New Zealand & Australia: Conferencing in Middle Earth

 Today, we have a guest blogger... Brent! I asked him to write about his trip to New Zealand & Australia, so here we go.

My trip to New Zealand seemed like it took forever to arrive after being accepted along with my colleagues Mason and Chiung Hwang earlier in the year. The International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) conference focuses on various aspects of media. I presented in the Communication Policy group, Mason in Visual Communication, and Chiung Hwang in the Religious Media group. Returning to my first IAMCR conference was great since I attended the Madrid conference before COVID-19. Other than Lyon, France, last year, they've all been online. 

The flight to Christchurch was long, but nothing compared to those from the mainland, whose flights took up to 24 hours. Or those coming from South America or Europe, which took over 30 hours. Chuing Hwang and I were on the same flight, which only took just over 9 hours to Sydney from Honolulu...and another 3 hours to Christchurch. This image shows me crossing the international dateline and into the southern hemisphere, taking me in seconds from summer to winter and a day later.

On the first evening of the conference, Mason (left), Chiung Hwang (middle), and I attended the opening plenary. The theme of the meeting focused heavily on the indigenous Māori people and their traditions. The themes felt quite prescient to BYU-H and many topics discussed at the Oceanian Perspectives on Human Dignity conference I moderated for in April. 

Christchurch definitely has some interesting colonial architecture. It often felt like I was walking through Oxford, for example. One of the private high schools was actually designed with this in mind. This was me on my way back from a New Zealand ward. I got to know some locals who were very excited to hear about BYU-H and discuss my ancestral connections based on the Cowley last name. One couple had two nieces who attended BYU-H, and they asked me to bring some NZ chocolate back for them. To my surprise, they were both COMM majors I will have in upcoming semesters. Their chocolate is definitely different and very good.

The city is surrounded by beautiful little rivers, and like in Eugene, Oregon, you have to find bridges to navigate around the city. New Zealand, including Christchurch, has vastly different landscapes. No wonder they filmed The Lord of the Rings there.

Unlike my colleagues who stayed at a nice hotel (not far from mine), I stayed at a hostel - like I've done in Boston and Denver. Just having a shared bathroom can save you oodles of money.

One of the conference's highlights was connecting with Janet Wasko, who was on my dissertation committee and with whom I worked closely for her What is...conferences, her Disney classes, and other research. She had a book launch for her and Jeremy Swartz's new edited collection, "What is Life," which I helped transcribe, among other things. She is signing a copy of the book she gave me as a thank-you for my work.

One night, after a final session, we went to one of the local theaters in a "mall" that appeared to be in the style of an Oxford building. We saw Struggles without End (Ka Whawhai Tonu), based on the famous novel of the same name. The film perfectly encapsulated the theme of the conference where colonizers upended the indigenous peoples of Aotearoa. It was nice to attend an art-house theater, which I have been unable to do since COVID or really since leaving SLC.

That same night, we ate by a place called "Hell," a Pizza joint with deathly hellish spicy options. All of the names on the menu used variations of things you would expect to see in the land down under (i.e., Hell).

This is an image of downtown Christchurch from the library's top floor. The church shown was damaged during one of the large earthquakes that hit the city in 2010 and 2011. Much of the city has had to be rebuilt. The construction of this church was in limbo starting the exact day we arrived because the workers decided they wanted more money and refused to work. Apparently, this was a typical practice in the city. So, the renovation is sure to take much longer.

As great as the organization was for the conference, one thing that was an epic failure was providing enough seating for lunches. You can see the few tables they offered on the far ends of the large conference auditorium, but pictured here is just one group of people who had to resort to sitting on the floor to eat. My colleagues and I and a couple of other regulars gathered at a table in the foyer for most meals. 

One of the afternoons, Mason and I attended a private tour of the local art galley. It was a newer building since the earthquakes destroyed the original gallery, like many of the original buildings.

The architecture was quite unique. Some of the best exhibits were, in my opinion, those focused on Oceania. One space showed short documentaries made by amateur citizens in Samoa. Tonga, etc. It was great that the conference reflected so heavily on my experience living in Hawaii and teaching at BYU-H. 

For each of the IAMCR conferences I have attended, I have always paid the extra fee to participate in the gala dinner. Considering I do not drink, I certainly never get my "money's worth," but it is a great place to network and visit with past colleagues, friends, and those you meet year after year at communication conferences. Pictured here is my new friend from Germany (left), who usually joined us for lunches at our foyer table, and Joseph, who I met at the Eugene IAMCR and saw again in Madrid. 

I presented on the second to last day of the conference, which is later than I usually present. Each of my colleagues presented earlier and had more time to relax.

The venue for my presentation was located in an excellent library called Tūranga located across the street from the Christchurch Convention Center. Several of the surrounding hotels also held different panels and workshops.

My presentation was on censorship technologies developed in Utah County and the global ramifications of how AI might impact these technologies in the future. My panelists and I had a great conversation with some really lovely questions from the audience. 

Mason thankfully sent me some pictures of me presenting at my panel. 

Right after I presented, we took a tour of Christchurch on the vintage trams that circle the city. 

We saw several areas I knew, including the botanical gardens and Riverside Mall, where we had lunch one day and were close to our hotels. It also took us to various other regions we would not have been able to see without a car. 

At the end of our stop, we went to the Quake City museum, which teaches attendees about the devastation caused by the several quakes that have hit the city. There were so many thrilling stories, artifacts, and demonstrations about why it was so devastating for the region that had not earthquake-proofed many structures. The vast majority of the larger buildings, even hotels designed to withstand quakes, have been rebuilt, condemned, or renovated. 

In some ways, the quakes were a blessing as the city now has a new vibrancy with all the modern buildings that encourage so much tourism. IAMCR would never have been able to meet in Christchurch without the newly revitalized downtown area, which now has room for a large and beautiful convention center. This has also allowed them to create murals throughout the city painted by locals. 

One of the museum's highlights for me was the video testimonials of some of the survivors of the quakes. Some with tragic circumstances of a man trying to find his wife in a burning building, a woman whose fingers were lost when a piece of the wall fell on her hand, or a woman in a swimming pool that turned into a massive sinkhole. It is unimaginable how many lives were taken or altered by the quakes. It is often easy to overlook such devastation. It isn't until you hear it from their perspectives that you realize how fragile life is and how mother nature can quickly change everything.

This shows what can happen to the land with just a little shifting of the earth's crust.

On the last evening of our conference, we said goodbye to Mason. The conference center and the library are in the background. As you may be able to tell, it was not the warmest of places, especially when it rained, but it could have been worse had Jen not insisted on ordering me a bunch of winter items like a coat, gloves, and earmuffs from Amazon.

Later on my last night, The University of Oregon's SOJC (where I received my degree) hosted a dinner for all faculty and alumni. It was great seeing them all again, and I hope to continue to see them once a year at this or other conferences. I can't imagine how much the bill cost for our party...yikes. 

The following day, Chiung Hwang and I got up bright and early at 4:30 am to catch a shuttle to the airport. The time difference was never hard for me because although we were a whole day ahead, we were only 2 hours different from Hawaiian time. This shot is of us taking off from Christchurch and moving towards Sydney. I watched The Piano and The Convert, both set in Aotearoa and, like Struggles Without End, highlight some of the troubled history of colonizers spoiling their culture and native lands.

The flight was not too bad except for the girl next to me, who was clearly ill with something and coughed and wiped her nose constantly. 

Mason flew to Auckland to meet up with his family, who planned a two-week trip. Chuing Hwang and I headed to Sydney, Australia, for an extended layover. Although we were only in Sydney for a few days, we packed so much into our time!

Luckily, we realized we still needed to get a visa to Australia when they would not let me retrieve my bag when landing in Sydney on the way to New Zealand. You can't apply within the country, so thankfully, we could do so when we were in NZ. 

Although we took the train to many places, Chiung Hwang and I spent much time walking around Downtown Sydney. We had initially rented a car for about $25 a day, but parking in the city is like $80-$100 a night, so we scratched that idea and used public transportation, which is fantastic in the city. 

This is a map of the transit system from the airport circling downtown. The train goes directly past the Sydney Opera House.

Our hotels were close to each other and near most of the attractions we hoped to see anyway. I would have loved to have gone to the Sydney Temple, where my grandparents served a temple mission in the late 1980s and early 1990s. As mentioned, we had to rely on public transportation, but it was great to see so much, as seen in the above video. The temple will have to wait for a future trip. 

It was great to see so many iconic sights and locals that you usually only see in the movies. The Sydney Opera House and Bay Bridge were spectacular. 

And, of course, we saw sooooo many seagulls fighting over food and saying, "Mine....mine....mine."

We also took some random ferries that took us to other areas around the bay, like the zoo, but we had no intention of getting off from them. It was a cheap tour of the beautiful bay.

We also walked around the gardens surrounding the opera house, went to art museums, and so many other attractions along the way.

The architecture was quite different than in Christchurch, but just as stunning at times. 

Our hotels, which were surprisingly lovely for how much we paid per night, were close to the Queen Victoria Building, which is also close to the governmental buildings. The QV is now a huge mall full of exciting shops and restaurants. It was hard to not buy a bunch of stuff, but I only had my carry-on and a backpack.

Our first night we decided to venture out into Chinatown. It was not too far from where we were staying and gave us some idea of what the nightlife is like in Sydney - which is something else I can tell you that. 

We found an authentic Taiwanese restaurant, which made Chiung Hwang very happy. The only water they would bring us was hot water, which I can't say made me too happy. The food was good, though. Hers was a lot more spicy than mine, which I think I would have liked. 

This shot does not do justice to just how packed and crazy Chinatown was. Wow...just wow...

Being in such a big city was incredible. I really miss city life since moving to Laie. I love the traffic, loud noises, many people, and art and culture. 

One of the last things we did in Sydney was visit the Australia History Museum. What a great experience! I learned so much, and it was great to connect so much of the history of BYU-H students to their heritage. 

I was also excited to see so many types of boomerangs. Grandma and Grandpa Dahn brought us back some from their time there, but ours broke or were lost.

It was great to give the kids an idea of what the trip was like and what I remember about my grandparent's time there.

Including seeing so many exotic animals ...

My favorite animal is the duck-billed platypus. Minus Phineas or Ferb.

Unfortunately, the only emu or koala I saw on the trip was stuffed.

Seeing a crocodile or two was great. One croc I saw was made out of a woven basket and was used in olden times to scare off other crocs from entering a particular territory. Seeing all of these inspired me to watch all of the Australian-based and set movies I could think of, including the Crocodile Dundee trilogy, The Man From Snow River, Australia, Gallipoli, and several others.

This is a shot of the large dome at the center of the Queen Victoria Building. We found a bakery with some A-maz-ing sweets and other breads, which we stocked up on for our flight home since Qantas charges you for EVERYTHING on their flights. 

One of the shops called "The Queen's Basement" was like Allied, a store with a little of everything that you do...or in most cases do not need, but they are there. I was surprised to see so many Willow Tree figurines on clearance there. 

It was soooo nice to be back in Hawaii, if for no other reason than to unthaw a little bit. Sydney was not so bad, but Christchurch could chill you to the bone when wet. Unfortunately, a few gifts for the kids were not the only thing I brought back. The second we landed in Honolulu, I started feeling feverish and could feel a sore throat coming on. 

Initially, I planned to fly directly to SLC from the conference, but #1 - Chiung Hwang requested that I accompany her so she didn't go alone. #2 - The flight through the travel office (who we needed to book everything through) did not get the deal I found that would have saved them money. 

At one point, it looked like I also would have needed to move our items from our Iosepa house to the garage of our new Moana house, but after arranging for the youth from the Laie 3rd Ward to move it 8 days before my return, there was not much I needed to do in Hawaii.

These were some of the goods that I gathered for the kids on my trip, including a boomerang, for old time's sake, authentic NZ weaved bags, Bluey-eque biscuits from my hotel, book marks from a tourism agent at the airport, and a small Lego set of the Sydney Opera House. 

This gave me the time I needed to recover from my fever, aches, and chills that rocked me for the 3 days I had in Laie. Because I ended up being homeless during this time, I was supposed to stay at a colleague's home. With feeling so awful I decided to just sleep in...don't tell anyone..my office where I could be sick in peace. 

The office was so full of items that would be in storage until the end of summer, but I made it work. I slept, shivered with chills, tried to catch up on some work and everything I'd put off for over 10 days, and watched the rest of the Australian movies I had on my list, including The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Quigley Down Under, Babe, and many more.

After a day or so, when I felt better, I organized the garage of our new house to make room for our car so it wouldn't have to sit outside for the next month. What a whirlwind of a time. I loved almost every second of it and can't wait to go back. 

Back to Jen now.  It was a fantastic opportunity for Brent to travel to these places, and it just made him want to go back and explore more! We want to take our family back to New Zealand someday, but we plan to wait for their summer instead of their winter.