It was like I imagined the rolling green hills of the English countryside, just after dawn. Skies cold patchy blue behind a marine layer, rising sun back-lighting the clouds. Our geology mobile, a retro-looking white and blue touring bus from the 90’s, cruised the Catlin coast’s blustery cliffs on the Southern Scenic Route, the region’s only road. To our left,...

I have now been living in New Zealand for six weeks. Yet, for me, and my fellow international students in Dunedin everything still feels fresh, new and different. And, quite frequently, everything seems better here than in the United States. The burger place that does two-for-one Tuesdays is so much better than any burger I can get back home, the...

Before the earth, before the sun and the moon there was nothing but Io—a genderless, parentless energy dancing within the void. Io was, and is, the potential of the world, and the Maori spiritual equivalent to the christian God. Within the darkness and energy, Rangi, the Sky Father, embraced Papa, the Earth Mother. They held tight to one another through...

In the middle of the road, a ratty old couch bursts into flames. The fire leaps into the night sky and sends off a thick column of smoke, lighting up the smashed windows and shards of glass in an orange glow. The couch’s time had come; it was asking to be burned. Someone had put it out in the front...

Kia Ora—or good health in the Maori tongue—from Aeoteroa, “The Land of the Long White Cloud,” more commonly known as New Zealand, or Middle Earth for you Lord of the Rings fans. This blog will consist of dispatches from two Weekly staffers, Emma Lodes and Tim O’Donnell, as we study at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand, and...

True or false: There are more Starbucks’ within a mile of Occidental's campus than independent record stores. For almost anywhere else in the country, this statement would be true without question. After all, Starbucks is one of the biggest chains in the nation and most music today is sold digitally, not in brick-and-mortar record stores. However, Occidental belongs to the...

He looks very Joey Ramone-esque—that is, if the punk-rock singer ever wore Vans and played in a jazz ensemble. Tapping his foot to the beat and glancing down at his guitar, Tyler Yates (senior) sweeps his shaggy hair to the side as his conductor, professor Shawn Costantino, indicates the beginning of his solo. Next to him is Jake Richman (junior),...

It is a Friday afternoon and the distinct sound of gears turning and people chatting drifts from the Berkus Hall garage. Students take bikes for test rides while music booms from stereo speakers. Inside the Bike Share's "cage", the arrangement of furniture resembles someone's office space or living room, but filled with Los Angeles Metro maps, bookmarks and scribbled biking...

For most students, the on-campus living experience begins with an email from Residential Education and Housing Services (REHS) the summer before their first year at Occidental. Apprehensive about the unknown experiences that await them, students immediately start scouring Facebook for their first college roommate. They wade through waves of posts on the incoming class Facebook page to see who has...

It is a Wednesday night, and 40 or so people have packed themselves into a tiny room on the side of Weingart for one purpose—well, sort of. It is the first meeting of Occidental’s recently restarted Queer-Student Alliance, the name of which was consciously changed from the former “Queer-Straight Alliance” to indicate a focus on solidarity within the community. Students...