Over the years, I have had the pleasure of living for extended periods in England, Canada, and the US, as well as a few countries where English is not the lingua franca - so to speak. Once upon a time, an Italian exchange student -- now a Professor in Australia -- told me that there is an Italian proverb “Many countries means no country.” I have come over time to learn that this is true. One slowly becomes unfit to belong anywhere.
With whatever perspective a life of being an outsider provides, this blog will attempt to add some light-hearted observations from a 4th English-speaking country, courtesy of the hospitality of the Institute of Information and Mathematical Science at Massey University in Auckland.
David Erbach
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Takapuna market
Taaaaaaa ... kapuna where the waves come rushing ‘cross the sand... Well, maybe it doesn’t scan all that well. Anyway, Takapuna’s about ten minutes’ drive from here, If Auckland were an S, Takapuna would be at the join of the upper seraph. More importantly, they have a market every Sunday. We
Sunday, August 20, 2006
A Black-out Party
Rugby seems to be a part of the national psyche in New Zealand. The national team, the All Blacks are just finishing up their Tri-Nations competition with Australia and South Africa. One of the IIMS faculty managed to scare up tickets, so we were able to have a look at an event of national
Sunday, August 20, 2006
A ride on a brigantine
Saturday morning Tong, one of the tutors in the Institute, called to ask if we’d like to go for a sail in the bay. Naturally, we said yes. Turns out that she volunteers as a crew member for Breeze, a two-masted sailing ship maintained by the New Zealand Maritime Museum. Breeze isn’t an old boat.
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Whangarei Falls
Whangarei (“Fahng ah reh ee” -- more or less) is the northernmost city of New Zealand. It’s not so far from here, maybe a bit over 100 miles. But much of the drive is windy two-lane mountain road with the occasional passing lane. It comes to a bit over two hours’ driving time. With the prospect of
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Around the neighborhood
Today started out sunny, so I took a walk around the neighborhood, camera in hand.
The first stop was on Queen’s Road, a block uphill from us. The photo looks along Queen’s toward the ferry pier a few blocks down. To the right is a small arts cinema.
