Tags: China - 中国, Chinese - 中文, Competition - 比赛, New Zealand - 新西兰, NZ

We returned to New Zealand on the 16th of February. I’m writing this so late because my parents only just got broadband.

That is about as close as an apology you’re going to get.

We flew back to New Zealand the same way we flew to China, via Singapore Airlines. This time I ate only the fish, as I suspect the chicken was the cause of some stomach discomfit I suffered from while flying to China. On the flight from China to Singapore, I HAD THE WINDOW SEAT! I took some photos through the dirty window, go ahead and waste some bandwidth having a look at them.

At the Singapore Airport, I tried to take photos of the guards again, but I was no more successful than last time. They are very heavily armed. hanging from the back of their belt they have a 9″ knife, on their leg they have a pistol, and in their hands they have MP5 sub-machine guns. They appear tough, and walk around in groups of three, eyeballing everyone.

Computer controlled

The flight from Singapore to New Zealand was alright, apart from the fact that my TV was broken. This meant I had to wait for Yvonne to go to sleep before being able to watch anything other than the guy two seats up, who complained constantly. He must have forgotten that he was in economy class.

About half-way through the flight, a flight attendant approached us and offered a US$75 gift voucher as compensation for my TV not working. We thanked him and accepted, and found some make-up in the catalogue that Yvonne liked the look of. We weren’t going to complain about the faulty TV, but we were extremely pleased with the service and understanding shown by Singapore airlines, and would recommend them to anyone considering air travel.

The first thing I noticed when I arrived back in New Zealand was that there are more fat people here than there are in China. The second thing I noticed was that the air was actually clean, having no discernible smell. The third thing I noticed was all the fat people. There really are a lot of fat people here, compared to China. Go for a run, people!

* * *

Shortly after we arrived at my parent’s house, we gave them the presents that we had brought back with us from China. Luckily, an exotic infectious disease was not among them. My parents enjoyed the presents, as can be seen in the photos.

Now I’m back at university. We’ve been staying at my parent’s house, in Otorohanga (45 minutes from Hamilton), and coming into to town with Garry every morning. This means we have to leave at about 7:30, and don’t get back until about 6. It is impossible for us to go to bed early, so we’ve been very tired this whole time.

I’m sitting four papers this semester: PSYC305, PSYC337, COMP316 and CHIN301. PSYC305 will be the best – Cognitive Neuroscience. The other psychology paper is all about psychological measurement, wooo. Chinese will be good, the class is small (four people), and all are motivated to learn. We agreed as a group that we will not be allowed to speak anything but Chinese during the class, as the goal of the Chinese language program is to produce students who can actually speak to real Chinese people. This requires that we practice speaking, and listening. COMP316 will be interesting but painful. I already have an assignment for this paper, and am procrastinating about it as we speak.

Tags: Flying, New Zealand - 新西兰

The day before consisted of packing, and then driving – predictably.

Mostly I played with the dogs or slept, while Yvonne and Mum did most of the work. A lot of the time I chased Silly Billy around the yard with a fishing net. This stopped when it became apparent that she had developed quite a phobia of said net – Mum works for SPCA you see, limiting ‘play’ options significantly.

I did help, a little, when someone caught me before I could slip away.
The day before consisted of packing, and then driving – predictably.

Mostly I played with the dogs or slept, while Yvonne and Mum did most of the work. A lot of the time I chased Silly Billy around the yard with a fishing net. This stopped when it became apparent that she had developed quite a phobia of said net – Mum works for SPCA you see, limiting ‘play’ options significantly.

I did help, a little, when someone caught me before I could slip away.

I think the most fun Yvonne had on the way to AKL was riding the kiddie train, an experience most probably made more enjoyable because of the effects of her anti-motion sickness tablets. Mum said they made her feel ‘good’, which I think means the same as ‘high’. Neither Mum nor Yvonne vomited in the car though, a testament to the pills’ efficacy.

The worst part of the whole trip to Auckland was walking across the airport carpark because it was dark and I was scared. Luckily we had Gary with us, the ever vigilant protector. He warded off any scurrying nasties with his signature weapon, Smoke of Reeking +10.

I practiced my tourist poses while waiting in the departure check-in line. Picture 12 is an excellent example of why one simply must wear at least some reflective material at all times – how else will a casual viewer be able to pick you out in a photo if you have your back to the camera??

In a last minute panic, I couldn’t remember if I had the new episodes of Heroes on my laptop – what if they were on my portable HDD, inaccessible for the entire flight!? I checked, and phew, they were on the laptop. Turns out we didn’t even watch them. What a waste of precious time that was.

The departure form is one of those requiring the use of BLOCK CAPITALS, which I was never taught in school. BLOCK CAPITALS LOOK TOO MUCH LIKE SHOUTING, and I therefore avoid them if at all possible. This means that half-way through a word, I’m liable to switch back to normal case, meaning I have to screw up the form and start again. Evidence of this happening multiple times is clear. BLOCK CAPITALS ARE STUPID! Instead we should be simply required to WRITE NEATLY, MONKEY!

Note the mildy amusing colour of he depature gate – green.

Green for WOOO I’M LEAVING NEW ZEALAND!

It should probably be red, might convince more sacks of money (ooops I mean tourists) to stay and allow that nasty Otorohanga lady whose family owns three of the four shops on Maniapoto st, to accumulate whatever amount of money she would deem enough to bother donating to the local SPCA. Even the guy who works in the petrol station donated some money. Does he own three shops? I don’t know. I doubt it though.

Cheap.

Oh yeah, then we left New Zealand, in a Plane.

Tags: China - 中国, New Zealand - 新西兰