places better than auckland
saturday night, 1 a.m. just checked out the nightlife here in auckland, new zealand. well, if it's 1 a.m. and i'm in an internet cafe, that's gotta say something.

a few of us headed down to the american express viaduct pavilion for the america's cup (you know, the boat race). we went to a few bars. one of them, danny doolans, was an irish pub with a live band that was playing old american music from 30 years ago. there was something ironic or just deeply deeply wrong about that. people were obnoxious. they were stepping on us, pushing us around (of course we pushed back), spilling drinks on us and never an 'excuse me' or 'sorry'. man, people in new york city are nicer than that. and then this really fat obnoxious ugly stupid girl made some comment, after we said to her to quit falling on us, about how it was her country and her bar or whatever. umm, excuse me, but if tourists didn't come to new zealand, her fat ass would need to resort to prostitution to get enough money to feed her ugly face.

this lashing out is unfortunate. for the most part, i've been really chill here. the people are amazingly nice. i guess in rotorua last night they were sort of obnoxious too, but it wasn't EVERYBODY. and once when i said 'excuse me' as i was trying to get through, this woman very nicely turned to me and said, oh, please go, you're the first person to say 'excuse me'. sigh. what is it about cities that makes people obnoxious?

so let me give you my unsubstantiated and limited assessment of auckland nightlife: they're trying to be like new york and failing horribly. there are more people in nyc than in the entire country of new zealand by a factor of 2 or so. everyone was dressed in black and wearing these heels and tank tops and tube tops and assorted variety of slutty shirts. the men were all pimped out thinking they were all that. oh please. maybe that's the pinnacle of the social life here in auckland, but it was downright pathetic. they were all dancing to american pop/hip hop music.

but i don't want to come across sounding like i hate the entire country. on the contrary, i've really enjoyed my stay here and have met some really cool people.
* mitch in queenstown (see my post yesterday re: falling in love...sigh. before i go around spreading nasty rumors to the zero people who are reading this, he was an incredible gentleman and turned me down for drinks because of a 'friend' who wouldn't 'appreciate' him showing me around.)
* chris and his cohorts at the novotel in rotorua through whom i met aidan, a very neat guy i wish i could have talked to longer had i not been asleep on my feet (incidentally, the novotel also hosted this maori [the new zealand indigenous people] hangi [which is a way of cooking food] and performance -- it was amazing and i'm one who is incredibly sceptical when it comes to indigenous peoples putting on shows for ignorant tourists)
* there were the cool and accomodating and laid back folks at the tandem skydiving in rotorua too (see post yesterday re: jumping out of plane), particularly brendan who took it COMPLETELY in stride when i had to sit on his lap in the itty bitty plane as we climbed up to 12000 feet -- and i'm not a little girl!
* the people at the waitomo gloworm caves at which we stopped on our drive from rotorua to auckland today.

and that's not even including the neat people i met all over australia. and when you consider the fact that i'm traveling with a large band of loud, somewhat obnoxious, sometimes dim americans, it's all amazing to me.

my observation is that the closer the social scene gets to be like what i'm used to seeing (and avoiding) in the states, the more obnoxious people become. and it's not the alcohol. it seems to me that it has more to do with trying to present this facade of coolness and hipness and being all cosmopolitan. and i ask this: what is it to be cosmopolitan? is it dressing all in black and bumping and grinding and wearing glitter and hair gel and ck one cologne? i doubt it.

i don't know what point i'm trying to make with this meandering post. i've had an incredible trip to these here countries and am absolutely set on coming back. i've never felt so laid back and calm and nice in my life (oh wait, there was that time i got that massage in colorado...). i'm already trying to figure out ways to get here, perhaps interning at a nz or aussie publication. (i've read a few newspapers here and they could use a little help.) but certainly i feel that life in the small towns that are INCREDIBLY dependent on tourism for all of their economies, are my favorite places so far.

but i've run out of underwear, my suitcase is full of souvenirs and laundry, and summer classes are starting. it's time to head back.