Garden City

Flying from Auckland, I arrived in a sheep-speckled Christchurch on a balmy Wednesday morning. After gathering my overweight, oversize, and excess luggage, I hailed a cab and enjoyed the moment of rest while the Ethiopian driver and I shared stories of how we ended up in this remote corner of the world. I tried to explain what America and New York were like and he told me what he liked best about Christchurch, which of course was the hiking.

As we approached the city by way of local, narrow roads lined with British-style cottages enveloped in vibrant, lush summer flowers and semi-tropical ferns, grasses and green plants, I felt like I was in some odd mixture of London, Cape Cod, and Northern California.

As we continued, I watched this suburban splendor turn to what approximated an urban landscape of Backpackers (hostels), boutiques, cafes, and street performers, yet still retaining the charm of the country. We wrapped around the River Avon, Haggley Park, and Cathedral Square--all hallmarks of a truly British city--and arrived at my new, sunflower-yellow home at 264 Gloucester at Barbadoes. Mike, my Kiwi landlord showed me to my room in the front of a one story, 100 year old cottage with a large window facing the street, bigger and perhaps brighter than any Manhattan digs I've ever had.

I live with three other Americans, a Canadian, and a Chilean. As a corner house, we share the backyard with two other homes of students and travelers from all over the world: Germany, Holland, Belgium, Ireland, and Canada. Each day, I meet a few more and learn about their various, exciting, and spontaneous lives. There are a handful of teaching students from Alberta, Canada , a couple from Austin, TX touring Australia and New Zealand before grad school, and various wanderers, artists, students, and vagabonds.

After dropping my bags, I waste no time and walk three or four blocks into the heart of the bustling little town. After arranging a bank account and investigating cell phone options, I head straight for the cafes, hoping to sample my first New Zealand meal and find my new favorite Hungarian Pastry Shop-like haunt. In one of the plazas, I take a seat in the shade out of the unexpectedly strong sun, and order a cappuccino, quiche and mixed greens. I hate to linger on this moment, but I'm obsessed with food--and with the problems and solutions to modern agriculture--and this first bite of New Zealand-made cheese from the milk of grass-fed cows, goats, and sheep was so fresh and rich and complex that I thought for a moment I could never leave this place.

Here, everything seems so pure, clean, and environmentally conscious. In addition to the meticulously kept home gardens that spill over teak fences and stone walls, every moment of the day--from the abundance of bikes, to the bio diesel-run buses, to the immaculate streets and verdant parks, right down to the cheese--is greener. New Zealand exudes life and renewal and gives me a drop of hope for our industrialized, polluted ways of life at home. It's paradise lost and maybe found again.

Today--a rainy, cool, and gray Saturday--I graduate from a pedestrian to a biker as I bought my powder blue, 3-speed, 1975 Raleigh bike, complete with basket, bell, saddle bag, and a back-peddle brake. I had contacted this bike hobbyist through the buy/sell/exchange paper, and spent a few hours at his home, which is littered with frames, wheels, chains, seats, and all sorts of bike parts (I think to his wife's dismay). He and his rusty-haired and freckled family helped me mix, match, and outfit the perfect set of wheels for my commutes to the Uni and around town. In one week, after I return from Wellington, my bike will be shined, fixed, and customized to my kitschy specifications.

Speaking of food, I had my first of many lamb at a dinner with the other Fulbrighters based in Christchurh. The three other girls--one PhD candidate and two college grads--are performing environmentally related projects--eco-tourism in the mountains, farmers' attitudes towards genetically modified crops, and using biotech to engineer medicine into foods--all of which I'm very excited to learn more about. Most importantly, we all are eager to get out and do some serious hiking. Tomorrow, since it is rumored that the sun will make an appearance, the four of us will be going to the beach. I'll start putting my cameras to use and check in again before I head off to my Fulbright orientation in New Zealand's windy capitol: Wellington.

Cheers!
D