Settling into Wellington

I thought it was time for a short update and some photos from down under. As of tomorrow (which is the day after tomorrow for those of you on the other side of the dateline!) I will have been here for three packed weeks. Mostly I’ve been getting to know Wellington. The city reminds me of a mini-San Francisco, complete with vertical streets, a cable car, and earthquakes. There were a couple of quakes the week before I arrived, but so far I haven’t felt any.

I started out with two weeks of orientation – the first organized by Fulbright NZ for all incoming grad students, mid-career academics, and the three Axford fellows (my group of policy wonks). It was a crash course in NZ history, politics, and Maori culture. We learned the basics – including the traditional Maori greeting, “the hongi” of pressing noses.

All of this prepared us well for an overnight at a Maori community on the outskirts of Wellington. The marae (sacred area in front of the meeting house) and meeting house were an urban version of what you might have seen in Whalerider. We went through the welcoming ceremony (powhiri), including singing Maori songs, speeches and a hongi line. Then we were in for a big slumber party with all 30+ of us sleeping on mattresses in the meeting house. The high point was the chief telling us stories about the community, Maori legends, and his ancestors as we fell asleep.

The last day of orientation we went for a tramp (kiwi for hike) on Kapiti island, a bird sanctuary off the coast north of Wellington. We got dive bombed by aggressive parrots on the way to the top, but the views were worth it. Much of Lord of the Rings was filmed around Wellington, the views were dramatic as expected.

The second week was orientation at “TPK,” the Ministry of Maori Development, which is hosting me for the next 6 months. I joined an orientation with other new employees which started with another powhiri and hongi line (demonstrations upon request when I return). Everyone at TPK has been incredibly welcoming and I’m learning a lot there. It is unique among government agencies because of the Maori connection – I’m picking up words here and there, and nearly every TPK event (arrival, farewell, department staff meeting) includes a musical interlude of some kind. I've spent the last week meeting as many people inside and outside of TPK as possible, brainstorming about how to focus my work over the next months.

Other high points have been a 7km “Run Around the Bays” in perfect weather last weekend with 8,000 Wellingtonians, learning about cricket at the NZ-OZ one day event (Australia and NZ are ranked 1 and 2 in the world now, so it doesn't get better than that), the last hour of the 8 hour game was definitely the most exciting!, and a road trip to the national haka competition and festival last weekend up in Palmerston North. The festival included Maori performing groups from all over the country performing the haka (war dance) along with more peaceful numbers, and performances by other indigenous groups. My favorite were the Easter Islanders.

And I bought a car at a used car auction last week – without a test drive! It’s a 1992 Mazda and so far seems to be in good enough shape to last through July. I’m renting a cottage in Thorndon – the Adams Morgan of Wellington. It’s a funky neighborhood with lots of restaurants, second hand clothing and antique stores, a 7 minute walk downhill to the office and more like 15 min uphill home.

For photos: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/share/view?i=EeANGzNixcMWjDpA&open=1&x=1&sm=1&sl=1