Monday, March 12, 2012

First studio assignment.  Finished.

I had to find studio supplies at two different stores, Gordon Harris on Ghuznee Street and the Art Shoppe right down the street from the first place.  These are where most design students would recommend buying supplies and tools.  A breakdown of the supplies I bought for my first studio assignment:

3 sheets of large foamcore - $6.99 ea
1 bottle of Tacky Glue - $12.99
1 Exacto with extra blades - $9.00
1 cutting mat - $14.99
1 metrics scale - $8.99
21 photos printed - $0.29 ea
The grand total: $73.03

I really hope I'm not going to have to buy modeling supplies all year.  I suspect most of my work from here on out will be using trace on base maps and then digital production after that.  Anyhow, I survived my first presentation in front of my new studio classmates and was satisfied with my performance.  I am definitely off to a better start this week...I am finally comfortable with getting around the city on my own and I almost have my schedule memorized.  I spent most of my weekend doing homework.  Thank goodness for the flat bbq, I got to go outside and sit in the sun for a while on Saturday.

It was a bit misty on Sunday, but I forced myself to get out of my room and do some walking around Cuba Street.  I guess I haven't really described Cuba yet...it's essentially the main pedestrian street in the city with a ton of shops, restaurants and cafes.  The School of Architecture and Design is right off of Cuba so I get to walk through it every day that I go to my design classes.  One great thing about Cuba Street (and Wellington in general) is the cafe/coffee shop scene...there are so many in the city!  Every couple of stores there is a coffee shop or a cafe or a bakery.  I'm not even kidding.  I don't even think I'll be able to try all of them while I'm here.  Every couple of days or so I pick up a vanilla latte or chai latte from Midnight Espresso...it's a coffee shop on the corner of Cuba and Vivian, so that's right next to the School of Architecture and Design.  Their chai latte is absolutely to die for!  They sprinkle nutmeg on top of the foam and it's so delicious.

Last Friday, I went to my first sushi restaurant (not my first time trying sushi, of course, but my first sushi restaurant in New Zealand).  It's called Wasabi Sushi.  As you can imagine everything was really fresh.  It was one of those sushi restaurants that just make a lot of sushi and put it on a conveyor belt for you to grab at your seat.  And every plate is color-coded so you know the price.  I spent only $10.70 on three plates of sushi.  It was so good!  I think this week I want to either get burgers or this Mexican place everyone keeps saying is really good.  The burger place (Burger Fuel) has a gluten-free selection...yummy!  Don't worry, I'm not wasting all my money on eating out every day...but I do save one day a week to get dinner out with friends.  I think that's pretty reasonable.

I can check "See a flash mob in Wellington" off my list of things to do while I'm here (that wasn't really on my list).  Also on Friday I witnessed a flash mob happen while I was on Cuba Street.  The truth is, I knew it was happening so I rushed down there with some friends to check it out and get some pictures. It was about climate change and how we all should be aware of it...etc. etc.  Before the group started dancing, the "leader" preached to us all for a bit about what they were doing...I don't know if that's the normal protocol for flash mobs...I had the impression that people just broke out in dance in the middle of some place, no introduction.  Anyways, I was standing on the side listening and waiting and the leader guy all of sudden came up to me and said, "You sir, have you heard of climate change?!?"  Hold up, did he just call me "sir?!?"  Yes, he most certainly did.  I'm going to hope that he was just caught up in the moment and it slipped out...although, he didn't make an effort to apologize or correct himself.  Suffice it say, I was not at all embarrassed by it...I'm sure not many people realized his mistake.  I mean, come on, I was wearing a skirt, tights and flats for goodness sakes!  And I like to think that I don't actually look like a man.  But yes, if you were wondering, my dignity is still intact.  When the dancing and music finally started, it turned out to be a pretty cool flash mob experience.

I wonder what I will encounter next weekend.

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