Here...we...go.

Hello world and all who inhabit it! (i.e. the two or three people who have made the mistake of reading my blog)

I'm currently putting off my homework hanging out in the International House here at University of Auckland, after an 11-hour flight from San Francisco to Auckland with my friends Cali and Mitchell...and then taking the wrong bus downtown, forcing us to backtrack and go up so many hills. But we're here safe and that's what counts.

To start off, rather than upload pictures (because I'm lazy and will do that later) I've decided to tell you guys about what we Dartmouth folks are going to be studying while here (topics subject to slight change):

1. Colonialism: This is going to be an Anthropology class concerning the history and effects of the British colonization of New Zealand, particularly as it relates to the country's native Māori people. It's going to consist of a lot of reading, including the novel The Bone People by Keri Hulme. I've started some of the reading and I'm a bit intimidated by all the anthropological theory, but hopefully everything will start making more sense with a professor to guide discussions. More interestingly, the class will also go on several field trips to various locations on the North Island, such as the Piritahi Marae.

2. The Māori Language: Unlike the first class, this one will be directed toward Linguistics students (i.e. me and the other Ling nerds). Here, we'll be learning the sound system and grammar of the Māori language, as well as (hopefully) some of its history and its standing in modern New Zealand society/culture. I'm hoping that I get a hang of it faster than I did with Japanese, which I'm still struggling to learn (僕がまだ馬鹿の外人だから).

3. Kapa Haka: If you're familiar with New Zealand's rugby team, the All Blacks, then you are probably also aware of the haka they often perform before games. For those who don't know, the haka is a kind of Māori war dance. What we'll be learning isn't exactly that, but rather the kapa haka (lit. 'row dance'). This style of dance involves a lot of singing, forceful movement, and intense facial expressions, as you can see here. This is going to be physically taxing, but I'm looking forward to the firsthand lessons from Māori people.

4. Field Methods (of some kind): Though we still aren't sure of the details, we Linguistics students are also going to be working directly with a speaker of a non-Māori language, in a sort "real linguistic field work" simulation. That is, we'll be asking the speaker specific questions about his/her language (e.g. "Are there any words that start with the sound 'pa'?" and "Could you give us the word for 'chicken'?") and recording his/her responses. We're supposed to be on the lookout for such speakers during our first few weeks here, and hopefully our professor will be looking as well, though he's pretty busy with other things at the moment.

So, there you have it! Four big topics (and inevitably more) in under 10 weeks. Here we go.