It's Movember

A strange thing happens in movember. Men get extra hairy...

Halloween - that's so American

Halloween is not a big thing in NZ. Yes there are some Halloween treats, costumes and decorations in the stores, but you're not inundated with it. Some kids do go out, and I saw a few walking around my neighbourhood. No one dresses up at work and it's not talked about too much. There seems to be an overwhelming sentiment that Halloween is an American tradition and a pretty dumb one. I've heard over and over again that parents don't like Halloween because they teach their kids not to take treats from strangers. I find this such a strange attitude because I think Halloween is really one of the better traditions. It's lots of fun for everyone and encourages people to be giving (and thanking).
I have not seen any carved pumpkins, and no wonder, pumpkins are not orange here but more greeny-yellowy-brown. Although I was invited to a Halloween party (by a Canadian) I was away and couldn't attend. And although I bought some treats, no trick or treaters came to my door. I guess I'm not really feeling like it's Halloween, so there will be no photo of Howie in his lion costume this year. And poor Tui doesn't even have a costume.

I like rugby

Well Brad has been replaced and I've found a new boyfriend.




















And look at what we have in common.

Rugby World Cup

Is anyone in North America aware that the rugby world cup is currently taking place in France? Did anyone know that Canada is in it? Canada actually quite well, not quite losing all their games and managing to tie Japan. However, the world has been in agreement that rugby is currently dominated by the southern hemisphere with NZ, Aussie and South Africa the only "real" teams in the competition.

Well that all changed this weekend when Aussie lost to England and NZ lost to France in their quarter final matches. I actually woke up early to go watch the game over breakfast in a pub. I was so nervous for the All Blacks and was completely stunned with the loss. All of NZ seems to be in mourning today. The coach is likely to be fired (or resign) and there's meant to be some sort of inquest into the loss. Rugby is a BIG deal in NZ.



The next world cup will take place in Auckland in 2011 and I'll be there supporting Canada. As for this one, SA play Argentina and England vs. France in the semi finals. My money's on SA to go all the way.




In other news... Happy Thanksgiving. And how did I spend Thanksgiving? Working. I wish I could take the Canadian holidays off. Oh well, Labour Day is coming up soon here.

Skype

I'm on Skype as kiwidogs so please skype me if you know how.

My New Boyfriend Brad

I think this picture says it all:

Trip to Rotorua

Last week I went to Rotorua for a conference. I drove down Thursday morning (about a 2.5 hour drive from Auckland) went to the conference Thursday and Friday, then stayed on for the weekend to check out the tourist sites.

The conference was the 2nd Annual Traffic Simulation Conference and I presented my research "Incident Modelling with Paramics and FUSE". The idea of my research is to investigate the use of SCATS (adaptive signal control) to handle the change in demand due to incidents. This is exciting because I get to use microsimulation liked directly to SCATS. I've also been lucky enough to work in the Auckland traffic control room as a SCATS operator which has a great way to learn SCATS as well as see how incidents are managed.

Now, on to the fun stuff. I stayed at a backpacker, nothing flash, but it was cheap, had it's own restaurant, thermal pool, bar and lounge (to watch rugby). I went to a spa where I had a soak in the thermal pools in a beautiful setting, followed by a mud wrap and a massage. It was absolutely heavenly. Then I headed over to the agrodome for the sheep show and farm tour.

The place was packed full of people from tour buses, even though it was an overcast wintry day. They brought out all the different breeds of sheep, did a shearing demo and then came the dogs. They had a NZ heading dog (like Tui) herding some ducks, and then she did a sheep trialing demo outside. The NZ huntaways (who use their bark instead of their eyes to herd the sheep) barked their heads off and literally ran all over the sheep. It was very cute.

The farm tour was interesting as it's actually a working farm with all sorts of interesting animals. We kept stopping to hand feed the sheep, lamas and pigs. We also saw kiwi fruit trees and had some kiwifruit wine.

The next day I went to a Maori exhibit at Te Puia. There is a large Maori community in Rotorua as well as extensive geothermal activity. I learned about the Maori history and culture, which is really quite fascinating. The geysers and mud pools are beautiful.

I had a fun weekend, but am actually keen to return to Rotorua to see some more when my friends come to visit NZ (hint hint).