Ruminations on Auckland

Here are a few observations about Auckland that I find interesting:

1) When I got to the corner of Queen and Wellesley (I always somehow end up on Queen no matter where I intend to go), I heard the buzzer signaling it was safe to cross the street and to my amazement, for I had never seen anything like it, every person on all four corners crossed the street at once – diagonally. Who crosses diagonally? I laughed out loud at the oddity of the situation. If you crossed a street diagonally in New York City, a cab would undoubtedly flatten you in less than two seconds.

2) To tell you the truth, I didn’t realize how clean Auckland was until I saw a girl walking barefoot across the street – for what reason, I have no clue. I would never walk barefoot in New York City. God only knows what I’d step on. But there she was waddling along as if it were normal, and it dawned on me that there wasn’t a piece of litter in sight. Either Aucklanders are super-diligent about not letting a piece of trash slip from their fingers or they pay an awful lot on city sanitation. I’d have to go with the latter considering that in every café I’ve stopped in, the customers have left their trash on the tables for the employees to throw out. Didn’t their mothers teach them to clean up after themselves?

3) I can’t figure out New Zealand’s coffee situation for the life of me. The choices consist of long black, short black, flat white, etc. What does that mean, I couldn’t tell you. And I’ve asked six people so far what “normal” coffee is, and they’ve all given me different answers. I don’t think they understand my question; to them, it’s all coffee. I’ve tried all kinds of combos so far to see what tastes like coffee as I know it. I tried Dunkin Donuts, thinking it was a safe bet, because they’re known for coffee. That was a bad idea. Apparently the New Zealand branch of Dunkin Donuts only serves dressed-up water. I tried espresso poured into hot water with milk (Americano but not really American). I tried a short black with skim milk, which they put in the smallest cup ever and charged 3NZD for – it’s extortion, Starbucks’ style. I was told that what I’m actually looking for is a flat white. I’m hesitant to try it and spend yet another 3NZD on something I’ll eventually just throw out after 5 sips because it’s undrinkable. Maybe I’ll just have to wean myself off coffee for the remainder of my stay in New Zealand.