Watching a Ski Race in Togs

Column January 2019

I reach for my water bottle and have a good sip. A drop of sweat rolls down my back and when trying to type in this text, my fingers almost stick to the keyboard. Thus, I look at my cell phone: 34 degrees, which in my small sauna feel more like 40. The hot temperatures of January will definitely be something I’ll remember in the future, as not only the first month of the year will soon be over, but also the two-month long summer holidays. As unusual as this may sound for a high school student, I’m kind of looking forward to going back to school next week.

2019 began in town centre of Nelson for me. That’s where a concert with fireworks took place to see the New Year in. The special thing about all of this was that I had never welcomed the upcoming year this early. What’s that supposed to mean, you ask? New Zealand lies directly next to the International Date Line and hence is one of the first countries in the world to welcome a new day. In other words, in Aotearoa the New Year always starts half a day before it does in Central Europe due to time difference and daylight savings.

I still don’t know why, but for some reason as soon as the Christmas season was over I started baking a lot of things. To my host family’s delight, there were several “Lebkuchen” (sort of like ginger bread) and various “Fruchtwähen” (Swiss fruit tarte). The constant heat made regular swims in the cool sea a must. This also included countless barbecues on the beach. Whether sausages, steaks, mussels or fish – no one had to starve! When it comes to clothing, Kiwis are relatively modest in summer: togs, a pair of shades, a sun hat and a sleeveless tee. Either you rock flip-flops, which are called “jandals” here, or you just leave them at home. That’s why, about a third of all people are walking around barefoot in the supermarket at the moment.

Despite the heat and the time difference I still did not want to miss out on watching the alpine ski race classics. As a result, I followed the Lauberhorn race wearing togs in the middle of the night.

Meanwhile I have been here for about six months and half of my time in “down under” is already over. I had the chance to meet a lot of people and do some great activities. Of course, I do miss certain things: the food, a proper Swiss winter, friends and family. And even though I am about 18,000 kilometres away from my home country, I feel like NZ has somewhat become home to me as well. Lastly, I’m looking forward to five more months of experiences where I hope to meet many more Kiwis and people from all over the world.