B.L.F.P.

The New Year is only three days away but it’s hard to notice because of the summer weather. I’m still used to seeing mounds of snow & feeling minus degree temperatures but not this time. It’s hard to believe how fast time flies when you’re not looking. So much has happened in the last 365 days, from the controversial Beijing Olympics to the electing of Barack Obama, the first Black President of the USA. It’ll be a year to be missed . . . or forgotten if you’re one of the millions of victims suffering from the global recession.

Like last Saturday, I went on another scenic bike ride to the eastern side of Christchurch, exploring more unvisited neighbourhoods. The lucky residential districts (Queens Park, Parklands, & Waimairi Beach) are located north of my previous excursion, New Brighton Beach. The layout and appearance of these districts remind me of Orleans, an eastern suburban neighbourhood in my hometown of Ottawa, except the houses are bungalows and palm trees are the favoured flora.

I seem to be examining a lot of residential properties, preferring contemporary (modern) bungalow designs, and watching a lot of housing programs on TV dealing with purchasing, selling, and renovating. My favourite programs are Location [x3], Relocation Relocation, and Grand Designs. I’m at that age where I want to buy and live in my dream house/apartment, but the problem is that my total net worth is laughably low.

Bottle Lake Forest Park (BLFP) sits north of Queens Park & Parklands, giving people a place to get-away-from-it-all and walk, bike, and even horseback in the wilderness. The park is actually a large pine tree plantation, giving it a Canadian appearance, and it hides many walking and biking trails. I found it odd that it’s also home to a small landfill. Biking through this park is fun & exciting but you have to remember that you’re best friends are dead pine needles & rocks – avoid biking in sand! I made my way to Waimairi Beach and enjoyed the sounds of crashing waves and the ocean winds. The opening scenes of the movie Saving Private Ryan flashed in my mind as I gazed at the undamaged coastline, imagining it to be fortified like the beaches of Normandy in 1944.

The bike ride back to campus was an adventure because I wanted to see if I could get back without having to rely on a map. I spent quite an amount of time stuck in suburbia, trying to find the main roads that lead to the city centre. The method of trial & error can be tedious at times but I was able to make it back to my residence just in time to watch Grand Designs where an architect succeeds in rescuing and renovating an abandoned English castle. The bad news was that he was left with a 350,000₤ debt, and my legs were aching after the long bike ride.

Well, this will be last post for the year that once was, 2008, and I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year! All I have to do now is think of several achievable resolutions for next year and wonder if the OC Transpo strike in my hometown of Ottawa will last longer than the previous 24-day strike of 1996.

See you all in 2009!

Tandem

You only live once, so I went skydiving.

Tandem skydiving to be precise. Why exactly? Well, let’s just say I wanted to feel independent in the extreme sense. Or, I wanted to celebrate the passing of the halfway mark (six months) in my Middle Earth exchange. If that reason didn’t work, then . . . it was a Christmas gift to myself. I have pages of excuses, I could go on.

Tandem skydiving involves being strapped to a professional skydiver via a tight harness, and you descend together at terminal velocity (220kph). The professional opens the parachute, and guides you towards the ground in one piece. You’re just in for the wild ride. And what a wild ride it is, was, and always will be.

Skydiving is widely advertised in New Zealand and I always had the curiosity of trying it. Skydiving NZ is a thrill seeking business that operates out of the old control tower at Wigram Airfield (just steps away from the cadet unit I joined). The jumping altitudes they offer are 9,000 and 12,000 feet. I figured if this would be the first and last time I’d jump out of a plane, I was going to do it from the highest altitude possible.

My original plan was to jump this past Friday but rain forced me to postpone it to Monday. The weather was perfect today – sunny with clear skies.

Before jumping into the plane, you’re instructed to watch a short video on how the experience will look like, get fitted into a colourful (red, yellow, blue) jumpsuit, and briefed about how to properly exit the plane. There’s the option of getting your experience filmed & photographed then burned onto DVD.

Following the tradition of commercial airlines, the main aircraft used by Skydiving NZ had to be grounded for some time because the startup batteries needed to be replaced. During the anxious waiting, I walked around, went to the washroom 5 or 6 times, and watched customers ahead of me descend from 9,000 feet. I was shaking a bit, hoping not to ‘chicken out’ at the last minute. Although the staff didn’t draw attention to it, I’ll say that it’s imperative that you follow the golden rule – Dump Before You Jump! (This rule applies to bungee jumpers as well). That’s one incident you don’t want happening in the air. As an added precaution, I swallowed some Gravol to prevent the possibility of vomiting.

The main aircraft was ready when my turn came. There was no turning back now. Seven people including myself squished into the back and anxiously waited during the 15 minutes required by the young pilots to reach 12,000 feet. When we were one minute from jumping, we were instructed to put on our goggles and hold onto our harnesses. When the cameraman opened the door, -10 degree Celsius air filled the cabin. The cameraman leaned out to let me move my feet over the edge. Reality hit me one last time - I couldn’t believe I was going to do this. With nothing to lose, I tilted my head & feet back, and nodded when I was asked if I was ready. The next thing I knew, I was falling towards Middle Earth.

The experience was just . . . wow! It’s near impossible to explain! It feels like . . . falling towards a high-powered fan blowing in your face! At first, you want to grab something to stop the fall but there’s nothing and so you just let go and ride it out. There was no time to panic or scream; it just leaves you breathless. Several seconds into the fall, my tandem partner, Miro, a Slovakian with 32 years experience & over 4000 jumps, tapped my shoulders, telling me it was okay to spread out my arms. The terminal velocity speed was incredible! I did my best to look happy for the camera, and at one point I thought my goggles would fly off.

Suddenly, Miro opened his parachute and we stopped falling. Only 45 seconds had passed. While gazing at the majestic 360-degree view, I thanked myself for choosing 12,000 feet – the fall happened too fast. Miro let me take control of the parachute and we descended like a dandelion seed towards the airfield below. Before touching the ground, I was instructed to put my legs up and we slid onto the ground in front of the waiting cameraman. “That was amazing!” I proclaimed, silently noting that I was still alive in one piece.

The experience was absolutely euphoric . . . until I received the bill. The jump, the documentation, and production of the DVDs came to a total of $608NZD. Expensive but worth it; I’m so doing it again in the future. I used to be afraid of heights when I was growing up but I think this experience has rendered the fear almost non-existent. I hope the DVDs turned out great because they’re proof of my daredevil experience as well as Christmas presents for family & friends.

I encourage my family & friends to try it before it’s too late. The experience will blow you away!

New Brighton Beach

Not wanting to waste a clear sunny Saturday, I decided to go for a bike ride, one that would keep me physically fit and last most of the day. Biking in Middle Earth is pretty much the same as anywhere else in the world, as long as you follow the golden rule - 'Keep Left'. The only time you can bike against traffic is on the sidewalk. My destination was a neighbourhood on the other side of Christchurch called New Brighton. It’s situated on the coast and has a beach called New Brighton Beach (naturally) and I wanted to see if it resembled the Brighton Beach neighbourhood in New York City.

My older brother and I visited the Brighton Beach neighbourhood back in 2004, not for the swimming, but because of its criminal history. Russian immigrants settled in BB and would later succumb to the infiltration & influence of the Red Mafiya. ‘Unfortunately,’ my brother & I didn’t see or meet any mobsters, just gazed at the Russian shops, and endless lines of Mercedes cars parked in front of lower class apartment blocks.

While I biked through downtown Christchurch, I wondered if New Brighton was under Red Mafiya influence. Along the way, I was surprised to see an Ottawa Road sign so I photographed it. Christchurch seems to like Canadian city names; there’s a Montreal Street downtown and a Vancouver Street in another suburb. Thinking the day was perfect in every way, I jumped a street curb with my bike and received a flat tyre. Overconfidence doesn’t work. On the plus side, I was near a Mobile gas station so I walked the distance with my bike on my back. A car wash cleaner named Jim offered his services despite having a job to finish, and helped me fix my punctured air tube and fill up my tyre with air. It turns out Jim is a Gideon, which explains why he was so helpful and solved my problem. Well, better a Gideon than those bothersome Jehovah Witnesses.

The New Brighton Beach area is a place to spend money. A street mall housing shops & restaurants, and decorated with many tall palm trees, greeted me as I rode closer to the sounds of rushing water. Beyond the street mall sits the New Brighton Library, an oval structure showing off its modern architecture. The library hides the New Brighton Pier, a 300 metre long concrete walkway that lets people walk out to sea without fear of getting wet. Just wear a sweater or a coat because it can get pretty windy. Below the pier, an artist was crafting a portrait in the sand using a rake and it was almost complete when I had arrived. Naturally, energetic swimmers and surfers, wanting to enjoy the waves that wash up along the shoreline, visit the beach on a regular basis.
After enjoying the tropical setting and not finding any Red Mafiya establishments, I continued my bike ride into the small residential neighbourhood of South New Brighton. The houses are of tropical designs, resembling a Miami setting but there were none that interested me in buying. Riding wilderness bike paths in South New Brighton Park was a lot of fun and enjoyable. While heading back to my residence, the Bromley Sewage Treatment Works caught my attention because the main buildings were two huge white domed structures.

Overall, my bike ride turned out great – I received some much needed fresh air and exercise. I saw a neighbourhood I hadn’t visited previously, and spent time away from my residence. I’ll do another such bike ride in the future but it’ll have to wait because other priorities require my attention.

Summer News

Even though the Christmas holidays are weeks away, the stores here in Middle Earth have fully embraced the spirit and are enticing curious shoppers to do the same. As well, there have already been several Santa Claus parades. For me, it feels weird to be bombarded with Christmas carols and holiday deals when there’s no cold or snow falling outside. It does get annoying & even distracting when you don’t have a shopping list to keep you focused. Apparently, Santa Claus always has a case of Coca-Cola to keep him awake when he travels around the world delivering presents.

At least I haven’t had to suffer shopping stampedes like the ones in North America. I’ve seen some Internet videos and it’s kind of scary to see people acting like cattle, rushing into Wal-Mart and Circuit City, buying stuff they don’t really need. I wonder how Boxing Day will be like in the Commonwealth countries?

Checking overseas, it would appear that winter has really deteriorated my Canadian homeland. I just heard from a friend that the public transportation service (OC Transpo) in my hometown of Ottawa has decided to strike right when the snow really starts coming down. The last time they striked was twelve years ago.

The political situation isn’t better with Parliament being suspended until January 2009. It seems to be following the same course as the political crises in Ukraine but I doubt it would escalate to the point of riots we see in Greece right now. It’s too cold. And I’ll spare you my feelings towards the sacking of Liberal Leader Stephane Dion.

Speaking of politics, the newly elected New Zealand government is settling in and dealing with the economic problem by introducing a stimulus package. Over here, I guess politicians work during the summer months and break for the winter. Even though the credit crunch doesn’t affect me personally, I’m hoping the government’s actions will produce positive results, because Middle Earth suffered the most when the stock market crashed back in 1987.

On a personal level, the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) has invited me to a convocation ceremony in the New Year to congratulate me on achieving a Piano Performer’s ARCT (June 2008) and hand me my diploma. Problem – I’m half a world away. Well, I may not be able to attend the ceremony but my diploma will be mailed to me in a gold plated frame! I know. Not even Carleton University gave me that option when I achieved my BA History in June 2007.

Next up, gold plated toilet seats for my future apartment!

Summer Days

Out with the cold & in with the hot. Summer has arrived in Middle Earth bringing with it hotter and sunnier weather. While Canada disappears under mountains of white snow, New Zealand bakes under the sun. Trees & bushes flap freely in the gentle summer wind, not caring that Ilam Village has turned into a ghost town overnight.

The majority of rooms at my residence complex have been vacated. Only a few remain occupied by summer students. I can hear the grass growing and no longer have to endure loud drunken partying students at night. Unlike my older brother in AUS, I didn’t have the joy of collecting or inheriting unwanted possessions from departing students.

Two students have already moved out of my flat, with another doing so this weekend. If I remain the sole resident, I may be instructed to move into a different flat even though I wouldn’t mind having an entire 5 bedroom apartment to myself.

Two weeks ago, students in my program held a semester end party at their flat, and from what I gathered was that everyone was satisfied with the first half of the program. Some will be staying to work while others will be travelling abroad before classes resume on February 9^th, 2009. 2009. Less than a month away. Hard to believe how fast the years go by when you’re not pay attention.

I’m planning on visiting my brother in AUS sometime during the summer. We just need to work out the details such as airfare, what sites to visit, and when to go. I so want to take a picture of a road train.

To save money in the long run, I purchased a mountain bike, helmet, and bike lock from a Canadian friend for $200NZD. Using it saves me around $6 of bus fare per day, and I’m able to use it for exercise.

I’ve been keeping myself up-to-date on current events happening on the international stage via the Internet, such as the Mumbai Terrorist Attacks, the American economy, the situation in Thailand, the Air New Zealand crash in France, and Canadian politics. All I’ll say is that India will recover from the attacks, Obama will fix the economy, Kiwi tourists will be rescued from Thailand, and Liberal Leader Stephane Dion will save Canada by ousting the current Conservative government by forming a coalition government with the left leaning NDP.

I completely forgot about the Grey Cup until I read a recent post on my brother’s BLOG. The only sports mentioned here are rugby & cricket, and they are played everywhere right now, especially in Hagley Park. The Canadian Football League (CFL) runs a tournament consisting of 8 teams battling it out for the chance to win the Grey Cup in late November. The American equivalent would be the Super Bowl, organized by the National Football League (NFL). I usually watch the Grey Cup & Super Bowl with my father & brother, but I guess this year will be an exception. I will miss the memories of downing soft drinks and munchies, while my father & brother add their own aural commentaries to the action, as well as their trademarked cheer, ‘He! Could! Go! All! The! Way!’, all while my mother quietly shakes her head upstairs.

Perhaps I should take up a sport like cricket, because even after watching the game, I still can’t figure out how the scoring works and why some players can only catch the ball with their bare hands? Catching mitts should be allowed cause they really whip that ball. If I was daring enough, I would consider rugby but due to my size, I’d get trampled.

Until next time, I’ll leave you with a popular Internet video titled Elephant On Trampoline.