Autumn Red and New Car

I'm nearing the last stages of the thesis writing, and it's not a pleasant task to have to go through drafts you wrote years ago and update and edit them. It's not something we really teach or encourage undergraduates to do, then suddenly it's all you're doing at the graduate and professor level, because you have to get feedback and make edits on almost everything you write if you're looking to get published. In this environment, there are always seemingly more pressing things to occupy your attention (sometimes they are more important, sometimes not), so it becomes a challenge to stay focused and move through the additional research and writing. I'll get there eventually, but it will take a lot of effort.

Meanwhile, the mostly not-very-good summer has gone away and turned into a cold autumn. I can turn the heater up in my office, which is nice, but the walk to and from the parking lot is still cold and windy. The high next week is supposed to be 52F (11C) and rainy some of the days, so I'm not looking forward to those. The leaves changing color are still pleasant to see, although they really clutter up the car crevices and the parking lots and walkways everywhere. The garden only had a few crops manage to produce through the colder weather -- the cucumbers are still churning out a couple small one -- and my sunflowers had a brief but nice run for a couple weeks when it was nice out. They grow so tall!

We sold our car that had been pretty good to us since we bought it two weeks after we arrived because the auto shop said that it would have some major repairs coming up and wouldn't really be worth fixing since it had so many miles/kms on it. We sold it to a traveling American and it only took a week or so to get another one from an American backpacking couple who needed to get rid of theirs. It's a little 'newer' and has its own quirks, but we got it new tires and a tune-up, and hopefully it will last us for as long as we need it. It rides like a Cadillac compared to our old car though, which is a bit hard to get used to. And I've never had a white car before, but at least it's two-toned. There was a big spider living just above the driver's seat that came out while I was driving one night and it stayed there for several weeks, but we let it build its web back up and finally were able to get it out of the car and send it on its way into some plants.

A friend highly recommended I attend a spoken poetry evening with a famous Palestinian poet, Rafeef Ziadah. Admittedly, I don't know much about the issues, but she was so passionate and her stories were quite moving about the losses she and others have suffered. It is great to hear poetry performed live, and her musical accompaniment was also very good.

Rafeef Ziadah

Kraft Mac & Cheese (albeit freezer kind) finally makes it to NZ!! $5 though...

Can't resist clearance chocolate Easter eggs!

Autumn sunsets

Autumn and DIY Double Glazed Windows

Autumn is here. Time for falling leaves and chillier weather. The last of the garden plants are finished -- some nasty infestations of bugs got to some of them unfortunately. Electricity bills are rising. Winter is coming.

You know you’ve been in New Zealand a while when you accept that substandard housing is a fact of life and attempt to DIY double-glaze your windows with the plastic film and double-sided tape. I know it’s ridiculous, but windows are the main source of heat loss, and our bills were so high last winter, I figured it was worth a shot at trying to keep more of the heat in, at least in the front windows which are right next to the heat pump.

The advertisements for home improvement stores started having sections on the DIY kits, so we got a couple (the box of course unhelpfully didn't say that it included tape, so we ended up buying a separate roll). You put up the double-sided tape around the windows, cut out and fit the plastic film to the tape, and then gently blow-dry it to make it taut. Wala – homemade double glazing. From the package instructions: "CONGRATULATIONS On choosing Stormguard Seasonal Double Glazing: Comfort and heat saving economy at a fraction of the cost of double glazing." Technically they are only designed to last one season, and when you factor in the time spent, they are definitely a pain to put up. Hopefully the cat doesn’t destroy all of our work! We also bought a frost cloth for some of the plants (before realizing the bugs had gotten to them) and a fabric thing to put under one of the outer doors to reduce the draught coming in under it. Here's hoping...

old, thin windows

cool mushrooms!

 

Limited edition Whittaker's chocolate "Jelly Tip" with raspberry jelly filling
inside a combination of white and milk chocolate (see cutaway of actual chocolate piece in picture).
It is very sugary but melds nicely!

China, High School, and Democracy in Disasters

I had some interesting conversations with some Chinese students about food and displays of affection. They had no idea about kids' menus in restaurants and picky eaters, so I told them about the problem of "latchkey" kids who come home to an empty house and pretty much make their own dinner and take care of themselves. This leads to them growing up on frozen food and things they can easily make on their own, like mac n cheese and spaghettios and breaded chicken nuggets. Or they get fast food several times a week and don't tolerate anything not on that kind of menu. The conversation arose as I was asking what kind of food a young Chinese child was being introduced to and she said it was the same things the parents were eating, like rice and such. I showed her some examples of kids' menus online so she could see what I was talking about. I also learned that the words tea and tofu originated in China. Regarding displays of affection, apparently it is not common for parents to hug/kiss their kids. The society is a lot more conservative than others, and the students said that they find it unusual how much affection is shown between families on Western tv and movies. As I reflect more on it, what is on tv and movies isn't necessarily the norm for a lot of Western families either, but it is the image we project to the rest of the world and how they think we all behave.

I spent two mornings as a tutor for high school students who were attending a week-long school camp at a nice resort called Living Springs over the Port Hills from Christchurch. It was very disappointing discovering that everything I've learned about the NCEA education system was largely true, with predigested assignments given to students without context or connection and no incentives for doing any better than the bare minimum to pass. Most of them could not even articulate basic ideas like what subjects they enjoy or do more than give plot summaries. I enjoyed teaching the 5-paragraph essay structure and helping out with talking through assignment guidelines and arguments. What was ridiculous was that the NCEA worksheets (which should be given to teachers, not students, because it has hard-to-decipher learning outcomes and policy things like the number of credits all printed right on the front) had errors themselves. You really shouldn't give students examples of things that have spelling and punctuation errors on them. Who created these materials anyway?

The Living Springs camp is nestled up in these hills

The view from Living Springs

The view coming down the road to go home

I substituted as a note-taker in a class on New Zealand politics, and it was really interesting to hear about the lack of democracy in disaster areas. Basically, politicians and governments use disasters to enact emergency powers and shut down discussion and debate. We watched a clip from Naomi Klein about her idea of "shock doctrine", where politicians quickly pass legislation that might be unpopular while people are still recovering from the shock of a disaster, either human-caused or natural. In Christchurch, the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA) was created after the 2011 earthquake to handle the recovery process, and it has a lot of power and is not elected, so people here are still living in an area with a suspended democracy. It was supposed to return power within a certain timeframe, but that seems to keep getting delayed.


There was an interesting lecture on China as a Great Polar Power, but it is based on unpublished research so we aren't allowed to discuss it. Suffice it to say, I didn't know about the recent Chinese movements near the Aleutian Islands and we might want to be concerned.

I can't understand why people are okay with sausages being served in white bread slices instead of buns. It's just not the same.

There were massive winds unlike even the worst ones we've experienced so far. Weather reports said there were gusts of 150-160 km/hr (90-100 m/hr). The glass in the window panes was shaking and it sounded like a massive storm. All kinds of things were blowing down the street.

We prepared and planted the garden with new seeds and are hoping for another successful year. I bought more strawberry plants to add to the existing bed, but everything else is starting from seed.

Garden Update

A year later, it is probably time for an update on the garden experiment in New Zealand. It was a big learning experience, especially for someone who was largely ignorant about food cultivation. Admittedly, it was enjoyable taking care of the plants and harvesting the fruits and vegetables. I never thought I would like this activity, but I am looking forward to doing it all over again in the upcoming season!

garden all planted with the raspberry seedling and existing rhubarb in the corner

the garden earlier in the season

the garden near the end of the season

We discovered that there is a large sink at one end of the garden bed, so what happened was some of the carefully placed seeds migrated from their neat rectangular patches and grew in what was supposed to be the walking path. And the weeds loved the fresh soil and fertilizer; it was a constant battle most weekends to keep them under control. I kept it organic so no weed killer.

The rhubarb that had been left by the previous occupants grew fast with mega leaves that had to be cut back often so as not to literally overshadow that whole corner. I couldn’t see much use for it in cooking besides making something sugary, so I left it alone. Plus, I am always worried about this plant because of its poisonous nature.

The silverbeet that must have been grown by previous occupants grew up all over the patch and did very well, although again, I didn’t want it and gave it away. It is a kind of bitter green leafy plant and why people pay for it in the stores, I’m not sure! Lettuce is much pleasanter.

The strawberry plants along the fence that I found from the previous occupants did pretty well for such little things, probably each giving out 5-10 berries. When berries are so expensive, it was great to have some free fruit!

Seeds We Planted:
Peas, corn, lettuce, cauliflower, zucchini, broccoli, tomatoes, watermelon, pumpkin, spinach, carrots, cucumber, and chili peppers.

Successes:

The butter lettuce grew fast and I enjoyed being able to pick leaves for fresh salads on the spot.

The spinach also grew fast and tall and we had to put up spikes to hold it. At first there were large leaves, but then they became small and harder to use.

The zucchini was probably the best producer of all, with dozens of zucchini (some really large) over the season. Too much zucchini!

The potatoes had huge growth above ground (probably because they were in the sink and receiving lots of washed-down nutrients and water). We got several small potatoes out of the ground.

The corn grew several tall stalks, taller than me, and produced a few yummy yellow corn cobs. Other cobs were only partially developed.

The tomato plants were late starters but produced dozens of little tomatoes that fell off the vine at a touch when they turned red. These plants had to be staked and attached to the trellis as well, they got so big.

The chili pepper plant chugged out a few slim green peppers that we used in salsas. It faced constant pressure from the sprawling tomato plants.

Not-so-successes:

The raspberry seedling stayed alive but never produced any fruit. Hopefully it will this next season.

The cucumber area was overrun by weeds, but since I didn’t know that they were weeds and not the cucumber plants, I let them grow huge before asking a neighbor if they were weeds. Only one cucumber managed to grow afterwards, and it was a sad, small, spiky one.

There was a plentiful number of carrots and the green tops were quite cute. However, the orange parts were so small with so many ridges where dirt clumped that it was difficult to clean them, cut them, and have any edible area left.

The peas took off but the pods were very small and suddenly the plants all started dying so I only had a chance to eat a couple. They later came back with tons of pods but they stayed small and never finished ripening.

The broccoli never produced so I don’t know what happened there. The other plants might have crowded it out too much.

The pumpkin plant grew rapidly and tried to take over the garden; it had to be cut back frequently. There were several pumpkins but they froze before we could figure out what to do with them.

The watermelon didn’t make much progress above ground before the pumpkin quickly took over its area. 

The cauliflower only started growing at the end of the season and produced a couple small heads, but they got really dirty and didn’t have much edible portion once I cut away the brown parts.

Outside the Garden:

The parsley, basil, and mint made more than we could possibly use. The jalapeño pepper plants produced a couple dozen small and medium peppers, which made for tasty Mexican dishes and super-spicy hot sauce. We are planning on growing a much larger batch this season because they are expensive to buy and usually only available canned at the grocery store.

Overall, gardening was a success as a learning experience and for giving us something to do outside away from the computers. I would listen to TV shows or TedTalks or music, and it gave me a reason to spend time in the sunshine. The best part is seeing the transformation of little sprouts into full plants with food to eat! The miracle of nature...

Hobbiton

We finally made it to Hobbiton. It was raining, cold, and muddy, unfortunately, but that's New Zealand. Unpredictable weather always. There were lots of hobbit hole facades and real fruit and vegetable gardens. I recognized some of my own plants there which was cool! Since we've watched the behind-the-scenes documentaries of the LOTR and Hobbit movies, there wasn't much new from the guide. We had the ginger beer (ginger ale soda) in the Green Dragon Inn and a chocolate chip cookie with lemon frosting. We would have appreciated a little more effort toward atmosphere on the tour, as listening to Girls Just Wanna Have Fun and other pop music on the bus ride to and from the set wasn't quite the movie soundtrack and experience we were expecting. They packed a lot of people into our group and the walkways aren't designed for that many people, so there was a lot of crowding (especially with us all using umbrellas). We plunked down a bit in the gift shop for some souvenirs and were on our way to Auckland.