New Zealand I: Christchurch

By Fernando Rodriguez Villegas

It’s now about two weeks since I arrived in Christchurch, New Zealand. I am here as an Erskine Fellow teaching the first half of an undergraduate course on Coding Theory at the University of Canterbury.

The city is quite large and very spread out. It reminds me in different ways of both the UK and the US. Not having a car is fairly limiting though the bus system is good. Everyone gives a big “Thank you!” to the bus driver when getting off. There is a general chill and polite atmosphere on the streets. Cycling is serious business and the bike lanes are impressive. At some junctures traffic lights have separate systems for cars, buses, bicycles and pedestrians.

Living in Italy and going somewhere else will always mean issues with food. I’m staying near the town center, walking distance from one supermarket. It has one long aisle both sides full of booze but no dried lentils. You can buy both Marmite and Vegemite however. Fair enough.

You can also walk to the Riverside Market and get great Indian and other types of street food. Not to mention the amazing kiwi fruits! (learned the hard way that the fruit, as opposed to a person from New Zealand or the bird, is always a kiwi fruit).

The beautiful narrow Avon river runs through the city punctuating its space. Christchurch, particularly its central area, was hit really hard by an earthquake in 2011. It has mostly recovered though some downtown areas remain visibly damaged. There seems to be a lot of architecture firms. After a while of walking around the city I started to appreciate the beauty of the new apartment buildings and houses in their linear and austere style.