first month back

Well I am back in Wellington and have been very busy! My trip here was not particularly fun as I was just getting over being sick (I cringe to think of the disease vectors). Also my flights were delayed at every turn, such that I ended up literally walking off one plane and on to the next several times. Then when I arrived in Wellington, it transpired that my bags were still in LA.

However, I made it and made it to my new flat where I am living with two people I knew from previous years and one I didn't know. I spent much of the first week back moving things up lots of stairs and into the house. I'm living in a suburb just outside the city called Karori. It's a very green and hilly area. It's actually a little bit like Hong Kong, in that there are hillsides covered in concrete to stop them collapsing, and as you walk along you can see evidence of microlandslides. In any case, it's really pretty around here. I took some photos on the way to and from the grocery store which are below. My house is up the side of a hill surrounded by trees in which live tui, native birds with little white balls at their necks that make fairly melodious noises. It's all rather idyllic really.

My classes are going well so far. I'm taking cell biology, a psychology class on memory, and a philosophy/international relations/politics class on ethics and international affairs. Memory is fun. If I remember next time, I will give you some links so you can see and/or participate in some cool psyc demos.

Ethics is fascinating and sobering. We've been spending a lot of time so far talking about how much of an obligation inhabitants of rich countries have to inhabitants of poor countries and why such an obligation does or does not exist. I came across an idea I quite liked in one of my readings for the class today. The author was making the point that almost everyone, if asked how much he or she should be doing to help the global poor, says "more than I am now." According to the author, we all know we should be doing more, but are constantly distracted by our own needs and wants and those of the people close to us. A virtuous person, then, is simply one who is able to keep his or her attention where it belongs, which in this case is on the millions of people who desperately need our help right now. All issues of the efficacy of international aid aside, I like this idea of virtue as simply paying attention to the right things.

I'm also working with one of my psychology professors in a "class" where I help with some of her lab's research. I'll let you know more about that once my project gets underway. Due to my expressing an Idea, I have been taken off the experiment I started out with (which had to do with how the presence of photos affected people's judgments of whether celebrities are alive or dead) and am now tasked with designing a new one. I'm really enjoying working in the lab and getting the chance to actually design an experiment.

Anyway, I shall have to end there as I have readings coming out of my ears.

Until next time.

On the way from my house to the grocery store.

Looking back towards my flat. You can't see it from here, but if you were to
follow the road on the left of the photo towards the center and take a left,
rounding the hill, you would basically be beneath the house.

The commercial hub of Karori!