So today is the visit to Unitec and meet Rod Barnett the in country contact. So far he hasnt been that great of help but maybe I am just asking the wrong questions. So up to Glen Eden and onto the train. The train ride was a little different. And not just because I am going the opposite direction but because i sat next to a couple of hoodlum looking guys which made me pretty uncomfortable. They finally get off at their stop and I breath a sigh of relief. The train then stops in between two stations. Over the loud speaker he says we have to wait for another train......
I didnt notice it until today that the public transportation system is in fact awful. Before I didnt think much of it but when you have to plan over an hour to get from a suburb into the center city via the primary and only railway system.... wow just wow... would like to shake the hand of whoeever came up with that idea.
Regardless I am back to feeling safe and the train continues on. A new passenger hops on.. I give an awkward death stare at him to not sit near me or my bags. The ticket guy comes over and asks for this new guy to pay... I listen in as he is talking and he has the strangest accent... or lack thereof.... this guy is not from here. I creepily tell him he has no accent and is not from here so fess up where are you from. California. I knew it! ha! I could hear it from a mile away just how he talked and conducted himself on the train..... makes me wonder how easily I am to pick out in a crowd of kiwis. yeesh. Anyways got his info and stuff seems like a nice guy, always nice to meet a fellow American
So onto the rest of the long day.
I meet Karlie and Amber and went walking down to get the rental car and me to go shopping for food. I stop at the ATM to withdraw money.... the only thing that happens is my card gets sucked in and my account gets frozen... what the #*%&$@! So the week is going to be played out this way... fantastic
So with what I have go for staple foods, bread, canned beans, and the like. We also buy Katy a really nice cake for her birthday. We meet up with Katy have some cake and head off to Unitec.
Unitec seemed like an interesting campus, the setup and building style looked very odd to all of us and later we found that it was because it used to be an insane assyllum.... HA makes Marshall look like a holiday retreat... eww I said holiday instead of vacation... kiwis wearing off on me... must get clean!...... But anyways the building was weird, the faculty was weirder. The front desk had no idea who or where the landscape architects were, the younger students had no clue who Rod Barnett even was! Felt like the building was having negative effects on everyones mental wellness. We found the room, found the critique. The students had one project for the semester. I thought there would be a lot more work then what was presented, or at least a little more thourough. I felt like they havent presented much as they kind of fell over themselves while talking and when asked questions or given any other opinion they collapsed... i mean if they have the choice of what they want to do a project on have some gusto with the presentation. Have some confidence that what you designed is the best, your trying to sell your idea and show that what you designed is flawless. Even if it is not the case which it almost certainly will always be. Regardless, these students had no confidence or interest in their own designs, maybe it was how we were taught in ESF or maybe it is how I was brought up with my dad being an IBM salesmen, or maybe it was being in QPK, but if i was to lay down and give up so easily on my own product, my own design and not even put up a fight for it... WOW! I mean really, no wonder architects have such an ego and control projects like they do.
Rod gave us a tour and I even asked him... How do these kids get along with the architects and designers as they are all in the same building. He said fairly well, they learn the lingo of one another and communicate well between each other. I asked about the landscape architects taking the second chair to the architect and are there any conflicts between them in the real world market here. He said they are expected to fall behind the architect as that is whats is important in the landscape...... WHAT?!?!?!?! At this point I had a brain aneurysm and my ears started to bleed... no wonder kiwis are endangered
Sarcasm *off*
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