Submitted by Yet Another Michael on Wed, 25 Apr 2007
For international returns I'm totally influenced by October 2006, back from a month in Europe, standing in Aro St being scalded by the bright bright sunlight. You could see the paint flakes dropping off the houses a km away! So, as soon as the clouds part for a second and there's some sunlight - that's when I now think that I'm home in NZ. A Pavlovian response I guess (but without the tinned peaches).
When back in Wellington from elsewhere in the country it's more the physical signs of the culture than the environmental. Waft of Fuel Coffee in the terminal, drivers that know they are subordinate to pedestrians, beeping in the Hataitai tunnel, driving across Cuba St and getting a snapshot of a power suit and heels elbow-to-elbow with a stripy-sock.
For international returns I'm totally influenced by October 2006, back from a month in Europe, standing in Aro St being scalded by the bright bright sunlight. You could see the paint flakes dropping off the houses a km away! So, as soon as the clouds part for a second and there's some sunlight - that's when I now think that I'm home in NZ. A Pavlovian response I guess (but without the tinned peaches).
When back in Wellington from elsewhere in the country it's more the physical signs of the culture than the environmental. Waft of Fuel Coffee in the terminal, drivers that know they are subordinate to pedestrians, beeping in the Hataitai tunnel, driving across Cuba St and getting a snapshot of a power suit and heels elbow-to-elbow with a stripy-sock.