After two days of hot and humid weather, Palmerston North
finally cooled down with late afternoon showers yesterday, which alternated between
steady droppings of rain that made soft, pitter patter sounds on the roof and
drizzle throughout the night. The weather couldn’t seem to make up its mind. I thus
awoke at 6:30 this morning to birds singing and a strong island breeze.
Realizing I had to take the recycling and garbage bins to the curb, I stepped
out of the house and dragged all three to the end of the driveway, relishing
the way the breeze whipped my hair around this way and that. Last night, I
anticipated another humid and sunny day, but the sun hasn’t wanted to greet
Palmy residents today.
I spent Christmas alone housesitting for one of my supervisors. Not one to sit in the house all day (though I’ve been known to sit in my office reading for the large part of the day), I spent some of the gorgeous sun-filled afternoon outdoors, weeding out the competitive plants that seemed to have proliferated while I wasn’t looking. Later, I meandered into town and decided to peruse the list of upcoming movies at the Downtown Cinemas. Having given into my movie craving a few days before with “I, Anna”, a Charlotte Rampling indie, which cost me a whopping NZ$16.50, I began creating a mental list of movies to watch, an event that lasted exactly a minute.
The day was overall quiet, like a ghost town that was keeping residents hostage in their houses. The Sunday before had the same impression on me. No one milled about in the streets as they normally do, save for a few stragglers scattered on the grass in the Square just behind the mobile soft serve ice cream truck. I figured everyone was at church. Not seemingly a Christian place, I slowly learned that many people actually celebrate church day in this town. Although, I must say that perhaps, it should not be so surprising in light of the new information I acquire from documentaries on the telly that teach me about New Zealand’s conservative history. One example of the right-minded (in political terms) tendency of the parliament, I learned yesterday through a documentary broadcast on the Heartland channel on Sky TV that the Kiwi parliament imprisoned many peaceful protestors of World War II. Perhaps in response to the unwelcome attitude of the parliament, many decided to set up an organic, independent commune for pacifists, to which many people even today still gravitate. But, I was surprised to learn about New Zealand’s version of America’s “Red Scare” during the McCarthy era, that the Kiwi government would commit such a heinous breach of civil rights. During the “Red Scare”, hundreds of people were blacklisted and arrested for their association with the US Communist Party.
Still on Christmas Day, walking about the centre of town, I began noticing landmarks and features of the city that I hadn’t noticed as well before. I go to the City Library on occasion to have a coffee at the indoor café or to peruse the books that I want to read after completing the two I already have on loan, and I pass down this street a number of times. But, on this day, without the usual visual distractions of throngs of people, I noticed the number of quaint, independent coffee shops along this street called George Street, which is apparently highlighted in the Lonely Planet as the café centre of Palmerston North. I peeked into the cafe store windows, the Red Tomato, Cuba Café, and some others, the names of which I can’t remember to get a glimpse of the ambience. Each displays a variety of motifs and colours, reflections of the owner’s handiwork and personal taste.
Most of Christmas Day, however, as has been the case over the last several days since starting the housesitting task, I’ve sat at the kitchen table, surrounded by rows of windows and scenic backyards, reading journal articles and re-writing parts of my literature review. Slaving away is too mild a term for such a mundane task. My mind drifts in and out of my labour since chunks of the discussion about resilience, which I might have mentioned in another blog post, has been dedicated to discussing the food system, a topic I’ve covered in previous academic pursuits. But, just as I think I might pass out from the redundancy, I find something that adds some insight to the literary discussion as a whole. Luckily, I’m not scheduled to write the "Introduction" chapter, which is really my research framework, until March 1. I’m happy with the flow of my work, thus far, and am pleased with the emerging outcome of my review. I realize I owe much to my supervisor, who "lent" me her house for some two weeks because the sanctuary of living alone in a quiet neighborhood (even the barking dog next door renders me companionship) at the West End of the Square has given me the mental space to think through my literature review.
I spent Christmas alone housesitting for one of my supervisors. Not one to sit in the house all day (though I’ve been known to sit in my office reading for the large part of the day), I spent some of the gorgeous sun-filled afternoon outdoors, weeding out the competitive plants that seemed to have proliferated while I wasn’t looking. Later, I meandered into town and decided to peruse the list of upcoming movies at the Downtown Cinemas. Having given into my movie craving a few days before with “I, Anna”, a Charlotte Rampling indie, which cost me a whopping NZ$16.50, I began creating a mental list of movies to watch, an event that lasted exactly a minute.
The day was overall quiet, like a ghost town that was keeping residents hostage in their houses. The Sunday before had the same impression on me. No one milled about in the streets as they normally do, save for a few stragglers scattered on the grass in the Square just behind the mobile soft serve ice cream truck. I figured everyone was at church. Not seemingly a Christian place, I slowly learned that many people actually celebrate church day in this town. Although, I must say that perhaps, it should not be so surprising in light of the new information I acquire from documentaries on the telly that teach me about New Zealand’s conservative history. One example of the right-minded (in political terms) tendency of the parliament, I learned yesterday through a documentary broadcast on the Heartland channel on Sky TV that the Kiwi parliament imprisoned many peaceful protestors of World War II. Perhaps in response to the unwelcome attitude of the parliament, many decided to set up an organic, independent commune for pacifists, to which many people even today still gravitate. But, I was surprised to learn about New Zealand’s version of America’s “Red Scare” during the McCarthy era, that the Kiwi government would commit such a heinous breach of civil rights. During the “Red Scare”, hundreds of people were blacklisted and arrested for their association with the US Communist Party.
Still on Christmas Day, walking about the centre of town, I began noticing landmarks and features of the city that I hadn’t noticed as well before. I go to the City Library on occasion to have a coffee at the indoor café or to peruse the books that I want to read after completing the two I already have on loan, and I pass down this street a number of times. But, on this day, without the usual visual distractions of throngs of people, I noticed the number of quaint, independent coffee shops along this street called George Street, which is apparently highlighted in the Lonely Planet as the café centre of Palmerston North. I peeked into the cafe store windows, the Red Tomato, Cuba Café, and some others, the names of which I can’t remember to get a glimpse of the ambience. Each displays a variety of motifs and colours, reflections of the owner’s handiwork and personal taste.
Most of Christmas Day, however, as has been the case over the last several days since starting the housesitting task, I’ve sat at the kitchen table, surrounded by rows of windows and scenic backyards, reading journal articles and re-writing parts of my literature review. Slaving away is too mild a term for such a mundane task. My mind drifts in and out of my labour since chunks of the discussion about resilience, which I might have mentioned in another blog post, has been dedicated to discussing the food system, a topic I’ve covered in previous academic pursuits. But, just as I think I might pass out from the redundancy, I find something that adds some insight to the literary discussion as a whole. Luckily, I’m not scheduled to write the "Introduction" chapter, which is really my research framework, until March 1. I’m happy with the flow of my work, thus far, and am pleased with the emerging outcome of my review. I realize I owe much to my supervisor, who "lent" me her house for some two weeks because the sanctuary of living alone in a quiet neighborhood (even the barking dog next door renders me companionship) at the West End of the Square has given me the mental space to think through my literature review.
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