Getting Oriented in Dunedin

Dunedin (I think I said before) is a really nice city. It's the perfect size - pretty much anywhere you want to go is walkable, and a safe walkable, but its big enough that pretty much anywhere you want to go actually exists. Apparently the beautiful sunny warm day that greeted me was a bit of a false impression, but the weather isn't too bad here. Not exactly hot, but mostly warm enough. Nights can get a bit cold though, especially since it took the Kiwis here until about 1980 to realize that although yes, they are in the South Pacific, they are closer to Antarctica than to Fiji. So houses come without insulation and windows come with no indication that winds blowing through cracks on all 4 sides would be anything but ideal.

During my frantic search for accommodation I finally decided to take a break and go for an exploration run, which was definitely a good idea. I went off and got lost in the Botanic Gardens (which include a rose garden, azalea garden, aviary, native bush, plants of the world, etc, etc) for about an hour and emerged much de-stressed. Just an introduction to the beautiful landscape around here.

I also met up with a guy I lived near freshman year (Will) and his girlfriend. They took me out surfing which was awesome! I didn't actually stand up on the board and I didn't last very long in the water because even with a wetsuit it was pretty cold and windy on the beach, but it was still cool to go see a beach (this was about a 25 minute drive from the center of town).

I also got classes figured out. I'm taking:
PHSI 451: Statistical Mechanics - this is just a standard course that all physics majors take, doesn't seem to be too tough so far, about 12 people maybe?

PHSI 452: Upper Atmosphere/Plasma Pysics - an interesting-sounding physics elective. The Prof seems really cool so far, he starts every lecture with a "today in space history" slide and has lots of interesting historical stories about everything.

STAT 110: Intro Stats - introductory statistics, need I say more? I do not skip classes, but at one point I had missed more of these lectures than I'd been to. It's starting to get a bit more productive now, but it's way too dumbed down. I have to go online and look up the real theory behind everything (I want to know what's going on, not just formulas) but it's almost better that way because teaching myself I understand it more.

POLS 2something: Politics of the Environment - an interesting course so far. Also should be a good way to get some New Zealand history. By the way, in terms of international environmental politics the US is seen as pretty much huge dead tree in the middle of the road. Doesn't help that our president doesn't believe in global warming.