MUSIC!!!! I’ve finally tapped into the scene here! The guys at the session I’ve been going to in Christchurch told me about an Irish festival in Nelson, about 6hours away by car. You bet I was up for the drive, I was so starved of tunes and music, I was going to do anything to get up there. I had the holiday weekend off work and I took a few more days just so I could stay an extra day to get in on a few more impromptu sessions that were likely to happen. During the three day festival that was held at a music school, we learned about 10 tunes during the day, a few from the lessons and then a few more from each other in the hallways. Then the evenings were sessions into the wee hours of the morning before and after the night entertainment. The guest artists were a band called Beoga, that I had had a chance to see in Wisconsin of all places. They played at a little catholic church in the rustic wilderness around where I had been working. About 150 people attended the festival, and the was a great chance to get to know the band and actually talk to them. I met a bunch of people, even a few local ones from Christchurch that I hadn’t known about. I was also invited to another session in Christchurch that hadn’t known about. All in all it was a great weekend, with great people, and I learned a heap of tunes that I’ve somehow managed to remember!
In my work life, I was asked to put on a seminar for the vets in several clinics about abdominal surgery in cattle. This was a bit of a daunting task as I was giving vets with 20 years of practice under their belts advice about when and why to open the abdomen of a cow and tips on helping caesarians go well. Although I felt totally out of my league, I think they really enjoyed it. I asked a mentor from home to make a video of an LDA surgery for me and then I attempted a powerpoint presentation on techniques, tricks, and tips for surgery. It went over very well actually, and I learned a few things too!We also had an Open Day for the clinic, which is like an advertizing day with a BBQ and we put on a few client talks that catered toward the dairy workers that may be new to the dairy industry. It was our first ever Open Day for the clinic, as this is more common for the agriculture shops in town, and at first when the clinic staff were the only ones helping themselves to the sausages and steaks we were a bit worried but by the end of the day we had about 40 people show. Phew!
Now that it is winter, the ski culture has arrived in Methven, the wee town towards the mountains from Ashburton. The whole town comes alive, shops and restaurants open, PEOPLE are walking on the streets, the pubs are full, and ski bums and tourists are everywhere. The two pubs in town are The Blue Pub, and The Brown Pub, or to us locals, The Blue, and The Brown. The Blue pub is classified as the ‘tourist’ pub and the locals stay away from it during the high seasons. Its more flash, has had a fresh paint job, is clean and bright inside with bands that play now and again. Whereas The Brown, is a bit dodgy to look at, is pretty dark and cramped inside, and in general caters to the locals. In fact, when a non-local walks in for a drink, they get a stare-down from the occupants of the bar as a subliminal warning not to act too foreign. Alex, Amy and I quickly found this stare disconcerting until we met up with the ‘locals’ that knew us and the crowd seemed to relax toward us a bit.
The best part about the locals pubs around the country in New Zealand is that they host a Speed Shearing contest!! Literally IN the pub! They set up chutes and stages and the sheep come in and out the windows! Each weekend a different pub had the next heat of the contest, which I regretfully missed. I would have paid money to see a sheep flying out a pub window!!
Winter in New Zealand: I realize that in the US we have a REAL winter (snow, ice, negative FERENHEIT temperatures) and other parts of the world don’t get it. But to hear them tell me about the upcoming ‘terribly cold and dreary’ winter weather I was about to experience you’d think the arctic- circle was going to descend upon them. These Kiwi’s have a pretty pathetic winter to be honest, but then again only a small percentage of the worlds population understands winter in terms of Siberia and Wisconsin… We had one snow this season in our town, and I missed it cuz I slept in. It melted by 10:30am. The sunny frosty mornings or -2 C ( 28F) were amazing, and downright comfortable. I seemed to wow them with tales of de-icing my hands inside of cows during surgery, driving to calls in a foot of fresh snow before the plows had came through, and building so snowmen that didn’t melt for months. Even on the dreariest day, it didn’t hold a candle to the months of grey, dark, and cloud of a Michigan winter.
Going with the flow of winter and the ski frenzy, it was decided that I should try out this adventure sport of sliding downhill on 5 foot long popsicle sticks. Amy was determined to get me up to Mt. Hutt to give it a go. I acquired some cheap ski pants and goggles, rented boots and skis, and decked myself out in thermals and layers as it was supposed to be cold and windy on top of a mountain, ha, I was stripping off layers after my first attempt at the bunny hill. My first trip up the ski road was a bit harrowing, I signed up for a group lessons and I was shown the ins and outs of beginner skiing. The balance was quite similar to ice skating so I managed to get down the bunny hill without too much trouble. I booked another private lesson with my group teacher and he showed me some more of the basic skills and then took me up the hill to the easy slope on the lift. Learning how to get on and off the lift was a challenge in itself, and with strict instruction it wasn’t too bad. After a lot of falling on my patookis, and getting twisted into some pretty strange positions after falls, I managed to get down the easy slope without a single fall by the end of the day!
Amy and Alex went with me again on my third day of skiing and after several successful trips down the Green slope, they talked me into the more difficult Blue slope. Just as we started down, a cloud rolled in, visibility was sketchy, and it was getting colder so the snow was fairly icy. Although there was a lot of falling I made it down, and we headed in for some lunch. After lunch A & A went up the big lift to the ‘real’ slopes and I attempted the Blue again. Again a cloud rolled in, so I couldn’t see the bumps. Needless to say, I ended up on my tush a lot and again twisted into knots, so as soon as we hit the bottom, I went into the lodge and pouted over my bruised hips and shins, and swore off skiing for the rest of my life. Not my sport, mate. After an hour of sulking, I picked up my remaining pride and headed for the Green hill again and had many successful, non-ass falling trips down that renewed my faith in my balance. Ok, so skiing isn’t so bad. Though it was my last trip up Mt. Hutt for the season, it was a good time and glad I gave it a go.
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