watched the home team kill the Lions something like 31-6.

Shane and Bryan's rap is up on youtube.
http://nz.youtube.com/watch?v=lFWCxtzaR0I
The video contains footage from around Christchurch, Routeburn, the West Coast excursion, a really bad Maori reenactment we went to and more. Check it out if you want a laugh, or just to be confused by inside jokes.

Classes and our service learning placements are pretty much over now. I did my finals today. Tomorrow is our last class day at the University of Canterbury. There are just a few loose ends of academic work to tie up and then I'm done with that. Wednesday we're headed up to the north of the South Island to do a kayaking/hiking trip in Abel Tasman National Park as a capstone to the program. Upon getting back we'll have a final celebration dinner and Earlham College New Zealand Semester 2008 will be done. After that it's a week of travel down south with some of the other students who are staying longer, then a week of travel with my father when he comes over, and then back to the states.


Things I have been appreciating:
-The Bog (Irish pub) always playing my favorite songs when I walk by at night. First Revelate and then Fisherman's Blues. It's quickly becoming a replacement for the iPod I left in the states.
-Eccentric bus drivers. Some blast blues music, some sing opera as they drive, some pat patrons on the head as they depart.
-Guest lecturers unwittingly mentioning topics that are inside jokes in our group and the snickering that ensues. Poor guest lectures don't know what's going on.
-When CNN international anchors say: "looking a little bit closer, lets broaden this out"
-Pints. 2 pint jugs might be more cost effective, but I love a good pint glass.
-Standing on the Port Hills just south of the city, looking out over Lyttelton Harbor, across the bay and being able to see my wwoof farmstay all the way over on the Banks Peninsula.