This is way over due but geoblog/ possibly the internet provider here has not wanted to let me upload pictures lately. It just sits there forever and doesn’t process my request for some reason. I’ve been able to put a few pictures on but that’s all. But anyway…

I’d have to say last week was rather tame minus a few hick-ups and fun activities.

The first fun event to take place involved a field-trip in my Management class to a dairy farm to check out their water usage and to see how they are using the river that cuts through it to generate their own power. On this little excursion to the end of the 10 kilometer long farm we traversed some less than safe and rather narrow unpaved roads of sand and dirt in a bus. Up and down several hills with no guard rails with a river on one side and a gully on the other. But the fun didn’t happen until we come down one hill onto a patch of road of pure sand. Though the bus had managed to make it way that far the sand provided unstable enough ground for its left side to slip down into a sizable ditch and completely beach the bus.

Of course I happened to be sitting on the left side next to a friend of mine, who was closest to the window, and proceeded to jump into my lap when the bus started to go down. With everyone screaming and the emergency alarm going off the professor simply told us to get off the bus via the main door and we would continue the field trip…

Needless to say I was completely shocked that the trip continued because I know in the States that would have been the end of it for sure. Instead we left the driver with the bus and continued on for four hours around the farm before one van showed up taking only 15 guys, who all rudely rushed forward without a caring that they were the only ones who got to leave, before taking off. It was another hour until another bus showed up to take the rest of us and a backhoe belonging to the farm owner came to pull out the first bus.

But before we left I did get a glimpse at the bus flipped on its side completely in the ditch. The sand had given way under the pressure of the bus so the bus had kept going. The professor was not too keen on us getting shots of the bus in that condition though.

This past Saturday I got a chance to go to a Canterbury Crusaders game. The stadium was irreparably damaged in last year’s earthquake so the team had nowhere to play until this temporary stadium was made. (There are currently plans being made to build a bigger permanent stadium in another location) It was really interesting to get to see a live game and the differences in how kiwi’s act at sporting events compared to Americans.

The Crusaders played against the Cheetahs from South Africa. I could safely say that I did not see a single person in clothes representing the South African team. There was just a field of red and black and the whole stadium was sold out. Before the game started a Calvary of knights on horses (The Crusaders) came galloping across the field, waving their swords about and pumping up the crowd. Free team flags had been handed out at the gate so it was a challenge to get a good shot of the riders without catching a corner of a flag, everyone was really excited.

The big differences between American sporting events and New Zealand ones game about when the other team made a try (goal). At Penn State football game, for example, if the other team scored everyone would have booed and shouted how awful the other team was. But here when the other team scores everyone claps. Like saying “good job on getting closer to beating us,” but really it’s just amazing sportsmanship. The same thing also happened when the referee would make a call against The Crusaders. At a Penn State game everyone would have booed and shouted obscenities but here everyone claps.

In the end The Crusaders won (28 to 21) and fireworks/ celebratory torches were shot off and everyone was quite happy and filed out in an orderly fashion. There was no rush, no fights and no yelling. When people bump into one another they say “sorry” and give way. The atmosphere just seemed so calm and relaxed.

Location: Christchurch, New Zealand