Dear Grafton, Why So Grave?

Now that I've become fully-adjusted to living in the future (I am a man of Philip K. Dick-ian proportions), I suppose I can tell you a little about the area of Auckland that I'm familiar with.

My flat is in Grafton, which is one of the oldest parts of Auckland because of the hospital that was built in the mid-1800's. This means that if ghosts are hanging out in Auckland, I'm at ghost-ground-zero! Or, more appropriately, it means that if I trip on something and fall on my face, at least the hospital is nearby!

I didn't really notice the relative age of Grafton compared with other parts of Auckland until I crossed the Grafton Bridge (a really old bridge over the highway that is part of my path to the University). It's a pretty normal bridge until the very end, when all of a sudden it's a bridge over an old graveyard. And the graveyard is literally in the middle of inner-city sprawl. It's pretty bizarre. Here are some pictures of the graveyard. Picture skyscrapers 100 feet away and you'll get the picture.






Here's some Kiwi slang I've picked up:

"Take-away" = To Go
"Olds" = Parents
"Pongo" = Smells Bad

There's a complete sentence there, I know it!

My life is still in the organization stage. I have been meeting lots of people--my residence is pretty much full of international students. This means I've been learning lots of important cultural information, like what the Ninja Turtles were called in Peru (Tortu-Ninja, apparently).

I've been reading a ton and understanding a little. Here's a pretty awesome quote from Thomas Merton I came across (It's from The Seven Storey Mountain):

"The logic of worldly success rests on a fallacy: the strange error that our perfection depends on the thoughts and opinions and applause of other men! A weird life it is, indeed, to be living always in somebody else's imagination, as if that were the only place in which one could at last become real!"

Also, here are some good lyrics by my man, The Boss:
"Is a dream a lie if it don't come true, or is it something worse?"

Beauty, Lame Birds, Brain-Busting Books, and Meat Pies.

Snake Eyes here. I'm finally getting acclimated to Auckland, which means I'm not running into everyone on the sidewalk and I look right instead of left when crossing the street (trust me, I've almost been hit like six times). The last couple of days have been full of clouds and rain, so I took full advantage of today's sunshine and walked around my area of Auckland all day. My legs are going to be Chuck-Norris-strong by the time I obtain my Masters. Be prepared for lots of slow-motion roundhouses.

The following are some pictures from the park that is right by my flat. It's called "The Domain" and it is a place of peace and beauty.




When I was sitting on a bench for a bit, the white bird in this picture came to keep me company. You can't really tell (due to my less-than-stellar photography skills) but he only had one good leg while the other was shriveled and hanging limply from his body. You should have seen him move, though. I was silently cheering him on when I should have been reading.






Speaking of reading, I met with the head of my program and we had a discussion about what authors I'm currently reading and what I am interested in. Based on this discussion she made me a personalized list of reading materials so I can begin my research. I have been trying to work my way through a particularly dense book of philosophy that includes sentences like:
"The paradox of the last phrase (or of the last silence), which is also the paradox of the series, should give x not the vertigo of what cannot be phrased (which is also called the fear of death), but rather the irrefutable conviction that phrasing is endless."
What?
Here is a visual aid as to what is happening to my brain. Pretend Steven Segal is the book, and my brain is the dude with the knife.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8uIdYpImHY&feature=related
I'm being taken to the blood bank by this stuff!

Oh yeah, and I had a meat pie courtesy of a cool Kiwi I met named John. He insisted meat pies are about as Kiwi as it gets. It was a giant pastry shell stuffed with minced meat, gravy, and cheese, smothered in ketchup. I'll probably digest it by the time I'm returning to the states.


Edit: So I just found out that the Auckland Domain lies mostly in the crater of the Pukekawa volcano. How cool is that?!?!

19-02-09: Everything's N00B!

Welcome to yet another attempt by me, Travis aka Snake Eyes aka DragonFlashLightningFoot, to keep a blog of semi-daily happenings. This time, I'm in New Zealand! My year will be full of the following swashbuckling adventures:

Travis Vs. Masters in Creative Writing from the University of Auckland
Travis Vs. Writing a Novel
Travis Vs. Picking up some Slang
Travis Vs. Listening to lots of The Boss

Since I just arrived yesterday after 30+ hours of cramped air travel, I figure the first adventure I will fill you in on is Travis Vs. The New Home.

I am living in a furnished student apartment in an area of Auckland called Grafton, that I've already discovered is full of really old cemetaries, lots of good coffee shops, and great food. Here are some pictures of my new room for a year (I'm still not sure that it compares to the basement).

Here is a view of my new quarters. Yes, the bedding was provided free of charge, and Yes, I think it came from a hotel that went out of business. You can't tell from this picture, but the color scheme is essentially sea greeen and cream. Yes, I am living in the 1970's dorm. I love it!










Here is a picture of the front wall. I have my own fridge, which currently is holding a bottle of weird champagne I got for free on my flight from Fiji. You can also see a cord trailing into the distance. I only have 4 outlets and way more appliances, so right now it gets kind of crazy, in a sci-fi way.






This is a view of my desk/bookshelf. In case you can't tell, I am bookending my books with five king-size cartons of Rainbow Nerds. Thanks King Family!









This is my bathroom. I totally forgot to bring towels, so this morning I walked to "The Warehouse" which is like Walmart NZ style. I think the tan goes well with the sea green, don't you?!









This is a picture of my "back yard" from my window. My neighbors John and Ola are excited because it is a great window to put speakers against if there is ever a backyard BBQ or shindig or the NZ equivalent. Yesterday a cat plopped down outside and watched me unpack. I tried to go talk to her, but she wasn't having any of it. I need to work on my suave-ness when talking to the ladies, I guess.








Last, but definitely not least, here is the artwork that ties the whole place together. It is a painting that was given to me by Maddie King as a going away present. It's above my bed to remind me that no matter how much I get stressed over all the intensive school stuff, things will always be all right. It's like my own slice of Miyagi.







So that's the place. I came, I saw, I kicked some butt. I will keep you posted on further adventures. But let me leave you with one of my first NZ lessons. Just like driving, walking is done on the left side of the sidewalk. I was a little dense to this at first and it looked kind of like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zx3m4e45bTo

Until next time,

Snake-Eyes